Your not alone, hundreds of dogs go missing every day. Social Media if full of found dogs and lost dogs and many more sites are on line every day.

So the first rule is NEVER GIVE UP! Dogs have been returned to their owners sometimes years after they went missing.

We will assume that you have searched your home and yard. Next go door to door and speak to all of your neighbors with at least within your immediate home. make sure you leave your phone number with each one of them.

The first steps to finding a lost dog;

• Call the local shelters with in 25 miles of your home... Yes  I suggest at least 25 miles. I personally have had a lost Boston that had been missing for over 6 months show up 45 miles for the place it was last seen at. Luckily for this Dog, when he showed up at the animal shelter, he was spotted by a Boston lover and the rescue was called.
• And if it is during office hours call every vet with in the same distance. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND NAME  with every call you make.
• If you have help make flyers with your best head and body photos you are going to need them.Include a clear photo of your dog, a description of color and breed and your contact phone number. Tape them in as many mail boxes or doors as you can.   Make the flyers easy to read with a big heading LOST DOG.
• Now go to every animal shelter, vet, pet shop, convenience store, and ask to put up a flyer at each.
• be aware that many vets, and animal shelters now have Facebook sites and or answering machines

Use them if you can upload photo, contact info, etc on each site you find.

• Send someone to go to every door in your neighborhood with a flyer ask for their help.

(if your are lucky enough to have help many of these things can be done at the same time.)

• Animal shelters:  When brought in to a shelter many authorities will euthanize stray dogs within a relatively short period. usually 5 to 7 days  Call and visit them daily or ask where you can see their impounded dogs. Many shelters now have Facebook listings. If you are able to view the impounded dogs, you should do so. Telephone communications can be open to misunderstandings. Your dog may be there but because of misunderstandings between staff and yourself, you are not told that your dog is there. All sorts of misunderstandings can occur regarding color, breed and description of the dog. You may be able to email or send them a photo of your dog. And ask to place a flyer there.  Several owners have been call right from the shelter, when a person brought in a pet and saw the flyer…
• If your dog or puppy is micro chipped ring the microchip registry. make sure your contact information is up to date.
• Call all the local vets. Your dog may have been injured and taken there. Many vets also have lost pet registers. If they do have, you should ask to have your dog put on the lost register.
• Call the RSPCA or ASPCA in your area.
• Ask your vet for phone numbers of any dog rescue organizations in the area. If you know them already then make contact and let them know share the flyer most are on FB, Twitter, and on the web
• Have all of your local friends share your FB status with photo and description of your dog ask them to share with their friends.
• Walk around your neighborhood calling your dog's name. Ask family and friends to help you. Hand out your 'Lost Dog' cards to people you meet along the way, walkers, joggers and children as they often see things that adults don't. Check under cars, bushes and out of the way places.  Also do not forget to check ditches, and coverts that run under driveways. Your dog may be lying there injured. Take a torch with you for checking dark areas or if you are searching at night. Ask your neighbors to check around their yards, garages and outbuildings. It's worthwhile asking your neighbors to ask their children to keep a look out for your pet too.

 More ideas on where to put flyers:

• Put your flyers or posters up at local stores.
• Place lots flyers at places where someone might go to buy dog supplies (Petco, vets, grocers, etc.) so that if someone has found your dog and is getting that dog the basics, they might see your flyer!
• It is also useful if you put tabs on the bottom of the flyer with your phone number on, this way people can rip off a tab & take it home with them for future reference should they come across your dog.
• Put them up at intersections or traffic lights where they will be seen by as many people as possible.
• Also put a flyer up near the local school where parents drop off their children and also in the school car park.
• Ask at local businesses in your area, leave a flyer with them.

 OTHER IDEAS

• Make your autos rolling billboard by taping extra large posters to them
• Always have your answering machine turned on if you are using a home telephone number.
• If you have school-aged children, have them ask children at their school. Print photos of your dog for you children to show around school.
• Place an advertisement in the newspaper. Don't forget to check the "found" listings in your paper too.
• Check on the Internet. Many dog websites have bulletin boards or forums, which have lost & found areas for lost pets.
• Maybe you have moved house recently. Check at your old address. Let the new owners know and leave them a 'Lost Card'.
• If you suspect your dog or puppy has been stolen you should report it to the police.
• Also, check the classified ads in your newspaper. If someone has stolen your dog they may be trying to sell it for profit.
• Put some food & water outside your house and even your dog's bed or some of your clothing with familiar smells.
• Unfortunately your dog may have been killed by road traffic. Ring your local council or authority to find out who collects dead animals from roads in your area. It's not a pleasant thought to think that your dog is a victim of a road accident but it is better than not knowing what has happened to him.
• I would try to think of anyone who is out on the road a lot around your area. Contact them. We suggest speaking to the local postman, the police, the Fedex/ UPS guys - Anyone who is out an about on a regular basis who might see him hand each one a "lost dog " card or flyer."
• See if they might announce it on a local radio station.

Start with Alabama Pet Registry (Dennis - 205-969-2241).

