What to do if your dog gets lost

Having a horrid scare first time in my life, I thought I would start a thread what to do.
Logan jumped a 6 foot fence like it wasn't even there which put him right into a National state forrest. Besides trying to call them back ( that is a given) and looking the area ( that is given) here is what else we did.
My husband called- the sheriffs office, the game warden ( because of the forrest), home again ( the microchip), and the animal warden. After searching in the woods I came back and called breed rescue to let her know. She gave me many things I believe did help. This is what she said
1. Put a long line on another dog ( in our case Zubin). and walk in the woods. She said if I saw him to sit down so he would come to me.
2. Leave a door open with food and water. We could not put out food because the wildlife would come in there- but we did open the screen porch door with a big bowl of water.
3. Continue to walk and call in a calm voice as much as you can- dogs can hear panic in your voice.
4. Praise their arrival ( that is a given as well..). Remember- you are praising coming home- not the act..
Okay feel free to add..
I did make up a poster that night when it got dark I was going to plaster on shopping centers, vets office etc- but thank God- did not need it. I went to bed at 12. At 2am I got up to check he wasn't there. Laid back down and at 4:30am when I got up to start the search again- there he was in the screen porch laying on the rug like " mom let me in.."

also, call local area pet stores.

you'd be surprised how many people call pet stores asking if they knew about any dogs that have been found.....

My old Houndsman's trick is in your other thread

Not to mention well wishes that cross post on other forums.. lol.. :hail:

hey I will do what I can! Dam*n the torpedoes LOL.

ROFLMBO.. yup.. ( as I was crashing around in the woods at night.. lol.. )

First i alert all my neigbors that i think will care and keep an eye out. I call the shelters, and the area vets. I put up signs EVERYWHERE. BIg ones. I start in the circle around my house and then expand that in the directions i think the dog is most likely to run, if it rains i go back and put new ones up.....making sure to hit all sides of of 4 way stops so the sign can be read no matter what. I call Lost DOg Registry and go on the web and post at Fido FInder and any other sites that i can put the info down.

Good advice given.

Not sure what to add..because in our living place now, I find it hard to imagine she would run away.

Next point- NEVER assume they can't....

I know she can. I assume she can. But it is hard to imagine that she would.

Assume different than imagine.

That is why it's always a shock when they do it...LOL.

I've heard folks losing dogs at rest stops, on walks, after car accidents, etc it doesn't always happen "at home". Dogs spook, or just flat out misbehave at times,

Oh yes...not always particularly helpful in a scared dog...but a nice recall can help a ton.
Calling in any tone of voice only works if they have an inkling to return to you.

Oh an I forgot...WAY EXPENSIVE...and wouldn't be practical here with dogs that chew on one another...but they DO have those GPS collars now.

I expect it's a mere matter of time before they can embed something in a chip placed IN the dog like they do with cell phones...too. Not sure if I'd use one of those but it's sure be nice to be able to see a little "blip blip" and know it was your dog...moving and the exact location.

ohhhh yea - Logan heard me "re-call " his name.. over and over.. Gives new definition to the word.. :rofl1:

GOd help me Pepper has a recall now and if she can learn it ANY DOG can. I felt like i was knocking my head on the wall, but we are 2 weeks now without a reminder and her whole attitude about everything has changed. REcall should be every dog owner's priority right along with house breaking. WE worked at it, many times a day, every day, many many times a day and made games out of it to. Like i would hide outside with hamburger and which ever dog found me first when i said come got it. BIg treats in the beginning,,then cheese or whatever, Now we play tag. I say COme and she runs to me where i have my hand out...we tag and she is off again. THat's ok...i shoooo her with great praise. SHe adores this game and it has completely replaced the get away that i imagine many people had given up on before i found her. IT did take an e collar for boundry training, and the initial come where she would just bolt out the door and refuse even pizza being held out the car door. I never needed one before, but i did with Pepper because she was so ingrained that she would hide to zip out the door usually hitting you in the legs on her way out. I would not hesitate to use one again if i came across a dog like that.

ONce a dog learns about the free world, and has mastered the skills of getting out it is a hard habit to break. I hope you can work your recall before your dog has more to grin about.

Good tips...when Milo got "lost" (thankfully only for about a half hour) I ran up and down the street in torrential rain screaming and crying, probably didn't help at all. When I went home to get the car, he was there. If he wasn't...I probably would have crashed in a panic, or collapsed from exhaustion or something.

Maybe we should sticky this?

Oh thank god he's home. (((HUGS)))

With Middie when he's loose, but not lose, I play bow. It works. I swear. He bounds up and tackles me head-on, I grab a collar or have a slip lead ready, hitch him up, we play a bit, take him back to the yard and shower him with treats and play for a while... I make sure he has a GOOD time after comes to me, lol.

I never thought I would have to have a plan other than basics.. Last night taught me- just like in a fire- have a plan, numbers etc..

Losing a dog can be scary, when my mom and I were moving from Phoenix down to another part of AZ we stopped at a rest area and her dog at the time, Osa, managed to get out of the vehicle (yes she was riding in the bed of the truck but it was a camper shell and nobody noticed until we were 200 miles away because of all our stuff packed up)
So we got "home" and no Osa...my mom drove all the way back to Phoenix to look for her (rest area is about 20 miles outside of it) and was freaking out...She got to the rest area and Osa was sitting right where she had parked initially like 7-8 hours previously. That's just plain lucky! If she hadn't been there we would have never found her (this was in probably 1989 or so, well before microchipping)
The only time I've lost one of mine was when my 4 yr old left the front door open...I didn't even know Smokey had gotten out until I got home and was like "uhmmmm where's the dog?!" - I was scared to death too because we hadn't had him long and he wasn't microchipped and had no collar on...before I could call the local shelter and such Animal Control (military police) was knocking on my door with him in hand - luckily they had seen him before and knew where he belonged. Oh, and the MP chewed my butt off for him not having a collar on and was doing the "what would have happened if I hadn't seen him before" story - my thought was "take him to the shelter on base that I was about to call? But all in all he was right and it was wrong of me not to have a collar on him.
So now I make sure he's never without an ID collar and he's been microchipped...just in case.

I would also alert all neighbours, particiularily if I was in a rural area because the risk of being shot is pretty high.
Then pounds, shelters etc. And physically check in daily because dogs have been missed by staff before when checking for lost pets themselves.
Alert all vets, because LOTS of vets get animals droppedoff to them when they are found. Or, if the dog is picked up by soimeone that intend to keep it, when they take it in for a check up or something, then the vet may recognise it.

We'be had accidents of leaving doors/gates open. One was terrible. My mum and sister had gone through the side gate to pick me up one day and had all the dogs for a walk. WHen we got home we went throught he front door. The next day I left Mac and Buster in the bakyard all day, got home, put the others out. And not until I heard Harry barking out the front did I relise the side gate had been open all day. I ran around the side, called them. Buster hadn't even left, Sophie was still int eh house. By the time I got back around to the front door Mac had run back in to my calls. I ran out the fron. Ran up the road calling Harry, heard footsteps behind me and here is, hurtling after me at a million miles an hour.
They are always extra keen to get home when they get out, like they want to tell us about they'tr adventure.