Lost Dog Volunteer Role
Thank you for becoming a lost dog volunteer! Opera-
tion Paws for Homes (OPH) rescues over 1,000 dogs a
year and places them in great homes—but sometimes
dogs escape, either from the foster or from the adopter.
This is a scary and stressful situation for both the dog
and the foster/adopter. We want to help nd lost dogs
and get them home as quickly as possible. Volunteers
are essential to making this happen!
After this training, you will know about the mindset
of a lost dog, the process of locating and trapping a lost
dog, and how OPH manages lost dog searches. You
will be ready to be a part of this eort!
The Big Picture
We do our best to prevent lost dogs (and we can always
do more)—but dogs will occasionally get loose, even
for the most experienced fosters and adopters.
There are typically multiple OPH dogs that get loose
every year—often, around 20–30 annually. Over the
11 years of OPH’s existence, we have dealt with hun-
dreds of lost dogs. In almost every case, the dog is
eventually found. On very rare occasions, lost dogs
are hit by cars and killed, and a very small number
of dogs are never found. But almost all our lost dogs
are eventually caught. It can take a lot of time and
hard work, but we almost always catch the dog! So
while it can be discouraging in the middle of a lost
dog search, remember, there is almost always a happy
ending.
Many dogs are caught in the rst few hours or days. If
that does not happen, and the dog is very scared, it of-
ten takes 2–3 weeks before a dog is hungry enough to
come out of hiding and be seen and trapped. In some
cases, it can take much longer than that to trap a dog!
Lost dogs very often stay close to where they got
loose—even if it is an unfamiliar location. They will
often run away but eventually loop back and end up
close to where they got loose. This does not always
happen, but is very common.
About Lost Dogs
Sometimes dogs get loose and come right back to their
person, or run around the block and go back home, or
run up to a stranger to say hello. But, for many dogs—
especially shy ones—if they get loose, they panic and
run. They often go into what’s called “survival mode.”
In this mode, they are frightened and confused, and
focused just on staying alive. They will usually run
away from people—
even people they know. Once
dogs are in survival mode, they will very rarely go up
lostdog@ophrescue.org
2 • OPH Lost Dog Handbook
to a person—they will need to be trapped. Approach-
ing a lost dog in this state will only drive the dog away.
It can be very hard for people to understand this. For
many people, the default behavior is to call out and/or
chase a loose dog. But this almost never leads to a dog
being caught—it is more likely to scare the dog away.
Lost dogs in survival mode need to nd a place where
they feel safe—often a park or wooded area or other
quiet place—and where they can nd food and water.
Once a dog has seled into their safe place, we can
work on trapping them.
It is important for volunteers, adopters, fosters, and
others to NOT take it personally when the dog does
not come to you! They are in survival mode and must
be left alone until we can capture them. Once they are
caught and back home, they typically come out of sur-
vival mode and sele back into their normal selves.
The most important things to remember:
• DO NOT call the dog!
• DO NOT chase the dog!
• DO NOT go through woods looking for the dog!
A dog needs to feel safe before he/she stops moving. If
people are following/chasing the dog, the dog will con-
tinue to travel and not sele, making trapping dicult!
This is the key message of this training, and a message
that you as a lost dog volunteer should share with ev-
eryone involved in helping to nd the dog.
Calming Body Language
If you do see the dog while hanging yers or seing
feeding stations:
• Sit and turn sideways from the dog.
• Do not make eye contact with the dog.
• Make slow movements.
• Quietly talk to yourself, sing softly, or hum.
• You can pretend you’re eating and say “yum, yum,
yum.” If the dog is not frightened by that action,
gently toss food toward the dog but not too close
to scare them.
• Do not follow the dog if it walks away from you,
note the direction the dog travels.
These behaviors allow the dog to evaluate the threat
level without immediately running away. A person
standing and staring directly at them would most like-
ly register a “ight” response from the dog causing the
dog to run away.
Lost Dog Basics
The basic process for geing a lost dog back home is
the following. Not every step will be needed for every
lost dog, but in general:
• Put up yers in a one-mile radius around where
the dog was lost.
• Post about the missing dog on local social media
(lost dog sites, Facebook, NextDoor, Ring) and en-
courage people to share the post.
• Call local shelters and Animal Control and noti-
fy them about the lost dog. See if the dog has been
turned in. Also notify the microchip company to
make sure your contact information is current.
• Set up one or more feeding stations close to where
dog was lost. Move the feeding station closer to
sightings as appropriate.
• Set aside a scent item, like a blanket the dog has
slept on, in case a tracker is needed later.
