https://www.littlethings.com/12-hour-checklist-for-missing-dog/
However, losing a dog for more than 12 hours is what happened to my family. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying if you do exactly what we did, you'll find your missing dog. However, even if you do one of the things we did & you eventually find your dog, then writing this blog post (& you reading it) would've been worth it.
I began writing this post as sort of a diary when I first lost my dog in case I eventually found "Fido". & thankfully, after 15 days, we finally found him.
I'll admit we made many mistakes, but we never stopped looking. During the fifteen days our dog was gone we almost felt like a family member was missing, & when we eventually found him it was like a weight was lifted off our shoulders. I truly hope the same happens to you.
But first things first, the dog isn't mine per se, he belongs to my parents. My parents have two German shepherds: one male (let's call him "Fido"), & one female (let's call her "Lady"). But I see Fido regularly & since my family have always owned German Shepherds (even before I was born), & they've always had the same name, I feel particularly attached to this newest-generation Fido.
Fido went missing on a monday.
On that particular monday, dad went out of town & asked me to go over to his house to play around with the dogs (since they get restless when my dad is not around). I live a few miles away from my parents & on this specific day, I had to stop by my house first before going over to the parents' house.
However, once I arrived at my house, I called my mom to see if the dogs where doing ok & since she said "yes", I began doing things around my house & forgot about the dogs.
A couple of hours went by. It was already close to 8:00pm (dad was to arrive at the bus stop at 11:00pm) when mom called me on the phone. Mom told me she had taken a shower & afterwards, when she went looking for the dogs, she couldn't find Fido. I said "are you sure he's not in the backyard?". A few minutes went by and mom gave the bad news: Fido was missing.
Right away, I drove over to the parents' house. In addition, I called my brother-in-law when I was on the way so he could help me go look for Fido. Before arriving at the parents' house, I stopped about a block away from my parents' house & looked around the neighborhood, but nothing.
The rest of that awful night was spent looking for Fido all over my parents' neighborhood & neighborhoods nearby. I picked up dad from the bus stop at 11:00pm & right afterwards we all looked for Fido until about 1:30am. I had to go home since I had to get up early for work, but I went to sleep sad and restless. Feeling bad for Fido & feeling bad for my parents.
Day 1: Tuesday) Back to work. I woke up kinda late & still very sad about Fido's disappearance. At work, I looked up dog shelters online, called them but only go voice mail. Looked up online dog rescue sites as well as animal hospitals. In addition, I spoke to the parents about any news in their search for Fido around the neighborhood, but again nothing.
I had to go back to living my life, although back at home in the evening I did post a "lost pet" message on Craigslists (based on a friend's recommendation).
Day 2: Wednesday) Took some time off from work & went to the barber shop. After chatting with people at the barber shop about Fido, the barber told me to create a Facebook account & post about Fido's disappearance there.
Instead, after getting my haircut, I went home & created a B&W "lost pet" flyer which I began to post around the parents's neighborhood. I also gave some of the flyers to Dad which he began to post as well.
In the evening I got a response to my Craigslist ad. But it was just a person telling me to post a Facebook message in a lost-pet group. I thought "this is the second person telling me to create a Facebook account" (after my barber). Thus I went ahead & logged in to my Facebook account (which I hadn't accessed since 2014!) and posted a picture of my flyer. I also joined a lost-pet Facebook group.
Day 3: Thursday) I woke up and checked out Facebook straightaway (which I hadn't done in years): no responses so I posted another message in a different state-wide Facebook group for lost dogs.
But I continued to live my life. Though in the evening I chatted on the phone with dad, who kept posting flyers in grocery stores and laundromats around the neighborhood.
Day 4: Friday) I worked all day. And at night, I went out to a night club with friends.
Before going out, I chatted on the phone with Dad. He told me he'd been printing more flyers, and he'd spent all day driving around nearby neighborhoods posting them.
Day 5: Saturday) Woke up very late with a hangover. Then I worked in my backyard as well as the front yard: I mowed the lawn and cleaned the front driveway.
After I finished yard-work, I drove over to the parents' & picked up dad and "lady". From there, we went to the dog-shelter in south Phoenix to see if Fido was there, but no luck.
However, I'll admit it was heart-breaking to see all the abandoned dogs. It was obvious to me many people just can't handle having dogs. Or for many others, for whatever reason, they have to abandon them. Nevertheless, seeing families, couples, and single people looking for dogs to adopt made me have faith in humanity again.
