Go Home Gone wrong

have not posted for a while, spouse with moderate dementia, diagnosed two yeas ago. 11/6 somewhat normal day, trip to the store for bananas, daughter and grand kids visited to jump in leaf pile, spent more than normal amount of time out doors. had a great time. around 4PM I was taking the dog for pre dinner walk, when she announced she was going to walk home and prepare dinner for her parents. not unusual. I usually offer to drive her and we go for a ride and all is well. this time I thought I would walk along to see where she might go. headed for the main road, offered to drive, "no I know where I'm going". headed off across the open field behind our property. (property owned by people we know and field had recently been planted) offered again to go back to house and get car. "no, I know where I'm going, I'm not going back to THAT house". this changed to "don't keep following me". I explained that these homes belonged to "XXXXX" thought she might recognize the name. Didn't make a difference. "don't keep following me" May have been a mistake. family dog came out to greet us nicely, she has met the dog before. . She thought it was her dog. we got to the house in the far corner and proceeded to head into the woods to her house. I was able to get her turned around after cautioning her about the large ravine in the woods. and she reluctantly stared back to the our house (after offering a candid review of my behavior and unwillingness to risk going in the ravine). the owner came out and walked with us a while. she became distracted looking for rocks, her favorite activity. Daughter arrived about the time we got home. about a year and a half ago she started in the same direction, but it was cold and offering a ride worked. lesson learned: don't do that again. now I know where she may go if she was to ever get away. Question: suggestions on tactics (don't like that word) I could have used to distract her once she got on the property? I know telling her those weren't her/or her parents houses was wrong. I guess just any thoughts on the whole situation. Also, if there was a caregiver at the house and no family members present, how could a caregiver handle a situation like this. Thank you.