Lost dog? What to do in the first hour (and the first day)

In an ASPCA survey of US households, half of the owners who got their lost dog back found it by searching the neighborhood. So the most useful thing you can do right now is a calm, organized search close to home.

The first 15 minutes

1. Search the house and yard properly. Scared dogs hide. Check closets, under beds, the garage, sheds and under the deck.
2. Open the tracker app if your dog wears one, and turn on live or lost mode. Fi's Lost Dog Mode and Tractive's LIVE mode update the map every few seconds.
3. Grab what you need: your phone and a charger, a recent photo, a leash, treats your dog loves and a flashlight if it's getting dark.
4. Start where your dog was last seen and work outward. Ask everyone you pass.
5. Leave someone at home in case your dog finds its own way back.

If you spot your dog: don't chase

A frightened dog may run from anyone chasing it, even its owner. Humane World for Animals warns that chasing can drive a lost dog out of the area. Instead, use calming signals:

• Stop moving and turn your body sideways.
• Avoid staring; look away.
• Crouch, or sit or lie down on the ground.
• Speak softly and toss treats on the ground near you.

Should you call your dog's name? Experts disagree. The AKC suggests calling the words your dog responds to. Lost-pet search experts warn that calling can make a panicked dog bolt. Read your dog: if they're relaxed and usually come, call. If they look frozen or ready to run, stay quiet and low and let them come to you.

The rest of the first hour

• Widen the search. The AKC, AKC Reunite and Petco suggest searching a radius of about 2 miles. Walk or drive slowly with the windows down.
• Recruit neighbors. Ask them to check their sheds, garages and under porches.
• Knock on doors and ask for doorbell or security camera footage.
• Leave your scent. The AKC suggests a worn T-shirt where your dog was last seen. Lost-pet experts also suggest dirty laundry or your dog's bed.

The first day

Report the microchip

Call your microchip registry, report your dog missing and check that your phone number is current. If you don't know which registry holds your chip, look it up with AAHA's free Universal Pet Microchip Lookup.

Contact shelters and animal control

File a lost-pet report with local animal control and every shelter nearby. Then visit in person with photos, because descriptions over the phone don't always match. The ASPCA and AKC suggest checking daily; Petco suggests at least every other day.

Post online

Post a recent photo on Petco Love Lost, a free national database that matches photos of lost and found pets. Then post to Nextdoor, local Facebook lost-pet groups and Craigslist.

Put up flyers

Use a bold headline (LOST DOG), a large recent photo, a short description, where and when your dog was last seen, and your phone number. Post them around the last-seen spot and at vets and pet stores.

If they're not home by morning

• Search at dawn and dusk, when lost dogs tend to move around more.
• Keep a sighting log and mark each sighting on a map. As one lost-pet expert puts it, "you are actually looking for people" who have seen your dog.
• Set up a feeding station with a motion camera at the last-seen spot. Humane World for Animals suggests borrowing a humane trap if a skittish dog keeps coming back but won't approach.
• Keep checking shelters in person.

What actually gets dogs home

The lesson: search hard and close, and keep your contact details current everywhere. Here's the five-minute microchip fix.

Next time

A GPS tracker can turn a long search into a short one: open the app, see where they are, go get them. Our top pick, the Fi Series 3+, sends an escape alert when your dog leaves home and switches to live updates when you need them. See all our picks in the best GPS dog trackers, and how to prevent the next escape.