Losing a dog can be very
traumatic and stressful, but it's always best to try to remain as calm as
possible and be as methodical as you can be while trying to search for it.
Your dog is counting on you to be the level-headed one.
A lost dog can more easily be
returned to you if it has on a collar and identification tag with
your name and telephone number on it.
Don't depend on its license tag or rabies tag to act as an identifier.
At times some licensing agencies or veterinary offices don't keep the best
of records; or you may get a person who is "too busy" to make an effort to
look up the information on such tags. Take responsibility for your
dog, and get it an ID tag with your contact on it. These can be
gotten relatively inexpensively. (We get tags for our own personal
dog through Drs. Foster And Smith
on-line.)
Most Lost Dogs:
Have run away because
something startled or frightened them,
Have been poisoned or are near
death and have gone some place quiet and isolated to die,
Have run away because of abuse or
neglect,
Have run away because they were isolated
and bored (and so they were trying to find companionship and something to
do),
Or have been stolen
Dog-thieves usually fall into one of
several categories:
Someone you know (like a disgruntled
"ex");
Someone who wants to sell the dog as
their own (this is especially true if the dog is a highly desirable or
"designer" breed);
Someone who is looking for "no cost" dogs
to sell in bulk to facilities that use dogs for experimentation purposes.
This type of person is
often referred to as a "buncher"; and bunchers also often respond respond
to "free to a good home" ads in the newspaper;
An "animal hoarder" (although stealing
dogs is rare for them; they usually take in strays or adopt dogs from
"killing" shelters and pounds);
Someone who believes the dog needs to be
"rescued" (because that person feels you aren't taking proper care of the
animal);
Someone who wants a dog but cannot afford
to buy or adopt one; or
Someone who wants your dog for nefarious
purposes (Although it is somewhat rare for such people to steal your dog,
would-be murderers, serial killers and abusers often do "practice" on
small domestic animals before moving onto human prey.)
In all cases:
When your dog first goes
missing, look in the immediate area first.
Call
the dog's name often, over and over again, in as calm and reassuring
voice as you can.
If
you sound distraught and stressed, the dog may misconstrue your tone as
"anger" and may not respond to you.
The
dog may have been frightened or injured and sought safety in a
concealed place. Look not only in open areas, but also in or
around anything that may look like "shelter" to you.
Frightened dogs can get themselves into very small spaces when they feel
they have to, so look everywhere. During the floods after Hurricane
Katrina, for example, some dogs were found crammed into the narrow grates
around air conditioners because it was the only place they could go to get
away from the floodwaters.
Have someone the dog knows stay in one
place (preferably the place form where the dog went missing) while
others go out and look for the dog.
If
the dog returns to the spot from where it went missing and you're not
there, it won't be able to find you.
Give the dog time to find you
before you give up.
It might take a dog several days (or even weeks) to find its way back to
you, even if it's just a few blocks away.
Keep in mind that if your dog has been
lost in an unfamiliar area, he/she may get disoriented very quickly
and become afraid -- and then run further away out of stress and fear.
So you need to stick around, at least for several days to give the
dog a chance to get reoriented and find its way back to where you are.
This might be difficult when you're traveling or moving to a new location,
but if you're serious about getting your dog back, you need to stay where
it can find you for as long as you possibly can.
If the dog has gone missing from your home, check everywhere.
You never know where a curious dog might have gotten himself stuck, or
where a frightened dog may have gone for shelter. Look in:
Every room
In cabinets
In closets
Behind curtains or blinds
In the washer or dryer
In trash cans
In the refrigerator or freezer
Inside the oven
Every part of the yard
In trash heaps or leaf piles
In the garage
Under vehicles
In and around abandoned vehicles
In the swimming pool (or other bodies of
water on the property)
Check the fence-line
around your property
for any indication that the dog may have broken through, jumped over the
fence, or dug under it to get out of your yard.
If you see damage to the fence-line, DO NOT REPAIR IT right away.
The dog may try to get back onto the property later the same way it got
out. Repair the fence later.
Keep
some lights on at night so your dog can more easily see your home (or
your RV/campsite) in
the dark.
A dog's night vision is better than a human's and sometimes a porch light
alone will be enough to get his/her attention in the dark of night.
Spec was a dog who broke from his leash and ran off
chasing a wild quail
that had darted across his path.
It took him four days to find his way home again. He showed up
about 3 o'clock in the morning, having been attracted by the outdoor
lights, and the smell of dog food set out in a screened-in
breezeway. Other dogs on the property alerted people in the
house to his return.
