11 Ways to Prevent Having a Lost Pet

If you’ve ever lost a pet, you know how it feels to have your heart drop to your stomach when you realize they’re gone. It’s a feeling that we never forget no matter how much time passes. If you’ve never experienced this feeling before, I hope you don’t! In fact, I’ve put together some tips for you so that if you haven’t, you won’t, and if you have, you won’t ever have to feel that gut-wrenching feeling again. 

Typical Tips for Preventing a Lost Pet

There are several things you can do that are more common. For instance:

1. Make sure your pet can’t go under, over, or through your fence. A fully secure physical fence is key. You can even get an electric fence so you don’t have to worry about securing your yard.
2. Get your dog microchipped. Thanks to technology, we can use a microchip to locate our lost pets.
3. Get a collar tag with your contact information on it. In the event your pet is lost, chances are much greater that they will be returned when your information is easily accessible. They even make collars that allow GPS tracking.
4. Spay or neuter your pet. This will reduce the urge to run off and find a mate.
5. Teach basic commands like “stay”. This way, when you walk out the door they don’t run through it and if they are outside, they don’t run off. 
6. Keep them on a leash around other animals. Your pet may not be the dominant one so if they are outside, around other animals, they could get scared and run away if not kept on a leash. 
7. Get proper training. Teaching the dog an off-leash recall will help you keep them near in the event they aren’t on a leash.

Atypical Tips for Preventing a Lost Pet

While the tips mentioned above are all great, there are some other tips that I’d like to share that many people don’t think about.

1. Get a harness professionally fitted. So many people just order a harness based on their animal’s weight. If you get a professionally fitted one, they can’t turn into Houdini and escape. 
2. Use positive reinforcement. When a pet is misbehaving, many owners turn to punishment as a way to correct their behavior. If you use positive reinforcement instead, your pet is more likely to stay around. 
3. Install an automatic door closer. This gadget ensures that your door shuts tightly so the pet can’t push it open.
4. Ask them what they want so they don’t run away. Animal communication is a great way to make sure they are happy and enjoying their environment.

How to Recover a Lost Pet

Using an animal communicator is best for prevention as you can’t “talk the pet home”. Many people believe that an animal communicator is psychic and can tell where the pet is going next. This is not the case. You can learn more about what an animal communicator is in our recent blog. 

If your pet is lost, some things you can do are:

1. Canvas the neighborhood and let your neighbors know.
2. Post lost pet flyers.
3. Post on social media, especially on local community pages. Also, ask your friends to share your post.