Lost Pet Research & Recovery

28/09/2024

Luna is showing good promise as a cat detection dog though I'm still hopeful that she might like to search for dogs too. It looks like I'm going to have to reach out and find more dog-friendly cats as my kitties are now old and uninterested in an excited puppy. But maybe they'll warm up to her eventually.

18/09/2024

Meet Luna the newest member of the Lost Pet Research Team. We picked her up about a week ago but I've been too busy to post. At this time I'm not available for on-site assistance, but can still do virtual consultations. If you'd like to see lots more puppy pictures and follow Luna's training, you can follow her here: https://www.facebook.com/LunaTheACD/

04/09/2024

On Friday I'm heading down south to meet Luna, my future lost pet search dog. Obviously it's going to be a while before she's ready to search, but she's already working on her kitty wrangling skills.

21/08/2024

It's been a long time coming, but I am finally starting the search for my next lost pet search dog. I'm aiming for a scent-specific trailing dog but I'd also consider a cat detection dog.

I'm hoping to find a dog between now and next summer. If anyone has any leads on dogs or good rescue groups, please let me know. I will want to meet and test them before adoption, so they need to be within the Northeast. I'd prefer to adopt but I would consider purchasing a pure bred puppy if from a working dog line and reputable breeder.

My Ideal Search Dog Candidate

Puppy or Young Dog up to 2 years.

Small to Medium Size - ideally between 10 to 40 lbs. I want to be able to carry them in an emergency.

Must LOVE cats! They will primarily be searching for lost cats and I live with two senior kitties.

Must like other dogs and be okay around children. I don't have either but we often encounter them on searches.

No significant fear or aggression issues. No sound phobias is a major plus.

High search and play drives. High food drive is a plus.

I'm starting my search for my next lost pet search dog. Looking for a special puppy or dog with the right drive and temperament.

20/08/2024

I had a great time at the Pet Search and Rescue Conference in upstate New York last month. There were many opportunities to watch different dogs working the scent training scenarios. I even had the chance to try working with a few of Annalisa Berns’ and Susan Long’s search dogs. Perhaps most useful, I had the chance to ask experienced search dog handlers lots of training and business questions. I’m now ready to start looking for a new search dog to train, and I’m excited to implement some new ideas to improve how I run my business.

15/08/2024

Today is Check the Chip Day! Did you know that around half of microchipped pets that arrive in shelters never make it home? This is primarily due to unregistered microchips and incorrect contact information. Take a moment today to make sure that your pets' microchips are properly registered and up to date. If you're not sure, learn how to check here:

Learn how pet microchips work and what can go wrong. Find out if your pet’s microchip is working and what to do if it isn't.

30/06/2024

Sushi is home safe after nearly a month missing! She was on a harness away from home when something startled her. She slipped out of her harness and disappeared into some woods. She was ultimately found due to a Facebook post to a community page. Someone had been feeding her for about a week and was able to secure her on their porch. She had traveled nearly a mile from her location lost, which is unusual for an indoor-only cat.

When a lost cat travels outside of your poster/flyer area, local online posting such as community Facebook groups and Nextdoor are most effective. People tend to post found cats or cats that they are feeding to these places before posting them to lost pet pages/groups. You should follow Facebook groups in the town your cat is missing and nearby towns. In this case Sushi was posted to a different town because the person feeding her did not use Facebook and someone visiting took photos and shared the post.

It is also important to make connections with cat rescuers, lost pet page moderators, and feral cat feeders. They tend to pay attention to found cat posting and share them. In this case a feral cat feeder alerted me to the post and the owner saw it herself around the same time, but I’ve had several other cases where rescuers were pivotal to online recoveries.
- Chicopee, MA

10/06/2024

If you are interested in learning about training a lost pet tracking dog, there's still time to sign up for the Pet Search and Rescue Conference in the Adirondacks, July 19-21, 2024. You don't even need a dog to attend, you can learn a lot as an observer.

