This would only work if the dog has been microchipped and your friend still has the chip registration number, and unfortunately it will not be an overnight thing, but eventually if someone picked up the dog thinking it was a stray or someone just fell in love with it and wanted to keep it for his/her own will have to take it to the vet for routine care. You could bring fliers to the animal hospitals and veterinary services in your town, and a little beyond, and asking them to pls scan any dogs that look similar to find the microchip number. Some vet practices are small and don't have the machine, tho.

Have you posted the "lost" flyers in all of the veterinarian offices within a 25 mile radius of the pet's home? Also, does the flyer have a picture of the dog?

When we have had a cat missing, we've posted everywhere, in mailboxes in the adjoining neighborhoods, post office, vets' offices, shelters, talked to people around the area to see if they have seen our pet. Call animal control, etc. Problem being is that you have to call every single day. No one is going to chase your friend to give the dog back if it is in a shelter. I had a cat go missing when we were on vacation. Our petsitter didn't tell me until 3 days after he was gone. I orchestrated a search as best I could from across the country. I never had the sitter back because she didn't understand that you have to call and visit the shelters every day or every other day. You can't just call and leave your phone number. It doesn't work that way. Also, has your friend called her local police department, perhaps someone has called in a roaming pet. Living in a rural sitation with a creek running past our home, we get many stray pets, mostly dogs, on my property who've just gone for a swim. Happens alot. We try to round them up, get them on a lead, give some water and then try to read their tags, call the police dept. and animal control to let them know we have a missing pet.

This is so difficult. The problem is the length of time here. The longest we had a cat missing was 17 days. I think he was taken in by someone and cared for. He was not thin or sickly when he came home. We had just about given up hope of ever seeing him again and low and behold he shows up? I know what your friend is going through. I hope your friend is reunited with her dog.

Most shelters do check for microchip when they take in a dog or cat.

It may not be a stolen pet. My DD just adopted a 3 year old black lab from the local SPCA. It was a lost dog, not abused and was there for over a month- the owners never called there. It is a wonderful dog and had been very well taken care of by someone.( no one adopted it because it would go totally crazy over a tennis ball and there were dozens lying around the area where the dogs are taken to meet prospective owners. nuff said.)

Dogs can get much further from home than we think and perhaps the owners are not searching far enough away.How about the next town over or the other side of the lake and go out further than you think.
We found a dog years and years ago running on the shoulder of a highway( essentially a loop around the city) we stopped picked up the dog, called the number on the tag from pay phone( yep olden days before cells and microchips),then called owners- this dog was about 20 miles from home- they were amazed that the old dog had gotten so far. I understand that they will just keep running.
Now Tucker the black lab has his very own tat from the SPCA and a new home! And Cooper and Bailey have been microchipped since puppyhood.
I hope they find it.

How about facebook for the town they live in as well as the next towns over?

I would also try making a post on city data's forum for her state.

Knowing whether the dog had a collar, ID, and/or microchip would help in giving an opinion. Assuming none of the above, it is altogether possible that someone found the dog and decided to keep him.

The only thing I can suggest is to get a human interest story written by your local newspaper with a photo of the dog. If someone found and decided to keep him, maybe the neighbors will report it.

By the way, I've heard that Lost Dog signs work best if the phone number is large enough to be read from a vehicle driving by slowly.

Thanks everyone... I'm sorry I forgot to include the fact that he does not have a microchip. He was wearing a collar when he disappeared, but I'm not sure what info was on it. I also forgot to mention that she has been to the area vets, as well as to the grooming places nearby. I totally agree that nobody will look as hard as the owner, and she is just knocking herself trying to find him. Since the first week he's been gone, she's also used Petfinder.com to see if he is being made available through a rescue group's adoption program, but again no luck. Oh, and yes the flyers have a large photo of the dog and phone number. The newspaper idea is interesting -we do have a small local newspaper, I'll pass that idea on.

I'd also check with shelters near your town. If possible, go to each shelter in the area daily, b/c the dog may not be described as a Maltese/Lhasa. For example, if you call a shelter & ask about a Maltese,but they have a dog listed as Poodle, it really could be the one, but you'd never know without seeing it. If possible,try to put a 'hold' on any dog that you even think might be mislabeled & go see it asap.

Get posterboards, put a picture of the dog w/ its info & walk the area around the lake with it. Hire some kids to do this if necessary. Somebody saw something, even if it's just to tell you "It went that a way!"

