We took all the necessary precautions and still the unthinkable has happened. Our dog is missing! What do we do now?
It is important to utilize the first 72 hours of your dog missing as efficiently as possible. Many dogs will no longer answer to their owners call after being gone more than 72 hours (scary, right?).
Neighborhood Search
First, you should canvass your neighborhood in hopes that this is just a momentary nightmare, that your dog has not wandered far, and will be home soon. But don't rush out the door before gathering a few things: Treats, Leash, Whistle, Squeaky, or Clicker, Food container you can rattle, and possibly another dog if you have one available to you. Also the most current photo of your pet you have (preferably a full body shot) and a handful of your business cards. If you do not have any business cards, bring whatever small pieces of paper you can gather up quickly to write your info down on and give to your neighbors. Finally, LEAVE SOMEONE AT HOME in case your dog comes back. Remember my story from Part One about my dog who went missing at my boyfriends house while I was out of town? I returned home to find she had somehow found her way back to my house and was asleep on the porch! The last thing you want to be doing is an exhaustive search when your pup has found its way back to home base.
Once you have driven (or walked, depending on your neighborhood and your dog) your
neighborhood, start talking to your neighbors. Are they at home? Ask if they
have seen your dog. If they are not at home, leave your dog's picture and your
contact info in their front door with the word Missing written on it.
neighborhood, start talking to your neighbors. Are they at home? Ask if they
have seen your dog. If they are not at home, leave your dog's picture and your
contact info in their front door with the word Missing written on it.
After your initial search of your own neighborhood, you may want to invest in an option like www.findtoto.com. This is a service that for a fee, will call all the neighbors within a certain radius of your house and notify them that your dog is missing!
Next, notify all emergency vets in your area. We hate to think about our pet getting hurt while he is missing but it is a very real possibility. This way, if someone brings in a stray matching your description, they can notify you. A note about veterinarians in general, they are bound by a client/patient responsibility clause in most states much like human medicine. What this means is that if someone picks up your missing dog, brings it into the vet and does not mention that they found the dog and it could belong to someone else, the veterinarian CANNOT tell you they saw a dog that *could be* yours. (Frustrating, right?).
You also need to notify animal control as well as any local shelters. But notifying them is not enough in some cases. Many shelters are so overrun with demand that they are too busy taking care of the dogs in the shelter to match up missing dog descriptions with dogs brought in. The best practice if your dog remains missing is to go to the shelter as often as you can (daily, if possible) and
walk through yourself and look for your dog. You know them best!
walk through yourself and look for your dog. You know them best!
Another great resource that has just recently become available to owners of missing pets is
Social Media. I have witnessed many missing dogs matched with found dogs over the likes of Facebook, Craigslist, etc. Posting a missing ad on Craigslist is a great place to start. Facebook is also a beneficial place to post your dog is missing. Not only if you post on your personal page and ask others to share, but there are also Facebook groups dedicated solely to helping get the word out about missing pets. Topeka Kansas Lost and Found Pets, and Topeka area lost and found Pets are a few. Also, WIBW (local news station) has generously added a gallery to their website for pictures of missing pets here. As with any other venture on the internet, cautions must be taken. Unfortunately, there seems to always be someone out there lurking, ready to take advantage of another who is in an unfortunate situation. Take precautions with anyone who wants to send you a picture of a dog they "found", they may just send you a virus instead! (Why are people so mean?)
Social Media. I have witnessed many missing dogs matched with found dogs over the likes of Facebook, Craigslist, etc. Posting a missing ad on Craigslist is a great place to start. Facebook is also a beneficial place to post your dog is missing. Not only if you post on your personal page and ask others to share, but there are also Facebook groups dedicated solely to helping get the word out about missing pets. Topeka Kansas Lost and Found Pets, and Topeka area lost and found Pets are a few. Also, WIBW (local news station) has generously added a gallery to their website for pictures of missing pets here. As with any other venture on the internet, cautions must be taken. Unfortunately, there seems to always be someone out there lurking, ready to take advantage of another who is in an unfortunate situation. Take precautions with anyone who wants to send you a picture of a dog they "found", they may just send you a virus instead! (Why are people so mean?)
It may be helpful to design a poster before going to social media, so that you can easily upload
that poster to all the groups and it already has all the necessary information on it (area missing from, phone numbers, etc.). You may also choose to post these flyers around town or in businesses. A few notes about the effectiveness of posters: Handwritten posters do NOT tend to be as effective as a flyer made on the Computer. It needs to look neat and professional for strangers to take it seriously. Next, it needs to have all the necessary information on it, but not too much information, no one wants to stop and read a novel. It MUST, MUST, MUST include a photo of your missing pet, not a description, or you will be getting all sorts of phone calls that will turn into false leads. Be careful of posting a large reward on the flyer, especially if you have a dog that is scared or shy. It will encourage people to try to catch your dog instead of calling in a sighting. For dogs who will run away from people they don't know, this will most likely cause the dog to leave the
area. Finally, try to personalize the message. Make it resonate with whoever is
reading it. Many dogs are picked up and kept by people who think they are doing
the right thing. You may need to convince them to give the dog back (i.e. he
needs medications, my kids miss him!, or he may have been picked up by someone
who is keeping him).
that poster to all the groups and it already has all the necessary information on it (area missing from, phone numbers, etc.). You may also choose to post these flyers around town or in businesses. A few notes about the effectiveness of posters: Handwritten posters do NOT tend to be as effective as a flyer made on the Computer. It needs to look neat and professional for strangers to take it seriously. Next, it needs to have all the necessary information on it, but not too much information, no one wants to stop and read a novel. It MUST, MUST, MUST include a photo of your missing pet, not a description, or you will be getting all sorts of phone calls that will turn into false leads. Be careful of posting a large reward on the flyer, especially if you have a dog that is scared or shy. It will encourage people to try to catch your dog instead of calling in a sighting. For dogs who will run away from people they don't know, this will most likely cause the dog to leave the
area. Finally, try to personalize the message. Make it resonate with whoever is
reading it. Many dogs are picked up and kept by people who think they are doing
the right thing. You may need to convince them to give the dog back (i.e. he
needs medications, my kids miss him!, or he may have been picked up by someone
who is keeping him).
Once you have exhausted all these resources comes the hardest part, waiting. Waiting for people to start phoning in tips. Have a notepad ready to record all the phone calls that come in. Ask qualifying questions instead of leading the tipster to the right answer ("What color collar was he wearing?" Instead of "Was he wearing a red collar?") We want to believe they saw our dog and they want to make our day but driving all over town for bad tips will exhaust your resources even further. Keep track of the geographical location of all tips, you may be able to eventually narrow a search area small enough to walk on foot with volunteers or set out a humane trap with food in it (especially if you have a scared or shy dog).
Another resource that I find to be simply AMAZING would be the growing number of search teams that are dedicated solely to using trained tracking dogs to locate missing pets. Here is one of my favorites: Karyn Tarqwyn
This is designed to be a list of ideas for owners to get started with, I am certain there are other great ideas out there. If you have any ideas that worked for you, feel free to leave them in the comments below!
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