The Happy Wanderer – Part 3 of a Series

Do you remember that old song from Girl Scout camp, the Happy Wanderer? “I love to go a-wandering, Along the mountain track, And as I go, I love to sing, My knapsack on my back.”

This is often the scenario played out by the friendly, opportunistic large dog, or a friendly small dog in an unpopulated area. They took the opportunity to go for a wander, smelling new smells, maybe chasing chipmunks and rabbits; but they never gave a moment’s notice that they forgot to bring the map.

As we discussed in Part 2, the chance that the small friendly dog got picked up quite early in his adventure is very high.

But today, we are going to talk about the larger friendly dog that was having a good time but ended up a long ways from home. (In particular, think hounds, labs, huskies, spaniels, setters, pointers, German shepherds and other working and sporting breeds). Whereas, shy lost dogs will often stay within a five mile radius of where they went missing, friendly lost dogs may travel in a linear fashion, zig zagging across the countryside.

These dogs may find their way back home IF you give them a helping hand by leaving food, their bed, and familiar scented articles out for them at the place they went missing from. Do this the entire time they are gone. Refresh the food daily with new smelly canned dog or cat food or some leftovers you are having. Dogs return by scent, not by sight or sound. So that same nose that led him away, may lead him back.

But you don’t want to rely on that, because there are far too many other scenarios that could have occurred.

He could have gotten chased by people who thought he was “just a stray” and didn’t want him in their yard or farmyard.
He may be seen but be assumed to be a wandering farm dog and nobody calls in the sightings.
He could have crossed a river or a bridge and can’t figure out his way back.
He could have been picked up by a Good Samaritan, animal control or the police across a state, county or jurisdiction line and have ended up in a shelter, animal control facility or stray holding facility many, many miles away.
He may have found a food source or some friendly doggy companions at a farm and decided to stay awhile. In our experience, most farmers won’t proactively look for an owner, but will let them hang out as long as they aren’t causing trouble or chasing livestock.
He may do this numerous times, staying somewhere for a few days, then moving on again.
He will eventually end up at a farm, business, or backyard or driveway of somebody who decides to either proactively look for the owner, turn him in, or keep or rehome him.

If they decide to proactively look for an owner or take him to the correct stray holding facility for the area, great! Except that by this time, the owner may have given up or they may not be looking in the right spot. Compound that with the problem that many of these larger friendly breeds look alike (think black lab or yellow lab) and it becomes even tougher to find your dog.

What can you do?

Do everything listed on our Five Things to Do If You Have Lost Your Dog flyer, our Action Plan and then include the following:

Expand your flyering area quickly. Start with a 50 mile radius and then expand to 100 miles. Enlist friends and family to help you. You may want to use an automated calling service or the USPS mailing service called “Every Door Direct Mail” to help you. Check out our Generating Sightings pdf on this website for more ideas. When you get a sighting – go in and heavily re-flyer that area.
Place a yard sign in your own yard.
Place ads in your local newspaper and surrounding newspapers. Many small newspapers are owned by larger companies that can target many communities with one ad. Place an ad with the local radio station also.
Assign a couple of Facebook and tech savvy friends to post on as many different social media sites as possible. Make sure you include a picture and contact information! Many neighborhoods, on line newspapers, vet clinics, pet supply stores, restaurants and bars have Facebook pages. It is an easy and free way to spread the word.
Use intersection signs at strategic locations to catch the eye of the highest number of motorists.
Check Google satellite photos for paths he could be traveling on – railroad tracks, jogging and hiking trails, old logging roads, etc.
Do not limit your thinking with geographical boundaries – “he wouldn’t have crossed that river, or that busy freeway.” Chances are he did and he will.
If you have a familiar looking dog (lab, golden retriever, etc), don’t be afraid to disclose specific details on your flyer. What color collar was he wearing? Distinguishing birthmarks, size, etc. You will need the help of the community and animal shelters to identify him.
Check out every possible lead even if it seems impossibly far away. Never underestimate the distance your dog can travel. Don’t be surprised if your dog doesn’t recognize you at first or doesn’t perform specific behaviors. The stress of being on his own and/or a shelter can alter behavior.
The longer your dog is missing and the more often he is chased, the more likely it is that he will go into “survival” mode. Please refer to our series of articles on capturing a shy, elusive dog.

