INITIAL SEARCH: If the dog is still within sight try to call him using his name, the word "treat," or any other word that he might know that will help him focus on you. Run at an angle away from him in an attempt to change his game of chase into him chasing you.

LATER SEARCH: After the dog has been out of sight for a few minutes it is time to change strategy. Dogs that go missing are initially full of energy are usually either curious or terrified. With either emotion they will usually keep moving for a while so searching the small area near where they disappeared is usually a waste of valuable time. Now is the time to start networking to get more eyes looking for your dog. Send an email alert to your friends. Perhaps some of them can join in the search.

Talk to workers in the area such as gardeners, postmen, cable and telephone installers, school crossing guards. Carry a picture of the dog. Talk to joggers and walkers, children, anyone you see. This is not a time to be shy.

Place advertisements in local newspapers. Most papers have a lost and found category in the classified section. Don’t forget to check your papers for a "Found Dog" advertisement. Many people will do the best they can to return a lost dog to his proper home.

FLYERS: While you are at the computer to send emails, make up a flyer to have printed. Flyers are the most effective way of letting large numbers of people know a dog is missing. Your flyer will need to include information such as Breed, your cell phone number, date, time, and specific location dog went missing or was last sighted, and, if you are offering one, Reward. A picture is invaluable as many people are not aware of what a Sheltie looks like.

Shelties will frequently travel a mile or more each day. This may occur in the first hour of him going missing. You need to get flyers ahead of the dog. It does little good for someone to see a flyer and call to tell you your dog was spotted yesterday. Initially you need to place the flyers up to a mile from where he went missing. The next day the flyers need to be two miles away if there have been no sightings. You MUST have the flyers in front of the dog so when your dog is spotted by a member of the public they will think "That may be the dog that is missing."

PLACES TO CONTACT: There are some business and groups that have a good chance of helping you recover a lost dog and you need to place flyers with them early in your search. They are Animal Control and Humane Societies, Local Vets, Emergency Vets, Groomers & Kennels, Pet Stores, Police and Fire Stations, Golf Courses, and Animal Rescue groups. Unfortunately a dog may be killed on a road so you also need to contact the Department of Transportation or the government body responsible for removing dead animals from the roadways.

SIGHTINGS: If you receive a call that your dog has been sighted make sure you get all the information that the caller can give you. This includes the time your dog was sighted and the location. It is also very helpful to get the caller’s name and telephone number as you may have difficulty finding the location or be unsure of other details.

LONGER TERM SEARCH: Check animal shelters in person. If you telephone the shelter the volunteer you talk to may not be familiar with all the dogs in the facility. Shelters are required to keep strays for several days, but after that period are free to adopt them to new homes, so you must check with them regularly.

Al Boulanger
Indiana Sheltie Rescue, Inc.

A Happy Ending

From Linda Nash in Sugar Grove, Illinois

January 2004

It had been over a week since Race had been on the run. We had tracked him in the snow (in conjunction with sightings) through woods, across frozen streams, and very busy roads for over four miles... first north, then east. We had set a humane trap from that first night, and moved it occasionally to correspond with sightings. He seemed to travel back and forth, searching. And we always seemed to be just a heartbreaking step behind him. The temperatures had fallen to as low as five degrees below zero.  We worried about coyotes, cars and exposure. Then late one night, we got a call from a school bus driver. Our dog had been seen running along the road we lived on... he had doubled back! There are a few houses on our road, both most of the land is farm and cropped cornfields. At first light the next morning, I scanned the fields with my binoculars, and suddenly I saw him at the end of a large field along a line of trees. I pulled my vehicle over, and started to walk slowly towards him. It didn't take him long to see movement, and he instantly ran in the other direction. I drove around to attempt to access the field from the other direction, but I no longer could see him anywhere. So I returned to where I had originally spotted him from the road, and scanned again. He had returned, and was sitting under one of the trees. I decided that I needed to approach in a non-threatening manner, so I got down on my hands and knees and started to crawl slowly through the snow and cropped corn stalks. Whenever he seemed to become "alerted", I stopped until he relaxed again. We I got to within about 150 feet of him, he suddenly stood up and paced nervously a few steps in either direction. I immediately lay down and calmly started talking to him, using every familiar phrase I could think of. He stared in my direction intrigued. I sing to my dogs at home, so I started singing to him. At that point he started barking at me. He was a critic even in the cold cornfield. I kept up my conversation with him for almost an hour. At last, he very tentatively crept down into the cornfield, and slowly approached me in a large ever tightening circle, pausing occasionally to listen. When he was 20 feet from me, he started shaking uncontrollably. But at that point he walked right up to me and hungrily ate the dog biscuits I had in my hand, as I slipped the collar over his head. After Race ate every last crumb, he looked me right in the eye and started excitedly licking my face, jumping on me, and whining with joy. His joy and relief matched mine, and the two of us sat in that cornfield for several minutes "talking" to each other! Race lost several pounds, was terribly matted with burrs, and the skin between his toe pads is red and raw. Other than that, he's physically uninjured. We consider ourselves very lucky, and so appreciate the help and support of friends and family, and the strangers who took the time to call with sightings, and in some instances to walk through the woods helping us look. A happy ending!