Tips for Dealing with a Lost or Found Dog

• An AKC number normally has two letters then 6 digits and a two digit trailer.
• Examples:
  • HM 010101-01 or HM 010101/01 or HM 01010101.

• 1 800 NDR DOGS (1 800 637 3647)
• Usually people register their social security number with the NDR. However they will register any number so it is a good idea to give them a call.

• ID pet numbers normally begin with an "X'.
• ID pet phone numbers are: 1 800 243 9147 or 1 203 327 3157

National Greyhound Association

• This is the registry for racing greyhounds.
• Racing greyhounds are always identified by tattoos in their ears. A racing greyhound has tattoos in both ears. The right ear tattoo is a two or three digit number followed by a letter. The month of birth is indicated by the first one or two digits, the year of birth within the decade by the last digit. The letter is the individual identification within the litter. The left ear tattoo is a five digit number which is the hound's litter number.
  • An example of an NGA tattoo:
    • Right ear = 123E
    • Left ear = 45678
• The National Greyhound Association registration department is normally very helpful.
• Their phone number is 1 913 263 4660.

Canadian Kennel Club

• Dogs bred in Canada and registered with the Canadian Kennel Club are generally tattooed in one ear or the flank. The tattoo is made up of three parts. First is a three character letter-number sequence which is the identification code of the breeder. This is followed by a number which is generated sequentially and refers to the number of dogs the breeder has registered that year, this is followed by a letter representing the year the dog was born. These letters are determined by CKC and some letters are not used. The most significant part is the initial, three character letter-number sequence. This identifies the breeder.
• An example of a CKC number: 7MR 1 C
• Canadian Kennel Club address:

  Canadian Kennel Club
  Suite 100, 89 Skyway Ave
  Etobicoke, Ontario  M9W 6R4
  Canada
  

• Canadian Kennel Club phone number:
• 416 675 5511

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Microchips

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Finding your lost dog

Did your dog have ID materials? If there was a rabies tag, alert your vet. If a county license, alert animal control.

In addition to the county animal control shelter they may be private shelters in the area where the dog was lost. It is best to contact all shelters within an hour's drive. You may have to visit the shelters regularly also.

Run a newspaper ad. Describe the dog, don't rely just on breed name if it is an unusual breed. Find out what the common name for your type of dog is in the area. For example in Baltimore many people call German Shepherd dogs 'K9 DOGS'. State: 'reward for information leading to return'. Don't pay reward unless you get the dog back.

Leave a critical detail out of the ad so that you can see if the person has the dog by seeing if they can mention the detail. Don't ask 'does he have a blue collar' ask, what color collar does he have?

Be careful about blackmail scams in response to your ad. A common scam is for a person to say they are a long distance trucker who picked the dog up, that the dog is now in Chicago and they want you to wire them money so that the dog can be shipped back to you. Don't fall for scams. You are emotionally very vulnerable right now.

Most dogs are found within a mile or two of where they were lost. Left to themselves they often backtrack their own scent to where the last saw you.

Posters with a clear picture of the dog are useful. Make sure you describe the dog the way you would to a child who knows nothing about dog breeds. For example:

• don't just say: large
• say: 27 inches and 100lbs.
• Additional descritive terms also may help such as: Head comes up to the hip on an adult.

Many times helpful people take the dog in but do not know how to contact an owner looking for the dog.

• They may be afraid to get close enough to look at the tags.
• They may know nothing about dog breeds and so not know how to interpret your posters, newspaper ads, etc.
• They may think the dog was abused and not want to try and return it. This is especially common with found sighthounds, modern thin shepherds and shy dogs in general.

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Finding the owner of a dog you found

A common scenario is for a concerned person to find a dog roaming free and take it in, then look for the owner. How do you find the owner?

(1) If you think the dog is pure bred, make sure you have a proper breed identification. Ask more than one person to help identify the breed. Often a veterinarian will have a poster showing common breeds. Remember that sometimes a common breed comes in an uncommon color. If the dog is at all unusual, it is a good idea to show the dog to a person who works with that breed in rescue.

For example, recently I was shown a large white dog that some quite responsible people had adopted from a shelter as a Great Pyrenees. They had continued to try an locate the owners. However I think the dog may be a Kuvasz which would mean that much of the effort in finding the owners would have been wasted.

(2) Before you jump to the conclusion that the dog was severely mistreated make sure you know the breed. Many people think perfectly normal greyhounds, whippets, salukis and borzois are starved. They decide not to look for the owner because of the perception of abuse. These dogs are naturally thin. Modern Irish Setters and German Shepherds can also be thin.

(3) Look in newspapers and call around to veterinarians and shelters in the area where you found the dog.

This may seem obvious but I know of people who have picked up a dog while on a trip and then looked in their own local paper, 100 miles away, to see of someone is advertising it as missing. Remember to post notices of your find in the area where you found the dog and to phone shelters in that area and to run ads in a newspaper local to where the dog was found.

(4) Accurately describe the dog in terms of breed (where possible), color, size, ear carriage, sex, coat length.

(5)Is the dog tattooed?

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