We can tell you numerous stories of dogs that have gone hundreds of miles and been recovered. Don’t give up! Your dog is out there relying on you to find him and bring him home.

Our tips, ideas and articles are based on information gathered from over thousands of successful lost dog recoveries. Any advice or suggestions made by Lost Dogs of Wisconsin/Lost Dogs Illinois is not paid-for professional advice and should be taken at owner’s discretion.

Persistence and Perseverance Pays Off

Two-and-a-half years ago, when Army Specialist Phyllip Kennedy came home from Afghanistan to Jacksonville, Illinois he received a very special gift from his sister. It was an adorable white and tan pitbull who he named Chewy. Chewy settled in nicely with him, his wife, Jemeica, and 18-month-old Heaven, and quickly became a member of their family.

On July 23rd of this year, the family had a summer barbeque. While no one was looking Chewy made a dash out the back door. “When she first went missing I was devastated, said Phyllip. “We immediately started walking up and down each street yelling her name for three hours.” Next, he began the search strategies that Lost Dogs Illinois recommends- flyers in the area, signs on poles and at intersections, reports to authorities, visiting and calling animal control facilities, placing familiar objects in the area and posting ads on LDI’s Facebook page and other networking sites like Craigslist. Strangers he connected with on Facebook even printed flyers and passed them out in their neighborhoods.

Despite these exhaustive efforts, Phyllip went several days without any trace of hope. He said, “After about a week of nobody claiming to have seen her I was starting to worry that somebody had picked her up.” What happened over the next two weeks was one of the most dramatic searches we at LDI have ever seen.

It began when Phyllip received a phone call from someone who saw Chewy’s lost dog ad and said he saw her at a trailer park on the other side of town. Phyllip raced to the site and spoke with the park’s manager. He told Phyllip that residents were not allowed to have pitbulls as pets, but that he had recently seen a kid walking one. The park manager had asked the boy about the pitbull and he claimed to just be dog sitting. The park manager knew who the boy’s grandmother was, so Phyllip went to talk to her. He showed her a picture of Chewy but, Phyllip recalled, “she said that she had never seen a dog like her before.”

Phyllip went to the police station and filed a missing dog report. They all went to the grandmother’s house, but when she didn’t answer the door, the police said there was nothing else they could do. Phyllip didn’t give up. Not believing the woman’s story, he later went back to the trailer park. She admitted that after that visit from the police, her grandson became fearful and sold Chewy. She gave Phyllip the name and address of the people who bought her.

Phyllip called the police with this lead and they met him at the address the grandmother gave him. A woman who lived there gave him some more bad news: her brother-in-law sold Chewy shortly after buying him. The woman gave the police the address of the people who bought the dog and Phyllip followed them there. That’s where the wild goose chase would come to an end.

The police knocked on the door of the house. A man answered and was shown a picture of Chewy. The man said, “This looks just like this dog that I bought today.” By that point, Phyllip knew that these words didn’t necessarily mean that Chewy was there. The man disappeared inside his house while Phyllip and the police waited in the front yard. He returned to the door with Chewy. Phyllip remembered, “When I saw her I called her name and she ran and jumped off of the porch and straight to me, tail wagging and all.” With the surprising news that this man has just purchased another family’s dog, he was happy to return Chewy to her family.

After 15 days, Chewy was back with her family who say they gave her lots of love and then immediately made an appointment to get her spayed, microchipped and registered. When asked what advice he has for those whose dogs are missing he said, “Don’t give up hope! Post it all over the internet, call the police and file a missing dog report, call the local radio station, go door to door with fliers, give fliers to all of the local animal shelters. Eventually the word will spread enough and hopefully, you will get help from all over just like I did. There are still good people out there that care for your baby as much as you do that know that a dog just like one of your kids!”

Navigating the Maze of Stray Holding Facilities

Your dog has gone missing and there is a good chance that he has ended up in an animal control facility or stray holding facility. This article will help you understand how the system works and will help maximize your chances of locating your dog.

Remember though, that every state has different laws and procedures, so you will need to familiarize yourself with your local area.

Dogs are considered property in all fifty states and most states have some sort of “Stray Hold” law that is designed to give an owner a chance to reclaim their dog. This may be as short as three days or as long as seven days.

Most municipalities will assign a “stray contract” with an entity in their community to house the “strays” until the owner reclaims them. These are the ONLY facilities that should be housing lost dogs. Rescues should not be accepting or housing lost dogs unless they hold the contract for your area. When they accept lost dogs without the contract, it adds another layer of confusion to the system, and is one more barrier to getting lost pets back home.

