What To Do When Your Dog (or Pet) Goes Missing
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BEFORE Your Dog Goes Missing
If you have been waffling on what tracking device to get BEFORE you lose your dog, I highly recommend getting a Tractive GPS Tracking device for dogs. We got one after finding Luna, its very affordable, and it would have been extremely helpful finding Luna sooner! Do this NOW! And ensure your pet has a microchip that is active and has accurate registration information!
If you're reading this after you've lost your pup, here's a comprehensive list of next steps:
What To Do When Your Dog Goes Missing
Recently, our dog Luna went missing after her long line in the yard came unhooked as she was literally sitting right next to me. A moment later, she was gone, and didn't return for 5 days. During that time, we compiled a comprehensive list and did everything the experts suggested to get her home. Make sure to bookmark this in the event your pup winds up out-of-sight one day!
First 24 hours
1. Immediately report them as LOST on the following sites, in case they are turned in by a helpful person:
- 24PetWatch
- PetFBI
- PawBoost
- 24PetConnect
- HomeAgain
- PetFinder
- NoKillNetwork.org
- Petcolove.org
- Call your Microchip company and report as lost so no one can change their info if found
2. Contact the following resources to ensure they're aware of your pet's microchip number, notify that they're lost, and provide them with one of the above websites provided Lost Posters to display at their location with your phone number:
- Your Vet
- Humane Societies near you (Call these often!)
- Emergency Vet Hospitals near you
- Local Sheriff and Non-Emergency Police
- Post Office near you (Postal Workers will keep an eye out on their routes!)
3. Post on the following social media sites:
4. Put out their food and water, bed, clothes/blankets that smell like you outside their potty door and where they were last seen to help them catch the scent and make it home on their own.
Use trail cams to catch them in the act at the spots away from home (again - ask for permission if not on your property!). We used these SpyPoint that had cellular communication and a free plan of images up to 100
5. Remember to turn on your cameras full time (if you have them) to find them if they come home when you're out looking
6. Keep a list of all people/sites/businesses/sites and locations you'll need to notify you've been #reunited
24-48 Hours Missing
- Print out flyers from one of the sites that provided you with a Lost poster and put them in between people's mailbox and mailbox flag (you could be charged if put in the mailbox for postage)
- Hand them out to neighbors, post office workers, and hang them at local businesses, dog parks, pet stores (always ask for permission!)
- Walk out and back from your home several times in many directions. Use your other dog to help track them down if possible. Create these "scent paths" to help them find their way back
- Create the following Poster to put on street corners with high traffic. We used these yard signs from Home Depot with Neon Tape and asked permission from all locations!
- Grill bacon or other smelly food outside (fish, burgers) to help their hunger bellies lead them home!
- Have friends and family help hand out flyers and walk areas where they could be hiding, or follow up on sightings to help
- Consider a thermal drone for hire in your area (some track deer for hunting season and are willing to help lost dogs). Just be careful and ensure they're a legit business and certified drone professional.
- Consider working with a legit animal communicator. We worked with a team from PetTalkwithAlex
- Contact Scent Dogs in your area that could help track down your pet
48+ Hours Missing
- Check PetFinder daily (you can filter for most recently added) to try and locate your pet before they're "sold" if they were stolen
- Visit local humane societies in person and ask to see all new pets brought in (even if not yet adoptable)
- Never give up hope! Up to 93% of lost pets come home, so the odds are in you favor! Stay diligent and ensure you don't let the intrusive thoughts win. Use a meditation to keep up your positive spirit. We used this one!
- If you have social anxiety, just keep reminding yourself that finding your pet is the most important thing and you can do hard things for them, because they are worth it! Don't be afraid to ask for help!
What To Do When You're #Reunited
- Take your pet to the Vet as soon as possible and get them checked out!
- Give them a bath (if possible)
- Remove all posters and flyers from locations and notify all businesses, social media and friends looking for your pet
- Update all the sites you marked them on as Lost to Reunited
- Call your microchip company to alert them your pet has been found
- Consider making a donation to any site that helped find your pet to keep them running!
- Purchase a tracking device (if you didn't have one already) like Tractive - you may even get an email from PawBoost with an offer for a free one when you activate it
- Save all posters and flyers in case this ever happens again to save time!
