John and Mary Rueckert's Heart O'Gold Shetland Sheepdogs


			What not to do when you're dog gets lost! Don't panic - Traffic tickets, accidents, vehicles stuck in the mud or snow, and general hysteria don't help recover your dog. In fact, the results of hysterical acts add more pressure and take time away from search efforts. Don't spend hours of valuable time trying to find a trap for your dog, especially if it is a larger breed. You can build the crate trap fast, you can build more than one and your chances of success are higher since it is familiar to the dog. A standard animal trap will smell unfamiliar and can be very intimidating to your dog. Don't despair if you don't get a sighting for many days. Your dog can survive for weeks and months with little harm, even in very cold, harsh, or inclement weather conditions. In between sightings, use the time to make contacts and posters. The more you network, the better your chance is to get a sighting and recover the dog. Don't offer a reward too early. This may encourage people to chase the dog, which will scare it more. If they do catch it, they may try to look for more unsavory outlets, figuring the dog is valuable, or delay notifying you in the hope that the reward will go up. Don't chase a scared dog, it only makes it harder to catch. Worse yet you could force it out into traffic, or out of its new 'temporary' home. If this happens you will have to wait until the dog settles in again and you get a sighting in another area. Then you may have to establish contacts and networking in another area in order to be effective. Don' t chase a dog it rarely helps. Don't leave contact phones unattended. You never know when that important call will come and often success depends on a quick response when it does.
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