What do You do if Your Pets Run Away?

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?

Share your experience!

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.