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Learn more about what to do if your pet is missing.

Below is information from some of the tip sheets we distribute at the shelter.


Pets Outdoors:

We’re not recommending an outdoor shelter for your pet. But, if he can’t be part of your family and live indoors with you, the law says you must provide certain basics. Proper outdoor shelter requires a simple construction consisting of the following:

• Black tar paper (weatherproof) roof and sides
  
• For a door, burlap sack or black rubber mats with vertical slits almost to the top.
  
• Entrance must close over to keep body heat in and cold weather, rain and snow out
  
• Straw winter bedding, never cloth or rugs (they hold moisture and freeze). Use straw cedar chips or newspaper and change when damp.
  
• Wooden lip to keep bedding inside doghouse.
  Keep the house off the ground:  4 legs of grained wood 2x4, at least 2" off the ground to keep out dampness and to prevent floor rot
  
• Your dog shelter should be large enough to allow the animal to stand, turn around and lie down comfortably.
  It should also be small enough to allow the animal to warm the interior with its body heat.

Proper Shelter is NOT:

• A dog tied to a car door handle or fence
  
• A trash can or metal barrel put on its side-because metal does not retain heat
  
• Planks of wood up against the side of a building
  
• A leaky dog house

Remember: Next time you feel cold or wet outside, think about how your dog is doing. Take the time to give your dog the basics for comfort and shelter to keep him warm and healthy. If you can not or do not  provide the basics, you are violating state law!

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House-breaking:

The key to training your dog to eliminate outside (where you want him to) is to prevent accidents, and to reward success. Adult dogs have better bladder and bowel control, and can "HOLD IT" for a longer period of time than puppies. The rule of thumb with puppies is: Take their age in months, add one, and that is the number of hours the puppy can "HOLD IT" during the day. (i.e. a 4-month-old puppy can be expected to be clean for up to 5 hours during the day)

• Feed your dog on a schedule (He’ll eliminate on a schedule, too)
  
• Keep his diet simple and consistent (avoid table scraps and canned foods; A high quality dry kibble produces the least waste)
  
• Choose an area, about ten square feet, outside, where you wish your dog to potty
  
• Take your dog on leash to the area, pace back and forth (movement promotes movement) and chant an encouraging phrase ("Do your business, Do your business…")
  
• Do this for maximum 3 minutes:
  
• If he eliminates, huge praise and play
  
• If he doesn’t eliminate, keep him on leash, go back indoors, keep dog on leash with you or confined in a crate
  
• Try again in an hour. Eventually your dog will eliminate appropriately and you can give huge praise and play
  
• After each success, allow 15 minutes of freedom in house, before placing dog back on lead or back into crate
  
• After each 3 consecutive days of success, increase freedom by 15 minutes
  
• If there is an ‘accident’, decrease freedom by 15 minutes for 3 days
  

REMEMBER! DO NOT PUNISH ACCIDENTS!
IGNORE THEM, AND REWARD SUCCESS!

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Name Changes:

Sometimes adopting a dog means adopting a dog with a name you don’t particularly like. (Stinky? Who's idea was that?)  Actually, It’s easy for your newly adopted dog to learn a new name. Don’t feel that a dog cannot learn a new name, and don’t feel that a dog can’t even learn a name completely dissimilar to his previous name. A dog or puppy of any age can learn a brand new name within a few days. Here’s how:

• Decide on any new name you wish for your newly adopted pet
  
• For the first few days, carry a pocketful of treats
  
• Every once in a while, and also specifically when you do want your dog’s attention, call out his new name and then immediately smile, praise heartily, and feed a treat

Even if he doesn’t turn to look at you when you call out the name, do the above anyway, and soon he will know that hearing that word means great things are coming, and he will respond as if that word is his own! Before you know it Stinky will now answer to Spot! (or Spanky, or Rufus, or Buddy, or ?)

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Finding a Lost Dog or Cat - 10 Ways To Improve Your Odds
by Helena Sung
Subscribe to Helena Sung's posts
August 31, 2010 Filed Under: Cats
Hans Pama, (Flickr)

One out of three pets will get lost at some point in their lives. This statistic strikes fear in all pet owners, but there are services and strategies to boost your odds of finding your dog or cat. From simple to high tech, here are 10 things you can do to help bring a missing pet home safely.

