Losing your beloved companion is a terrible experience to deal with and every pet owner could surely use every possible tip that could help him/ her in such situations.>br>
Read on and learn more about what can you do in order to get reunited again with your lost dog.
? Search your home and neighborhood
This is the first logical step. Make sure to search in every room and every corner of the house and the yard, look in closets, behind furniture, check under shrubs and other unlikely places, just to make sure that your friend is not hiding or sleeping somewhere around.
Contact your neighbors and ask them to check their properties as well; your dog might be accidentally locked in someone else's garage.
While you are looking around your house and neighborhood, it is a good idea to bring your dog`s favorite dish, or treat; use them to lure him out from where he might be hiding. You can also use his favorite toy.
If your dog is still not showing up, it is time to consider walking or driving through your neighborhood, to check even more places, talk to different people and distribute photographs and your contact info. You can also make written advertisements such as fliers and place them in public places (community centers, grocery stores, intersections, etc).
? Use the media and the internet
Local media and the internet are other options for advertising about your lost pet. Make a list of local newspapers and radio stations and contact them for more information about posting advertisements. On the internet, you can check different websites specialized in lost pets, or you can use social networks to spread the word about your lost dog and ask even more people to help. You can even create a page dedicated to finding your beloved dog and share it everywhere across social networks.
? Use the benefits of the ID tag or microchip
If you invested in these methods of identification, your pet has better chances of being found and returned. If you?ve received no call yet, contact local vets, animal control agencies and animal shelters; your dog might be there, brought in by someone who found him.
? File a report for your lost pet
You should consider doing this with every animal shelter in the area and then make sure to check in with them every day. You can also distribute recent photos of your pet.
? Contact the police
You can go to the Police if there is no animal shelter in your area, or if you suspect that your dog has been stolen.
If you are being contacted by someone who pretends to have your pet, the first impulse is to make a happy dance and hurry to recover your companion. However, you should exercise some caution, at least until you are sure that you are not dealing with some pet-recovery scam. Ask the person who contacted you to describe your dog and make sure that he/ she is able to provide more details than those you have written in the advertisements. If that person asks you for money, be particularly wary.
Thoughts on Lost And Found Dogs
Each year around the USA, hundreds, if not thousands of dogs, get separated from their owners and are lost in the wild or in crowded cities. This often results in heartache and sadness for the owners. It is also bad for the dog, as most pets that live a long time in the companionship of a human will have a hard time adapting to the outside world.
Losing a dog is much easier that it sounds, unfortunately. Many dogs get lost while their owners are walking them. Dogs are especially afraid of loud noises, and will instinctively run away from them. This is just one of the cases when a dog will get lost. Other times, they run out of their owner?s yard and never return. It is highly recommended that people use leashes when walking their dogs. Pet owners should also build a small fence if they tend to keep their dog outside. That way, the dog won?t run away chasing a cat or a car.
However, even with these precautions, dogs will still get lost on occasion. There are a few things you can do to increase the chances of finding your dog if this ever happens to you. The first thing you need to do when losing your dog is to contact your local animal shelter and ask them if they have caught any dogs recently. If this is the case, they will ask you what your dog looks like. Finding your dog this easily is possible, but this is a happy scenario. If you really care for your pet to be found in the event of losing it, you should microchip it. That way it will be easier for authorities to track your dog down, as it will be added to a database. You should also give your dog a collar with an address and a phone number, so in case a dog lover finds your pet, he or she can contact you.
In case you are the one that happens to find a stray dog, and you want to help it to get back to its owner, there are a few ways you can provide assistance. You can call your local dog shelter or humane association, or you can also try to see if the dog has an address on its collar. However, before you approach a dog (or any animal for that matter) you should think about safety first, both for you and the dog. If the animal is anxious, don?t approach it. Anxiety can be caused by a number of factors, such as fear, disease or distress. Such animals can get spooked easily, or they can even attack you. Keep a distance if you see the dog behaving in an unpredictable way. If it bites you, end any contact with it and go see a doctor immediately, as some dogs carry rabies, which is fatal if not treated swiftly. If the animal is friendly however, approach with caution and see how it reacts. If it is cooperative, return it to the nearest animal shelter.
Consider any dog you might see as a possible lost dog, instead of a stray one. Who knows, you might be the hero of the day and help reunite a pet with his loving family.
