How do you find a missing dog?

Hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Dogs all have their own personalities. Some are the type that will return for some reason or another.. other dogs are rogue-dogs. Being that the dog did not have a collar he could be anywhere with anybody.

Offer a reward, no questions asked.

@Zendo the flyer which they gave out says they are offering reward money and have informed the children they had earlier spoken with as well.

I am sorry for what your friend is going through. I hope her dog is safely home soon!

There are a couple of services that can help spread the word about a lost pet and how to contact the owners. One is Find Toto and the other is Lost My Doggie. They will place an automated phone call to people in the area where the pet was lost. The phone call includes a description of the pet, how to contact the owners, etc. A photo of the pet is also included on their website. The number of people called determines the cost of the service.

I’ve never used these services, but did get an automated phone call once from Find Toto. After I heard the message, I went online and looked at the site out of curiosity. Your friend may want to look into a service like that. A phone call with all of the information about the dog might reach more people than flyers. I know I kept an eye out for that dog after I got the phone call!

She should have been going to the local animal shelters/dog pounds on a daily basis. If she had not been doing that, she should start now. Just calling them is not really sufficient and once an animal is picked up many places have pretty strict policies about how long they will keep them before putting them down.

Hopefully she also has a good picture of him which she can leave at these places. But that is still no substitute for going each day in person and looking at each and every dog in there. This is what is recommended by animal welfare orgs. like the SPCA and others. There is just no substitute for a daily personal visit. Also, this way the staff gets to know you on a personal basis and may be more on the lookout than normal if there is a face and a person to connect to it.

Also try the pet section of the local craigslist. This area is frequented by pet lovers and it’s another possible resource—plus it’s free.

She could always check my daughters house. Abandoned dogs have a way of finding her somehow. ~
Not that your friend abandoned her dog, it’s just that my daughter has had no luck finding the owners she thinks the dogs came from houses on her street that were foreclosed.

Aww..I would hate for my dog to run away :(
I would get on my bike and look around everywhere and try my best and put up A LOT of posters like you said.

Find someone hooked in to the local pet rescue network. They can get the word out to all of the groups that work in the area.

Did she take to dogs to any nearby parks, off-leash or otherwise? If so, she should put up posters in that area.

Was the dog chipped? If so, she should notify them the dog is missing.

Is the dog a recognizable breed? if so, she should check with the purebred rescue group for that breed.

See if the local newspeper does free ads for lost pets.

Also, try petfinder

They have classifieds and people do use this as an active resource to find their lost pets. As far as when to give up – don’t. There was a dog that recently was returned to his family, 10 months after Hurricane Ike. You just never know.

My best wishes to the family, I know it is a very painful time.

Go to all the local vets, in case the dog was injured and a good Samaritan took him in for treatment. Also, walk all the local roadsides in case he was injured and crawled off. On top of that, do what everyone else is suggesting, including placing posters at whatever local stores serve as gathering points for local residents.

I recently heard some folks got their dog back after 10 months – their fence was damaged by a hurricane and one dog was not found afterwards, but some friends heard about a similar-sounding stray in an area a mile or so from the house, went and checked it out, and it turned out to be the missing Daisy.

A quick google turned up another Daisy who was only missing 8 months but who turned up 1300 miles away.

Go back/call the shelters and animal controls every day not just one time. Don’t leave it to them to contact you, if it were my dog, I’ll make a list of them and leave it by the phone—calling every day until I was so well known that if any dog came in matching my description they’d call me !

Everyone, thank you for your time. I will give my friend a copy of these replies and hope she finds her dog soon. =]