To the heroes working in animal rescue....

Join us at the Pet Search and Rescue Conference in the Adirondacks, July 19-21, 2024, and unlock your dog's potential.

Register: https://forms.gle/EMwsNDJ2hA8AXVH69

More Details: https://www.petsearchandrescue.com/conferences

06/06/2024

Zeus is home safe after 3 weeks missing! He was an intact male semi-feral outdoor cat that disappeared from his colony one day. After posting to a local Facebook group his caretakers found out that Zeus was hanging out in my neighborhood about 1/3 mile from his home. After I saw the flyers go up on my street, I put out a surveillance camera on my feral cat feeding station, and less than 15 minutes later, I had Zeus on camera eating there! This was after he had been missing for about 2 weeks.

I contacted Zeus’ people, and although they saw him, he was in “survival mode” and wouldn’t come near them. Unfortunately, Zeus did not show up consistently at my house. He probably had other food sources since there are many outdoor cats in my neighborhood. But after a week of trapping, I finally caught Zeus in my own backyard. I wish they could all be that easy.

His caretaker’s brought him home and were finally able to get him neutered. He is now safely indoors, and they are attempting to transition him to an inside cat. Based on the photo, I think he’s happy to be there.

South Hadley, MA

04/04/2024

I finally finished my article on Effective Long-term Lost Pet Search Methods: https://lostpetresearch.com/2024/04/effective-long-term-lost-pet-search-methods/. I will start working on part 2 shortly which covers how long to search and advice on keeping motivated.

Learn what search methods work best in a long-term lost pet search. Also includes search methods to try when nothing else has worked.

14/03/2024

Riley is home safe after 57 days missing! He went missing about 3 weeks after moving to a new home and had only been going outside for about 2 weeks. At their old home he had been an outdoor-access cat for 3 years. After nearly 2 months of endless posters, flyers, searching and online posting, Riley was ultimately found due to a Facebook post on a local community group. He was being fed outside at a home nearly 7.5 miles away and had been in that area for at least 3 weeks.

Unfortunately, we will never know how Riley ended up there. It’s possible that he was accidentally transported though he doesn’t have a history of climbing into vehicles. It’s also quite possible that he traveled there himself. This is a long distance for a lost outdoor-access cat, but he may have been trying to travel back to their old home. If so, he started off in the right direction and got off track.

Riley is happy to be home and recovering well from his ordeal. He now has a tracking collar and is currently under (possibly permanent) house arrest. – Louisville, OH

When an outdoor-access cat goes missing from a new home, there is always the chance that they will attempt to return to their old home. This is most common if the cat was lost within 5 miles of their old home and had lived there for at least 2 years. For more details check out this blog post: https://lostpetresearch.com/2016/12/cat-homing-behavior-survey-results/.

If a lost cat travels outside of the poster/flyer area, online posting is one of the most effective search tools. Most importantly, posting to local online sites like community Facebook groups (and not just lost pet groups), Nextdoor.com and the Neighbors App. It’s also important to repost and engage with your posts so that people know you are still looking when a cat is missing for months.

17/01/2024

Just a heads up. There are some great trail camera sales going on right now. TrailCamPro (http://i.refs.cc/rItI3YTX ) is having a sale on their demo and used trail cameras. Find the sale under the "Shop Accessories" tab. SpyPoint is also having a blowout sale. Only $69.99 for the Link-Micro-LTE trail camera when I checked today.

13/01/2024

For my first research project of the new year, I am collecting preliminary data on long-term lost pet searches. I am especially interested in those cases with few or no confirmed sightings where the lost pet was found after 1 month or longer. Please take a few minutes to complete this short survey on your experience and/or interests in long-term lost pet searches. Feel free to share with others. I plan to post a summary by the end of the month.

The purpose of this survey is to collect preliminary data on long-term lost pet searches and assess future interest in this topic. I am primarily interested in long-term searches with few to no confirmed sightings.