what are the chances of finding my dog?

Question

my dog ran away almost a week ago. we put posters up everywhere and we call the animal shelter everyday. i miss her so much but im giving up hope. what are the chances of finding her after this long with no luck?

please be honest but DONT say things like she is probably dead by now or being tortured

Answer 1

I lost a dog years ago and it was gone for over a month, I had flier mad up stuffed them in mail boxes called my friend who is a school bus driver and she passed it on to all the busy drivers, I was out looking daily until I found him, and he was quite a few miles from home living in a vacant barn, and it was the coldest part of winter, never give up keep looking, another 24 to 48 hours and we would have lost our dog for good, you could count every bone in his body, and there were people that said they tried to feed him and he wouldn't take the food, Knock on doors do what ever you have to do.

Answer 2

My dogs somehow got out of the yard today when I ran to the store. Normally I don't leave them out there but I was running late. When I got back the gate was open and they were gone. Luckily I got a call from my neighbor a few doors down saying they had both the pups. Good thing I had a collar on them both though or I don't know if they would have known the dogs were mine.

After a week I would say your chances are 50/50. It is more likely that someone took her in and is looking for you. You just need to make sure they can find you. But first let the KILL shelters know that you are looking for her. Then call your local vets as well. Put up ads on the internet (craigslist.com, pet911.com) and in your local newspaper. If you do find her make sure you put I microchip in her (in addition to a tag) so that if she does get out again you will have better chances of getting her back. If she did get hit by a car and your posters are up I'm sure the vet or someone would contact her. Just keep praying to whoever you pray to and everything will be fine. If you do need to get another dog eventually, make sure the rescue or spca you go to knows that you had a dog that ranaway and didn't come back. Tell them what you are prepared to do so that your dog won't get lost again. I work for a rescue and normally when people say they had a dog run away we put them on the DO NOT ADOPT list, unless they show they are prepared to learn what they need to do to keep the dog safe.

Good Luck.

Answer 3

I would try a few things. Try posting on Craigslist.org. There are pet forums there, and if you post a picture and some info, maybe you will get some help there. Also, on Petfinder.com, try seeing if a local shelter can put your dog's picture up with a description, and maybe someone there may see her. Also, try the newspaper, just a short ad and a small description might help. I believe the chances are still good, I've heard of dogs coming back after quite a while. Maybe if someone has her, they haven't seen anything posted yet. Try calling around to vets offices, maybe they have heard or seen somehting. Keep trying, I wish you the best of luck and I hope your friend comes back home.

Answer 4

Don't worry...a week isn't too long. I'm sure she's not dead, she's probably in some family's living room right now all cozy! Someone probably took her in to help her, and you will get her back. The only people that would take her would be good people, so I wouldn't worry too much about her being hurt/abused. You may want to call your local humane society, or whatever you have where you live if you haven't, and make sure she isn't there. Also, whoever is responsible for getting hurt/killed animals that are hit on the road, just to put your mind at ease...I'm sure that hasn't happened. Also, you may want to put up signs in area grocery stores, banks, post offices and such...places everyone has to go eventually. Good Luck, and remember, if you don't find her, she is probably being loved wherever she is!

Answer 5

Ok, first of all, your dog might not be passed away. My neighbor took in this dog that was wondering around. It did not have a collar on nor did it have any markings or appeared to be fixed. It was a female dog. Anyways, this lady put posters up everywhere but on our street. So my neighbor had the dog for weeks until the owner came down our street one day and happened to see her and the dog in the front yard.

There are people out there who capture these dogs and take them home. Now my neighbor was wrong and the police were involved, but this lady got her dog back.

Maybe someone in the neighborhood might have seen anything??
There may be still hope.

Answer 6

I'm so sorry about your dog! Have you tried putting an ad in your local paper? Don't give up! But if she doesn't ever come home, just remember, someone out there is probably taking really good care of her. On the flip side, I FOUND a dog 2 years ago and couldn't find his owner. (tried animal shelter, humane society, newspaper ads) nobody claimed him. He now has a wonderful home full of love for him. I know this isn't your situation, but stay positive and you never know. Good luck to you!

