When dogs find themselves in a crowd, on a busy city street, or near a highway, they may be frightened by loud noises or unfamiliar surroundings and run away. Owners are often at a loss and, instead of taking immediate action, panic and lose precious time.

There is No Time to Waste

Do not expect the dog to return in a couple of hours, act immediately. It is important to search the place where the animal was lost and look for it in neighboring areas. Feel free to ask passers-by and leave them your contact details, even if they don’t have any information. If these people remember or see something important later, they should have a way to contact the owner of the dog.

Dog owners walking their pets nearby can help with the search. They love dogs and often pay attention to them, especially if they are on the street alone.

  • Experts recommend seeking help from children. They often notice things that adults do not pay attention to. Children are curious and observant. But there is no need to ask them to find a lost dog, it’s better to just ask them to share their observations.

Frightened animals usually do not run far, instead hiding in secluded places. When searching the area, you need to constantly call the dog and make sounds familiar to it, such as squeaking with its favorite toy.

To speed up the search and quickly explore the area, any available vehicle, including a car, bicycle, or scooter, will be good.

Familiar Smell

Dogs rely more on their sense of smell than their sight. They not only smell things from afar, but they can also remember and distinguish different smells.

Dogs easily distinguish their owner’s smell from others. That is why experts recommend leaving your items that you have been wearing for a long time, or your pet’s favorite toys, in the search area. Return to the place every few hours. There is a high chance that the dog will find a familiar thing by its smell and stay nearby waiting for the owner.

Modern Ways of Communication

In addition to searching the streets, you can ask for help on social media. Nowadays, any settlement and even individual districts of large cities have their pages on social media. You can get significant support on public pages that unite people living in the same area.

You can post your ads in information communities with a large number of subscribers, thematic groups about dogs of a certain breed, websites, and official pages of animal shelters and volunteers. Websites about missing pets, special forums, and bulletin boards will also be good.

  • Scammers can use your contact details left on forums and social media. They often call and demand a monetary reward for information about the dog they allegedly found. Do not transfer money to anyone until your dog is at home.

Of course, you won’t get many useful calls and messages, so it’s better to use any available information.

Print Ads

Despite the great popularity of the Internet, print ads remain an extremely effective method. Print out as many flyers as possible to cover neighboring districts or localities.

When making an ad, make sure you follow these few rules:

  • Attach a bright color photo of your pet. It should take up half the flyer to immediately attract the passers-by attention.
  • Come up with an eye-catching headline. Specify a fixed amount of remuneration or the dog’s name in it.
  • List multiple phone numbers. You can include the phone numbers of all your family members or friends, so as not to miss the information if something happens to your device.
  • Do not give too much information. It is better not to attract the scammers’ attention by naming an expensive breed or the exact place where the animal went missing. Instead, focus on a detailed description of its appearance and distinctive features and specify an approximate search area.

You can place ads on all available surfaces, including bus stops, street lights, entrance doors and bulletin boards near large supermarkets; you can also leave them in pet stores, animal hospitals, and animal shelters. It is better to put each of them in a file to protect from rain or snow.

Any dog, even the most intelligent and well-mannered, can run away. Take care of this in advance, for example, use microchipping, buy a GPS tracker for animals, or put an identification tag with the owner’s contact information on the dog’s collar.