his nose was probably his guide

I'm not sure that all dogs have that "homing" ability :-) Mine sure doesn't!! If he gets loose, he might not stop until he's in Timbuktu! To be honest, it's my fault for not training him better when he was still a pup - had a fully fenced yard then so was not a big concern. Now, if freedom beckons, he's off like a shot on some doggie adventure that can take him miles away. He has never returned on his own, although I have found him close to home on several occasions.

Granted, he is a Cocker Spaniel so not known for having a high canine IQ! But what he lacks in smarts, he makes up for in cuteness and sociability. And he is also chipped and carries with him his name and phone number. I have gotten late night phone calls from as far as several miles, asking if I was missing my pup :-))

Needless to say, I am ever diligent that he has no opportunity to get loose. I would be devastated to lose him.

Their sense of smell is amazing. That said, I saw an article once where a Samoyed left home and walked 4 miles down the road to the pet store, casually walked inside, got a chew bone off the shelf and returned home! Insanely intelligent.

I lived on a 20 acre farm until this past May, no fence for the dogs. My German shepherd/Australian shepherd mix Lily got loose once (never to be off leash again). And disappeared into the woods for a couple of hours. I eventually found her trotting down the middle of the road, on her way home. Not at all the way she left! That was frightening because it was a rural road posted at 45, where people normally drove 60 plus. No idea how she ended up on the road, and knew which way home was!

I have a blind dog and recently moved to a rural area. At first I did not have it fenced, so she would be out all day long. At the end of the day she was on the front or back porch. She did get lost for 48 hours several months ago. I found her by networking with all the neighbors I could find, but she was only a few blocks away when she was found. The day she got lost we had a cold front blow through which changed the general direction of the wind and smells. I think she went down an unfamiliar path when the wind shifted back. At that point she had no reference smells to go by and got disoriented.

My 5 YO schnauzer would find his way but my 15 YO Doxie wouldn't and he'd follow anybody with a treat.

My granddad owned a dog that began chasing chickens and barking excessively at night. On his way to the city he dropped the dog on the side of the road over 20 miles from home. My brother and I passed the dog sitting by the road and thought we recconized him. Brother slowed and the dog began to chase so brother stopped. Dog jumped into bed of truck as he had done countless times before. When we reached home a couple of miles from granddad's house the dog hopped out and headed home. Granddad told people how the dog not only found his way home from 20 miles away,he beat him back home. One of the few times something weird happened around our farm and granddad didn't question us about it. Good thing he didn't ask because we would have admitted our involvement.

"My granddad owned a dog that began chasing chickens and barking
excessively at night. On his way to the city he dropped the dog on the
side of the road over 20 miles from home."

You must be proud of "granddad."

I certainly am. That took place at a time when if an unwanted animal was lucky he was dumped so he got a secound chance. Many animals weren't so lucky and got a bullet between the eyes. Strange how times have changed,now some unwanted children are lucky and get a secound chance with another family. Many aren't so lucky and are killed at birth.

Lucky old dog.