Many different terms may be used to describe facilities which also add to the confusion. It may be called the pound, an impound facility, a stray holding facility, an animal control facility, an animal shelter, or a humane society. It may have SPCA attached to the name, although this does not mean it is connected with the national organization, the ASPCA. Vet clinics, boarding kennels, town offices and police stations may also house lost dogs. Stray holding facilities may be a private business, a non-profit organization or a totally government run organization. Regardless, the animal control contract is paid for with tax payer dollars that compensate the facility for impounding and housing your dog while he is lost. You have a right to know how your tax dollars are being spent and how the system works! These services are also subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests if you run into problems.

The stray holding facility can be an elaborate large central animal shelter with all the bells and whistles of modern technology. These facilities may also operate as a humane society and will adopt your dog out if you don’t reclaim him in time. Or, it may be a garage or small kennel on the back of somebody’s property. The stray contract may be held by somebody that doesn’t have a cell phone or microchip scanner; let alone a computer with internet service to help get the word out that they have your dog.

It is your responsibility to advocate for your lost dog and make yourself aware of all the different stray holding possibilities in your area. Check with your local town offices and police and sheriff’s departments for a list. You will want to expand this, as time lapses. Your dog may being held several counties away and you will only have a very short time to locate and reclaim him. Leave no stone unturned!

Dogs that come off of “Stray Hold” are either made available for adoption at the facility, transferred to another rescue or shelter for adoption, or euthanized. We cannot stress enough that time is of the essence and you may want to enlist some friends or family to help you scan the websites, make the phone calls necessary and personally visit all of the facilities in your area. Don’t limit yourself to your county. Remember, dogs walk. They can easily end up in another county, state, or jurisdiction and sad to say, there is not any internal cross-sharing of information between the facilities. Just because you file a lost dog report at one place, doesn’t mean that they share it with the others. In fact, that rarely happens, if at all. It is not uncommon for there to be dozens of stray holding facilities in one county and you will need to check them all!

This lack of information sharing has been the biggest hurdle for the lost pet problem. There isn’t a “central clearing house” for lost pets, like there is for lost children. There are many reasons for this, and it is something that the animal welfare world will need to work towards if shelter deaths in this country are going to decline. Two years after this blog was written, Lost Dogs Illinois partnered with Helping Lost Pets, a map based centralized national database.

The most progressive facilities will post pictures on line or on their Facebook page as soon as the dog is turned in. This has become an invaluable tool for locating owners and saving lives. Some shelters even have volunteer “lost and found matchers” who will try to match up lost dog reports with dogs that are brought in. But again, this is more the exception, than the rule.

Shelters that don’t post pictures on line may adopt out your dog immediately after the Stray Hold has elapsed. You may never know that your dog was there unless you check the “adoptable” photos. These adoption pictures should appear on their website or on Petfinder.org once the dog is up for adoption. But please be forewarned, if your dog is friendly and adoptable, it may only be on the website for a few hours or a few days. If a shelter adopts your dog out, you will not have any recourse unless you are prepared to hire a lawyer and begin a legal battle.

If your dog is old, injured or sick, or shows any kind of stress or aggression in the shelter, (even if it is only from fear), he may very likely be euthanized immediately after his stray hold is up. This can be especially true of larger dogs in the larger urban shelters.

Check out EVERY dog that you think is a possible match for your dog. Errors can be made regarding gender and age; microchips can be missed and breeds can be mis-identified. Even when you go and check in person, don’t be surprised if your dog doesn’t know you or doesn’t exhibit specific behaviors that you would expect to see. The stress of the shelter may make your dog “shut down” and you may overlook him. Please be careful. We are aware of several “near misses” when an owner didn’t recognize their own dog.

Don’t delay, get started now because your dog is depending upon you!

Unlikely Behavior?

This normally surprises people, but it’s true: if your dog is lost, your pet will probably run from you when he or she sees you. Yes, you read that correctly. If lost, your dog, even one that has always been friendly and your devoted companion, will bolt in the opposite direction from where you are.

