We had quite the scare last night. Our dog, Kayla, went missing. She jumped out the window of our car to chase after a cat. We spent about an hour fighting about looking for her and a little more than an hour actually looking. Fortunately we found her about a mile north of where she escaped, deep into a sub division.
This whole incident reminded me of some really important things:
Pet ID
- Take detailed pictures of her that include any identifying marks
- Keep her license updated and make sure you have a copy of it on hand
- Get an ID tag for her with your current phone number and address. PetCo has tag kiosks that make this easy
If your pet goes missing
- Stay calm and don't fight
- Look at a map so you can cover the surrounding area systematically
- If you can have someone else look with you, split up
- Look for more than an hour
- I don't think this is a good time to "flyer"--I'd rather be out looking
- Cover an area of about a mile in each direction
Kayla went about a mile in a couple of hours. She's a German Shepherd mix and she's pretty fast. The good thing is free dogs are a little curious. I don't think their intention is to run a marathon to the nearest highway. They're just being curious. Hopefully they'll dilly-dally. Of course this can vary depending on your pet.
If you still can't find her
- Call Pets 911 to report your pet
- Call your county's animal control hotline to see if she's been reported
- Flyer: Maricopa county has a great Sample Lost Pet Poster
- Visit several shelters daily
When you find your pet let her lick your face. It's a tough thing to lose a close friend -- even if that friend is a dog\.