Take some good, clear photos with you

[TrainChaser]

If your pet gets lost, you'll need to have some photos, both to put on a flyer to show what it looks like, and to identify it for a finder. 

Also take photos of anything that could be used to prove he's yours:  scars (or the injury that caused them), where he only has 3 toes on his back foot, that funny tattoo that he already had when you got him, that mickey-mouse-shaped white patch on his tummy, etc.  DON'T post those, they're for when you meet the finder (with the dog) face to face.

A full-body shot and a good clear head shot or two should be enough.  Keep the printed form that has his microchip number with them.  A microchip is proof of ownership to the law.

Some people who have cell phones are apparently incapable of bending their knees; they always shoot down at the pet so it looks like it has a big head and tiny feet, distorting his appearance.  Get down to the dog's level, or raise it to yours.

Don't take a photo of a dark pet in a dark room, or shadows, backlit by strong light, or against a similar background (black dog on dark green carpet in low light).

Get close enough to show detail, but not so close that all a viewer will see are a pair of eyes, a big nose, or a big open mouth.

Avoid shots where it's rolled up in a blanket, dressed in clothes, half hidden in bedding, bushes, weeds or children, or wet from a bath.

Avoid blurred photos because the pet was moving.  Take. Another. Picture.  If he's that active, sneak up on him when he's sleeping in the open.

Don't use shots where some vital body part is chopped off or covered up, like the tail (is it docked or not?), the feet (white socks?), or ears (standing up or cropped?).

Don't use a photo where his ears are folded back, looking really PO'd because he knows his face is going to look distorted and he will look ugly, even though he knows he's a handsome guy because everyone says so.  https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/536678796372754432/eO37FCYM.jpeg

You would think all of this would be covered by common sense, wouldn't you?  To see what people DO post (to prove the owners are brainless idiots) check out your local Craigslist/Lost & Found.

AND DON'T GIVE THE MICROCHIP NUMBER!

 

[Cheli]

Great ideas and love the picture. hahaha

You would think most of this is common sense but at the same time I don't think everyone actually thinks to plan out having pictures prepared in case of this situation. So this is a good reminder to do so.

 

[Ella1]

This is a good thread. I have a ton of ideas on finding lost dogs. Disclosure--none are mine. When I had my girl, I was on a few other forums, and it seemed this discussion came up about the same time on all of them. So these are Other Peoples' ideas. Here's a few. I'll add more in other posts. There will probably be repeats, and some ideas you can't use, use what you can.

One woman had a map of the area blown up and she would stick a pin in the map, the color depending on how good the sighting was, and she realized that all of the good sightings formed a circle, so she was able to narrow down her search area. She finally found her little guy... 3 months after he disappeared. I am wondering if your girl has some kind of safe "base camp" that she returns to, esp at night.


Leave an article of YOUR dirty clothing the last place you—or some else, saw your dog—maybe he’ll come back and stay there.

I've contacted EVERYONE and they're all on the lookout. SPCA is closed so we'll contact them in the AM.

If I ever had to do a lost dog search like this again (gosh furbid!!!), I'd start my search distributing "LOST" flyers to convenience stores and popular stop-in businesses w/in a 1-3 mile
circle of our home (or where the dogs took off from, last seen, etc.).

Another woman who contacted me about her lost dog said she would mop up her other dog's urine with a clean paper towel and put it in a plastic bag, then drop it in the area of a sighting. If you could narrow down the area, maybe you could do this?

And if you could more or less pinpoint the area where she might be, tether her buddy dog there on a chain or unchewable cable, then back off, maybe where you could watch with binoculars. Esp if her buddy gets vocal, she might be attracted, then stay because he's there.

I'd leave a BIG note on the door of animal control/vets etc. immediately in case a phone call/message gets lost.

You say you don't know how long the dog has been gone. In that case, I guess you'd go by when he was last seen.

contact neighbors, police, SPCA . call and leave messages for all the vets in the AM.

Have you contacted the Micro-Chip people? I'd also call every Vet in your area, in addition to your own, and let them know.

