Shetland Sheepdog Club of Victoria - Rescue Service
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Looking for your dog?

Don't waste time! Get a couple of people to work in an organized way simultaneously. In the first two hours, ask family and
friends to search around town and up to a two-mile radius of the location where the dog was last seen. Create business-card sized flyers to hand out so that your information is readily available and easy to share.  Use free services such as on Facebook''' to help get a virtual search started immediately in your geographical area as well.  Tell people you see that you are looking for a dog and posters will be up tomorrow with your phone number.

Bring along your dog's favorite toy, or another noise that makes him come running. Dogs can hear sounds from very far away and may come if they hear a comforting sound! Shaking a treat bag or something else a dog knows means food can help, too.

While you're out searching, have someone else make phone calls to your local Humane Society, animal shelters, rescues, vets, and police departments. Contact your neighbors to be on the lookout. If you're close to a State line, contact similar places in that State, too.

If your local TV and radio stations make community announcements, ask them for help. Notify the local pounds and shelters. If someone does find a dog and brings it there, they will know to reach you. If they do say they have a dog that matches, make sure to visit yourself, and don't call off the search until you're sure it's yours. Their description and yours can easily vary.

Create an ad with a recent picture of your dog. If you don't have a photo, and your dog is a purebred, use a picture from a book. Describe the dog so an average person would recognize him if he saw him. Include identifying information about him like his collar, dog tags, tattoo, identifying features like scars or unusual colorations, or microchip ID number.

Be specific: "LOST: (Dog's Name) a brown dog with white face and paws, SPAYED female; got loose from yard on Dec. 1,
2013 (Location where lost) near the post office in (Our Town), around 4 p.m. Wearing a pink collar with rabies tag and license. Is on anti-seizure medication. Family pet. REWARD. Call (610) 555-0000."

"Family pet" tends to motivate people to look. Advertising it as a "show dog," "breeding dog," "therapy dog," or "search and rescue dog" is not a good idea. Too much disclosure is not always the best policy in these matters.

A reward tends to motivate people. However, don't state an amount. If you make the reward too large, like $5000, people will wonder about the dog's value and some people may not want to return your pet.

Always say a female is spayed, whether she is or not. Again, this is to protect the dog from the unscrupulous who might see a
breeding opportunity. The same logic applies to a medical problem or genetic defect. People will be less likely to think of breeding a dog that could be perceived as valuable if they think it has a medical problem. That gives an urgency to the ad, too.

If the dog is friendly, say "Please try and coax her into your garage or fenced yard and call us." If the dog is not friendly or
could be a fear biter say, "Don't attempt to corner her. Simply call us with her location ASAP."

It is a good idea to make a few copies of flyers in different languages if you live in an area with people of many different backgrounds.

Immediately contact all pet services and shelters in your area and ask if they have had any calls about dogs that match your description. Visit the shelter if possible to see if anyone has brought your dog in.

