What if your dog gets loose while you are away

[DBlain]

I think a lot of you guys probably have a plan if your dog went missing while on vacation, but with this being summer and I since I know there are a lot of new dog owners on YT I wanted to share a sort of crazy lost dog story that happened in my family a few years ago.

My sister took a cruise with her family and left Lucy her yorkie with my parents. Lucy is very familiar with my parents and their home and has stayed with them often. A gate was not closed properly and she got out. She had her tags and a microchip but all the info was for my sisters home phone and address. My parents live about 40 miles from her and while they had a key to her home they did not know her voice mail pass word or how to use it, plus they were not sure of how to get a hold of her on the ship and "they did not want to ruin her vacation, because after all what could she do long distance". This was on Long Island and I live in MI, so my parents did not think I could help and did not tell me for over 3 days. They are in their 80's and are not up on computers and caller ID and stuff like that. By the time I found out, they had put up some signs, were driving around, and had a friend of my sister's go to her house but she did not know how to access their voice mail. By the time I found out I was livid that this was going on and the dog was still missing and no one told me. I tried in vain to explain caller ID to them, which if you knew my parents was impossible for them to comprehend, I also tried to talk them into inlisting some kids in their neighborhood to go door to door because I was starting to think whoever may have found Lucy wanted to keep her. I was just making plans to travel to NY because I could not live with myself if I did not help, but finally the people that found Lucy got in touch with my parents. Hard to believe but they did not see or think to check the signs on the street posts or walk around asking people if they knew this dog. A neighbor of their's that knew they had found Lucky finally saw one of the signs and told them about it. When they delivered the dog to my parents it was clear that they and their young son liked Lucy and were prepared to keep her if no one came forward soon. Getting Lucy back could have only taken a few hours instead of 4 days if a plan had been in place.

So after that lesson, I make sure that whenever I leave Lola with someone I do have a plan, one of the things I do is have a tag made with the name and number of the person watching her, you can do this at many places for about $5.00 I also make sure I have given the person lots of contact info for me and that they know that no matter what I should be called, ruining my vacation pales compared to loosing Lola. My parents bless their hearts did not want to ruin my sister's vacation, but she could have accessed her voice mail either by computer or by phone and solved the mystery of who had Lucy. Since she was on a cruise and had nothing going on at home, or so she thought, she did not bother to check her Voice Mail or in with my parents (again to me this is a no no). After my sister got home I asked her to check the caller ID and sure enough there were several phone calls from a 516 area code the area code my parents lived in, but since they did not understand caller ID they never checked or could seem to understand how they might be able to figure out if someone was calling about Lucy so they would not try.

I know in part this was due to my parents age, so try not to leave your dog with an elderly person if possible, and if you do make sure they fully understand how to work things we take for granted. Since there was no plan, my parents spent 4 days in living hell worried about Lucy while she was being pampered up the street about 7 houses a way, luckily Lucy is a healthy dog with not many issues and does not need meds. I still shake my head that this happened to our family, especially since between my sister, my parents and myself we have raised and owned 9 dogs, you think we would have known better So moral of the story, have a what if plan when leaving your dog in the care of anyone.

[Harrysmum]

Oh dear....what a nightmare you went through - and thank you for the heads-up

I personally tend NOT to leave Harry with my parents (also in their 80's) for the reasons you stated. Plus my dad (especially) tends to open the front door and gaze out...generally trying to see what the neighbours are up to!!!

We have 2 people that we leave Harry with when we go on holiday (if we can't take him). VERY vetted by ourselves, and we're happy in every way.

For those people, we have the appropriate tags made and attached to his collar - THEIR phone number, address etc.

We also inform our vet, just in case... Sally + Harry x

[beachdog]

Oh my goodness! What a story! Some good ideas there and something for everyone to think about! Thanks for sharing, glad it all worked out for the best!! I know what you mean about older parents!

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by Harrysmum

Oh dear....what a nightmare you went through - and thank you for the heads-up

I personally tend NOT to leave Harry with my parents (also in their 80's) for the reasons you stated. Plus my dad (especially) tends to open the front door and gaze out...generally trying to see what the neighbours are up to!!!

We have 2 people that we leave Harry with when we go on holiday (if we can't take him). VERY vetted by ourselves, and we're happy in every way.

For those people, we have the appropriate tags made and attached to his collar - THEIR phone number, address etc.

We also inform our vet, just in case... Sally + Harry x

Or checkin' out the weather....that is what mine used to do!!!!! I just dont go anymore.....I dont enjoy myself when I have ventured off for a couple of days....I worry constatly about the "kids I left behind...worrying if they miss me as much as I miss them, etc"....It is less traumatic on all of us if I just stay home! Besides, I am a control freak with OCD....nobody can do it as good as I do it, so even though the pet sitter I use is a vet tech at the clinic where all the babies go, I STILL drive everyone crazy!!!

