Guide to Finding Lost Dogs

By Jim Branson

Dogs are family, in my house. Dogs have lived with humans for at least 15,000 years, and more than 400 million dogs currently live with or near humans. Dogs also work alongside people, as they have for centuries. My dog Kelsy and I spent four years volunteering for Missing Pet Partnership (MPP), where we specialized in following the scent trails of missing dogs, and then we started Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue in 2012. My dog Komu, who joined our pack in 2010, is trained to find lost cats, and has found several hundred. Fozzie was our scent trailing dog from 2014 to 2019. Tino is now the main scent trailing dog, and has been since 2018. If you are reading this, you are only concerned about one dog right now—that member of your family who is missing. Many years ago, I lost my dogs, Porter and Tess, for a short time, and I didn’t quite know what to do. While assisting with hundreds of cases of missing dogs, I have learned what works, what doesn’t work, and what makes things worse. Hopefully, this is the first time your dog has disappeared, and you don’t have much experience with finding lost dogs. My experience with all those searches for missing dogs is available to you here, so you don’t have to start from scratch.

This guide may seem like too much to read when you want to get out there and DO something. However, many of the common approaches people take can actually reduce your chances of finding your dog. Time spent reading these tips can save you time and effort that you might be wasting, taking the wrong approach. I have tried to organize the material in a concise and useful manner. It would take the average person less than two hours to read this whole text, whereas the average search for a missing dog will run at least 100 man-hours. Investing two hours up front will help you get the most out of the time you spend searching. If you are simply too exhausted and distracted to read this, then send this guide to a trusted friend or family member, and put that person in charge of many aspects of the search effort after he or she has read this information. You may want to skip to a certain topic at first, but please come back later and read the rest. People have misconceptions about lost dog behavior, and misinformation is passed around by people with good intentions. What you don’t know can hurt your dog’s chances of coming back home. If you would like assistance beyond the scope of this guide, please call Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue at 206-552-0304 or use our contact form.

What not to do:

1. Don’t panic.

2. Don’t wait.

3. Don’t call the name of a lost dog.

4. Don’t chase a lost dog.

5. Don’t believe everything people tell you.

6. Don’t give up.

Steps to take. (These steps are listed in the order most useful for the typical lost dog. Your case may require a different approach.)

1. Enlist help.

2. Keep a written record of everything.

3. Protect yourself.

4. Print fliers.

5. Mark the rear window of your car.

6. Ask the neighbors.

7. Create large neon posters.

8. Check the shelters.

9. Look in the right places, at the right times.

10. Use social media and internet tools.

11. Wave signs at an intersection.

12. Use a scent trailing dog, if available.

13. Consider an automated calling service.

14. Use Calming Signals.

15. Try using a friendly dog as a lure.

16. Use a wildlife camera.

17. Set a trap.