Your dog will run from you instead of to you because your dog will be in survival mode, not because he or she doesn’t love you. You see, after three or four days on the loose, a dog’s priorities start to change. A dog will reorder what’s important to the following sequence: 1. Predators, including you, 2. Shelter, 3. Water, and 4. Food. A dog, therefore, will do whatever is necessary to avoid predators while pursuing the remaining items on his or her list of priorities.

It’s your pet’s ability to shift mental gears into survival mode that increases the chances that your pet will be returned to you. This ability is also what makes it likely that your dog will view you and anyone else looking for him or her as a predator, or a potential threat.

That is why it is critical for you and everyone else trying to find your dog to refrain from yelling or approaching your dog during your search. It’s great when enthusiastic people rally and join together to find a lost dog. But people, together as a group or alone, are terrifying to a lost pet…and the last thing a scared dog will be tempted to approach is a person, even if that person is the dog’s loving owner.

Spread the message to all of the people that are trying to help you that they need to change their mindset from “Catching” to “Luring”. Use your helpers’ enthusiasm and energy to flyer every house and business in the neighborhood, instead of searching for your dog. You will have a much better chance of success!

Catching a Shy Elusive Dog – Part 1 in a Series

Toby, the Australian Shepherd, was a shy dog. Not only was he wary of strangers, but he had been lost from a strange location (a family member’s house) during the week of the 4th of July. The family was prepared to keep him in the house during the community fireworks display; but a neighborhood party erratically shooting off fireworks two days before the big day was unexpected. Toby bolted and was lost.

Toby had four strikes against him. He had four out of the five risk factors that will make him an elusive dog:

a shy demeanor
a breed that tends to get frightened easily and goes into “survival” mode
lost from an unfamiliar location
frightened by a stressful situation

Pair this with the usual response of owners who in a panic tend to do all the wrong things to catch their dog; and the story could have had a sad ending.

Fortunately it did not. The family followed good advice and were successfully able to recover Toby safely. This next series of articles is going to focus on techniques for recovering a shy dog, and/or those dogs lost from a stressful situation or an unfamiliar location. These techniques are different than those you would employ for a friendly dog lost from an opportunistic situation – and we’ll address those in a future series.

But, in preparation for the 4th of July, let’s get started on the shy dog series. We know it will be our busiest week of the year. Thank you for helping us by sharing this information with anyone you know who may have lost their dog. Part 2

Our tips, ideas and articles are based on information gathered from over thousands of successful lost dog recoveries. Any advice or suggestions made by Lost Dogs of Wisconsin/Lost Dogs Illinois is not paid-for professional advice and should be taken at owner’s discretion.

Risk Factors for an Opportunistic Lost Dog

These are the indicating factors that will predispose a dog to being an opportunistic lost dog.

1) Demeanor: A friendly, butt-wiggly type of personality. Will your dog readily go up to strangers and is everybody’s new best friend? Is your dog highly motivated by treats, praise, and belly rubs?

2) Origin: Dogs that have been well socialized in puppyhood are more likely to be opportunistic.

3) Breed: Some dogs seem to be predisposed to being opportunistic. They enjoy exploring and will “follow their nose”. They are:

Hounds such as Beagles, Basset Hounds, Dachshunds and Coonhounds.
Sporting breeds such as Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers, Pointers, Setters and Spaniels.
Working breeds such as Huskies, St Bernards, Samoyeds and Great Pyrenees.
Sighthounds such as Greyhounds, Whippets and Italian Greyhounds.
Small friendly lap dogs.

4) Dogs lost from a familiar location (especially on a nice sunny day).

5) Dogs lost from an opportunistic situation such as:

A hole in or under a fence or an open or malfunctioning gate.
The invisible fence stopped working.
A contractor or visitor left the gate or door open.
A distracted owner leaves the dog alone outside for “just a minute”.
A dog chasing prey. (squirrels, rabbits, deer, cats, or even another dog)

The key factor to the opportunistic dog is that the dog was in a happy frame of mind when he went missing. Any one or a combination of the above will predispose a dog to being picked up by a Good Samaritan or traveling a long distance. Our next series of articles will focus on the strategies to help you find your friendly or opportunistic lost dog.

Please understand that although we are generalizing, and a friendly dog may quickly revert to being a shy dog when on its own, we want to give you a baseline from which to start.

Our tips, ideas and articles are based on information gathered from over thousands successful lost dog recoveries. Any advice or suggestions made by Lost Dogs of Wisconsin/Lost Dogs Illinois is not paid-for professional advice and should be taken at owner’s discretion.

