Obviously, it would be such an unfortunate situation when your pet is accidentally let out of the house and they run away for a good chunk of time. But what would you do if they ran away? Would you hope they'd come back? Would you search for them? Would you make fliers as soon as possible and place them up? Have any of your pets run away and they make it back because of your efforts or just because they're done with the outside world?
If your pet gets out of the yard and runs off, the very first thing to do is to go and look for them right away. There is a great chance that they will be hit by a car, or even picked up by someone passing by that sees them; so the sooner you are out there looking, the better the chances of getting them back will be.
Some dogs are escape dogs, and will look for a place to get out of the fence. I had a Pekinese that would literally go along the fence with her nose right up to it, looking for some kind of a hidden hole in the fence (usually buried in think bushes), and then she would wiggl through it to get out. Fortunately, she also had a good sense of "home", so she never wandered far, and always knew how to get back home again. Then, she would stand outside of the gate and bark for me to come and let her in; which was usually my clue that Red had found another escape hole somewhere in the fence.
Then, I had to spy on her, and see where she was getting out, so I could patch the hole.
Most dogs are not good at finding their way back home, and once they are out that gate, they are running, and then totally lost. If you can't find them right away, calling the dog pound and checking with veterinary offices is a good thing to do next.
Oh yes, definitely I would look for my cats if they went missing. The sooner you go searching for them the higher the chance you would find them. Cats don’t usually go far from their houses. They usually come back on their own though if nothing bad happens to them.
I had a dog who chose to wander several years ago. I posted pictures of him with my address and phone number all over the neighborhood. I also went to our animal shelter and humane society and left pictures and descriptions along with my contact information. I went to both every other day and looked at the animals they had. I went door to door in my neighborhood and showed pictures and left my contact information. He did eventually,,, after about a week,,, come home on his own. To this day I have no idea where he was. Most likely he was visiting a family, or someone had gotten him inside and as soon as he could he escaped and came home. It was a very happy day when I looked outside and saw him sleeping on my porch.
Evelyn, your story about your lost dog reminds me of one we had back when the kids were growing up. he was a beautiful Afghan Hound, and he loved to run and play. One day, he just jumped the fence, and away he went , off down the road inad disappeared into the distance.
The kids and I ran after him, looking and calling and asking everyone we met if they had seen Alphie. We hunted and hunted, but he had totally disappeared.
I did about the same thing as you did, called animal services, chacked with vets offices in the area, and we went up and down the streets nearby, asking everyone we saw outside if they had seen a bog black longhaired dog. But, sadly.....no Alphie !
About a week later, Alphie was back. I never learned where he went, or what happened; but I am guessing that when he tired of running, he just went up to any house he found and made himself at home. Eventually, they must have thought he would stay around and left the door open, and away Alphie ran, and back to his home.
That is such a sad subject I am going to use blue text. But seriously, I have had a couple of scares with my last one, Hank, but I can't remember ever really losing a cat to his or her straying. I know one I had wandered away a short distance not long after I'd got him but I got him back right away. He hadn't gone far and the notices I put up got attention right away. And so ya, that is what I would do if I thought my cat was lost or heaven forbid, hurt. I think my biggest fear is that he will get hurt and not be able to get home. He got hurt once already and was gone for over a day. I was so worried that I had the notices all made when I saw him in the back yard. I went out to him because he wasn't really moving. He had a gash on his inner thigh and I didn't want to disturb it so I didn't look at it that close, I was just so glad he was home. Fortunately for me and Hank, it healed on its own but I should have checked it out right away. It did cause him some trouble for a day or two and if it had been any worse Hank could have got really sick so always haveyour pet checked if they come in wounded. I should have, I just got lucky.
Having three dogs, they have had plenty of fun times outside of the house. My dogs used to have a tendency to get out and run free. There was one time in particular that I could not find my English Mastiff for several hours. I was absolutely terrified that my dog was gone forever. Within an hour, I had a flyer designed and I started walking around my neighborhood with signs. I decided to go door to door and ask people if they had my dog. I was so incredibly lucky when I came across a woman the next street over, who had my dog. She planned on keeping him and lied to me at first, but sensed I could see through it and went inside to get him. I was overwhelmingly happy to have my dog again.
My rescue dog has a very bad habit of bolting when she gets loose, it's so bad that we cannot ever let her off her leash if she is not in a high fenced in yard with absolutely no escape routes. Usually when she gets loose she will run over to neighbors houses and just explore, but the big problem is that if we chase after her, she will usually just run away from us like it is a game of tag. She doesn't listen when we call her name or bribe her with her favorite treats. At first we thought it was just a lost cause and that we would only be able to catch her by tackling her or sneaking up on her which took hours. Usually after an hour or two she would get tired and come home, especially during cold winters when she got out. It still worried me though, because I didn't want to see her get hit. Luckily, I figured out a really easy trick this spring. My dog LOVES car rides, so one time she got out I jumped in my car, drove down my street slowly with my door open, and as soon as she saw me from down the street she ran right up to the car and jumped in. Now obviously I'm terrified that one of these days she will get loose and get hit running across the street or chasing after cars, so I am still working very hard training her to come and stay when I tell her to, and it has been getting a lot better.
(12-05-2015, 01:11 PM)mrheflin2@aol.com Wrote: My rescue dog has a very bad habit of bolting when she gets loose, it's so bad that we cannot ever let her off her leash if she is not in a high fenced in yard with absolutely no escape routes. Usually when she gets loose she will run over to neighbors houses and just explore, but the big problem is that if we chase after her, she will usually just run away from us like it is a game of tag. She doesn't listen when we call her name or bribe her with her favorite treats. At first we thought it was just a lost cause and that we would only be able to catch her by tackling her or sneaking up on her which took hours. Usually after an hour or two she would get tired and come home, especially during cold winters when she got out. It still worried me though, because I didn't want to see her get hit. Luckily, I figured out a really easy trick this spring. My dog LOVES car rides, so one time she got out I jumped in my car, drove down my street slowly with my door open, and as soon as she saw me from down the street she ran right up to the car and jumped in. Now obviously I'm terrified that one of these days she will get loose and get hit running across the street or chasing after cars, so I am still working very hard training her to come and stay when I tell her to, and it has been getting a lot better.
Oh my goodness, the only way for me to catch my dogs when they run away is tricking them into car rides! It's the best tactic I've come up with. All I have to do is open the dog and pretend we're "going for a ride." It scares the heck out of me though because I fear someone stealing them.
Hi! I've put his name and my phone number around my dog's neck to prevent any trouble of that kind...but he's with me for four years now and i've moved twice and he has always found his way home, he seems to know exactly where his family is...! I live in a small town, near a beautiful river. Sometimes i just open the door and leave him on his own...He goes around but never goes too far and always comes back (15 minutes after!).
We had a pet pigeon that lived inside our house. She was with us for 5 years that's why we were surprised when she left us without warning. I was in the terrace with my husband when the pigeon went out to the front yard. It was normal for her to do that so we just let her. After some pecking on the ground, it flew to the roof of the terrace. She usually does that. And then she flew away. We both saw her fly away from the house and that is not normal. My husband ran out of the gate but couldn't find her. All the people in the house went out to search for her until afternoon but we didn't find her.
I frequent a group page for the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in a certain social media website and every now and then I would see posts of missing dogs. Most of them are Shih Tzus and because my own dog is the same breed, I cannot help but be sad about it. This is why I'm very careful to not let the doors and gates open. All of us here at home are very particular about house security especially after being robbed twice. Also after reading the news about abducted dogs being used as bait for illegal pitbull fighting rings, I would not risk my dog being kidnapped.
