One of the biggest fears that we have all those people who share our life with a dog is to lose it at some point. In most cases this anguish lasts a few minutes, the same time it took to find it. In other cases, unfortunately, it can take us much longer. Whatever the time, the moments we spend without knowing where our best friend is are lived with great anguish and time becomes eternal. Losing our dog is something that concerns us all. Fortunately, many of the cases can be avoided by following the advice we propose below.
>> Also check, How to Find a Lost Dog – Get Your Pup back Immediately
Act Responsibly
The number one rule to avoid losing your dog is to always act responsibly. In many cases losing our dog is related to an error or carelessness on our part. All this can be avoided if we follow simple rules.
Do not let go of your dog until he is ready: leaving your dog loose is a very important decision that you should only make when you are sure that your dog is going to call. This is achieved by knowing our dog’s behavior well and having previously trained it.
Keep your dog always guarded: if you have decided to take your dog with a leash, never forget to pay attention to his movements, even if you are in an area that you consider “safe.” Dogs can be very fast and an oversight of a few seconds may be enough to lose sight of him. Remember this when you start looking at your mobile or chatting with another person.
Beware of dog areas: some cities offer owners areas for dogs where they can loosen freely. Although most of them are reasonably safe, see if the fences are high enough to prevent your dog from skipping them and check that the access door is tightly closed.
At home it controls doors and windows: we can not only lose our dog when we are outside. Your dog may also feel interested in going outside taking advantage of an oversight on your part. To avoid escaping, close doors and windows and be very careful when someone enters and leaves the house.
Practice the “Come” Order
If we want to prevent our dog from getting lost, it is very important to have some control over his movements. To do this it is important to teach the order “come.” With this order we will get our dog to come to the call when, for example, we believe that our dog enters a dangerous area or simply when it moves too far.
Although teaching your dog the order come can help you gain more security and confidence with your dog, you should not forget that this order is not infallible and if your dog feels special interest in something like food, chasing an animal, a dog in heat, etc., the order “come” will not help much. However, it is important that your dog learn it since it works in most cases.
Put the Microchip on Your Dog
According to dogperday, one of the basic tools that our dog should carry is the microchip. The microchip is a small device that is implanted under the dog’s skin that allows it to be identified by an individual number with its owner. The great advantage of these devices is that once they are implanted they are permanent and do not come off, which makes them always identifiable.
>> You may also want to know, Microchip vs Dog Tracker – Which One Does Your Dog Really Need?
Use an Identification Plate
Although many people consider that the microchip is sufficient, the identification plates can be very useful since they allow the owner to be identified more quickly and easily compared to a microchip, where you need to go to a veterinarian to know the data of the owner. As we have commented previously, the minutes in which we are without knowing the whereabouts of our dog are eternal, so a simple sheet will greatly accelerate the process of identification of the owner.
Use a Transport in Your Trips
When traveling we must take some measures to prevent our dog from trying to escape and thereby lose it. The best way to avoid it is to use a dog carrier on our trips. Remember that before embarking on the trip (especially if it is long) is to accustom your dog to the use of transport days before making the trip. Your dog will travel more comfortable, safe and we will prevent him from escaping.
Use a GPS device
One of the best ways to keep your dog under control, especially when we live in a house or in the country is with the help of a GPS for dogs. These devices use mobile networks and GPS technology to determine the position of our dog, which will allow us to see on our mobile phone its real position at all times. Some devices even allow you to create safe areas (such as our house and garden) and once our dog leaves that area we receive a notice on our mobile.
