What Would You Do If Your Pet Was Missing?

[Carolk9s]

Looking at my dogs snug in the house, glad they are all safe at home.
My dogs are all tattooed, I've considered microchips but have not decided on them yet. The tattoo on two of my dogs is all but unreadable. Jesse because I don't keep his belly shaved plus its old and his skin has darkened over the years. Candy's tattoo has been smudgy since she got it. Dogs wear collars with tags whenever they go out the front door.
What would I do? I would immediately get flyers made up with a recent photo and detailed info regarding the dog. I would post them everywhere I possibly could. I would let all my neighbors know I was missing a dog along with a flyer. I would visit all local vets, rescue orgs, spca etc with said flyers. I would NOT just call, I would go there personally. Heard too many stories of people who just called, were told no dog matched the description only to find that their dog had been found and either put down or adopted out. I would go more than once also. I would let local animal control know and provide a flyer. I would put a blanket, bed or SOMETHING with the dogs scent and mine out on the front step.
So what would you do?

[Carolk9s]

Whacking myself in the forehead, can't believe I left out this!
I would post to dogo and my belgian list and ask that everyone cross post and be on the lookout. Even if dog is most likely in my local area. I would want the word OUT THERE! :D

[gooeydog]

None of our dogs are chipped or tattooed, we are thinking about getting them chipped though. In addition to what Carolk9s said, I'd contact all the clubs for that breed that I could find, with pics and a description, just in case somebody had them and was trying to sell/breed them. That way if someone posted on there or elsewhere about their new breeding dog (too bad they're all altered, but of course some people can't tell) or dog for sale, hopefully someone would recognize them and notify me. It's also good, before anything happens (and even if you never expect it to), to have at least one clear picture of the dog with you or a family member, and to write down any "distinguishing marks", in case they want to question that the dog is yours, and sometimes in an emergency like that, you aren't able to think straight, so having important things already written down would ensure you didn't forget them.

[Shannon_C]

Unfortunately i have been through this with my Westie mix when he went missing for 2 days (he was wearing a collar and tag) (upsetting as it was) i phoned our local rescues as well as putting up posters, and i am pleased to say that he was at the RSPCA.....a gentlemen had taken him in with no collar on. This man didnt live local and by looking at my dogs paws it seems he had traveled a long distance...probably seeking out a female, it was a long time ago when he went missing as i lived with my mother back then. I would have done more at that time as now....but my mother was in charge :roll: but luckily our dog was found.

I have one dog that is chipped as well as tagged, thats the Bullmastiff who is more at risk of going missing than the other two who just have collars and tags.
Well i would phone and go round all the shops, rescues, vets giving out posters to the staff and visiters, as well as my neighbourhood.
I would also put up photos and descriptions over the net and on the news.
There would be a nice warm comfy bed on the step, with water and a shelter just incase it rained .....i would say food but it would be eaten by other animals.

I WOULD DO AS MUCH AS I COULD TO GET MY DOGS BACK.

[Dad4duchess]

If Duchess were gone I'd have flyers on everystop sign in the city. I'd contact all humane societies, andof course post here.

Duchess has been lost before and my mom made me looks for her for around 3 to 4 hours. I found her at an elementary school about 1/4 a mile away :robot:

[yellowlabsrule]

If Winnie got lost I'd go crazy! I'd also do what all you already said. :wink:

[eggrolyn1223]

If Duck got lost....all of that would be no use...I don't even want to think about the results..

[corgilady]

Well my previous dogs were tattooed, and like you said the hair grew over it and the skin darkened and stretched/ or something. So I didn't find it too effective.

Now my boys wear collars with tags and I probably will have them microchipped. However when they get out, someone is IMMEDIATELY knocking on my door telling me my dog is out. This has happened twice and both times they acted like I KNEW the dog was out! :roll: Both of them were neighbors who must see me out walking them all the time!

If you don't get your dog in the animal control is here in like 10 minutes. So if my dog were gone, the first thing I would do is call animal control. Then make flyers and put ads in the papers and on the radio. And take the others out to hunt for him. Heck, they still sniff out my ex hubby at the store down the street! :lol:

Someone stole my aunt's dog once. She lives in a rural area, so the radio announcer was talking about it on the air. That night they heard a car in the middle of the night. Next thing they knew the dog was at the door! Apparently the person got scared after hearing it on the radio, and brought him back!

