1. After discovering your dog is missing, check all the gates, doors and fences. Find out where he might have busted out or jumped over. This will give you an idea of the direction he may have gone.
2. Check the house and yard VERY thoroughly. Some dogs are hiders and will make themselves very small. Make sure you don't go out searching for your dog for no reason.
3. Canvass the neighborhood in your car, with the window rolled down, yelling the dog's name. Stop and notify/ask any neighbors that you pass on the way.
4. Go back home and start knocking on your neighbors' doors. Go at least five houses out each way asking them if they've seen the dog and leaving your phone number if they do see him later.
5. Go back home and check to see if he's come back looking for dinner. If he's not there, take a full bowl and shake it so he can hear it if he's nearby.
6. Call your local animal control office to see if they've picked up the dog or if they've had a call about him. (Most of these have a dispatch that will answer 24 hours a day.) Leave the dog's identifying information and your contact information with the officer in case the dog comes in.
7. Call your local animal shelter(s). These folks can tell you whether a dog has been dropped off. (If you don't find your dog after a few days, go into the shelter in person and look at the dogs yourself, just in case. Sometimes the employees don't know the full roster of dogs they have.)
8. Call all local vet hospitals and clinics. Start with your dog's vet. Then call the vet closest to your home (if not the same) and work your way out geographically. Emergency hospitals should be called as well.
9. Make signs that say "LOST DOG" in large letters. Include a picture and description of the dog, the dog's name, your name and phone number. Post these around your neighborhood and branch out around the town as you need. Large intersections are best.
10. Go back and start knocking on neighbors' doors again. Ask if they've seen him or heard him. Leave your phone number again in case they do.
11. At this point, if you haven't found your dog, retrace some of these steps. Go back and re-call animal control and the shelter, repost signs and recall vet clinics. Keep looking. Dogs who flee are often scared and unsure about where they are. Someone may have picked him up and is trying to find you. Just don't give up.
Some things to remember about dogs:
- They don't like to be left alone. If your dog has seperation anxiety, get a second dog or a dog walker to check in on him when you are gone for long periods during the day.
- They HATE thunder and lightning. Dogs who are left out alone during these storms (or even in the house) often hurt themselves trying to flee their area. Get these dogs into a crate, away from windows and safely inside during storms.
- They get anxious, bored and depressed when they don't get walked. Even older dogs need daily exercise out of their yard to relieve nervous energy and to give them stimulation. Dogs that are locked in a yard or house all the time without daily walks get destructive and try to get out (mostly because they have nothing better to do).