If you have access to a printer etc, fire off a bunch of fliers with the dog's picture ready to go up wherever it's acceptable--stores, etcetera.

call companies who do service in your area the day the dog disappeared--electricians, plumbers, fuel delievery guys, power company, cable folks, florists, trash service folks--the list can go on and one, depending on where you live. Folks like these see more than a neighbor might--and they are all over the map. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.

don't limit your quest to your immediate area (no matter what that is). Dogs can travel, dogs can be picked up and transported great distances in a short period of time.


Just a few more thoughts. I'd be cranking out fliers and burning up the telephone lines tonight.

Leave an article of clothing outside. I had a shepherd do this once and she was laying on my jacket the next morning.

put out an article with your scent--heck hang out a clothes basket full of dirty laundry and perhaps your Mal will catch the scent wafting through the air and find it's way home...

I have heard MANY stories of people putting their dog's crate outside after the dog had gotten loose, and found their missing dog, sound asleep in their crate the next day...

We're in a small village setting, so I'll definitely contact postal people, UPS, Fedex, etc. No utilities this week, and fliers are already printed, ready to go up.

If your dog isn't neutered, I'd concentrate my search upwind--I don't mean to sound flippant, but if there is a female in heat upwind of you, you may want to head there first.

Don't know how you'd determine such a thing, but you can go on weatherunderground.com (and other places like NOAA) and find out wind direction and such for the day he took off.

This may be a male looking for love. If it were me with an intact male dog who took off, I'd study the wind patterns for that day...and subsequent days.

More later...

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Having been in the insurance industry for many years I can say pictures are a good idea of everything you own. Each room in your house, close ups of expensive items and of course most importantly your pets.

 

[TrainChaser]

Ella 1: "Don't know how you'd determine such a thing, but you can go on weatherunderground.com (and other places like NOAA) and find out wind direction and such for the day he took off."

1. Go to Wunderground.com and type in your town or zip code.
2. Page down almost halfway down to ALMANAC.
3. Right under the heading it says ALMANAC [usually showing today's date] - click on it.
4. A few inches below the heading, it says Change the Weather History Date; insert the MO/DAY/YR you want & click on VIEW.
5. Go down to WIND. N= North, S= Souith, W= West, E= East. WSW means the wind came from the West South West.

Don't put food out, you'll attract other animals, which may scare your pet away.

If you're in shadowy or dark conditions, use a good flashlight and talk to the pet. It may not respond, but will probably look at you and the light will reflect from its eyes.

 

[Ella1]

Remember these ideas are from many people, so dogs names and genders change, as do places

post flyers at all the nearby schools and ask all the neighbor kids and crossing guards to please keep their eyes open. Also, pizza delivery people and school bus drivers are great sources of help. I've been told by numerous people that the Police and Sheriff's Dept's aren't all that helpful UNLESS you personally bribe them with Krispy Kreme/Dunkin Donuts and ask that each squad car carry a flyer. You should have your cell phone number posted on your flyers so that you can be reached 24/7.

Does your dog respond to bells or whistles? If so, blow or ring as you are out scouring the territory...if he hears a familiar sound he'll come! Those implements will carry further than a voice.

Posters/flyers in all the dog stores: groomers, vets, pet shops....anyplace fellow dog lovers visit as they will always keep a vigilant eye open for your Mal.

I'd be cranking out fliers and burning up the telephone lines tonight.

We're in a small village setting, so I'll definitely contact postal people, UPS, Fedex, etc. No utilities this week, and fliers are already printed, ready to go up.

get those flyers out there, get the neighborhood kids involved with flyers. Go to Petsmart or Petco, or whatever pet supply places you have there, and post them. Stay positive, optimistic, and keep your paws crossed.

DH will be going to the vets and shelters himself following up with all local stuff today

Joy was gone a full seven days while I searched, put up signs, took out ads in 3 counties and about had a nervous breakdown. In the end the thing that brought her home was my signs.


Posters: go to the office supply store and buy posterboard in neon colors and keep putting up new signs everyday. I did this in an ever increasing circle, I made them huge with large lettering so they could be easily read from passing cars, neon colored so they caught the eye and a clear description since most people have no idea what the rarer breeds look like. I plastered them EVERYWHERE, buildings, stop signs, telephone poles. In the end she was found hiding out in a grove a couple of miles from home, when the grove owner saw one of my signs at the end of his driveway. She was thin and ratty looking but okay.

