Great Tips on Searching for Lost Dogs

(PHOTO: Snoozing photo of our late dog Buzz- 2005)
I received these great tips from an anonymous blog reader - to help people looking for their lost dogs.
1. FIRST put up signs around your neighborhood.
2. Talk to your neighbors.
3. Tell your USPS Mail Carrier and show a photo to him/her.
4. Go to GOOGLE MAPS, enter your address followed by a comma and “veterinary” it will pull up ALL the Pet Clinics closest to your home. Call them ALL. You’ll be surprised at how helpful they all are and they will give you other ideas too.
5. GO TO the local dog pound, SPCA and other animal shelters. Go in person and check every two days! Do not take someone’s word on the phone that your dog is not there.
6. Fill out a missing pet notice online at SPCA.org.
7. CONSIDER contacting “Dogs Finding Dogs” they are NOT a scam but have tracking dogs to help locate you pet. You have to do this sooner than later. www.dogsfindingdogs.com
8. Another Dog Tracker service http://www.puregoldpettrackers.com/
9. Talk to the “Regular” people you see out and about in your neighborhood----the dog walkers, the walkers, runners, bicyclists, the newspaper carrier.
10. Put a notice on FaceBook that you’re looking for your lost dog.
11. Check out the website www.findtoto.com it’s a site that robo-calls all the residents in a square mile around your home. Let’s say just 3 out 10 people even listen to the call…..well that’s a lot more people who will be notified who wouldn’t otherwise know.
12. Even if you are not a member let your local Community Association know your dog is missing.
13. Check ALL of the DOG RESCUE groups. Not just one specific to your dogs breed.
14. Check out the website www.amberpetalert.com it is like “Find Toto”
15. If you live close to the border of another jurisdiction check the Animal Control Agency and Dog Pound in BOTH areas.
Also keep in mind that a good Samaritan, someone like me, would not just take your dog to the closest vets office. I would take a found dog to MY Vet’s office which might be further away from your home. Also another thing to keep in mind for example, I live in Glen Burnie, but if I found a dog I would not think twice of taking it to a shelter in Annapolis. So your pet could be 20 miles away from where it was lost.