Miss Mango

As the subject says, my dog is missing. I am so freaked out, crying and terrified for him -- he must be so terrified, too. I blame myself for his disappearance.

Right now I desperately need advice & suggestions on what else I can do to find him. Ill post what weve done -- which doesnt seem like much -- followed by more information* on why this situation is scarier than if he just wandered out.

Here is the list so far:
# I, my sister and my mother have walked up and down our alley looking and trying to listen for him while calling out his name.

# Weve slowly driven (solo and in pairings) around his territory/our neighborhood, then beyond, calling out his name, whistling and asking anyone we could if theyd seen him.
[One of the problems with this is describing his coloring -- most people arent familiar with blue merle, so we ended up giving out different descriptions; black and grey finally won out.
It occurred to me later that I should have been saying silver instead of grey... Ill get more into that in a bit.]

# We called the following places: the county Humane Society, the citys Animal Control division (no one answered, my sister left a message), and the PD.
My Moms friend had a great idea: call the neighboring boroughs PD because we live one street over from the city line. That borough isnt part of his territory, but obviously our search has to be expanded...

# I posted on Craigslist under pets and lost & found. My sister said she also posted something elsewhere online.

After hours of driving, walking, yelling and tears, we all have to reserve our physical energy... I keep getting up and going to the back door and calling him, hoping hell be close, hear me, and make his way back to the yard. But thats just not good enough. I feel like Im doing nothing.
Im so scattered, I cant organize my thoughts, and my current inaction along with the feeling of failure is making my insanity flare up big time.

That brings us to why Im here: Advice about what to do next. I figured I should take the risk** of posting lost dog messages online, but I dont know where else to go.

I have many, many pictures so we can use them to make flyers...

God, I dont know what to do. I love that dog so much and Im afraid something horrible has happened to him. Im so scared -- he could be dead or dying, and all alone...

Spartanx9

Make fliers. Post them on mail boxes, power line posts, etc. That way for those who don't check the internet, they can give you a call if they spotted him.

Keep giving the HS and AC a call.

Does your dog have any tags with a phone #, his name, etc, on him? That would increase the chances of someone calling you if they found him.

Best of luck in finding your pet I've had one or two that never showed up, while ones who got out for a bit were quickly returned.

The_Jazz

You're doing all the right things as far as I can see. Just keep doing them and hope that he finds his way back.

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ratbastid

We lost a cat a few months ago. She's been an indoor/outdoor kitty for quite some time, and we've seen her hopping the fence into the neighbor's yard, but as far as we knew she'd never spent a night outside.

At some point we realized we hadn't seen her in a couple days. Then a couple days stretched toward a week and we started to worry.

We did all these things--call the "shelters", put up flyers, etc. No bites on any of them. At some point we gave her up as lost. She was the troublemaker in our household pet ecosystem, and while we love her, having her not around actually made for a more peaceful home. So it was not with compete grief that we gave her up as lost.

Then, about two weeks after she vanished, she showed up at the back door one day. She'd lost weight (and made a beeline for her food bowl), but otherwise seemed fine. My suspicion is that she got trapped somewhere--somebody accidentally closed her in a shed or something--and couldn't get home. Because she clearly knew where home was, and came back when she wanted to bad enough. She's now stalking the house, bossing all the other animals around as if she never went anywhere.

The only "hit" we got from all our efforts was, somebody called to say they'd seen her a couple streets over... while I was looking at her in my living room. She'd been home for several days at that point.

I hope your story has a similar happy ending.

Baraka_Guru

Take some of your dirty clothes and put them in spots where any dog would likely visit: nearby parks, garbage sites, etc. Also put some outside your home.

Your dog will recognize the scent and might be more likely to hang around it once the poor guy realizes he's having a tough time trying to find you again.

What breed is he? Border collie, Australian shepherd? I'm pretty sure either breed has a highly developed sense of smell.

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Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
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JStrider

sounds like your doing everything right... migiht be better to have a picture to show people since the coloring is hard to describe...

other then that, keep up the calls to local shelters and animal control.

other then that the most important thing is to always keep collar and tags on any pet that goes outside, and a chip if possible.


When I was a kid our black lab/shepard/other mix always got out in thunderstorms. we always put a sign on the same corner down the block... and always one of 2 or 3 people were always the ones that called. apparently he always went to the same couple of places.

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kate jack

Oh no! I don't have any advice, but I really hope you find him *hugs*

Tirian

Has anyone mentioned local radio ? Sometimes I hear messages about lost / found pets on my local radio station.

inBOIL

Don't just call the local shelters, go down there, talk to someone, and leave a flier. It's not unheard of for shelters to quickly adopt out or euthanize pets they find, and this lessens the likelihood of that happening.

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jorgelito

Is your dog registered and licensed? If so it will help.

Was he wearing his collar (dogs should always be wearing their collars with the license tag displayed)?

Is your dog microchipped? If so, then any shelter that picks him up will scan him.

Good luck.

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yellowmac

Oh, geez, I'm really sorry to hear about this, and I hope your dog is ok. I can't offer much new insight ... only thoughts and prayers of hope. Please do keep us updated.

JStrider

mango, any news on your dog?

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Ayashe

I was watching this thread hoping to hear some news. I know I would be sick to death if one of my dogs had gone missing.

cj2112

An ad in your local newsppaer, craigslist etc. in addition to the other things that have been suggested. Good luck!

ItWasMe

Any news on your dog?

You really need to personally visit each place your dog could have been taken to, and look at all of the dogs. And visit that place at least every other day. They keep animals for only 2-4 days, depending on the facility and how full it is, before putting your dog up for adoption. And you will never even know it has been there and gone.

The person inprocessing your dog could get the dog's breed or coloring incorrect. And if the dog is growling because it is scared, they could get the sex wrong, too, if they are afraid to look closely. When our dog ran off and was taken to the local dog pound, they told us on the phone they did not have her. We went anyway. Lo and behold, our female golden retriever was there. She had been labelled as a male lab, believe it or not. The lady shrugged and said "it happens."

A note about those 'life saving' microchips. Some places don't have scanners to read them. Although most dog pounds do I think, I can name two vet clinics nearby that do not. Our dog has a microchip, but the dog was so distressed (growling) they were afraid of her and did not attempt to scan her. Nor did they seem to notice her license on her collar that had our contact information. So go to the dog pounds.

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