[DBlain]

Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1

Or checkin' out the weather....that is what mine used to do!!!!! I just dont go anymore.....I dont enjoy myself when I have ventured off for a couple of days....I worry constatly about the "kids I left behind...worrying if they miss me as much as I miss them, etc"....It is less traumatic on all of us if I just stay home! Besides, I am a control freak with OCD....nobody can do it as good as I do it, so even though the pet sitter I use is a vet tech at the clinic where all the babies go, I STILL drive everyone crazy!!!

that's a shame because as much as I love Lola I also enjoy a few vacations a year. I have a few people I trust and Lola seems to be happy there, I am blessed because she is a well adjusted dog, I have heard so many stories of dogs that make them self sick if their owner goes away, that's why from a young age I tried to make sure she was comfortable with others.

[CouversMom]

What a scary situation! I'm glad they got Lucy back, but geez... 4 days! We usually take ours on vacation with us, but when we have left them, they stay with my parents. They also wear tags that have my phone number and I answer my phone when I'm away (even if it means international charges). I think it's a great idea to include other phone numbers on there too... just in case.

Thank goodness the family was honest and returned the dog though... There have been cases here where the new family has decided to keep the dog despite knowing who it belonged to!

[DBlain]

I really think the people wanted to keep the dog, they did call my sister and leave a message but they did little else, if that was me I would be walking the dog all over the place to see if any one recogonized her. My parents don't walk that great any longer that's why I wanted them to hire some neighborhood kids to go door to door, but of course they did not know who to call, meanwhile I had gotten two neighbors phone numbers from the online phone book, but old people just don't think like that. The caller ID is what really got me, I kept trying to tell my mother what it was and how to use it and she was like how would I know their number or if they were calling about the dog. I kept saying look at the name or the area code or just call any number after the time the dog went missing, but she is a subborn lady and just would not listen to the concept. I also could not believe my sister's friend would go over to their house and not think about that, but it even took my sister some time to realize that would have been a good idea. BTW I don't have other numbers on my regular tag, I just put a second tag on when going away, Lola's tag is to small to have multiple numbers on it. I have since taught my mom in person about caller ID but I still don't think she gets it, oh well live and learn

[LunasMomma]

What a scary situation for your parents, they must have felt horribly guilty and scared I'm glad it all ended well.

This is a great post, thank you! I never thought about getting a second tag with a sitter's number on it, that is GOLD!!!!!

[gracielove]

It certainly is a good warning to people who are going on an extended vacation or cruise! I'm glad your parents got the dog back. I'm sure they must have felt terrible about the situation. The older answering machines did not have the ability to get messages from other locations. They did do a good job with what they knew to do.

Gracie has 2 phone numbers on her ID tag and her micro chip has three different contact people. This is the very reason I insist that she have an ID tag on. Many people who pick up a stray dog do not think of checking for a microchip.

It certainly is a quick and easy thing to get a new ID tag with the info of the people caring for your dog while you are gone. When leaving the country though I would also make sure that your microchip info has at least one additional contact person attached to it.

Your sister must really have great confidence in her dog and your parents. I think if I was away from home on a cruise I would be calling everyday to see how my baby was! I usually have my daughter here to baby sit when I'm gone or I have someone else come to stay. Thankfully, I have never had to leave her anywhere else.

[Lovetodream88]

That sounded like it was terrible but glad it ended up ok. I went on vacation once with out Callie for 5 days only like 6 hours away and nothing bad happened but I had so much anxiety it was terrible so I have decided if she cant go I don't go I just have way more fun with her then without her.

[DBlain]

Originally Posted by gracielove

It certainly is a good warning to people who are going on an extended vacation or cruise! I'm glad your parents got the dog back. I'm sure they must have felt terrible about the situation. The older answering machines did not have the ability to get messages from other locations. They did do a good job with what they knew to do.

she had a voice mail through the phone company so that you can check easily via phone or the computer. It probably would have been better if she had the old fashiond kind since my parents could have checked that more easily.

Gracie has 2 phone numbers on her ID tag and her micro chip has three different contact people. This is the very reason I insist that she have an ID tag on. Many people who pick up a stray dog do not think of checking for a microchip.

I told my sister about this thread and she said that she did add my folks to the the microchip but after the fact, but like you said the people that found the dog only checked the tags not the micro chip so you are right the tags are really important.

It certainly is a quick and easy thing to get a new ID tag with the info of the people caring for your dog while you are gone. When leaving the country though I would also make sure that your microchip info has at least one additional contact person attached to it.

Your sister must really have great confidence in her dog and your parents. I think if I was away from home on a cruise I would be calling everyday to see how my baby was! I usually have my daughter here to baby sit when I'm gone or I have someone else come to stay. Thankfully, I have never had to leave her anywhere else.

the dog has lived off and on at my folks house during some construction projects my sister was doing, and during other trips plus Lucy is crazy about my parents so she really was not worried. However my sister realizes now how important it is to check in. I am like you before I let a good friend of mine take care of Lola I went to his house and puppy proofed it. Then he had to email me pictures almost daily and I spoke to him and Lola everyday. I am surprised it offered to sit for her again, but he loves dogs and really likes Lola so I guess he put up with me because of it

hope my quotes did not make this post hard to understand

[MikaTallulah]

My vet is one of the contact numbers- They have my parents' numbers, brothers, and a friend's number in record as emergency contacts other than me.