LOST AND FOUND AND SOMETIMES NOT!

Loving our dogs the way that we do, having to say goodbye to them someday is devastating but we know the day will come sooner or later. We know that everything born will die. The normal lifespan of a German Shepherd Dog is 8 – 13 years. The oldest dog that I had was the black faced male that you see pictured at the top of my blog with his half sister. That was “Rajah” who lived to be 14 ½ years old. So saying goodbye to our beloved dogs can be gut wrenching, but what about those dogs that get lost. You know you’ve heard about the few dogs that may have been boarded that escaped or the rare few that get lost at an airport. There are even those dogs that have escaped while being in a professional dog handlers care. How about those that dig a hole under a fence and escape, or those that scale a fence? What a nightmare for the owner of one of these escape artists!

When I was a little girl, my mother found a German Shepherd roaming the streets. We took him in and we called him “Spike.” I loved that dog. He was big and beautiful and had a great temperament. But “Spike” had the “vagabond blues” and he longed to stray and look for his real owners. One day he got loose and ran away. My little heart was broken. I began looking for him and tracking his paw prints in the dirt. I mean I followed what I believed to be “Spikes” paw prints for many blocks. Then the paw prints disappeared because they were met by a major street that was loaded with traffic coming both ways. I was so upset. I crossed this major road to the other side. The other side led me to a smaller street that ran along side of a little canal. I picked up his tracks once again in the sand but then they went into an overgrown brush and weeds and I lost tract of them…….and of ever seeing my “Spike” again. Back in those days they didn’t have micro-chips for dogs.

We have all read about the horror stories of dogs being stolen at dog shows and even taken from someone’s backyard. Most of the time this happens right out in broad daylight! Your dog is a valuable part of your family. Watch over him just as you would your own child!

All of my dogs are micro-chipped. Many breeders will micro-chip their puppies before they sell them. I think this is an excellent idea so that if they do get lost that the breeder will be notified and she can contact the owner.

So what else do you do if your dog is lost besides the micro-chip? Naturally one of the first things that you should do is call the animal shelters in your area to see if anyone has turned in a dog that looks like yours. Contact the veterinarians in your area as well in case someone has found the dog and brings his into the office. Make posters with the dog’s picture on it and put it all over town. Put them up in your grocery store, your feed store and any other place that will allow you to do it. Knock on your neighbors doors and ask for their help in locating your animal. You’d be surprised how your neighbors may rally around you to help find your beloved pet. Ask the kids in the neighborhood to keep an eye out for him.

Here are some other things that you can do to help find your dog. Go online and read and post on animal forums such as the Center for Lost Pets – thecenterforlostpets.com. Also many local newspapers will let you place a classified ad in their paper for free. Besides calling the shelters, make visits to them frequently because many times a dog that has been lost for any amount of time is not in the best condition when he is found. His coat can be dirty and matted and he could have lost a lot of weight so the dog that you call up about may no longer look like the one that the shelter has just got. Go take a look for yourself.

Whatever you do, don’t automatically think all gloom and doom. According to Adam Goldfarb, director of the Pets at Risk Program at the Humane Society, pets are more resilient than we give them credit for.

Here are some best lost pet websites to check out if your pet is lost.

thecenterforlostpets.com – created by a team of vets, shelter managers, and natural disaster and safety experts, this site is simple to use.

togethertag.com – reports your missing pet to local shelters, create missing animal flyers and alert other animal owners nearby.

fidofinder.com – this is the world’s largest public database of lost and found dogs.

Also on the Animal Planet’s show that I watch every week, called “Pit Boss” there was a dog that was lost and they suggested that you look by ponds, lakes, streams……anywhere there is water because the dog will get thirsty and look for a place that he can get a drink.

Don’t give up hope of ever seeing your beloved dog again. Miracles do happen and let’s hope if your dog ever finds himself in that position that he gets his miracle too! Speaking of miracles, take a look at the review on this book.


From the book: "Huck: The Remarkable True Story of How One Lost Puppy Taught a Family--and a Whole Town--About Hope and Happy Endings" - "There is an aura of happy innocence--a kind of euphoria-- pervading this book....Elder shows us humanity in its best light and we are uplifted."
—The New York Times

“It’s about hope, it’s about fear, it’s about triumph … I guarantee you, you’ll feel better about everything after you read this.” – David Letterman

"This story takes place in the most familiar places – a doctor’s office, a family’s kitchen, a suburban high school, and the woods out back. It’s a modern-day myth that happened to be true. It’s a story in which wonderful things occurred because people believed in themselves and in each other. It’s a story about the power of love to change our world."
—Caroline Kennedy

"A story of how healing the love of a pet can be and of faith that good things can still happen when people pull together – a true, feel-good read"
—Patricia Cornwell, author of the Scarpetta series and dog lover

"Huck is the Dewey of the canine world. The dog is a delight-- even my cat Norton would have been charmed (after a hiss or two) -- and the book itself is lovely and inspiring. I rate it 5 barks."
—Peter Gethers, author of The Cat Who Went to Paris and The Cat Who'll Live Forever

"Janet Elder's wonderful story of Huck reminds us that the best stories about dogs are really about people or, in this case, community. Few things in America these days can bring people together more than a shared love of dogs. Dogs enter our lives for all kinds of reasons, and Huck entered Janet Elder's life for one of the most important. This is a wonderful story, gripping and heartwarming. And I can't say I've ever read a dog story with a more meaningful or uplifting ending. You are likely to cry some happy tears."
—Jon Katz, author of Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm

"This dog story made me feel good about people, families, and New Jersey."
—Roy Blount Jr.

