It can happen very quickly! Your dog gets spooked and runs off, or escapes out the door when you don't even see them.
On January 13th, 2019 we posted on our Facebook page that one of our own had gone missing. Paisley the Bulldog does not like alarms and when the smoke detectors in her house were going off she got scared. The fire dept. came and somehow with people coming and going into the house she escaped. Paisley lives in Wells, Maine and winters in Maine are not kind.
We are happy to say after being outside for 12 days Paisley made her way up to someone's porch who was well aware of the missing Bulldog and called my sister in-law immediately. Let's just say there were LOTS of happy tears by all family members when we got the news. We are grateful our story ended well and Paisley is ok. However the 12 days she was gone were hard and filled with endless hours of searching and sleepless nights.
My sister in-law never gave up and worked around the clock, thinking of other things we could do. She had a full team of people helping and we all took on jobs. It seems so obvious what your action plan would be if you loose your pet, but when you are in the moment some things that are obvious are not.
We certainly hope no one ever needs this information, but we also know better to have a plan in place!! There is not much time to waste when this situation happens. Here's some tips and links to local recovery sites we used, all with helpful information. Paisley the Bulldog is now home resting with lots of warm blankets and lots of treats!!
LOST DOG QUICK ACTION PLAN
Begin your search immediately!
1. Make sure you have a few recent photos of your dog on hand at all times! Know who the animal recovery organizations are in your area and contact immediately!! We used:
https://www.granitestatedogrecovery.com/
2. Call Animal Control Offices, Police Dept. Vets, and Animal shelters within a 20 mile radius. Give them current information (pictures) ask them to post on their Facebook page. Personally visit too and share you flier with them. Share their post on your Facebook page as well and make public.
3. Social Media is very powerful! Post on your Facebook, Instagram page but make sure you have set your post to a public setting where it can be shared by anyone! Also consider putting your flier on the back windshield of your car.
4. Start searching in your own house first. If you have helpers have someone stay by your house phone at all times too just in case someone calls.
5. Reach out to all your neighbors and have them search places like porches, garages, open basements, sheds, under boats, campers, barns or any place a dog might take shelter. Make sure you ALWAYS get permission before going onto someone property!
6. Turn off your electric fence if you have one so your dog will want to come back into your yard.
7. Don't go anywhere without a leash and treats!!!
8. Place a blanket/crate where your dog was last seen and put a bowl of smelly food (canned) in a bowl near the blanket. If you have a hunting trail camera, set it up in this location.
9. Looking at google maps draw a circle in a 1-2 mile radius around the last sighting and put flyers heavily in this area. We had flyers everywhere, knocked door to door in residential areas to let people know. Paisley was found close to her house and her made her way to someone's porch, someone we had spoken to so they knew who to call.
Here' s a few things NOT to do:
Our TOP DOGS for the start of 2022 are Lynda and Otto B.
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