Day 6: Sunday) No hangover today, so I exercised at home, then rode my bicycle to the gym.
After my workout, at around noon, Dad called me on the phone to tell me about a German shepherd he saw at an online site. It was an injured stray dog that looked like Fido in an abandoned-animal hospital nearby. So I went to the hospital.
If I thought it was heart-breaking to see the animals at the dog-shelter, seeing all the injured animals was even worse. Nevertheless, I looked at every single dog, but no Fido as usual.
With no news about Fido, I went to a party that Sunday night.
Day 7: Monday) Back to work, and my routine. However, I met a friend for lunch & the first thing she asked about was about Fido & how sad she was about it, so I got bummed again.
After lunch, I spent a few hours looking for Fido online, on Facebook, & in dog-shelter & animal hospital websites but no luck.
At night, I spoke with dad on the phone (he'd been looking for Fido as usual but nothing). Afterwards I went to a friend's house to watch "Monday Night Football".
Day 8: Tuesday) Woke up still thinking about Fido & wondering where he was (or how he was being treated). So I posted another Craigslist ad with a different photo than the last post (& more details).
Afterwards it was just a routine day consumed by work.
At night, I spoke on the phone with dad about his daily search around the neighborhood for Fido, but nada.
Day 9: Wednesday) Yet another day consumed by work, though I also took a call from my sister who lives in another city. Of course she was asking me about Fido & not to give up the search.
She also encouraged me to post another Facebook message which I did. Good thing that I did, a person on Facebook saw it & advised me to join yet another Facebook group (the third one), this group for German Shepherds in need, so I joined it right away (thankfully).
At night I went to the gym. Though afterwards, I also spoke on the phone with the parents about the daily search for Fido: but still no news.
Day 10: Thursday) Got off work early because I had traffic school (red-light camera ticket). Afterwards I went to the store, texted with the parents about any news on Fido: but of course nothing new.
Day 11: Friday) Another workday. Though I did meet dad for lunch & we chatted about Fido (of course). It was a pleasant conversation, although we both did admit to feeling kind of helpless. Consequently, I felt we were both beginning to accept Fido's disappearance (unfortunately).
Day 12: Saturday) I worked in my backyard as well as the front yard: mowing the lawn and cleaning the front driveway.
But my back gave out while lifting the lawnmower in a manner I shouldn't have. I believe the stress from the dog's disappearance made me do things out of frustration which led to my injury.
If I were to advise somebody going through this, I'd say take it easy & try to remain calm no matter how many days have passed since your dog's been lost.
Like the saturday before this one, after I finished yard-work, I picked up dad and "lady" & we went to the dog-shelter in south Phoenix to see if Fido was there, but he wasn't.
That night, I also drove to a neighborhood a few miles away from the parents' house because a friend told me he saw a dog resembling Fido in a grocery store's parking lot in that area. I drove around the neighborhood, & even asked a kid out on the street on a skateboard about it, but he hadn't seen anything.
Day 13: Sunday) I woke up with my back messed up so I had to rest pretty much all day. Though I did do some back exercises I watched on youtube.
At night, I went to the parents' house because my sister was visiting from out of town. Sis brought a few Fido fliers in color which made me sad all over again.
Day 14: Monday) Despite my back injury, it was back to work. Woke up early & checked out Facebook for Fido but there was no news.
After work I did some more back exercises & spoke on the phone with the parents about Fido. Seems the parents went to a work site near their house because someone claimed to have seen Fido there, but nothing.
Day 15: Tuesday) This is the day we finally found Fido. I woke up with my back still injured (but not too worried since according to a web page it may take 2-4 weeks to heal). As had been routine for the past two weeks, as soon as I woke up I checked out Facebook. And what do you know? Somebody posted a message about a stray German shepherd (the message was posted on the third Facebook group I had joined a week earlier). The message included two pictures taken by the Facebook user & the dog in the picture looked exactly like Fido.
The pictures were from an intersection about a mile from my parents' house, so right away I called my dad on the phone.
My dad didn't answer so I tried again. Meanwhile, I began getting dressed.
My dad finally answered his phone. So I right away told him about the dog in the Facebook post & texted him the picture. We both agreed it was the same dog so he left straightaway. I live a few miles away from the parents' house so it took me a while longer to get there (especially because it was rush-hour).