Will any stores let you put up flyers? THis must be heartwrenching for your friend & I truly hope for a happy & joyous homecomeing.

I think we are going to make a poster for the living room window. Their house looks straight onto the lake that people walk around on weekends. Something like, "Did you see a small white, LOST DOG dog near here on May 30th? You never know.... Please call with ANY information. XXX-XXX-XXXX. REWARD!!!"

That's so heartbreaking, keep us posted !!

I second checking out in a further radius. We had a couple of dogs turn up at our house one evening, one had been hit by a car and I took them to the emergency vet. It was a Sunday evening and while the dogs had tags, the phone number was for the Animal Control and it was closed.

Fortunately the dogs had been microchipped and the owner contacted immediately. The dogs had traveled over 10 miles in a very short time.

That being said, it's also possible some low life stole the dog and is keeping it. My DH once came across some guy carrying our cat blocks from our house. The guy said he just found our cat and was bringing him home to keep him safe. What a crock...the cat NEVER went past our next door neighbors house, much less blocks away. The creep stole him from our yard.

When I was a teenager, we had our black Lab stolen, twice. Both times we found him. Once he found us, 25 miles away, by the sound of my mother's school bus. (He always warned us she was coming, 6 miles away.) That time he broke the chain he was being kept on. In the middle of my mom's bus run, twenty miles away, he greeted us. We had the gas station keep him until the bus run was over so we could take him home, not on work time.) The other time, he was 150 miles away. By happen chance, a friend heard someone tell how they had stolen a dog "in the little town of Washington" We got him back again.

'Dude' lived a wild life. He was given to our family as a pup, after being burned out of a camp site because of 'hippies' living there. We all loved that dog. At age 10, he was hit by the school bus he led daily through our small town on a daily basis. He was hit by a sub driver who was driving the bus because my mom was getting treatment for her cancer. The sub driver didn't know Dude's habit. Accident's happen.

I wish you all the luck in the world finding your missing dog. Luck does happen. Dude was a great dog.

ohmygosh, golddust, that is an AMAZING story! You all have offered some much needed empathy and good tips too. In terms of 'broadening the search', we are trying, but realistically we are doing it mostly by phone and internet. This young woman works all week, and it just isn't realistic to visit every shelter in a 100 mile radius, constantly. We don't *really* know that every shelter posts every dog that comes in, but we are kind of banking on it I guess. We've used petharbor.com, which has been a big help in this regard.

Maybe you could snail mail a poster to all the shelters, if you haven't already done that.

I'd also touch base with groomers,kennels, boarding facilities & foster groups.
It's possible a foster group pulled the pup from a shelter to make room for another.

Yes, we have taken flyers to the nearby shelters and vets. We've also stopped in at boarding places, kennels, groomers, etc. The problem becomes that most of them are hesitant (understandably) to pass on any information such as an owner's name/address... The rescue groups in the area are quite good about posting pictures of their animals, so we have been scouring those. I have probably been watching too much tv, but I was thinking we should pose as 'new website owners' and call telephone numbers in the neighborhood, and ask for details about pets in the household -claiming we will have a drawing for a free microchip or something. And yes, I do realize that must be illegal as all getout...

Yes, we have taken flyers to the nearby shelters and vets. We've also stopped in at boarding places, kennels, groomers, etc. The problem becomes that most of them are hesitant (understandably) to pass on any information such as an owner's name/address... The rescue groups in the area are quite good about posting pictures of their animals, so we have been scouring those. I have probably been watching too much tv, but I was thinking we should pose as 'new website owners' and call telephone numbers in the neighborhood, and ask for details about pets in the household -claiming we will have a drawing for a free microchip or something. And yes, I do realize that must be illegal as all getout...

ohgosh, this is just unbelievable, but a woman just called my friend. Said she and her husband were driving through the area and saw the flyers and then saw a small white dog, called to him and he came. So they have him now. They live about 10-12 miles away, and have to go to a meeting, but are going to meet up with my friend after that. She texted her a picture in the meantime, and it really looks like him.. It's so hard not to get our hopes up..... He's been gone since May 30th...! He is wearing a different collar than the one he had before. And he is still snow white, which indicates he's been in someone's house somewhere.... Stay tuned!

I'd definitely widen the search. One of my friends lost a dog and he was found the same day 3 counties away! I also know of a blind, deaf, 15 year old dog in congestive heart failure that ended up in a shelter 4 hours from home.

