How to find a lost dog

The suggestions that follow are from Darla Duffy and other great volunteers at Sheltie Rescue and you will see Shelties mentioned throughout. Whatever kind of dog you're looking for, just change the name and take into account 'your' breed's characteristics as you read along. It will help you decide how your particular dog might behave if it is lost, confused and on its own.

MOST IMPORTANT is to get the word out. Go on foot to every household in the area. Not everyone gets a newspaper, nor do they read the LOST ads. If there are signs out, attention is drawn to the fact that there is a lost Sheltie. Then if somebody happens to see a dog, they 'will' pay attention and almost always will try to help a lost 'Sheltie'. Say 'Sheltie' on your advertising mode; in smaller print, however, say 'miniature Collie' because some people have no idea what a Sheltie looks like but everyone remembers Lassie! We don't care about semantics at this point in time, call it a miniature Collie!

If this was a timid dog to begin with, he will be hiding, petrified. When hunger finally overtakes fear, he will venture out of his hiding place. That is when mass notification of the whole area will pay off. Somebody will see him and call a phone number from a sign or one of the business cards you will make up. And when that call comes, somebody needs to GO RIGHT THEN because the dog is going to have fear overtake hunger again and go back to hiding somewhere.

Do large posters 14x21 in very bold print that can easily be seen by a passing vehicle. Make sure you include the telephone number of someone immediately available to check out a sighting. No small size signs. You want someone driving by to be able to see the phone number easily so that they can call from a cell phone if they spot the dog.

In this age of computers, it is easy to do your own business cards. I make up cards with the dog's picture, the date lost, where lost, phone numbers...and hand those out to children, people out walking their dogs, running, riding bikes, etc. Sometimes they throw away flyers where they'll keep a business card.

Always include the phone number of someone who is there and ready to take a call all the time. When someone calls with a sighting, you must go NOW, not hours later. Dogs, especially shelties, usually do not meander around the same place; they seem to be 'going somewhere', whether it's back to their hideout or heading for a new one.

Lost Shelties are in 'flight mode'. If you think they will come to you when you call them, that has not been my experience. They see a human or a dog and they are gone. They don't wait to see who it is.

Most times, a humane trap is a very good idea. If you have a decent Animal Control, they may loan you one if you have a sighting. Some of us have purchased our own traps. Place clothing, toys and food in the trap and give it time. Go frequently to release any captured critters that you didn't want to capture, like cats and raccoons.

Be diligent in your search. Don't think he will come home on his own. Sometimes they do, but you cannot take a chance. Make sure everyone knows this dog is being searched for and continually 'be seen searching'! This alerts anyone who might have the dog to the fact that you are not going to give up and go away!

Words of advice from a dog officer: make sure you keep calling dog officers. You MUST physically check the Animal Control facility and Humane Society yourself. Do not leave the decision as to whether a dog in 'jail' is a Border Collie, Aussie or a Sheltie up to an inexperienced, low-paid shelter worker! And check the vet clinics, too. Yes, you'll drive them crazy, but better safe than sorry.

Talk to the local delivery people; mail carriers; oil, gas and electric company workmen and ask them to keep an eye out for the dog. Give them one of those business cards. Seek out every child in the neighborhood (kids always know where the dogs are on the street) and give them a flyer or business card with your number. Post flyers at schools and playgrounds.

Most importantly, remember, lost dogs do not usually range. They usually stick to one particular area. Now, your dog might have travelled a couple of miles before she got to that area, or she might be around the corner, but odds are, if she's loose and not stolen, that she's either with someone or she's staked out an area. Make sure to look for her at her regular meal times. This seems to bring lost and frightened dogs out of hiding, being the creatures of habit that they are. Rule of thumb, though, expand by one mile in each direction for every day she's been missing. And call all Animal Control Officers, shelters and vets in those areas. Mail flyers to all local vets...those within 30 minutes driving distance.

Create 'drop zones' where you can leave food and an article of your clothing so that if she runs across it, she will stay with your scent. We successfully found one of my own dogs that I had recently placed when she escaped her new owners and couldn't be caught. We had reports on her in an area, left a shirt there, and there she stayed until caught. (She was terrified and wouldn't go near her new owners.) If possible...and she's used to it...leave her crate outside, too.

Since I spend a good part of my day looking for lost dogs, I can tell you that they are really easy to miss. They can be five feet away and you'll miss them, but they are creatures of habit and, even when lost, they stick to a routine.

You need to think like a dog. What does she like? Where would she be most likely to head? Is there another house or yard in the neighborhood similar to yours? She might be there. If she's crossed a street, she might have a visual barrier preventing her (in her mind) from returning. Follow the lay of the land; which way would 'you' be most likely to go if you were she? Put one of your other dogs on a leash and see which way it's inclined to head for a general idea. Try a whistle...like a gym whistle...which carries a lot further than a voice and instantly catches a dog's attention.

If you suspect the dog may have been stolen, state on the flyer that the dog is microchipped and, if it's a bitch, that she is spayed. I put NEEDS MEDICATION in large print on my flyers and posters. And, if at all possible, offer as large a reward as you can afford.

Stating that a dog is microchipped or tattooed on the flyers and posters gets results. I had one returned almost immediately after I added that. We believed the dog had been 'removed' from its yard unwillingly and when it was known that the dog could be positively identified, even at a later date, it was returned.

If you are thinking someone 'has' the dog because there have been no sightings...two things. As you are driving around looking, tape one of those large posters to the back of your vehicle so that everywhere you go, people know 'somebody' is still looking for this dog and is NOT just going to go away!

And last, try writing in big red letters on the poster "BELOVED CHILD'S PET". Maybe you'll tug at someone's heartstrings if they think the dog belongs to a child.

Good Luck!

Darla Duffy

Sheltie Rescue

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