Question
If someone owned several acres of woodland area that was fenced off from the public, could a dog go for a walk without the owner?
Answer
No, dogs don't walk themselves.
As lila already explained in their answer, dogs are social animals. If they grow up feral, they live in packs with several animals. If they grow up with humans, they live together with at least one, often several humans. They need this company to be mentally healthy and stable.
Let's imagine: You live with a dog in a nice house in a rural area. When the mood strikes, you open the door and let your dog walk into the fenced area. What would your dog do?
While it's in the house with you, it constantly interacts with you (even if this interaction is no more than a sideway glance) and is always aware that you, the pack, are nearby.
Outside, it would probably poop and pee, maybe even sniff around the perimeter and mark its territory. But since no foreign dogs can enter the fence, marking isn't as important as in the wild. Since you aren't around, there's no-one to interact with and nothing meaningful to do. Even if there were toys lying around, there's no-one to play with. It's booooring.
What incentive does a dog have to take a walk?
- Social interaction with the owner (who doesn't want to be with the dog in this scenario)
- Social interaction with other dogs and/or people (who cannot enter the fenced-off area)
- Mark the own territory (seldom necessary, since no foreign dog can challenge / overwrite the mark)
- Sniffing where other dogs peed, which is an indirect social interaction (again, impossible in this area)
- Hunting for food (unecessary since a full food bowl waits in the house)
The pack mentality is so ingrained in dogs that they won't be happy without social contact. If you fail to offer this social contact, the dog will not accept you as the pack leader (you'd be barely accepted as pack member), it won't follow your commands and will try to find another pack.
If you only offer social contact in the house, the dog will want to return inside as soon as possible. It won't burn off surplus energy by going on a walk on it's own but rather by eratic behavior and/or destroying things in the house.
If you're not ready to dedicate quite a lot of time and effort to your dog, please refrain from getting one. In reality you need to invest even more time than you initially thought or your dog will develop problematic behavior and make your live much less comfortable than it was before you had it.
Answered By - Elmy