1. Collar and ID Tags. Only 2 percent of cats and 15 percent of dogs without tags or microchips will be reunited with their owners, states the American Humane Association. So make sure your cat or dog is wearing a collar and identification tag that bears your current contact information, including phone number.

2. Microchips. Many different companies manufacture pet microchips, which are read with scanners provided to veterinarians, animal control agencies and shelters, etc. According to the American Microchip Advisory Council for Animals, it is best to pick a microchip that operates at the American standard of 125 kilohertz. Be sure to register your contact information and keep the information up to date. Many microchip companies will now accept registration information for another manufacturer's microchip, so consider cross-registering you and your pet with several different microchip databases.

3. Use GPS to locate your pet. Satellite technology can be used to track your pet's movements inside and outside your house -- provided your cat or dog is wearing a special GPS-enabled collar. If your pet should go missing, products such as the SpotLight GPS Locater can locate your pet with "pinpoint accuracy" anywhere in the U.S. The RoamEO Pet Location System is another device that uses GPS to track pets.

4. Distribute "Lost Pet" fliers and posters. Nothing beats good old-fashioned footwork when it comes to finding a lost pet. Get outside and scour the neighborhood; knock on neighbors' doors and call your pet's name. Time is of the essence, so don't wait to see if your pet will return on its own. Make fliers and posters bearing a color photograph of your pet and include a description of your pet, when and where it was last seen, and your phone number and email address. Don't include your name or home address for safety reasons. Post them at local businesses and veterinary offices and give them to your local letter carriers who travel extensively through the neighborhood. According to pet detective Kat Albrecht, dogs are more likely to roam farther from home and be picked up by a Good Samaritan, while cats usually stay within the immediate area. Consider offering a reward, but beware of getting scammed.

5. Visit local animal control agencies and shelters. File a lost pet report with all animal shelters and animal control agencies within a 60-mile radius of where your pet was lost, recommends the Humane Society of the United States. If your town has no animal control agency, contact the local police department. It's also important to personally visit all shelters and animal control agencies within a 20-mile radius at least every other day, states Albrecht on her Missing Pet Partnership website.

6. Send out an aimal Amber Alert. Thanks to clever technology, companies such as Pet Amber Alert  and FindToto can instantly broadcast a personalized telephone message to homes and businesses in the area where your pet went missing. You can choose to broadcast the message to hundreds or thousands of your neighbors, depending on the plan you purchase. (Plans range from $79.95 for 300 neighbors to $875 for 10,000 neighbors.)

7. Broadcast it on the internet. Sounding the alarm via Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites can work. Just ask Shane and Nicole Meide of Minnesota, who found their lost cat through Facebook.

8. Check "Found Pets" sites. Microchip maker, HomeAgain, has launched a free new iPhone/iPod/iPad application called "PetRescuers" that keeps a running database of lost pets that are reported by owners. Those who download the application are provided with alerts about lost pets that are geomapped to their local area within a 5, 10 or 25 mile-range. There are also numerous websites, such as FidoFinder.com, TabbyTracker.com and LostPetUSA, where people can post and search for lost pets by zip code. (Also check the "Found Pets" section of your local newspaper.)

9. Set out a humane trap. You can also try luring your lost pet home using a humane trap that is filled with your pet's favorite food, treats or an item of clothing that smells like you and can capture the animal without harm . That's how Rue the Chihuahua was finally caught after 19 nerve-wracking days of being missing in a Florida swamp.

10. Hire a professional pet detective. You can always enlist professional help by hiring a licensed and certified pet detective. Albrecht's Missing Pet Partnership organization provides a national directory of reputable pet detectives who have undergone Missing Animal Response (MAR) training.

Finally, do not give up! That's the message Florida resident Tracie Steger posted on Craigslist after her cat Giggle-Blizzard crawled home on two broken legs after nearly two weeks of being missing. Be persistent -- and visible. "Posters and fliers are the number-one way animals get recovered," animal tracker Laura Totis told Paw Nation.

Tags: Dog Shelters , find pets, Finding a Lost Dog, Lost Cat, Lost Dog, lost found pets , lost pets, microchip, pet psychic, pet resources, pets rescue