Place scent items, such as waste from your dog or items of clothing from a person with whom your dog is bonded, near the feeding station.Īssemble your helpers! Notify all responsible adults, even teens, in your family – recruit close friends or neighbors to assist in the search. During ant season, make sure all food is ant-proof by placing a heavier food bowl inside a shallow outer pan, and fill that outer pan with water to form an “ant moat.” Refresh the food at least once a day, preferably twice. If your pet is hiding close by, this food and water can draw him back. Set up food and water (we call this a “feeding station”) in your yard. Do a thorough search and don’t forget to look behind dressers, in closets, in and around shrubs, etc. Search your home and yard: Are you sure your pet isn’t just hiding? Nervous pets – especially cats – can hide in shockingly small areas when frightened. Scent is the most powerful sense to an animal, and these scent items can be used strategically (more about this later).įind a good quality photo of your pet, PREFERABLY one with your pet in a standing or walking position – this photo may be used for lost pet flyers. This includes not scooping your yard or litter box, and not laundering your pet’s bedding, or even some items of your family’s laundry. STOP doing laundry and cleaning your yard you will want to preserve all “scent material” which may become very important in the search. Keep the name and phone number of each person who calls in sightings. Have there been any sightings? We will need to know the date, time, exact location, and direction of travel.Are there other pets in the home? What is the lost dog’s relationship with these pets? (“We have two other dogs and a cat he hangs out with one of the dogs and always follows the cat around.”) In this example, we may be able to use scent material from the other dog, and even from the cat – solid waste, litter box, bedding.”) In this example, we would not want the husband or males directly calling or approaching of the dog we may be able to use scent material from the wife or the 6-year-old). Who is your dog closest to? (“The dog stays close to me he is a bit nervous around my husband or men in general he sleeps with my 6-year-old son and follows him everywhere. He still has 7 days of antibiotics left.”) Is your dog healthy, or are there any medical issues? (“Our dog is basically healthy however he was only neutered 3 days ago.Both times, we went to the park and then went around the block, north on Main Ave, east on Central, south on Shady Lane and then west back onto our street, Washington Ave. If he is accustomed to the area, how often has he gone on walks? (“He has only gone on 2 walks since we moved to this house, both in the last week.How long has he been familiar with/lived at the address where he went missing from? (“We just moved into this house about 10 days ago previously we lived 30 miles away.”).What is his normal temperament? Shy? Outgoing? Likelihood of him approaching a stranger? (“He is a very nervous dog – he is attracted to children but I doubt he would approach an adult he doesn’t know.”).We tried to call him back but he just kept running.”). Circumstances of how he was lost (“The dog was with us on a walk in the park, and he took off heading Northwest.Was your pet wearing a collar and ID tag, and were they microchipped?.Address where he/she went missing from, or closest address to the location (“on the NW corner of the park by the playground, across the street from 143 E.Photos and description of pet (ex: “4-year old Aussie/Border Collie mix, neutered male, not wearing a collar or ID, has a bald spot the size of a dime on their right back outside leg”).We suggest you print out a copy and keep it with you as you go about your lost pet search steps. This guide will lead you through the critical steps to take to bring your lost pet home as quickly as possible. The strategy also may be a bit different if your dog is young/healthy, or old/sick/medically compromised, and if your dog is confident/social or shy/skittish. But note that 20% of lost pets travel further – sometimes much further – so you may have to increase your search radius. Using that probability, we will concentrate on this area first. Your ongoing, sustained, and proactive involvement is critical to success.Įven if your pet was lost from an unfamiliar area, approximately 80% of lost pets are found within 1 mile of where they went missing (even if this location is hundreds of miles from their home). However, searches can go on much longer than this time period. The first 24-48 hours are the most critical, and the effort you put in during this critical time will dramatically increase the likelihood that you will recover your pet safely. We are sorry to hear that your pet is missing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |