If you are like most dog owners, your four-legged friend is probably much more to you than just a pet. The shock is therefore all the greater if your dog suddenly goes missing.
What you can do in this event and what measures you should take beforehand are explained below.
It is of course perfectly understandable that you will be very worried if your dog goes missing. It is nevertheless important that you stay calm and don't panic outright.
Experience has shown that it usually does not take long before a dog that has run away returns. Since numerous potential dangers await outdoors, from traffic to poisonous bait, you should of course start looking for your four-legged friend right away.
If your dog has just run away while going walkies, it is best to search the surrounding area. Talk to other dog owners and strollers you come across as well. Perhaps someone has already noticed your four-legged friend and you can narrow your search radius a little.
It is generally helpful for the search to think carefully about where your four-legged friend might be drawn. If your dog likes water, and if there is a stream or lake nearby, you may find it there.
If you have a sexually mature male, he may have sensed a dam in heat and is now trying his luck with her, to the chagrin of her owner.
Or maybe your dog just spotted some potential playmates nearby and made its way to them without you or your permission.
If your dog has not been away for long, you could try to lure it in during your search. Call out its name, whistle and try to convince it to return with its favourite toy or some particularly tasty dog treats.
This often proves to be of great help in piquing the interest of a runaway dog and getting it to abandon its original discovery.
Unfortunately, not every missing dog is found immediately. If your search is unsuccessful right after it ran away, you should definitely try wanted posters.
For this purpose, prepare notes in A4 format with a printed photo of your missing dog, some information about the place and time of its disappearance and your telephone number.
You can then hang up these notes in your area. You can also ask in shops with a lot of customers whether you can hang your flier on the door, on the bulletin board or in the shop window. The more people see your poster, the greater the chance that someone who has seen your missing dog and will be able to help will contact you.
In addition, a request on popular social media sites can sometimes help to find your missing dog. Facebook even has various local groups for this purpose, where search messages and sightings can be posted.
If your dog is missing and you haven't found it right away, calling all animal shelters in your area is also a good idea. It is possible that your four-legged friend has already been dropped off there and is waiting impatiently for you to take it home.
If your dog ever goes missing, it is very helpful if the four-legged friend is microchipped. A microchip is implanted by a vet under skin on the dog's neck.
A unique number is stored on the chip, which can be scanned if necessary in order to clearly identify the animal. However, for owners of a missing dog to benefit from it, it is necessary to register the animal and their own contact details on a database such as Tasso or Findefix.
Dog health insurance companies usually prescribe chipping. Apart from that, a microchip is also required to apply for an EU pet passport. So far, however, there is no general obligation for dog owners to do so.
In view of the fact that the owner of a missing dog can be found much more easily if the animal is microchipped and registered, it is definitely recommended even if a trip abroad or taking out dog insurance is not planned. The cost for this harmless procedure are usually around 50 to 60 euros.
If you have a particularly adventurous four-legged friend who likes to go on discovery tours on their own, it may also make sense to buy a GPS tracker for dogs.
It is attached to the collar and can be located using your smartphone in case your dog has gone missing yet again. Good models are even waterproof and therefore ideal for walks in any weather.
It is of course best if you can prevent your four-legged friend from running away in the first place. In this context, the subject of dog training is particularly important.
Also keep in mind that particularly hunting dogs inherently have a very strong hunting instinct and sometimes run away if they smell game nearby. This can quickly become a major problem, especially when walking in the forest.
If you are not sure whether your four-legged friend will listen to you and you are concerned that it might run away, you should put your dog on a lead to be on the safe side. In addition to a normal dog lead, you can also use a long extending lead for this purpose.
An extending lead can be a good solution for young dogs as well as breeds with a strong hunting instinct. It can teach your dog to listen to you even when it is not right next to you. If it does not obey when you call it, you will still have it under control thanks to the extending lead and you can prevent it from moving further away from you and then having to look for it.
As you can see, there are quite a few things you can do if your dog goes missing. Fortunately, in most cases the four-legged friends return quite quickly on their own.
In any case, we will keep our fingers crossed for you and hope that you will find your missing dog as soon as possible, or ideally that the four-legged friend will not run away in the first place. We hope that the tips in this article have helped you a little.
Hunting dogs are all dog breeds that are bred for the purpose of helping people to hunt. While some hunting dog breeds are still mainly used for this purpose today, other hunting dogs have also develo..