Risk Factors for The Elusive Lost Dog

These are the indicating factors that will predispose a dog to shyness or elusiveness.

1) Demeanor: A shy or wary personality. Is the dog wary of strangers or men, or people wearing hats? Is he slow to warm up to new people?

2) Origin: Dogs rescued from abusive situations, puppy mills or purchased at a very young age (6 weeks or younger) are more likely to be predisposed to shyness. They may lack socialization skills or missed the early socialization period with their mother and littermates by being taken away from the litter too young.

3) Breed: Some breeds seem predisposed to becoming shy and wary very quickly when they are lost. They are: Herding breeds such as Shelties, Australian Shepherds, Border ColliesSighthounds such as Greyhounds, Italian Greyhounds, Whippet,s Chihuahuas, Rat Terriers and other small sensitive breeds Boxers

4) Dogs lost from a location other than home such as: Boarding kennel, training facility, doggy day care, Pet sitter, Vet clinic, Groomers, Animal shelter, Foster home, Rescue transport, Newly adopted or purchased,, Family or friends’ home

5) Dogs lost from a stressful situation which may or may not include loud noises such as: Thunderstorms, Fireworks, Parades, Gunfire, Cars backfiring, Airbrakes, Car accidents, House fires, Natural disasters

Any one or a combination of the above will predispose the dog to being an elusive dog to catch.

Catching Toby, Tips for Capturing the Elusive Dog – Part 2 of a Series

Toby, a shy dog, bolts from the sound of fireworks and panic ensues. EVERYBODY wants to help – a good thing. Or is it? One of the first hurdles that the owner of a shy, lost dog must do is to calm down and gain control of the situation. He or she must also be prepared to educate all of the well-meaning people who want to help, but in their eagerness may do exactly the wrong things. Their actions may prolong the search and/or send Toby right into the path of disaster.

We have written a handout called Five Things To Do If You Lose Your Dog that will be helpful. The very first thing that you should do is put Toby’s bed, some food and water and an article of the owner’s clothing (a dirty sock or T-shirt) at the spot where Toby was last seen. Putting out Toby’s favorite toy is also a good idea. Lost dogs return by their sense of smell which is hundreds of times better than humans.

Even though it may look like Toby took off like a rocket, dogs lost from stressful situations or unfamiliar locations often do not go very far. They bolt, and then hide. They may remain in hiding for several days or they may attempt to return to the location they went missing from as soon as it is quiet. Make sure that the location is a quiet, inviting place for them to return to. Don’t allow people to congregate there because slamming doors, unfamiliar voices and strange smells will not entice the shy lost dog to come back.

Every time a well-meaning person tries to call, whistle or approach Toby, they will drive him further away. Toby may stop, turn back and look, and then trot off again. He will soon be even further away, lost and confused.

A shy, lost dog is like a small child lost in a department store that is scared and takes refuge under a rack of clothing, despite their mother or store employees walking right by. Similarly, a lost dog will hunker down and hide, waiting for it to get quiet before creeping back out and returning home or seeking food and water. Unless a dog is very old, very young or injured, it is usually not wise to physically look for them. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack and the lost dog will abandon his hiding spot and bolt again, long before the searchers come across him. The owners must completely shift their thought process from “searching” for Toby to “luring” him back to where he was lost from.

Unfortunately, friends and family will want to “search” for the dog. Exactly the wrong thing to do. This additional pressure on the dog will send him further and further afield. The greatest risk by far to a shy lost dog is that he will be pursued by well-meaning people into traffic and be struck by a car. If you live in a rural area, don’t allow friends or family to look for your dog on ATV’s or horseback. This again, will only serve to drive him out of the area.

Shy lost dogs that are allowed to settle and regroup without the pressure of being pursued will make wise choices. They will settle into a predictable pattern of behavior, avoid busy roadways, and can survive indefinitely. They may very possibly return on their own.

Shy lost dogs that are continually pressured by overzealous searchers will make poor choices. They may bolt into traffic, or into the path of a train, or fall through thin ice in the spring. These are the three leading causes of death of our recovered, but deceased lost dogs.

So take a deep breath, put that food, water, bed and familiar scented article out and we’ll continue with the next steps, in the third installment of the series. Part 3

Our tips, ideas and articles are based on information gathered from over thousands of successful lost dog recoveries. Any advice or suggestions made by Lost Dogs of Wisconsin/Lost Dogs Illinois is not paid-for professional advice and should be taken at owner’s discretion.