I would NOT do the "new website owners" idea. If someone called me and asked about my pets, I'd take your information and send it directly to the police. WAY too creepy.

I've found so many strays I've lost count. Some ended up staying with me. Some ended up at no-kill shelters. Some ended up in good homes, some of which were 3 states away. I always follow the law and take strays to AC with paperwork to adopt them if owner is not contacted. I also place ads in newspaper (free to place found ads here) and flyers in area where found. Only 4 dogs of all I have found (probably 30 or more) got reunited with their owner- they were wearing collars with current contact information. Several were wearing collars but no tags, most had no ID on them at all. None had microchips. It breaks my heart when I can't find the owner but there's no way I can keep 30+ dogs so I have to find them good homes wherever I can. I keep thinking how I would feel if one of my dogs got out....

I'm sorry your friend is going through this. I would place a lost ad in every major newspaper in your entire state and make sure the petfinder ad was up to date. Pets can travel so quickly both on their own and with help. Good luck.

Gosh, I sure hope those nice people didn't steal someone's pet, thinking it was your friends. Please let us know if it is the right dog or not!

Meghane, I wouldn't really call -I was just trying to describe our desperation. Like you, I have 'found' more cats and dogs than I can list, and yet can count on one hand the number of times I have located the owner. And I have made herculean efforts. It's just so terribly frustrating. If I had a zillion $, I would find some way to better match up people looking for their pets, and people looking for owners.

golddust, the puppy was just out walking around -we have a leash law in town, and this is a fairly busy road, so it was a good thing they did to stop and get it. I am friends with the director of Animal Control here in town, and if the dog does not turn out to be my friend's pet, I'll be calling first thing in the morning to make a report and see if anyone has reported him lost.

Not him :(

I'd certainly try and get this pooch back to his home. I'll bet he lives in the neighborhood where he was "found." I'd hate to think that another family lost their pet.

He is snow white and has a collar, I'll bet some other family is frantic tonight!!

golddust -I know! I can't believe there is no post on CL, or SPCA, etc. Hopefully there is a report at Animal Control

When we have had others pets show up after a good swim, if there are no identifying tags or collar, we always call the police department first to report finding the animal, we call animal control in our county and run the pet to our vet to check for a chip. I have never had to take an animal to a shelter. I would keep the cat/dog if no one claimed it before I would take it to the shelter. I cannot stress this enough. Your friend needs to call all of these shelters, animal control, etc. every single day. She needs to visit at least 2-3 times per week. I realize that this is an inconvenience as she works full time, but no one is going to be able to find your friend if the dog lost his collar or his tags. Many people won't pay the vet fee to have the chip checked. Also, did your friend register the chip? My boys are chipped and we had to register their chips and I contact them yearly to be sure that they still have our up-to-date info. I've changed cell numbers, etc., but I always call to let them know. If you don't follow through, the chip is worthless.

At this point, I think your friend needs to visit the county animal control center with a picture of her pet to go through their intakes from the date the pet went missing. If they have picked up the dog, there will be a record of it. I am not sure how animal control works in your area, but in mine, it is by County. I would go two counties in either direction as well.

Two years ago we had a cat show up at our property every nite all winter into the spring. DH admonished me not to feed or pet him, "leave him be, we don't need another cat". Already having brought 4 cats home as "surprise", I followed his wish. Fast forward a month (early spring), DH comes into the bedroom one nite and says "guess what I just did" with the sheepish look. I knew immediately. Yep, he fed the cat, which led to taking the cat to the vet for neutering, shaving the mats out, necessary shots, etc., etc. At that point we could not leave him out in the cold when he was done with his neutering, heck he was missing half of his coat. My DH slept on the floor of his office the first few nites Miles was in our home. Miles hated dogs with a passion and actually would charge at my labs just at the mere sight of them. Well, three months into our new pet ownership, Miles went missing over nite and returned aroun 11 p.m. the following nite. We made up flyers first thing in the morning, posted them everywhere. Visited the shelters, called police departments within a 20 mi radius, animal control, all of the vets in our area, etc. Miles comes back 1 1/2 days later. Well, he's back safe and sound and DH & I come home from being out to dinner a week later to a message on on our answering machine. "hello this is 'Bob', seems you have my cat Toby, your cat Miles". "Bob" had seen the flyers we posted as he lives about 1/4 of a mile from our home. Apparently Miles/Toby had spent the previous winter on "Bob"s outside porch. When I tell you that Miles looked like death warmed over when he showed up here each nite, I am glossing it over with a huge air brush. He was matted, bitten from fighting with other cats, etc. We spent $$$ and so much time acclimating Miles into our home. Slept many nites with the bedroom light on just to be sure if there was any incident, we were ahead of it with the light on since Miles would attack our dogs for no apparent reason other than he hated dogs. So we listen to the message and I am sick, DH is sicker than me. DH returns the call to "Bob". Well, "Bob" says hey, looks like Miles has a much better gig at your house by the looks of the picture (taken outside in our hardscaped garden) so I think I'll just leave it be and you keep him. We were so relieved. However, had Bob actually taken care of Miles, had given him veterinary care, we would have had no choice but to give him back to Bob. However, "Bob" hadn't brought Miles into his home, or done any of the due diligence you need to do owning a cat. Thankfully for us, we did all of those things immediately and Miles/Toby looked much different in our "lost" picture by the time "Bob" called.