But once I got there I realized the difficulty of the task. Next to a park, there's a huge empty field. & next to the field, a big mobile-house park and several houses & apartment complexes.
I pulled up to the park's parking lot & could make out my dad in the distance. Thus I drove around the park & drove onto the empty field to reach my dad's location.
Dad had found Fido & he pointed to where he was. But I couldn't see Fido because he was hiding in the outer edge of the huge empty field which was littered with debris & overgrown weeds. I finally saw Fido: he looked very thin & confused ("in flight mode" according to the Facebook user who posted the message & with whom I chatted later that day).
Dad & I tried to catch him but Fido eluded us & ran towards the intersection. Despite having my back injured, I desperately ran after him (two utility company workers nearby ran along with me). Between us three & later on, my dad, we finally caught Fido in an industrial zone on the other side of the intersection. As soon as I had Fido in my arms, I gave him several of the biscuits he's liked since he was a puppy. & thankfully, after being on the streets for more than two weeks, Fido finally recognized me.
Fido finally came home & of course the whole family was very happy. The vet has seen him & Fido is recovering & doing well.
First & foremost: Thank God. & thanks to all the people who helped us, especially the Facebook users. Also, thank you for reading my diary which now becomes a blog post. & if you're going through what we went through; have faith, keep searching & you will find your missing pet.
For those of you who have pets, try to keep them calm this new year's eve, & have a happy new year.
That night, I also drove to a neighborhood a few miles away from the parents' house because a friend told me he saw a dog resembling Fido in a grocery store's parking lot in that area. I drove around the neighborhood, & even asked a kid out on the street on a skateboard about it, but he hadn't seen anything.
Day 13: Sunday) I woke up with my back messed up so I had to rest pretty much all day. Though I did do some back exercises I watched on youtube.
At night, I went to the parents' house because my sister was visiting from out of town. Sis brought a few Fido fliers in color which made me sad all over again.
Day 14: Monday) Despite my back injury, it was back to work. Woke up early & checked out Facebook for Fido but there was no news.
After work I did some more back exercises & spoke on the phone with the parents about Fido. Seems the parents went to a work site near their house because someone claimed to have seen Fido there, but nothing.
Day 15: Tuesday) This is the day we finally found Fido. I woke up with my back still injured (but not too worried since according to a web page it may take 2-4 weeks to heal). As had been routine for the past two weeks, as soon as I woke up I checked out Facebook. And what do you know? Somebody posted a message about a stray German shepherd (the message was posted on the third Facebook group I had joined a week earlier). The message included two pictures taken by the Facebook user & the dog in the picture looked exactly like Fido.
The pictures were from an intersection about a mile from my parents' house, so right away I called my dad on the phone.
My dad didn't answer so I tried again. Meanwhile, I began getting dressed.
My dad finally answered his phone. So I right away told him about the dog in the Facebook post & texted him the picture. We both agreed it was the same dog so he left straightaway. I live a few miles away from the parents' house so it took me a while longer to get there (especially because it was rush-hour).
But once I got there I realized the difficulty of the task. Next to a park, there's a huge empty field. & next to the field, a big mobile-house park and several houses & apartment complexes.
I pulled up to the park's parking lot & could make out my dad in the distance. Thus I drove around the park & drove onto the empty field to reach my dad's location.
Dad had found Fido & he pointed to where he was. But I couldn't see Fido because he was hiding in the outer edge of the huge empty field which was littered with debris & overgrown weeds. I finally saw Fido: he looked very thin & confused ("in flight mode" according to the Facebook user who posted the message & with whom I chatted later that day).
Dad & I tried to catch him but Fido eluded us & ran towards the intersection. Despite having my back injured, I desperately ran after him (two utility company workers nearby ran along with me). Between us three & later on, my dad, we finally caught Fido in an industrial zone on the other side of the intersection. As soon as I had Fido in my arms, I gave him several of the biscuits he's liked since he was a puppy. & thankfully, after being on the streets for more than two weeks, Fido finally recognized me.
Fido finally came home & of course the whole family was very happy. The vet has seen him & Fido is recovering & doing well.
First & foremost: Thank God. & thanks to all the people who helped us, especially the Facebook users. Also, thank you for reading my diary which now becomes a blog post. & if you're going through what we went through; have faith, keep searching & you will find your missing pet.
For those of you who have pets, try to keep them calm this new year's eve, & have a happy new year.