This was a good topic, but not something I like to think about. :(

[Guest Anonymous]

Gosh, I'd go crazy with worry if I lost either of mine!

Great suggestions! Yes, I'd post flyers with pics everywhere, take them to vet's offices, shelters and humane soc. I'd also notify the two big kennel clubs in the area, the local Dobe club and the two big agility clubs. All of those clubs do rescue and could possibly pick up a dog and not bring it to a shelter. I'd also send a notice to the two big Doberman email lists.

Whitney and Mason are both microchipped. While they never wear a collar at home, indoors or in their securely fenced yard, they wear a collar with tags when outside our home. Tags have our home phone number, my cell phone number, my husband's cell phone number, the word "microchipped" and REWARD in BIG LETTERS!

At agility trials you can't run a dog with tags on it's collar so, I switch over to their "trial collars". Those have their names and our home phone number machine stitched on them.

[bk_blue]

Oh this brings back BAAAD memories... BK aka Houdini is the consummate escape artist, he escaped the first night we got him by bending a virtually unbendable metal gate... we were frantic and we went out looking for him, had flyers made up the next morning and stuck them up everywhere, he was found at the high school a few miles up the road, to get there he had to cross the freeway, the train line, the creek and two major roads.. a lot for any dog let alone a 6mth old puppy. He has got out several times despite our best efforts over the past 7 years, he doesn't jump but he DIGS and can get a huge bluestone block out of the ground on the other side of the gate with no problems. :o He always manages to come back unscathed from his little adventures but that doesn't stop me from panicking, one day he won't be so lucky. You may also recall that the reason he's not home with me now is because he's managed to destroy 2 fences and my grandpa is still building a good solid fence so he can't get out again. I was hysterical when he escaped after only 24 hours in my new house, we made flyers and stuck them up EVERYWHERE and I rang all the vets in the area but most of them had closed as it was 7.30pm, I went to the cops and they were really nice and let me put up stuff in the station, thankfully he came home after a few hours but it was enough to make me crazy. He's microchipped and wears a collar with his name and phone no on it whenever we go out or he is by himself. He always manages to come back unscathed from his little adventures but that doesn't stop me from panicking, one day he won't be so lucky. I hope this new fence keeps him where he should be- in the backyard.

[eggrolyn1223]

I would be nervous constantly and would probably have a heart attack if BK was my dog...LOL..at least you have the patience and all...I would just...stress out. :oops:

[Guest Anonymous]

Great posts. I think that everyone here has a good basic understanding of how to respond in an emergency. Obviously we have a lot of responsible pet owners here. I like that many people have taken preventive measures that greatly increase the chances of recovery. Tatoos, microchips, standard ID tags, supplimented with a registered ID tag are all important. We discuss all of these ID methods in great detail in our book. We just released our free e-book Proper Pet ID: Your Lost Pet's Ticket Home. It is basically the entire ID section from The Complete Guide to Lost Pet Prevention & Recovery in electronic format and adapted for the web. You can download it for free at our web site www.lostpetfoundpet.com. Because no ID method is 100% effective, we've become strong proponents of the multiple ID approach. A standard ID tag, a registered tag, a license and rabies tag a tattoo, and a microchip. I just learned a new method. I met a guy on the boardwalk that uses his Foodtown key chain club card. He has it attached to the dog's collar. In theory this could be scanned at the supermarket and they could in turn contact you. I have to investigate it further for a future edition. By the way, if the shelter where you live does not have a universal scanner for reading microchips, you can get one donated to your shelter through AVID's Free Reader Placement program to find out how visit AVID at http://www.avidid.com/pets/index.html. Click on Shelter Program Link.

