What to do if your gundog gets lost on a shoot day
Plenty has been written on what to do when a dog gets stolen but not so much if a dog gets lost on a shoot day. Here's some advice.
- Make sure all the dog’s microchip details are up-to-date on the Petlog website Upgrade to the premium account (£16) and if you have to register your dogs as being lost, Petlog will automatically inform all of their agents such as vets and dog wardens etc. Also, make sure you upload a picture of your dog so it can be identified properly if found.
- Stay near the area the dog went missing, quite often they will find their way back.
- An old farmer’s trick is to leave the owner’s coat or jacket on the ground near where you lost him and he should come back to it.
- Register the details with DogLost
- Bring food, water, some bedding and clothes that smell of you where the dog was when she got lost. A frightened dog may not come back to their name, stay quiet and if it returns just quietly offer some food and go about your business. Camp out if you can.
- If your dog goes missing on a shoot day just stand and watch to see if there is any unusual movement of pheasants or partridges, this may be an indication of where your dog could be.
- Don’t panic and try to stay calm. When calling your dog try not to sound angry or cross.
- Facebook can also be a very useful resource. Both Animal Search UK and DogLost have their own pages and you’ll also be able to search for lost dog pages in your area. If you have your own account it’s definitely worth advertising your lost dog as your friends will be able to share your post and widen your search. Make sure you make your post “public”, so it can be shared by everyone. The more people that know your dog is missing, the higher the chance of finding them.
- Make sure you have up-to-date photos of your dog, it’s no good posting a picture of a six-month-old puppy when the lost dog is six years old.
- Another old wives’ tail that was passed on to me after the event was to pee in the area the dog went missing and it would come back to the smell. I must add that I didn’t actually try this, but I was getting to the stage where I would have tried anything to get the dog back!
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