If your dog has ever run away or gotten lost, you know how stressful it can be when you don’t know where they are or if they are OK. Imagine how stressful it might be for the dog who is lost!

Last week, I was driving home from my training appointments and was on a rural stretch of road. Ahead of me on the road was a dog trotting down the middle of the road, heading the same direction I was. We were a good three miles from any houses. It was hot and sunny, and there was no shade to be found.

I carefully drove past the dog so I could pull over in hopes that he would continue and approach me. I pulled over, got out of my vehicle and expected to see the dog still in the road. Nope. Dog was no where to be seen. I thought perhaps I had scared him off the road so tried searching the fields around us. No sign of the dog. How could he disappear in the middle of nowhere with nowhere to hide? I looked all directions. Nothing.

I walked back toward my vehicle. There he was hiding UNDER my vehicle in the only shade he could find. I always have spare leashes in my vehicle, so I got one out in hopes of leashing him up and getting loaded up. He was too hot and tired to run any more, I think. He would not approach me, but he also did not run. He was stressed but it seemed that he knew he needed help, and I was it. Reaching under the vehicle, I managed to get the leash slipped around his neck. I gently tugged to get him to come out from under my SUV. I opened up the back and he immediately jumped in, jumped over all of my dog training stuff, and huddled in right behind the driver seat.

We drove to the Dumb Friends League Buddy Shelter in Castle Rock since that was the closest place to go. He came in with me, still looking a bit stressed but at least cooperative. I was hoping that he was microchipped since he has no collar, no ID tags, or anything else on. No microchip was found either.

I gave them all the info I had and wished the poor guy luck in getting back home. I have checked their site the past week to see if he showed up. He never did, so I am assuming whoever lost him was able to find him there quickly and return him home.

If your dog was lost, would s/he have ID on? Would someone be able to determine where s/he belonged?

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