One important ID method that no one covered was DNA Profiling. DNA works differently than the other ID methods discussed here. DNA will not help anyone finding your pet to get it back to you. It can however win you a victory in court if your pet is ever claimed by someone else. It is not an uncommon occurance for someone to find a stray pet and simply keep it. This is in fact where many missing pets end up. Even if you find out who has your pet, they may refuse to return it. You may have to take them to court to get your pet back. Could you prove with 100% certainty that your pet is indeed your pet. Having a DNA profile of your pet can gaurantee you a victory in court. We have a story in the book of a lost Macaw that 5 different people tried to lay claim to. Fortunately one gentelman had had a DNA profile of his bird done and was able to prove the bird was his. A DNA profile is easy to have done and it's actually very inexpensive too. If you would like to learn more about DNA profiling of pets you can download our free e-book, Proper Pet ID: Your Lost Pet's Ticket Home at our web site LostPetFoundPet.com. It's a self extracting exe file, if you worry about downloading exe files, download the file to a folder and scan before opening. Many people are legitimately concerned about downloading exe files so we are working on a PDF version and hope to have it soon.

People keep stray animals for a variety of reasons. This may or may not be malicious. A common scenerio is that people find a shabby half starved stray and justify keeping it pointing to the animals tattered appearance as evidence of abandonment or neglect. We point out in the book, a stray animal's shabby condition is very likely the result of having survived on the streets for several days, even weeks. No matter the animal's condition, it should always be assumed that it belongs to some heartbroken person that is searching for it and every effort should be made to find its owner. I know that I would want someone to interceed on my pet's behalf in this way and make every effort locate me. You can read the entire chapter What to Do When You Find a Stray Pet on our web site www.lostpetfoundpet.com

Thanks all

Be kind

Andrew

[eric]

This post reminds me of when my Sam took a little walk on his own. We were moving that day so I had stayed home to continue packing. Sam and Travis kept getting in the way, and after almost tripping over Travis while carrying a box of books, I decided to put them out in the back yard.

So out they went while I continued packing. After about half an hour, I decided to check on them. Travis was standing at the patio door, looking into the house, but I couldn't see Sam. This was a bit odd since our backyard was tiny, with only about 5 ft of land on either side of the house. This was in a dense sub-division. I went to the door and called for Sam. Nothing. I thought to myself: "He must be along the side of the house" so I went out and peered around the corner....and saw that the gate was open! My heart stopped.

I ran in my bare feet up the side of the house to the front yelling for him as loudly as I could. Nothing. I panicked.

For the first time in my life I started hyper-ventilating. I ran back inside, brought Travis in and grabbed the keys to the car. I remember talking to myself, saying" Please God no, please God no". Jumped into the car, and went down the block. I stopped at the first neighbour I saw outside, a gentleman raking his lawn. I asked him if he had seen a large black dog and he told me he saw a dog playing in the local park which was just around the corner about 20 minutes ago.

I thanked him and drove over to the park. There were some kids playing but I couldn't see Sam. I got out of the car and started asking: "Did you guys see a..." I didn't even finish me sentence when Sam came tearing over the hill towards me. I dropped to my knees and he ran into my arms. I was shaking and crying and here he was panting with a big smile on his face because he had just been playing with these kids for the last 1/2 hour or so.

I thanked the kids and brought him home in the car. They stayed inside the rest of the day. I'm not sure what I would have done had I not found him. I probably would of kept driving around, then started going door to door. I mean, we were moving that day. This was our last day at this house. It all worked out in the end through...

[Guest Anonymous]

When you go to the Shelters and Rescues take on of the flyers that has a picture on it... or take a picture with all of your information! They get so many dogs in that it helps to have a picture there to look at! :wink:

[Guest Anonymous]

I would do everything Carol suggested, but first I would jump in my car looking, and have someone else look too plus call in a lost dog ad to the newspaper (I don't advertise found dogs). In some big urban areas, this may not help, but also remember to call your local police stations. In our area dogs that are picked up on weekends or after shelter closes are held in pens at the police station, and our police have always been very eager to help when dogs have been found on the interstate.

