How to find a dog if it ran away

Why a dog can run away

Dog handlers believe that the main reasons for the escape of a pet are fear and curiosity. In addition, boredom and the desire to "get to know" a relative of the opposite sex in a certain period can serve as motivation.

Dogs most often run away and get lost in the warm season, when their owners take them to the country or go with them to nature. In these conditions, dogs are given more freedom than in the city. Unfortunately, sometimes animals use it to the detriment of themselves and their owners.

Loud noises can be the reasons that cause fear in dogs and encourage them to run away to hide. For example, car horns, thunderclaps, pyrotechnic explosions. For dogs who ran away, scared of fireworks, experts even introduced an original definition – "May dogs". A pet can also experience fear and confusion when it finds itself in a crowd of people, at a crowded train station or a busy highway.

Some dogs are overly curious. They may be interested in a passerby with a package, where tempting smells come from, a cat or dog running past, and even more so, a company of relatives. Actually, a naturally curious dog, not limited in movement by a collar with a leash, is able to follow any moving object.

Dogs who are bored in the courtyards of country houses, especially when it comes to energetic animals, sometimes turn out to be very inventive in finding ways to escape from their native walls. In addition, they can run away regularly. Depending on the size and characteristics of the breed, dogs jump over the fence or climb over it, climbing first on low, nearby objects. It is not uncommon for animals to open the door on their own or squeeze through the gap if the doors are loosely closed. Hunting dogs, distinguished by their love of digging, can dig a tunnel under the fence very quickly. Representatives of this group of breeds, by the way, are often lost on the hunt, if they are still inexperienced or insufficiently trained.

How to find a runaway dog

The first thing to do when you find that the dog has run away is to try to take control of the situation, discarding emotions, and in no case give in to panic. The most important thing is to start looking for a pet as soon as possible, before he has time to go far. It is best to take actions in two directions at once – bypassing the nearby territory and informing as many people as possible about the loss of the animal.

Call your family and friends, ask them to help with a direct search in the neighborhood where you live, or in spreading information about the loss. So that you personally don't waste precious time, let them create flyers with the text about the missing dog, its photo, contact phone number, and then print them out as much as possible.

Together with assistants (preferably with those whom the dog recognizes), go around the area, covering as much territory as possible. At the same time, someone has to stay on duty in the place where the dog left the owner: sometimes the animal returns there.

The helpers should split up. Let everyone call the dog by name as loudly as possible, show passers-by her photos on a leaflet or a mobile phone screen. It is important to carefully examine every meter, because a frightened dog can hide anywhere: under a car, in bushes, in an open basement – a flashlight will be useful in this case. In your search, try to simulate the situation, because you should know in which places your dog usually hides when he is afraid.

Put up ads about missing dogs in crowded places. These can be transport stops, entrances to houses, tree trunks, bulletin boards near shops, schools, hospitals, post offices.

Tell about your situation to people working in the search location – sellers, movers, janitors, security guards in institutions and shops, a local policeman. Ask mothers walking with strollers, elderly people sitting on benches, if they have met your dog. Leave your contacts to everyone, because people can not always immediately figure out whether they have seen your dog or not, and after thinking about it, maybe they will remember. Children are able to help – they often notice things that adults do not pay attention to, and, as a rule, kids are responsive and not indifferent to animals.

Search for all the phone numbers and addresses of dog shelters, animal trapping services, veterinary clinics where someone could give your lost pet. Call these institutions or, preferably, go there in person. If you do not find your dog there, then you will establish contacts with employees who will call you back if she appears there.

If all your efforts were in vain, proceed to the remote search for the escaped dog. Report the loss on social networks, giving priority to thematic groups for finding animals, chats of neighboring neighborhoods or houses: perhaps someone has already found your fugitive. Many people believe that reposts in social networks, along with posting ads, are the most effective ways to find a runaway dog.

Keep in mind that while looking for your pet, you may face fraud, especially if you express a desire to reward the person who finds your pet in the missing person ad. In order not to become a victim of crooks, do not indicate in the leaflet absolutely all the special signs of the dog. Subsequently, by asking a clarifying question about the missed nuances, you can easily determine whether you are being deceived or not.

Precautions

It is better to prepare for any trouble in advance, including the loss of a pet. The owners who chipped it have a good chance to quickly find the escaped dog. Many people know about this modern method of animal identification today. When they find a lost dog, they immediately take it to a veterinary clinic. There, the chip is scanned, and, having found the contact details of the owners, they tell them the good news. The chip acts as an effective replacement for brands on the skin of animals, which are erased over time, tags and labels on collars that tend to get lost.

It is desirable to have an already prepared sample of the missing dog announcement, so that in the event of such a development of events, it remains only to print it. This will help to start the search faster, because every hour the probability of finding a dog decreases. On the leaflet there should be a photo of a pet, your contact details, the inscription in large letters "THE DOG is MISSING". It is better to enclose ads in cellophane files to protect them from precipitation.

Forget about samovygul. "Mine will never run away" is a very naive and irresponsible statement. If you are with a dog in an unfamiliar place, a leash should be a mandatory attribute. Going with a pet to a crowded and noisy location, use a harness instead of a collar, because a frightened dog can turn out of the collar. If your dog has a powerful physique, it is advisable to use both a collar and a harness, that is, you will need two leashes or a stitch.

In a private suburban area, care must be taken to ensure that the fence is complete. Cunning fans of digging tunnels will not be able to escape if a wire mesh is stretched under the fence. And, of course, you need to make sure that the gate is always tightly closed.