It may very well be that someone does have your friend's dog and isn't fessing up. I hope if that is the case, he has found a home much like ours where he is treated well. I know that is a horrible scenario for your friend, but it is a possibility given the length of time he has been gone. If animal control doesn't have a records of picking up an injured animal or worse, than I would have to assume, someone has him.

Tell your friend to keep following up with all of the aforementioned places. I wish her luck!

The word REWARD needs to be the first and biggest on the fliers.

If you have a clear picture of him, use that, if not, a rough sketch and a brief description will work.

Just say it's "Missing", don't say the animal is stolen or lost, or that you'll pay "for any information leading to such and such animal". (a friend did that once and ended up paying $50.00 to find out their cat was dead in a ditch)

Bestyears, any update yet?

Good morning...
My poor friend is so down this morning. She kept telling herself not to get her hopes up about the dog yesterday, but of course you do.... I'm hoping she'll rally, but she's so disappointed....

I'm still struggling with the idea of visiting every shelter/AC/rescue group in a wider area every few days. If we use a 50 mile radius, there are about 12 shelters, and dozens and dozens of rescue groups. Most are only open during the business day. We are relying on the online photos of all but the closest ones.

The "found/stolen" dog must be returned to it's neighborhood and doors need to be knocked on until it's home is found.

I hope no one is missing a dog that looks like mine!

I know this isn't related to the post topic, but maybe this info will help someone out there, even if this isn't the way the little dog got out.

So many dogs get out when meter readers don't shut the gate(s) properly. It's just so sad & unnecessary that meter readers don't take those extra few seconds to make sure the property is secured, esp. if there's a dog in the yard.

Our utility company will tell us (within a 2 day range)what day our meter will be read so we can unlock the gate. When the dogs need to go out for a potty break, we go out first to make sure the gate's shut tight.When the range date is over, we call the util. co. to see if our meter has been read, & if so,we re-lock the gate.

My neighbor lost her 2 dogs on the day her elec. meter was read. Of course, she can't prove anything, but it's too coincidental since the meter reader was working our block that day.

Best of luck for a wonderful reunion.

Well, I emailed our Anim Control shelter early this morning. Hadn't heard back by 2, so I drove over. There are 4 or 5 reports of dogs that may fit the description, so I'm forwarding the tel. number of owners and pic of the dog that was found (but isn't my friend's) to the director. Hopefully, a match will be made..... But no brand new reports there or online or in the neighborhood...

This lost dog is one of those cautionary tales about the need to put multiple identification tags on your dog and a microchip. I have become fanatical about dog tags. When a foster dog is about to leave my house, I make a temporary tag for the dog to wear during the ride to his new home and first days there until he gets something more permanent.

I like this type for my dog's collar. It doesn't get caught in floor registers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Boomerang tags

Thanks for the link on the collar tags. They look wonderful. We have a Border Collie that likes to run away from home every so often.We also have collars with their name and our cell phone number for when we travel. It is embroidered on.

Well great news for the little white 'mystery' dog. My friend (whose own dog is missing) found an ad on the local SPCA's Lost & Found page for a lost white dog from her neighborhood. Called them up, set them up with the finders she'd been working with.... and the guy called her back an hour later -it was their dog!

That's wonderful news! I'm glad they got their dog back. So it sounds like it wasn't stolen and just wandered away?

happiladi, I don't think this is the white dog from the original posting. It's the lookalike dog, not the one that prompted the "if you think someone stole your dog" posting.

pammyfay -you are correct. It's the lookalike dog who has been reunited. My friend's dog is still out there....somewhere....