Rewards are a bad idea when trying to catch the elusive dog… Part 3 of a series

Toby bolted from the sound of fireworks. But you have it all under control. You haven’t allowed your friends and family to “search” for Toby. There will be lots of ways they can help soon. Instead, you have stayed calm and placed Toby’s bed, food, water and familiar scented articles out for him. If he is not pursued, there is a very high likelihood that he might return on his own.

BUT, you don’t want to count on that, so you need to be preparing the next steps: Steps 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Five Things to Do If You Have Lost Your Dog. This is where your family and friends can help: printing flyers, making signs and contacting all of the local authorities to let them know that Toby is missing. Remember to put one sign at the spot he went missing from. Organize one group of people to make phone calls and place internet ads, and another to make signs. Another group will be needed to deliver flyers door to door in the area where he went missing.

Remember, that you need to have ONE point person, preferably the owner to handle all of the incoming phone calls and sightings. Here is a great article on the importance of changing your voicemail message to let everyone know that you are missing your dog.

Now to the subject of rewards. Although you may see many websites and articles that recommend offering a reward for your dog, we highly discourage it with a shy dog or one that has any of the 5 risk factors that will predispose him to being elusive. The reason is pretty simple. People seeking the reward will assume they have to catch Toby to claim the reward. They will approach or pursue Toby driving him even further out of the area. The further you spread the word about a reward, the further he will go. Pretty soon, he will be so far out of your flyering area, that there is a good chance the owner will give up hope out of frustration and despair. Remember, your goal is to LURE Toby back – and that means it has to be easy for him to come back, with no pressure or scary people trying to grab him.

Leave the reward off the flyer, folks! When Toby is safely back home, you may want to reward somebody that has helped you, but don’t risk your dog’s life by offering a reward for a shy or frightened dog. Part 4

Our tips, ideas and articles are based on information gathered from over thousands of lost dog recoveries. Any advice or suggestions made by Lost Dogs of Wisconsin/Lost Dogs Illinois is not paid-for professional advice and should be taken at owner’s discretion.

Where Could Your Shy Dog Be? Part 4 of a series

Toby has now been missing for three days. The owners are still hopeful that he may return on his own and are very wise to keep the bed, food and familiar scented articles at the point he went missing from.

But they also realize that they can’t control what happens to him while he is lost and he may have been seen and pursued by strangers. But where to start? Where does a shy lost dog want to hang out?

In our experience, lost dogs do not want to live deep in the woods. They prefer to lurk on the edge of civilization, near food sources. In hot weather, they will need a reliable source of water. (In winter, they will eat snow). Toby needs a quiet place to hunker down during the day with an easy path to travel at dusk and dawn, when he is likely to be moving about for food and water.

Concentrate your flyering on places like this:

Houses that back onto wooded areas or parks

Tall grass or marshy areas

Cemeteries

Golf courses

Campgrounds and Picnic areas

Sporting fields

Industrial parks and abandoned factories

Quiet cul de sacs

Decks, old cars, old machinery, boats – especially with overgrown grass

Junkyards

Untidy yards and farm yards

Abandoned barns and sheds

Wooded areas behind restaurants, bars, grocery stores and convenience stores – anywhere food is sold or served

Shy lost dogs will often have sore, raw feet from their initial bolt, or from travelling. They will usually avoid roadways and instead travel on railroad tracks, jogging and biking trails, power lines and along the edges of fields and streams.

Look at satellite imagery using either Google maps or Mapquest and examine a one to five mile radius of where he went missing from. Look for the sorts of places listed above as well as the possible routes of travel, and get flyers and signs in these areas. Again, you aren’t looking for Toby – you are looking for the place that Toby may be hiding or may choose to hide tomorrow. You are going to ALLOW him to have this hiding spot, but you are going to try to make sure he stays in one area. Once you determine where he is, you can implement a strategic plan to catch him.

Stay tuned! With all of your hard work of flyering and signs, you will soon have a sighting and you will need to know how to handle it. Part 5

Our tips, ideas and articles are based on information gathered from over thousands of successful lost dog recoveries. Any advice or suggestions made by Lost Dogs of Wisconsin/Lost Dogs Illinois is not paid-for professional advice and should be taken at owner’s discretion.