A recent study by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) revealed the key factors in finding lost dogs. The ASPCA interviewed 1000 pet owners to find out if they had lost a dog (or cat) in the past five years. If they had, they asked whether or not they found their pet, where they looked, and the means they used to find them.

Their conclusion? Searching immediately when you discover your pet is lost, searching within the neighborhood first, putting up posters right away, and using the internet proved to be most successful means on finding a pet who goes missing. Checking local shelters from the first day onward was also important, as was having identification tags or microchips for a dog. 

• 15% had lost a dog or a cat in the past five years.
• Dog guardians were more likely to find their dog than cat guardians were to find their cat - 93% of lost dogs were recovered compared to 74% of lost cats. 

In addition, there were differences in the ways in which the lost dogs and cats were recovered:

• 49% of dog guardians found their dog by searching the neighborhood, and 15% of the dogs were recovered because they were wearing an ID tag or had a microchip.
• 59% of cat guardians found their cat because it returned home on its own, while 30% found their cat by searching the neighborhood.
• Only 6% of dog guardians and 2% of cat guardians found their lost pets at a shelter.

As their report reveals, the Internet is also a powerful way to mobilize friends and the community to help find a lost dog, so while you're here, take a minute to sign up and create a profile for your dog.

With a dog profile on DogHeirs you can quickly switch your dog's profile to indicate that he/she is "Lost". You can update your description, photos and other details to aid in your search. And once you've swiched your dog's profile to "Lost", it will show up on the main "My Neighborhood" page, as well as the main "Lost Dogs" page for everyone in your area to see it.

We also provide:

• An Interactive Search Map to coordinate and track searches for your dog. Other DogHeirs members can add their searches as well. View example here.
• Broadcasted alerts under "My Neighborhood" which will be displayed on all parks, organizations and homepages of everyone within 50 kilometers of where your dog went missing. So, any dog park listed in your area will show your lost dog alert (View example here).
• A listing on our Missing Dogs section on our website. 
• Lost dog posters that include your dog's BarQR - a scannable QR code for smartphone devices - so that people can bookmark your lost dog information on their mobile phone. View example here. 

We also make it easy for you to share your Lost Dog Report, alerts and updates on popular social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

To add your dog profile, and check out the tools available for helping with missing dogs, log in or sign up to DogHeirs and go to "My Dogs".

We've done our best to provide you with free tools to help reunite you with your dog in the event he/she goes missing because we know that dogs are family.

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