I'd add "REWARD!" I might add a full body shot (but keep the head shots).

Great sign - easy to read - gives his call name to help someone catch him

add the date he got out--it might spark someone's memory

Put a message about his temperament on the sign. You mentioned that he's not likely to approach people. Can you give people a suggestion on how to engage him, and get him to approach? For example - is there a special recall word that he knows solidly? Or maybe a nickname that he responds to?

I have posters and will be placing newspaper ads online tonight via computer, and have my cell phone permanently attached to me. Everyone knows he's microchipped and Mexican registered so if he comes up, they'll call us

a full body photo and a message that he's a "friendly" dog (not aggressive or fearful) might be helpful.

Some ideas for the sign. First, how big do you plan to print this?
remove all but 1 picture of the dog, and make that picture small enough to fit in some white space that the letters leave.
Then make 2/3 of the sign say "Lost Dog" and the other third the phone number.
Use black letters, but maybe print it on yellow paper.
You need to think about distance when you make the sign. Can I read your sign when I am in my vehicle across an intersection? If not, the "lost dog" part isn't big enough. Except for the phone number, the rest can be smaller because if I've seen a lost dog I'll pull over to read the rest of the sign.
But when cars are driving through intersections, and that is the main "traffic" your sign will generate, they need to be able to read it from a distance, on the move. The yellow paper makes it stand out and catch the eye, the black text is the easiest to read.
Also post it on various sides of telephone poles and such, not just one per pole. So regardless of the direction someone is heading, they can easily see the sign as they are going towards it not as they are passing by or past it.

Grocery stores, schools, etc in your area are a great place to put up signs since there is a lot of foot traffic, people going slowly enough to actually have time to read the sign.
I would also offer a reward, the sign can always just say "Lost Dog - Reward" with no specific $$ mentioned.
You will get a lot more people willing to take the time to look at your number, and even write it down, on the hopes they will see your dog.
Or willing to try to catch the dog if they see it vs just watching it trot off.
Put some info on temperament


more later

 

[bigsallysmom]

And after your sweet pet has been returned to you, go around and remove your signs to reduce pollution and so folks don't keep calling you long after.

 

[TrainChaser]

Several years ago, a woman kept track of the dog sightings, and parked her car in a spot near the sightings. She dozed off and was awakened suddenly by some thumpings on her car. Startled, she looked around, and then saw her dog's head bobbing above the open passenger window, trying to jump in.

I was reading a magazine article on lost pets, and some rather odd things happened...

One dog was lost during a move from one state to another. A couple of weeks later, he showed up.... at their new home --- where he had never been before.

A couple had their daughter, SIL and little girl visiting from out of state. The girl loved their old cat, and when they were getting ready to leave, she asked if she could take her home. They hesitated, and then said okay (grandparents!!!). As soon as the family got back home, the cat disappeared. About a month later, this old cat showed up at home. One of the things she had to do to get home was cross the Mississippi River. They said she didn't have to go back to the granddaughter.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

I saw a very effective method being used a few weeks ago for finding a lost dog. A family was visiting my town (Plymouth, Ma) from another state and their dog got away from them when the snap on his collar broke in a busy parking lot. With no collar he had no identification on him. They joined a local group on facebook for Plymouth Ma and posted their info and the dogs info there, the next day a guy posted he had found a dog hanging out in his backyard and asked if anyone knew of someone that lost their dog....... some other people who saw the post the day before were able to put two and two together and reunite the dog with the owners. I thought it was pretty cool the community came together through a facebook group and it ended happily for all. I also like facebook being used for positive things as I don't particularly like it and things like this help change my perception.

I also think microchips for dog are a great idea.

I've always loved reading about dogs who find their way home over long distances. Growing up we had a husky that was allowed to free range as most dogs in the neighborhood were back then. We got calls a few times from animal control two to three towns over saying they found our dog wandering and if we could come get him. One time my Dad said no, he'll come home on his own. Sure enough he was home by dinner time! Looking back on it, I can't see any animal control officers releasing a dog like that today!