[Smooshie]

I have been lucky so far...I haven't lost a pet.
A few years back my sister lost one of her Boxers though....we looked everywhere...went door to door..posted flyers...talked to vets and shelters....no luck.We were sure she was gone forever.Then one day about 4 months later a strange car pulled into our driveway and out jumped Lacey! It turns out they had picked her up on the side of the highway 3 and a half months earlier and assumed (since she was so thin and dirty from being on the streets) that she was either neglected or abandoned ...so they kept her.They brought her back because they just happened to see one of our flyers STILL posted at a local petstore and said they felt guilty about keeping her because on the flyer there was a pic of her cuddling with my sister's little girls (and looking very healthy and happy). They said they still weren't sure whether to return her or not,but decided to drive by the house and see what her "living conditions" were like.Of course as soon as they pulled in the yard and saw all the other dogs and how well cared for they were they stopped the car and let her out....to their credit they had taken immaculate care of her and it was obvious they had become very attached.I know it was hard for them to give her back after so long,but at least they did the right thing (they even refused to accept the reward!).
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you should never give up hope or stop trying to find a lost pet....if that couple hadn't spotted our flyer and realized from the pic how loved and missed Lacey really was ,my sister probably NEVER would've gotten her back.

I'd go insane with worry if one of my babies went missing! Loki is never outside without me (since we live in an apartment) and always wears his tags when we are out...but I am also going to go ahead and get him microchipped (especially after reading THIS thread). India (my Macaw) is microchipped,but I am also considering getting a DNA profile done on her as well because bird theft is very common here ,and she sleeps outside in the lanai :-?

[Guest Anonymous]

I would DIE. I would just DIE. :cry:

I could NEVER forgive myself...lets face it...WE are responsible for these animals bcause they are not capable of caring for themselves as well as we can....so if my dog went missing, I would first do EVERYTHING in my power to find him, but if all failed, I dont know if I would ever trust myself as an animal owner again....because regardless of the circumstances of the dogs disappearance, I was the only one who could have taken measures to prevent it... THAT is not to say i judge ANYONE who's animal has gone missing because I dont. its tragic and it happens....I amsimply saying that this how I feel about MY responsibility towards my pets.

[Horsefeathers!]

If this has been covered, please forgive me, but I only kind of scanned through the past posts on this thread (I'm doing good just to sit up... my ear really hurts :-? ).

I have lots and lots and lots and lots and... (you see where this is going) lots of photos of each of my eight dogs. Most people like to have photos made of their pets looking their best. I have those, too, but I also have several photos of each of them in various states of disarray. Photos of anything from them being freshly groomed to being downright uuuuuuuugly and desperately in need of a groom. I don't know about anyone else, but my dogs don't look freshly groomed 100% of the time. If one of them were to ever go missing, a split photo showing them in their recently groomed state and then looking a bit disheveled could be valuable in identifying a dog as it can often look like two entirely different dogs.

Glad to see you participating, Andrew. :)

[Guest Anonymous]

Kiwi napisał(a):

I'm well aware the SPCAs don't have scanners, and I doubt very much if our pound does either.

ARE YOU SERIOUS? I have never actually inquired, but seriously - isn't that the ONE place you would want to have scanners in case your dog ever turned up there?
What happens if my dog goes missing and six months later gets turned into an SPCA? Obviously, im not still checking in every day six monhs later and perhaps they dont care enough or realise that this is my dog....shouldnt they have a scanner?
My dog is microchipped. If he ever goes missing, a scanner could mean life or death or simply the difference between him ever seeing home again or NOT....
I am very dissappointed to hear this and tommorrow I will be finding out if the local SPCA has one, or if Im going to have to start raising HE@$ until they get one!!! DO we have ANY IDEA of the number of animals that could be saved and reunited with loving homes if these institutions had scanners?????? :mad:
EBBY

[Guest Anonymous]

I would FREAK!?!? :roll: I would put up posters, call the shelter, and everything thing I could, and post here too. I've had it happen to me before. :( Very sad when it happens.

My sisters Boxer was stolen from her when she was a puppy. She had the radio station cast it and some guy called and said some man had sold her to him and he gave her back to my sister. Then it happened again but this time they didn't find her. :(

[Guest Anonymous]

I would recommend that everyone check to see that their local shelters have microchip scanners. If your dog wears tags too it wouldn't hurt to add the word "microchipped" to the tags. Most vets in my area have scanners and will happily scan a stray for someone.

Whitney and Mason are microchipped. I've been debating tattoos for quite some time. Yes, they do occasionally have to be "touched up". the area of the tattoo would have to be kept shaved. For many dogs I think both the tattoo and microchip would be ideal. My dogs are Dobes....very well socialized and well mannered Dobes but, there's no way in heck that they would possibly allow a stranger to roll them on their back to look for a tatoo. (This is akin to the antiquated "alpha roll" that is usually good for getting yourself bitten...not recommended for Dobes!) No, my dogs have never bitten anyone but, no stranger has ever tried to roll them either! <G>

Still....I keep thinking that perhaps they would be unconscious or with someone for a prolonged period, long enough to trust that person enough to expose their belly. I dunno, I'm still pondering.

