Kristin M.
1 month ago
I am so sorry your pup is missing. Here are the first steps to help get them home, sooner and safer.
1. Put out dirty socks and underwear from the dog's favorite human and/or their crate/ bed/ blanket, and favorite soft toy. Also, favorite and smelly wet food or other meats and fresh water.
2. If you have another dog at home that they are close to, or a doggy friend you can call on, get them out there to look. They find their buddies quite often when it's early on and they have the scent trail to follow. Let the dog lead and alert you. Ask them where your missing pup is. They each have a certain way to let you know when they smell or see their buddy.
3. Call non-emergency dispatch, shelters in your and neighboring counties, vets and animal ERs in local area, and highway departments/DPW for local and county municipalities.
4. If you don't know where your pup could be, file a lost report, free versions are just fine, with these online reporting agencies: www.petfbi.org (Lost Dogs of America/Wisconsin), www.pawboost.com (as soon as you get to a payment screen, you don't have to pay. Your free report is filed and they automatically post on their FB page, just go back to the home page and go to My Pets for your report), www.cuddlesunited.com, www.petcolove.org, www.lostmydoggie.com, www.petkey.org, and www.lost-dog.org.
5. Drag their favorite blanket along any area last known, wetted down, all the way from where last known to be to the place lost from, not necessarily home.
6. Also, post on Nextdoor.com right away. If you aren't joined, please join. You can post immediately. This a neighborhood specific app/site that alerts your neighbors and even surrounding neighborhoods to watch for your dog. And ring.neighbors.com is another great neighborhood app/ site you can get leads from.
7. Print out flyer created from your petfbi.org report, it's free and it's there to download. Full page to put in business. And 4x6 size for handing out, this is 4 to a page. Go door to door with them in the direction or area your dog was last seen. This is crucial. You get your best leads this way. Get friends and family to help. But only the dog's favorite human should be calling for the dog, calmly and softly and playfully. Now is not the time to be stern. It can be confusing if everyone is calling from different directions. You can have a couple people drive looking for a sighting but they should also hand out flyers to everyone they see.
> We will help if you need, to get flyers or road signs out and drive for a sighting (if it will be feasible). We can, also, help create a central messenger chat that everyone looking can be in to instantly share leads or sightings in with everyone at once.
>>> Whatever you do ... DO NOT CHASE THE DOG! This can either be a great game of chase for your dog. Or terrifying for your dog. Either way it can chase your dog further away, or possibly into traffic. <<<
If you have a skittish dog and see him or her, get down to the ground and try luring to you. Calm, soft baby talk while not looking directly at him/her. Again, do not chase and this should only be done by the dog's favorite human. No one else.
8. If you see your dog and he or she is friendly and lovey, or very playful, make YOU the IT. Call the pup playfully and run the other way, towards home or the car. Or drop down laughing or crying.
> A lot of people want a drone. Drones are only good if you have a good idea of where the dog is and they aren't hiding in brush, woods, or corn fields. And they should only be used if they can go up really high and zoom in. They also have a very short time frame for battery life and the noise can scare a pup into running more, which you do not want. We use cellular trail cams, with scent stations, to be our quiet eyes. And can get them out in a potential area your pup is believed to be in.
