Lost Pet Guide
The First 24 Hours
Conduct a HASTY Search
Remain calm and begin to look everywhere immediately! If you see your pet, sit down and wait for your pet to engage you. If your pet runs away, do not chase and do net yell. Contact us for help!
If your pet engages you, sit down, stay calm. If your pet is hesitating and not sure, then speak softly using “trigger” words. (Go for a ride? Are you hungry? Cookie? Treat? ) Always have smelly treats with you!
No matter what, DO NOT CHASE!!!
For further advice, please contact us.
FIRE UP THE GRILL
Grill bacon & burgers!! Food smell can be enticing to your pet! Get that bacon grease high up into the trees around the target area! (Do not put grease on the ground. We don’t want your pet or any other animal to ingest anything that the grease might soak into.) Getting it up high helps to get the food smell out further.
The Power of SCENT TRAILS
Walk a large SCENT CIRCLE around Target Area & direct lines from each direction. This creates a more specific trail for your pet to follow back to the target area. The target area is the place that you want to lure your pet to.
Hang Scent Strips along the way. (Scent strips are dirty clothes from the pet’s favorite person, cut into strips and hung 4-5 feet off the ground.).
DO NOT hang anything w/ the lost pet’s scent on it, if you plan on having search dogs come out. This can create false positives for the dogs. Keep the lost pet’s scent in a specific location.
POWER YOUR EFFORTS W/ SOCIAL MEDIA
Post on the Facebook Lost & Found pages for your area, Next-door, Craigslist, Pawboost, Neighbors App (RING) etc. Report lost to the Microchip company, if your pet is chipped.
CHECK SHELTERS!
Check the shelters for your area and surrounding counties.
Go in person when possible. We suggest surrounding counties as well, in case your pet was picked up.
Most shelters have a stray hold and once the stray hold time expires, the pet can go up for adoption. This is why it is important to notify the shelters and continuously check in with them.
SIGNS & POSTERS
SIGNS ARE THE BEST WAY TO GENERATE SIGHTINGS!
Create large, simple, bright signs and deploy them within a 3-5 mile radius. As wonderful as social media is, not everyone is on Facebook etc. Signs have been proven to still be our #1 way to generate sightings.
By deploying signs, you are significantly increasing your chances of being reunited with your lost pet. DON’T WAIT!
