6 Important Ways How to Prevent Losing Your Dog!

Losing a dog can be a very horrible and terrifying experience for both the owner and the dog.  No one ever wants their dog missing.  Every year, animal shelters receive lost or stranded dogs and cats and unfortunately, a small percentage are returned home. 

To make sure this never happens to your pets, here are a few tips you can do to ensure your dog doesn’t end up at an animal shelter, unidentified.

1. Wearing A Collar And A Dog Tag:
It is very important that your dog is wearing his collar that also has a dog tag on it.  The dog tag should have his name and also any details about you like where you can be contacted if your dog does end up missing.  Don't forget to get your dog a new dog tag if you move or change your phone number.  Hopefully if someone finds your dog they will be nice to give you a call or return him.  You definitely have a better chance with your dog wearing a dog tag rather than him not having one at all.

2. Microchip:
Microchipping your dog should not be the only form of identification, but definitely, should be a backup. Collars and ID tags can easily fall off or be taken off. Microchipping is a permanent and effective form of ID. The cost is definitely worth the piece of mind.

3. Basic Socialization:
Teaching your dog to be friendly around strangers will increase the chances of a Good Samaritan being able to lure your dog to safety. The downside to that might be that if your dog is too friendly, someone might be tempted to keep him. Just how friendly you want your dog to be is debatable, and you have to make that decision based on other factors in your life, such as how often your dog has to interact with the public. At a minimum, you want your dog to atleast not be deathly afraid of strangers. If your dog is just going to run from every human he sees, that is going to make it very hard for him to find help if he is lost.

4. Close Your Door/Gate:
Always make sure you close your door or gate securely.  You don't want to let your dog outside in your big backyard and the gate is wide open and she goes prancing around town.  Once, when we were carrying in groceries, we didn't close the door all the way as we had a million things in our hands.

5. Update and share information:
Create an information sheet about your dog, such as whom to contact in an emergency if you aren’t available. Include pictures, basic description, and any health precautions someone would need to know about if they found your dog. Include several ways of contacting you, such as phone and email. Share this information with a few family members or friends that you can rely on in an emergency.

6. Cameras and security:
I know of several instances where surveillance cameras provided clues as to what happened to the missing dog. It wouldn’t be high on my list of priorities, but if you’ve done everything else on this list and want to do even more to keep your dogs safe, security cameras couldn’t hurt. A web cam is also a nice way to check in on your dogs when you aren’t home, and see what they are up to.

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