Intensify the search after your dog has been missing
for 24 hours. Make at least 200 photocopies of your ad. (Printer ink runs in rain; photocopier toner won't.) Start posting on bulletin boards and in high visibility areas like gas stations and grocery stores in your neighborhood. Tape flyers to phone poles (in many places, it is illegal and unsafe to use staples because it's a danger to pole men). Ask friends and family members to distribute
flyers door-to-door. Be sure to put extra fliers around that playground, or
notify the owners of that dog park.
# Take "found" calls with a grain of
salt. At this devastating time, you are vulnerable and there are unethical
people who may try to take advantage. <br><br>
#*If someone calls
and describes your dog from your ad and says, "I've got your dog here," respond,
"Does she have a black mark inside her right leg?" and they say, "She sure does"
and your dog doesn't, hang up quickly. You don't want to deal with such people.
If they say, "No, she doesn't" and you think it could be your dog, simply say
you made a mistake, that's another dog you've seen before.
#*If someone tries
to blackmail you into a higher reward before returning your dog, try to make
sure they have the right dog (or any dog at all) and ask the person to meet you
in a public place. Then go with another person to meet them. Don't be taken
advantage of. If it is your dog, offer a token reward.
#*Recent scams include
people calling for out-of-state airfare for your lost dog. They might say your
dog has been stolen and dumped far from home and they found him 200 miles away.
Don't fall for it.
#After 2 days: Extend your search.
<br><br>
#*Go a little farther by vehicle and start spreading the
word to your local mailmen, UPS and Fed Ex drivers, joggers, runners, bikers and
anyone else walking around the search areas.
#*Drop off or fax a copy of your
ad to area shelters.
#*Expand the radius of your search area by several miles
- call shelters even beyond the area you think your dog could have
reached.
#*Visit the animal shelters and rescue leagues to look for your pet
every other day. Don't expect volunteers to recognize one brown dog from
another. If the dog is a dirty, matted mess that lost weight, you may have
trouble identifying your own pet. Ask if there is a quarantine area or an area
where injured animals are kept in case your dog is separated from those shown to
the public.
#*Check the "found" ads in they newspaper each day your pet is
lost.
# [[Be Positive|Stay positive.]] Dogs have been re-united with their
owners even after a year or more. Keep going back to the shelters showing
pictures of your dog. Who knows, maybe it will find you!


== Tips ==
*Ask the vet to insert a microchip into the dog. Microchips are
an easy and convenient way to make it possible to locate your dog in case he is
lost or has been stolen.
*Get your dog a collar, with a tag on it that has
his name and your address. If you aren't comfortable putting your address on the
tag, you can get a phone number put on it instead.
*Make sure the tag is
easily visible and well written. If it's not well visible, older people who have
found your dear Spot won't recognize the name, and think the name is Zot.If
there's a spelling mistake, again, your number might not be recognized, your
address might not be right either, and the dog's name will go from Stripe to
Strip.It can be very confusing.
*Post that you have lost your dog on your
local internet, or newspaper.
*ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS put your dog on a leash
while in public, in the park, or on the beach. If you live in a small
neighborhood and don't have room on a fence, keep your dog on a leash while
taking him outside to do his business. Or, if he isn't comfortable going while
on a leash, watch him closely.
*Never never never leave your dog unattended.
Even if your backyard has a dog-proof fence, watch him when he is outside doing
his business or playing out in the yard. Some dogs do crazy things while they
are alone, like trying to jump over or dig under the fence.
* Ask your
friends if they have seen your dog before it disappeared.
* Be specific when
publishing a flyer or ad. Do not just write or type "Lost German Shepherd".
Instead use a more detailed description, "Lost, female, all black, German
shepherd". If you aren't specific enough, you might end up with the wrong
dog.


== Warnings ==



*Never respond to a found pet claim alone. Take a friend and ask to meet
in a public place such as the park. DO NOT say to meet at your house. Then the
people who found your dog (who could be very creepy by the way, you never know,)
will then know where you live. You don't want that. Meet in a '''public place
such as a park or a gas station''' If they do no want to transport your dog, get
their address and call local police to let them know you and a friend are going
there to pick up your dog. Give them all of your information and ask if there
any wants or warrants before you go
*'''''Electric fences do not ensure that
your dog will not run away. An electric fence does not stop anyone or anything
from entering your yard! Never leave your dog unattended outside even if you
have an electric fence. '''''


== Things You'll Need ==
*A good 200 photocopies of the dog's lost
poster
*Patience
*Hope
And pray he/she will come back


== Related wikiHows ==
*[[Care for Dogs|How to Care for Dogs]]
*[[Ship
a Dog|How to Ship a Dog]]
*[[Care for a Neglected Dog|How to Care for a
Neglected Dog]]
*[[Travel by Car With Your Dog|How to Travel by Car With Your
Dog]]
*[[Help Teething Pups|How to Help Teething Pups]]
*[[Find a Name for
a Dog|How to Find a Name for a Dog]]


== Sources and Citations ==
*http://www.dogbreeds-and-doggie.com/ -
Original source, shared with permission.
[[pt:Encontrar um Cão
Perdido]]
[[es:encontrar a un perro perdido]]


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