Put dog food or some of
your dog's favorite treats out for it to find.
Dogs have a highly developed sense of smell. If your dog has been
out roaming the neighborhood for a day or two, it will be hungry and start
seeking food... and it will gravitate toward the familiar.
If you're certain your dog
isn't anywhere on your property or in your home, then expand your search
-- but make sure someone is home at all times in case the dog comes back.
Contact your neighbors to find out if they saw your dog running
outside of your property, or if they noticed anyone on or around your
property at the time your dog went missing.
Call
the local pounds, shelters and rescue groups to let them know that
you've lost your dog, and ask if they have had any intakes or calls for
"found strays" meeting your dog's description.
When you
give a description of your dog, be as accurate as you can regarding not
only it's general size, coloring and breed, but also describe its collar
and tags, let them know if it has been microchipped, and tell them of
anything "special" about your dog (if it has very unique coloring -- like
one blue eye and one brown eye; if it knows any special tricks; or if it
has any deformity -- like a missing eye, torn ear, extra toes or a lame
leg).
Animal
Control can take a report of your missing dog, but they will not go
out looking for it on your behalf; they simply don't have the time or the
manpower to do that -- even if you believe your dog was stolen.
Looking for your lost dog is your job.
Call back
every day for several days in a stretch, as you might get a different
person on the line each time (and some folks are more "aware" of the dogs
in their facilities than others); or your dog might have turned up, but no
one notified you yet because they're busy with other tasks.
Call the
local veterinary offices
and
ask if they have had any calls for "found stray dogs" meeting your dog's
description, too. Sometimes, Good Samaritans will take an injured
stray dog to the vet for care even if it's not their dog.
Post
"Lost Dog" flyers in your local area,
especially around supermarkets, pet shops, veterinary
offices, dog parks, and schools and playgrounds. (Kids are great at recognizing and
locating lost dogs.)
Take
photos of the dog to put on the flyers (digital camera are great for
this purpose.)
You
can download a letter sized fill-in-the-blanks flyer from our website by
clicking on the links below.
If you can
afford it, post a "lost dog" ad in your local newspaper.
Offer a
reward (but do not post the amount on the "lost dog" flyer;
this forces people to contact you to ask about the reward.
In cases where dogs are stolen, the thief will sometimes contact the dog's
owner if there is some chance of getting a reward for the animal's
return).
The reward doesn't have to be a big one, but offering the finder
some kind of compensation for their effort on your dog's behalf is a
courteous thing to do.
Whenever
someone contacts you in response to your lost dog flyer or calls, try to
ascertain immediately if they have your dog or knows where it is.
Example, if someone calls saying, "I saw your lost dog flyer at the
supermarket", the first response from you should be, "Did you find my
dog?" Screening calls in this way helps you to weed out the
pranksters and people who are just trying to find out how much the reward
is.
If someone
calls you and the first thing out of their mouth is "how
much is the reward?", this is usually an indicator of one of two things:
The caller has your dog and
wants to know how much of a "ransom" you're willing to offer for it,
or
The caller doesn't have your
dog, but wants to know if it's worth the effort to go looking for it
Keep track
of all contacts, and report any "suspicious" ones to Animal Control.
This may give them the authority to track down the caller to see if he/she
has your dog or other possibly stolen dogs in his/her possession.
If you
offer a reward and your dog is returned to you, pay the reward.
Don't promise compensation and then renege on the offer.
If the
dog returns to you of its own accord or is brought back to you by
someone who found it, don't immediately run at the dog or start shouting
for it.
Your excited and distraught response to its return may only cause it more
stress, and maybe even cause it to turn tail and run away again.
As soon as you
and your dog make eye contact sit down (even if you have to
sit on the ground), present a calm and nurturing demeanor,
keep your body language non-threatening and non-demanding,
and gentlycall the dog to you. This will be
both comforting to a stressed dog, and reassuring to a dog that might be
worried that you're going to be angry at it for running off.
Don't grab at the dog when it gets close enough to you to touch it.
Instead give it a second or two to sniff you, and then get a hold of its
collar, or put your arms around it to make sure it can't run off again.
Never yell at, hit,
scream at, kick at or scold a dog that has come back to you
after running off -- or the next time it gets out of your yard,
it won't want to come back to you
at all.
We
Wish You the Best of Luck in Finding Your Lost Loved-One!
This website,
its contents, text and images are the property of Fetch 11 Humane
Society, Inc. and Mary K. Hanson. Copyright (c) 2008, All
Rights Reserved. For problems with this website contact the
webmistress
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