One other thing about tattoos is trying to figure out just what the heck to tattoo on the dog. Not a phone number, given the way I've moved during my life that's no good. Not your social security number because SS won't give out information. If a purebred dog, you can tatoo your AKC registration number.....a shelter would probably recognize that for what it was but, John Q public probably wouldn't have a clue. There are also some tattoo registries but, I wonder how widely known they are. I'm on a couple of big Dobe lists, one has over 1000 members, and every so often a person will post about a rescue Dobe they have with a tattoo that they can't figure out. They can read it, just can't figure out what the numbers/letters mean because they don't seem to relate to any of the "norms". At those times various tattoo registries are mentioned and the rescue person tries them. Sometimes they work and sometimes they never find out what the tattoo means.

[Guest Anonymous]

Oh yes, one thing I forgot. The tattoo that I'm considering most seriously is to simply tattoo "microchipped" on my dogs.

[Shannon_C]

The only problem with having the word IDENTICHIP on tags is letting those who find the dog know that he/she as one which i find could be too risky.....there are lots of sick people out there that would do anything to take a Pedigree especially if they see one roaming round the streets and of cause they will try and remove the chip themselves, seriously injurying the dog in the process, it as been known to happen.
Tattooing is also making the dog an easy target, these can easily be removed or covered with dye!

Thats my opinion!

[Guest Anonymous]

Shannon_C napisał(a):

The only problem with having the word IDENTICHIP on tags is letting those who find the dog know that he/she as one which i find could be too risky.....there are lots of sick people out there that would do anything to take a Pedigree especially if they see one roaming round the streets and of cause they will try and remove the chip themselves, seriously injurying the dog in the process, it as been known to happen.
Tattooing is also making the dog an easy target, these can easily be removed or covered with dye!

Thats my opinion!

I don't really understand what you mean by someone stealing a dog's "pedigree". I have 5 generation pedigrees for my dogs on their website, lot of Dobe folks do. If someone were to steal Whitney or Mason it wouldn't do them a bit of good as far as using their pedigrees are concerned. They are registered to me, no one else could use them for breeding purposes and expect the pups to be registered. (OK, Whit is spayed and I do co-own Mason so there are other circumstances but, you get the drift.)

The only type of person who could benefit from stealing a dog for breeding would be a BYB or puppymiller who either would not register the dogs or would use a false registration for the stolen dogs. (For example could use Mason as a stud but attribute it on registration papers to another Dobe.) Either of those cases may improve what they're breeding but neither would allow them to use my dog's pedigrees.

I have never heard of someone trying to "dig out" a microchip. They're so small I would think it would be next to impossible to do.

As far as tattoos go. Folks used to tattoo dogs on the ear but it was far too easy for the ear to be cut off. (Yes, this did happen.) That's the reason for the switch to abdomen or upper thigh tattoos. Removing or obscuring a tattoo isn't easily done. (look at what people go through to have them removed!) I think that if a dog's tattoo was removed or obscured that it would stick out like a sore thumb. No, you may not be able to tell what the tattoo had said but, you sure as heck would know that the dog was stolen.

Permanent ID (microchip or tattoo) is the best way to protect your pet from loss or theft.

[Shannon_C]

I don't really understand what you mean by someone stealing a dog's "pedigree". I have 5 generation pedigrees for my dogs on their website

You have misunderstood what i said. I didnt even mention Pedigree papers being stolen, i was refering to the breeds being stolen, they are the ones that seem to go missing than (crossbreeds) more and more everyday. As for Microchips being taken you never know what sick people are capable of doing in this world to try and steal or destroy the dog if found to have a chip.

I think all dogs should be chipped without anyone knowing, then if they were to go missing and found by someone...that person would take the lost dog to a rescue, police station or vet where they can scan the dog for a chip and then taken back to his owners.

I dont trust anyone but i know everyone as different ideas on this forum.
So let it be.