Resources

Tips to increase your chance at getting your pet home safely:

The very first key piece of advise I can give you is that getting big neon posters up and spreading the word that your pet is missing are HUGE factors in your overall success. In order to locate your lost pet, you must know where they are. In addition to these posters, you can hand deliver flyers in the area where your pet is missing. While talking to neighbors, see if they have cameras that caught which direction your pet headed towards. Grab some chalk paint markers and tag your vehicle as well. You can do all of this while you are out searching, “kill two birds with one stone”. Note – We do not encourage offering rewards unless you are 100% sure someone has stolen your lost pet.

***Note – the city may remove flyers/posters over time. We normally don’t have any issues but we’ve been hearing of others having theirs removed.***

Sightings are a key factor for those of us who do lost pet recovery. We map sightings so that we can determine travel patterns and figure out our best course of action based on your lost dogs behavior. Lost pet recovery is a science so to speak.

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If your pet is microchipped, you will need to contact the chip company to report your pet as lost. If you have misplaced the documentation, try contacting where the microchip was implanted – they will likely have the information saved for you. Also, check with your vet if you gave them that information as well. I don’t advise listing your microchip number on any lost information – treat this as if it were your social security number.

Report your pet as lost to your local Animal Control and the closest Animal Shelters. Check in with them at least every 2 days in person to be sure your lost pet has not been located.

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If you are on Facebook, create a lost post on your profile and be sure to make it public. This post can be shared everywhere. Join your local lost/found pet Facebook groups and get the word out using your centralized post. We do not encourage offering rewards unless you are 100% sure someone has stolen your lost pet. For Cheyenne, the most useful group is :

Cheyenne Animal Shelter Lost & Found – www.facebook.com/groups/LostandFoundCAS

Other apps/databases can be helpful in spreading the word as well:

NextDoor will connect you with others in your neighborhood – you can download the app or go to www.nextdoor.com.

PetFBI is another really good resource www.petfbi.org – here locally, your flyer/post would show up on “Lost Dogs Wyoming” www.facebook.com/LostDogsWyoming after you submit your report.

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Dogs – If you spot your lost dog while out searching – DO NOT CALL OUT TO THEM – and if they seem elusive or scared, drop to the ground (sit/lay down). Do not attempt to go AT them, instead you want to coax them towards you while remaining calm & non-threatening. There are several calming signals you can use – here is an excellent explanation video by Kat Albrecht from Missing Animal Response Network https://youtu.be/cmiZzB643is. There is also a video from CT Dog Gone Recovery that shows a real life perfect example from one of their cases: https://fb.watch/mQIzKShsfd/

When dogs are lost they often go into survival mode – you can compare this to “fight or flight” in humans. If we think something is after us we often will flee the situation – your dog is feeling the same. To them we all look like scary predators coming at them, they do not realize humans are just trying to help them. You want to be the least threatening & remain calm and collected. Often times lost dog owners will not heed the advice not to call out to their lost pet – they have to physically see their dog bolt off after calling to them in order to understand.

If none of this works – your dog may need trapped.

The next key step is to leave a feeding station in that location for them. We love to use rotisserie chicken and liquid smoke (a little goes a long ways and it stays potent). The goal is to keep them coming back to that location for food while you are organizing a trapping plan with your coach/trapper/etc. Be sure to rebait and keep the food fresh. You will want proof that it is your dog eating at this station so I highly suggest trail cameras. These can be cellular cameras (sends you live updates) or static trail cameras (pull an SD card to look at footage). We can place one of our cellular cameras on a feeding station if we are working on your case. We do not advise placing a trap in any location until you know your dog is feeding in the area.

You will notice by looking at some of our cases on here, we always use adequate sized traps. You never want a dog having to crouch or reach to get into a trap. You run the risk of the dog hitting its head or back on the trap door & it closing prematurely which can result in a trap shy dog, or reaching in to grab food and never triggering the plate to close the door. We are 100% happy to help coach you through proper steps/placement/setup if you chose to attempt trapping yourself. Please note – we do not loan out traps, nor will we ever advise/condone leaving a trap unmonitored. There are too many risks involved such as a dog busting through a door, predators getting to your dog, or your dog injuring itself in an attempt to escape the trap.

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Dogs – The “Wagon Wheel Method” has been used successfully in some cases. This means taking scent items (dirty laundry/bedding/scent from home) and strategically placing them in a wagon wheel to lure your dog back to the lost point. The center is where they were lost.

Dogs – Grill up smelly foods at the lost point. Use the wind direction to your advantage if you know which direction your lost dog took off towards.

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Cats – Indoor only cats generally hide in the first spot they can – act fast before they move further away from home. Prop open the door/window your kitty escaped from. Use bricks or books or something heavy to prop the door open just wide enough for them to get in. Often, cats are so scared that they will only come out of hiding very late at night/early morning (midnight-3am) and will come back inside on their own if they can get in. Leave kitty’s food, water, and litter box inside to help draw him/her in. You can scatter some dirty laundry around outside to try to create a scent trail and draw kitty closer. You can also place their bedding on your porch/deck/front yard. If you have other pets be sure to secure them in a room so they are not missing as well.

You’ll want to follow the same techniques listed above for flyers/posters.

Cats – It is NOT advised to place a dirty litter box outside for your lost cat. This is known to attract predators such as feral toms, foxes, & coyotes. Cats bury their urine to hide it from predators. Did you know cat urine has also been used for years to bait coyotes?

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Most importantly be proactive, stay positive, and never give up!

What we DO NOT recommend – with explanations

• Leaving trails of urine/defecation – While this may not harm anything, there is zero evidence to suggest this works. It is also wasting time that could be well spent on another task/proven method.
• Search parties – Unless your lost dog is extremely sick, hardly able to move around, severely injured, or may be stuck on obstacles dragging a leash, we do not recommend grid “search parties” – especially not with a lot of people. This has the extreme potential to push your lost dog out of an area they may settle into.
• Communicators/Psychics – Just use caution. While there are some folks who have a gift & can be accurate, there are a lot who are out to take your money or send you on a wild goose chase. If you chose to use this type of service please do not rely solely on their information – use the physical evidence as well.
• Untrained/Not properly trained tracking dogs – Use caution when selecting a tracking team. There are many great options who are truly trained for lost pets. Unfortunately there are some who claim to track lost pets & their dogs are not trained specific to lost pet work. This could lead to you spending thousands to be told oh your dog was picked up. We have witnessed this occurrence many times only for the lost dog to be found still roaming. Scent can end for many reasons – the first conclusion should never be telling an owner “your dog was for sure picked up in this spot”.
• Scammers – Scammers love to take advantage of lost pet owners. If anyone tells you to contact an organization/tracker via Instagram, DO NOT! If someone tells you to text a number on WhatsApp, DO NOT! There are also websites that look legit who are scams. Most trackers/teams do not advertise their pricing on their website publicly (because every case is different) but if you see set flat rate pricing of like 200-300$, it is not legit. If you are messaging with someone and they say we will send out technicians with drones, traps, etc, just pay this amount, DO NOT! Scammers may reach out stating they’ve found your pet but need you to enter a 6 digit code to verify, DO NOT! Use caution to protect yourself.