Looking out my kitchen window the other day, I saw a grinning, muddy Labrador retriever rambling down the street, very much out on his own. I stepped out, whistled up the dog, and read the name on his tag. He happened to belong to a friend (I wouldn't have recognized him without the tag, since all Labs look alike to me) and one phone call later, wandering dog and frantic owner were joyously reunited.
More than 70 percent of lost dogs, however, are never found. Some disappear to run wild, many are hit by cars, are shot, or euthanized at animal shelters. An unknown number of pets are stolen and sold to research labs every year.
Immediately after your dog disappears in the field, begin by searching into the wind; chances are good that some interesting scent has drawn him away. Remember, too, that the dog may come looking for you, following his backtrail as well as your own. If you don't find the dog and have to leave the search area, try the coon hunter's trick of leaving an item of your clothing on the ground. When the dog finds it, he'll stay near your familiar scent and wait for you to come get him.
If you lose the dog while out hunting, contact the county sheriff, as well as local vets, shelters, and pet groomers. Postal carriers and UPS drivers make good allies, too, since both drive country roads from dawn to dusk and visit often with the people on their routes. Alert the surrounding landowners--if need be, assure them that you'll pay for any livestock the dog injures, since some farmers will shoot dogs who run their stock. Put up as many posters as possible in the area to spread the word about your dog.
Dog Tags and Pet Registries
A dog should wear an I.D. tag bearing your name, address, and phone number at all times, and most owners observe this simple, vital precaution. Taking the next step and joining a tag registry, however, will nearly triple the likelihood of you finding your lost dog. For instance, Petfinders boasts a 96 percent recovery rate for its registered pets, according to Executive Director Irv West.
When you join a registry, you receive tags bearing your dog's registration number and an 800 number to be called by anyone finding the animal. Those phones are answered 24 hours a day, an especially valuable service for traveling sportsmen who may be nowhere near the home number ordinarily listed on a dog's tag.
Some registries also broadcast descriptions of the dog to shelters, humane societies, and rescue leagues. If you chose not to join a registry, you can still avail yourself of their services. Petfinders, for one, will conduct searches for non-registered dogs, but West cautions that the recovery rate runs no higher than 35 percent. In light of those numbers, the low cost of joining a registry--$10 a year for Petfinders--is more than worth the expense.
Tattoos and Microchips
Collars slip off, or thieves remove them, so a second means of identification, like a tattoo, makes good sense. Says Pat Weiskopf, president of U.S. Found, a tattoo registry: "Pet owners have very few legal rights. Whoever has your dog in his possession owns it in the eyes of the law unless some type of I.D. marks it as your property. We issue a title, like the title for a car, and we've had several cases where owners used that title to match a pet's tattoo and get their dogs back from someone else."
Tattoos also serve as a deterrent to theft, since most research labs will not buy tattooed animals. Tattooed ears can be cut off, so the leg or stomach makes the best location for an identifying mark. Vets, groomers, shelters, even some breeders can tattoo dogs. Weiskopf says U.S. Found locates 99 percent of its in-house registered dogs.
The newest dog tag is a microchip, laser etched with an I.D. number. A vet implants a chip roughly the size of a grain of rice between the dog's shoulder blades. At the shelter, a tech reads the number with a scanner. The chip itself contains no batteries and will easily last the lifetime of the pet.
Several chip registries already offer petfinding services. The current recovery rate of lost pets is lower with chips than with tags and tattoos because not all shelters are yet equipped with scanners. Moreover, three manufacturers offer competing, non-compatible chips supported by different databases. Right now, a shelter may have the right equipment to scan only for a different type of chip than the one implanted in your dog.
However, chip manufacturers have been working together for the past year to standardize technologies, says Byron Flateland of Destron. Once a widespread, compatible system comes on line, these high-tech ID tags will offer intriguing possibilities.
Electronic Yard-Proofing
The best way to find your dog is not to lose it in the first place. While we fear losing a dog in the field, the vast majority of lost dogs disappear close to home. My shorthair once wandered onto the road in front of the house and was rolled and miraculously unhurt by a speeding car. After that he never left the yard. You can apply the same principle to yard-proof your dog safely, substituting an electronic collar for an Oldsmobile. If you don't own a collar, borrow or rent one; yard-proofing should only require a few sessions.
The trick is to make certain that the dog doesn't associate you or the collar with the shock. Begin by conditioning the dog with a dummy collar, allowing him to wear it for several days so that he won't connect the collar with the shock. Then, turn the active collar on to one of its "hotter" settings. Allow the dog to roam the yard, giving a shock whenever it crosses the line you've chosen as the boundary. Don't give a command; you want the dog to think there's a line of mysterious, painful hotspots around the yard. Most dogs will learn after only a few zaps, and the pain you inflict is small in proportion to the disasters that can befall a dog running loose.
Registries
Tags:
Petfinders
368 High St., Athol NY 12810
Phone: 1-518-623-2166
911-Pets Lost Pet Service
1050 W. 40th, Chicago IL 60609
Phone: 312-890-4911
Pet Find, Inc.
P.O. Box 100, Gresham, OR 97030
Phone: 800-243-2738
Tattoos:
National Dog Registry
P.O. Box 116, Woodstock NY 12498
Phone: 800-637-3647
Tatoo-A-Pet
1625 Emmons Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11235
Phone: 718-646-8200
U.S. Found
P.O. Box 521, Jarretsville, MD 21084
Phone: 410-557-7332
Microchips:
AVID
3179 Hamner Ave., Norco CA 91760
Phone: 714-371-7505
Destron/IDI
2555 55th St. Boulder CO 80301
Phone: 303-444-5306
IdentIchip Identification & Recovery System
72 Overlook Dr., Danville, PA 17821
Phone: 717-275-3166
InfoPet Identification Systems Inc.
517 W. Traveler's Trail, Burnsville, MN 55337
Phone: 612-890-2080
Copyright (c) 1996 Philip Bourjaily. All rights reserved.
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