Answer 7

This happened to us about one month before we were to move from Arizona to Washington state. We were also very heart-broken. We put up posters as well and asked people around our neighborhood. One lady called us and said she saw someone take him (Eddie, our mini schnauzer). She said he was a landscaper working in the area. We called the police and reported Eddie stolen. The next day the police brought him home. He was also gone a week. Yes, there is hope. Ask around your neighborhood. Follow up on leads. Call the police if you feel it's appropriate. Show pictures of your dog to groomers (the guy who took Eddie took him to the groomers). Good luck to you. I know how sad you must be. There are also websites devoted to finding lost dogs such as www.fidofinder.com amongst others. And put a picture up of him/her at the shelter.

Answer 8

The first thing you should have done once you realized your dog ran away is to alert the police. They aren't likely to be able or willing to investigate if there was foul play involved, but having a police report handy will help your case later if you locate the dog and the person who has it refuses to give it back. If you haven't filed a police report yet, you should do so now.

If your dog has registration papers from the AKC, UKC, etc, keep them. If they aren't yet in your name, send them in with the fee. Possession of those papers proves that YOU are the legal owner of the dog.

Next, get out a phone book and contact each and every veterinarian's office that is listed, preferably in person, and give each one a flyer with a picture and description of your dog, and your contact information. A monetary reward would be a good thing also. If you have other cities nearby, do the same for the veterinarian offices in those also.

If I were you, I WOULDN'T post the flyer in the waiting room where it could be viewed by the public; at least not quite yet. Leave it somewhere that only the staff can see it, like in their staff-only break room.

The reasoning behind this is that everyone who owns a dog is likely to have to take it to the vet at some point. If all of the vets and their employees know what your dog looks like, then when the dog theif brings it in, they can notify you and/or the police on the sly. Or they can confront the person themselves. The vet may not be able to give you the theif's number and address, but he would have to give it to the police.

If you leave the flyer in the public areas, and the theif sees it before they notice him and your dog, he could just leave unnoticed, and won't go back to any veterinarian.

I have used this method twice, and it worked both times. In one case, a dog that I had sold to a friend got loose. Someone found him running around and took him home with them. They had to have known that someone owned him and would be looking for him since he had a collar, was clean, well fed, and trained to sit. They lived in a large town 1/2 hour away from where the dog got loose. One of the Vet Techs happened to live in a trailer right next door to someone that had just gotten a dog that was a dead ringer for mine, as she could see from the picture. It was kind of funny that she never actually brought the dog in to the vet's office, but had the bad luck to live nextdoor to someone who worked there and saw my flyer. I went to the trailer with pictures and papers in hand. I told that scumbag old bat that she had my dog and he was coming home with me, either with the police there to help or without. She wisely released the dog to me, after hearing some harsh words from me.

The second time was similar circumstances, but this time the theif brought the dog to the vet. The vet called me and I happened to be nearby. I came in pretending to pay a bill, and verified that it was indeed my dog, not just a look-alike. I then confronted the theif, who refused to give my dog back. I calmly called the police, showed them the pictures and paperwork, and they told the guy he had to give my dog back or they were going to arrest him. I suspect that they were bluffing, but it worked. If it hadn't worked, I'm sure I would have had to take them to court, but I'm sure I would have won.

I thought you might enjoy hearing a happy ending. I'm certain that someone has your dog and liked him so much that they decided to take him home. Don't worry about him. He's more likely to be curled up next to someone's feet while they watch TV right now than in a laboratory.

I didn't have any of these dogs tattooed or micro-chipped, but those are always good ideas to do.

Good luck. I hope you get your dog back.

Answer 9

My old dog ran away once, and we put an ad in a local paper, and I think it was a little over a week and we finally got a call.
Someone found him and put him in their basement hoping to find an ad or something for a lost dog.
Hope it happens to you, and good luck! Don't give up!

Answer 10

If you're in the US, go to http://www.pets911.com/. There, you can post a picture of your lost dog and search through all the found listings. Don't give up hope - your dog may have just lost her collar, and someone may have picked her up, thinking she was a stray or not knowing whose she was. Dogs have really good memories, though, so there's a good chance she'll still find her way home. You may also try posting an ad in one of the free newspapers (most big cities have one). Hope you find her, hang in there!