"Puppies have always been better than people. Now comes a book where a puppy makes people better people. Pet it, feed it, even read it. You'll love it---and become a better person."
—Dan Jenkins, sportswriter/novelist


My rating: micro-chipping dogs: (4), safe keeping our dogs: (4)

MICRO-CHIPS AND TATTOOS

When researching for this article I was amazed to find out that one in three pets will become lost in their lifetime. That’s frightening. More than one million pets are lost or stolen each year. According to the American Humane Society, only 17% will ever find their way back home again! Many pet owners have a collar on their dog with the dog’s license and identification. They may think that this is enough to bring “Rover” back home again. Sadly it is not. Many times the dog will slip out of his collar or it gets caught on something and he no longer has his identification on him. They end up in an already over crowed animal shelter that can only hold him for a very short time. This is why the shelters are working over time putting millions of animals to sleep because they can’t find their owners.

There are two better ways besides a dog collar to identify someone’s pet. They are micro-chipping and tattoos. I have used both of these methods with my own dogs. There are pros and cons with both. Micro chipping a dog is a permanent way of identification. The only problem with this method is sometimes the micro chip can migrate under the skin and there has not been any long term safety testing with this procedure. A tattoo is also a permanent means of identification. Sometimes, however, the tattoo can smudge and become unreadable.

It has been estimated that over 94% of lost pets who had a micro chip has been reunited with their owners. Microchips are computer chips that are about the size of a rice grain that stores an identification number and transmits that information to an appropriate scanning device. These scanning devices are available to all U.S. animal shelters and veterinary clinics. They read multiple microchip frequencies sold by different microchip manufacturers. All veterinary clinics and shelters scan a lost pet when it is brought in to check for identification.

The procedure for micro chipping a dog is a simple one. Microchips come pre-loaded in a syringe. The veterinarian inserts the needle under the skin between the shoulder blades and injects the chip. The procedure takes less than 10 seconds and is only as painful as a vaccination injection. The chip must then be registered with the company who made the chip. Although your veterinarian's information will be registered with the company, it’s a good idea to register your pet in your own name for faster notification when your lost pet has been found. There will be a small additional annual fee for this but it is well worth it! Microchips are designed to last at least 25 years and do not need replacing.

Many pet owners worry about the safety of a permanent micro chip in their dog’s body. Usually microchips are composed of silicone and encased in glass. The materials used are biocompatible, so rejection and infection are rare. Some worry that the site of the implantation may cause cancer. There has been no proof of this in dogs and cats. Probably the risk of having your dog lost and possibly euthanized is much higher than anything you can worry about a micro chip and its possible side effects!

It’s wise to have your veterinarian check your dog’s micro chip at his annual visit using his scanner to make sure that the chip is working properly. Also confirm your dog’s information with the manufacturer database every year. Contact them if you have a change of address.

Years ago before micro chipping was available, some breeders had their dogs tattooed. There were three main places that they could be tattooed. The inside of the ear, the inside of the thigh of the back leg or the stomach were the most common places. I chose to have my dogs tummy tattooed. The reason I chose this area was because of dogs being stolen and sold to labs for experimentation. A dog that may have had an ear tattooed could easily have that ear removed before selling him to a lab. The same thing is true about a rear leg although this would be a more difficult area to do, it was still done. The stomach was the best place because this is not a place that someone could remove the number from. If you use this method, you must make sure that the numbers are clear and precise as they can smudge and identification is harder with a number that you can’t read. Once a dog is tattooed it is a permanent identification. A lab can loose its license if they have a suspected animal that has a tattoo on it. Federal law does not allow a lab to use a tattooed animal. Professional dog thieves will not steal a dog from a kennel, yard or car that has a warning sign telling them that their dog is tattooed.

Some breeders both tattoo and micro chip their dogs. It is not unheard of that some breeders will tattoo or micro chip their litters before they sell them. This gives the breeder a better peace of mind because some new pet owners may forget to do it themselves.

Listing your tattooed or micro chipped dog with a national registry gives you access to the registry's database and services. Often, registries also work through a network of animal shelters across the country. However, many shelters and laboratories now routinely scan strays they receive for microchips, and even if you haven't listed your dog with a registry, the lab or shelter can still find the owner of a chipped dog by tracing the code number to the veterinarian who implanted the chip.

Part of being a responsible pet owner is assuring that if your dog should get lost or stolen, that he has some form of permanent identification. The chances of your dog finding his way back home is very slim without it.

My rating: tattoos: (4), micro-chips: (4), identification collars: (1)