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Finding your lost dog begins long before your dog ever gets lost.

• Take a picture of your dog.
• Make sure that your dog wears a collar and with an identification tag listing your phone number.
• Keep his rabies shots up to date and be sure that he wears his tag. If he bites someone while on the loose, and does not have a tag, he may be summarily executed. This is because in order to perform a rabies test on a dog, a sample of the brain tissue is needed.
• If dogs in your area are required to wear a license, make sure that yours does.
• Consider having a microchip placed in your dog. Unlike a collar, you don't have to worry that your dog might slip out of it. However, a microchip is only effective if the people who find him have the machine needed to read it.
• Another option is to have your dog tattooed with identification information. This is a common procedure with show dogs.

Your object is to make it as easy as possible for someone to contact you, if they find your dog after it becomes lost. Permanently marking your dog with a microchip or tattoo can also serve as 'anti-theft' devices if you have highly valued dog, such as a champion stud dog.

Begin looking for your dog the minute you notice he is missing. The longer you wait, the farther away he can get. It is estimated that a dog can easily travel 20 miles in one day!

Although most dogs will return home on their own, the sooner you find him the better. There are many dangers that exist that could abruptly end your dog's life. Not only is there the danger from cars and other animals, but there is also the danger posed by dog thieves.

First, make sure that your dog is truly gone. Make sure that he did not accidentally become locked in a room, or that he is not curled up asleep in the back seat of your car. After searching your house, expand your search in an ever-widening circle.

• Talk to your neighbors and ask any kids playing on the street if they have seen him.
• If your dog is an intact male, and you happen to know of a female nearby, check out her home. Males can smell a female in heat from a very long distance.
• Try driving around your neighborhood.
• Dogs can get lost. Some dogs have a fantastic sense of smell and can follow their own scent home; others simply have a terrific sense of direction. However there are also those that become lost the moment they are out of sight of their own homes.

If the search of your immediate area did not help you find your dog, its time to start making some phone calls.

• Call the pound, animal shelter, animal control officer – anyone or any organization that may have picked up your dog or where your dog may have been dropped off is someone thought he was a stray. Don't just call the local facilities – call those in nearby counties as well.
• Call the local radio, TV and cable station, and ask them to put an announcement on stating that your dog is lost.
• Call and have an ad place in all the local papers – don't forget the 'free' papers, like those given away at supermarkets.

Take your picture of your dog down to the local 'copy' center and have flyers made up with color copies of the picture. Be sure to include a notice about where and when the dog was lost, a complete description of the dog, and information on how people can contact you. Posting a reward may also be helpful.

• Place these flyers up everywhere, not just in your own neighborhood.

Take the time to visit all the animal shelters, and try to do so every day until your dog is found. You don't want to risk having your dog destroyed because an employee doesn't think that your dog looks like the description you gave.

Be sure to cancel the ads, take down the posters – and don't forget to thank everyone who helped you search for, and find your dog.