What to Do If Your Pet Gets Lost

Max was a small mixed shelter dog that I had when I lived out in the country. He was, as my vet called him, an "overly friendly" dog. I'd had liked to say that he was just overly excitable. He was a great little dog, but he could have used some obedience training. Where was the Dog Whisperer when you needed him? But alas, he wasn't around at that time. Max was actually pretty well behaved most of the time, especially when he was in the house. He didn't chew on your shoes, knock over the trashcan, or play havoc with the toilet paper roller. He was house broken and jumped into his bed, (or yours when you let him) and went promptly to sleep. But I worked a lot of hours back then and being single, there was no one home to play or exercise him a lot. I tried to walk him as much as I could, but when he did get to go out and run around, there was a lot of pent up energy to get rid of. And he certainly wasn't afraid of other dogs, especially bigger ones. He once got in trouble trying to snatch some food from the dish of the Doberman that lived next door. I can see it now: angry neighbor knocks on door. "You're dog killed my dog!" Me: "But my dog is tiny, no bigger than a Chihuahua. How did it happen?" Neighbor: "My dog ate your dog and he had a little trouble swallowing him."

One time Max got out of the backyard and I didn't see him for a couple of days. I thought that he was lost forever. I imagined all kinds of dire scenarios, finding him by the side of the road, being killed by some kind of wild animal in the woods, or starving to death. Fortunately, a couple of days later, he appeared back in the yard, scratching at the door and acting real happy to see me after his little adventure. I never did find out where he went, but I'm sure he ran around exploring the wooded area right behind the house, and probably came back and slept in the backyard.

I was extremely lucky to get Max back in one piece, but unfortunately other folks are sometimes not as lucky. Drive through any subdivision on a Saturday morning and I'll bet you'll see at least one sign for a missing dog or cat. But there are steps that you can take to make sure your pet doesn't get lost, and ways to recover him quickly if he does.