•  Post on craigslist Everyday place an add on Craig list.
• Fido Finder - Where Lost Dogs Are Found www.fidofinder.com
• Lost and found Boston Terriers on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/443509685705493/ A group where anyone can post pictures and help requests about lost and found Boston Terrier all over USA.
• Lost & Found Pets! Hartselle, Somerville, Decatur,& surrounding areas (Alabama) https://www.facebook.com/groups/lostnfoundpetspt/
• Place an add with Lost Dog.com they also do and amber alert with land line phone. POST with Lost Dog.com they also do and amber alert with land-line phone.
• Go on Face book to all your groups and email friends ask them to help spread the word.
• Please recheck with neighbors you would be surprised how many people have found their pet a block away and weeks have past....
• When searching your neighborhood:  Animals can hear you from very long distances. Bring your pets favorite things with you, a "squeaky" toy or favorite treats and rattle them loudly while calling your pet's name. It's also important to stop regularly, be quiet, and listen to see if your pet is making any noise. Sometimes they may make a noise in reply or they may be hiding somewhere whimpering or barking.

 Recap from our friends

Judith Doyle Stewart I just found a dog and she had a microchip! All it took was to be scanned! Even if the owner can't be located, it can track the chip back to the purchaser. In this instance it was the SPCA.

• Classified ads help too! Check with local rescues. Flyers/ posters help as well.
• And of course keep checking the shelter! Don't call them, actually walk through! 
• Place lots flyers at places where someone might go to buy dog supplies (Petco, vets, grocers, coops, tractor supply, grocery stores etc.) so that if someone has found your dog and is getting that dog the basics, they might see your flyer.

Use a piece of clothes that you have recently worn but have not washed, and leave it somewhere where you think the dog might go to or might have been. Come back and periodically check those places and sometimes your dog will be at your clothes.
Go to Wal-Mart, H.E.B even go to the mall, you will be surprised how it will get back to whoever has this dog.

• First, make sure you have properly searched your OWN home to confirm your pet is not just hiding somewhere. Pets can get into some very strange and small places. Look behind, under and inside all appliances such as washing machines, stoves, refrigerators. For cats, make sure to check in attics, on the roof or roof gutters, and up in trees.
• Post signs at intersections and around your neighborhood. Place signs within a 2-mile radius of where your pet was lost
• Use the Power of Scent: Place a recently worn article of clothing belonging to a family member or the lost pet's unwashed bedding in your yard or outside your front door where the breeze can carry the scent. Familiar scents can bring them home. Cats will respond to an open can of tuna fish or litter box also.
• Place an advertisement in your local and community newspapers, some will even place ads for free. Check often columns dealing with "lost and found" and animals for at least two months. Advertise on both Sunday as well as during the week as some people on get the Sunday paper. Make sure you also check the newspaper's found section as most newspapers will provide free ads for people who have found lost pets.
• If your pet's ID tags have an old address and phone, contact the people who now live at that address and now have that phone number - even if they are out-of-town numbers. Let them know your pet is missing and give them your current information. Check back with them occasionally, in case they lose your information. If your pet has current information on his ID tags, follow all these tips anyway. Collars come off very easily and he may no longer have ID on them.
• Unfortunately, you must also check to find out if your pet has been fatally injured on the road. This is very sad, but necessary as you may never know otherwise and it's best to know if they passed on. The road crews for your local and state department of transportation (DOT) are usually in charge of picking up deceased animals from the roadside and city streets. Sometimes Animal Control will also do this, so check with them. Dogs are picked up quicker than cats, usually within 24 hours, so check with them everyday to see if they have found them.

MORE IDEAS TO PUT ON YOUR FLYER

• You can also post signs at grocery stores, pet stores, vet offices, and apartment complexes.
• Don't put your name or address on the flyer, but make sure there is contact info such as a phone number and/or email address.
• Put a color photo preferably and include the date and where the pet was lost as well as a couple distinguishing marks.
• Don't include all distinguishing marks, withhold some marks and characteristics so if someone does call you can verify that they actually found your pet by telling you some distinguishing marks.
• Include the breed of dog or cat, sex, age, weight and color, use bright colored paper for higher visibility. Give copies of your flier to people that walk their dogs in the area. They're more likely to spot animals than most people.
• If you go to the parks early, you may find people who regularly walk their dogs together as an informal group.

MORE IDEAS ON ANIMAL SHELTERS YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT

• Any animal may become dirty, matted and neglected looking very quickly, and you must visit the shelter, even if your pet was wearing tags when it was lost.
• You should go to the shelters at least every other day. Few shelters can keep animals for more than 72 hours.
• Sometimes it takes more than a few days for a pet to be picked up and brought to a shelter. It's important to visit all the shelters within 20 miles of where your pet was lost.
• In many areas stray animals are picked up by a government agency which holds them for a period and then turns them over to a shelter.
• If someone took your pet in for a few days hoping you would knock on their door and ask about it, they might later drop your pet off at the shelter that's most convenient for them, rather the one that's closest.