Hi . . . long time lurker, first time poster (is that the correct term?) in need of some insight and sympathy from strangers.
Our dog, Gigi, is missing and the heartbreak is being felt throughout my family. She’s been gone since Wednesday night and we have done as much as I think we can do, but any advice would be greatly appreciated. We’ve put up flyers at our subdivision entrance and local convenience stores. Ads have been placed in all local newspapers and we’ve contacted local vets and the county shelter. I’ve also put ads online. The plan for this weekend is to blanket our neighborhood with flyers on every mailbox and to put signs in all neighborhood entrances and at major intersections in a 2 - 3 mile radius.
We’ve searched our neighborhood - 5 times total yesterday and checked all nearby roadsides for any remains. Nothing. She’s vanished and my mind, of course, is coming up with the worst possible scenarios. Not knowing is the hardest part.
Don’t know how to upload a photo - sorry! She’s a fawn Boxer. We have two Boxers - Gigi and her daughter, Laila. They are both such a major part of our family. My husband and I have two children and they fight every night over which dog is going to sleep in bed with them. The sadness is our household can be felt as soon as you walk through the door. Our poor Laila is completely confused and out of sorts without her mom by her side.
I feel ridiculous for being so frazzled by a missing pet, but I’m completely unable to focus here at work and decided to turn to the masses of the Straight Dope for some encouragement and advice.
So sorry to hear about your loss. We are dog people as well so I feel for you.
You say nothing about how she disappeared… pet nappings are on the rise. Was she outside in the yard, and then all of the sudden just not there? Did you witness her escape?
Have you checked your local Craig’s List? People often post lost and found pets there. If you haven’t already posted there, you should.
Hopefully, someone has taken her in and just has not seen your fliers. When our black lab chow mix ran away, that was the case.
The condensed version is that my husband took our other dog, Laila, outside to potty right before bed on Wednesday night. When I got up to let the dogs out Thursday morning, Gigi was nowhere to be found.
She was in our house, on the bed with me, around 9:30 Wednesday night. My husband and Laila went out around 10. He didn’t see Gigi go out so he thought nothing of it when he came in with Laila and shut the door. Our best guess is that she slipped out behind my husband and was locked out. By yesterday morning, of course, she was gone.
Thinks2Much, thank you for the craig’s list tip. Will get on there now.
Have you had your dogs micro-chipped or tattooed? One of our Newfs was tattooed (he was a show dog, and it was his positive ID) and I am in favor of micro-chipping all pets.
Check the shelters, go door-to-door, and blanket the neighborhood with flyers (including the police & fire stations).
So sorry. Good luck. My boys would be crushed if Angus ever went missing.
Please do not just call the shelters. My baby (doggie of course) was missing for two weeks, and we called all the local shelters. He was there on the 2nd day and if we had gone in to check instead of calling we would have found him. So I advise you to go look for yourself.
Unfortunately, she is not microchipped or tatooed. That is excellent advice and we are kicking ourselves now for never having it done.
We do have tags on our dogs, but we just put new collars on a week or so ago and I didn’t switch the tags over out of sheer laziness (and frustration - those little tag rings are a bitch!).
She’s 6 yrs old and has never disappeared before - like a complete dumb ass, I didn’t think she would ever take off. Hindsight and all . . .
My husband has been to the shelter, once yesterday and once today. He said he’ll make it a daily trip, if necessary.
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and advice.
I’m so sorry. I’d be completely beside myself if my mutt disappeared.
Another thing you might do is contact the national boxer club, as well as any boxer clubs in or around Atlanta and Georgia. Boxers are nice dogs and in demand, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility for someone to see her running loose and pick her up. Get the word out there’s a boxer missing and boxer people will rally to help, if they’re anything like the breed clubs I’m involved with. My dogo club has been anxiously keeping eyes and ears open for a missing bloodhound in Texas, because a dogo person knew someone with a bloodhound that went AWOL. I’ve gotten email notices about missing purple-eyed trufflehounds in Maine. It’s amazing how far that stuff spreads. Many dog people are also compulsive email-forwarders.
Also good to put up flyers in pet stores. Good luck and keep us posted!
I’m sorry, Atlantic; I’d be feeling horrible too if my Sheepdog went missing.
Dogs are curious and maybe Leila simply wanted to explore a little. If she has good scent / sense of direction, she’ll be back soon. Don’t lose hope should also be very important. Many pets are known to wander for even days but come back. Maybe with some dirt on their fur, but back.
A friend of mine had a dog that freaked out during thunderstorms. Once she got out during a summer storm by jumping through the screen on a second floor window. She searched and searched, and soon enough knew everyone who worked at all the local shelters, but there was no sign of her dog.
A month later the dog showed up, skinny, matted, and very happy to be home.
Damn, that just sucks, my heart goes out to you. I opened this thread hoping for good news.
I had a dog missing for 6 days once and made my peace that I’d never see him again. On the seventh day he showed up hungry and thirsty. He had been locked in an elderly ladies garage and she didn’t drive very often.
Call the sheriff, too. Sometimes they can help or get news of lost dogs…that’s how we found our uncollared 15 year old dog last summer when he got out through an accidentally opened gate. It was Friday night and shelters and vets (my county doesn’t have a shelter anymore, it closed, but found animals are taken to a neighboring county’s shelter) were closed.
I called everyone I could think of and finally I called the the county sheriff who hooked me up with the animal control person who had been contacted by the family who found our dog…he had wandered a long way for such an old dog, but we had him back within 2 hours. Hopefully yours comes back soon.
Sunspace, nope - no pups on the way. We had her spayed a couple of years ago. She is the proud mom of 13, however, spread across Georgia and a few in Ohio.
NajaNivea, thanks for the advice on the Boxer Club & pet stores. We’ll be contacting them tomorrow and leaving flyers.
Contacting the sheriff is also a great idea. Thanks, Boscibo! We have 3 fire departments within a short distance - my husband suggested letting them know as well.
I also wanted to post a link to Gigi’s dogster page. Forgot that we had registered there.