• Keep track of sightings and determine where the
dog has seled (this could take time). Information
to ask when you receive a sighting: did they get a
photo of the dog, when was the dog seen, exact lo-
cation, which direction was the dog headed, what
speed of travel, did the dog look healthy, wear-
ing a collar, harness, leash? Make a map of those
sightings.
• Set up trail cameras (or place in view of home se-
curity cameras) to observe the dog’s routine once
there is a general sense of where the dog is. Use
scent trails to the feeding stations to lure the dog
to the food.
• Once the dog has visited a feeding station, set up
OPH box trap baited with high-value food.
• When trap is open and set, do a stakeout near the
trap. (Trap is locked open if there are no volunteers
on a stakeout).
• When dog is trapped, move entire trap with dog in-
side to an enclosed space before leing the dog out.
More detail on each of these steps is below. Each lost
dog search is unique, and dogs may be caught in other
ways than via a trap. But the yering and posting is
always a rst step, as sightings by passersby can help
us gure out where the dog is. And remember:
DO NOT call or chase the dog or go
looking for the dog in wooded areas!
3 • OPH Lost Dog Handbook
OPH Lost Dog Program
• The OPH Lost Dog team is available to help with
lost OPH dogs, both foster dogs and dogs who have
already been adopted.
• OPH has a Lost Dog Coordinator, Mike Garcia,
who oversees the lost dog program. There are also
several experienced volunteers who, along with
Mike, can usually be on-site and/or provide phone
and email/text advice about lost dogs.
• OPH owns a humane trap and two cellular trail
cameras.
• OPH may be able to reimburse the cost of yers be-
ing printed at places like Staples, Oce Depot, etc.,
if the dog is an OPH foster dog.
• OPH lost dog volunteers work closely with a net-
work of other regional lost-dog experts who may
share traps, cameras, and generally help each oth-
er out.
• OPH has a lost dog email account (lostdog@ophrescue.
org). When that account is emailed, it generates an
auto-reply with some basic information about lost
dogs and what to do. That account is also checked
frequently by the members of the Lost Dog Team,
who will reach out to the person with the lost dog
ASAP to talk about next steps.
• OPH has a Finding OPH Lost Dogs Facebook
group that is used to share information on lost
dogs and help coordinate volunteer support when
a dog is lost.
When an OPH Dog is Lost
• When an OPH dog is lost, we usually nd out via
an email to the lost dog email account, a phone call
or text to the Lost Dog Coordinator, or a post by
the foster or other volunteer on the OPH Family or
Finding Lost Dogs Facebook pages.
• Once this happens, someone at OPH will create a
“Missing Dog” yer using a standard template and
a photo of the dog from OPH’s online Dog Manage-
ment System (DMS).
• The Lost Dog Coordinator or another experienced
volunteer will call the foster or adopter who lost
the dog to get more details on the location and cir-
cumstances. The foster/adopter will be instructed
to put out scent items, create scent/food trail near
the house (if appropriate), put up yers in the area,
and post to local social media like NextDoor.
• Lost dog volunteers will post the missing dog yer
on regional lost dog sites and ask people to share
the post more widely.
• The OPH social media team will put up a post on
the main OPH Facebook feed about the lost dog.
• Typically, the lost dog team will create a group text
with the foster/adopter and nearby volunteers and
will help coordinate the process and get addition-
al volunteers involved to help out. When enough
is known about the dog’s location, lost dog team
members will bring trail cameras and, when ap-
propriate, the OPH trap to the location.
Communicating with
Adopters, Fosters, and
Helpers
As a lost dog volunteer, you may be in a position to
talk to the foster/adopter, other volunteers, and people
on the street who ask about what is going on and how
they can help. Here are some tips and messages if you
are talking to people:
• Stay calm and provide moral support. The person
whose dog is lost may be very upset.
• Emphasize that we almost always catch the dog
safely.
• The process can take time, patience, and hard
work—but it works!
• Set expectations appropriately—it could take weeks
to catch the dog.
• And remember, the most important message for
everyone is: DO NOT call or chase the dog and
do not actively search for the dog! This cannot be
overemphasized!
• Also, the best way people can help out is to put
up yers and share on social media. People of-
ten want to drive or walk around to “look for the
dog.” But yering and posting/sharing is much
more useful as it gets many, many more eyes look-
ing for the dog!
NOTE: Very often, when there are yers or posts about
missing dogs, scammers will call the number on the
yer/post and say they have the dog or know where
the dog is, and require money or some other action in
order to release the dog. This is a scam! If you encoun-
ter this, or are talking to the foster/adopter, please do
not respond to messages or calls like this.
Flyers
• Colorful to catch pedestrian
and driver’s aention!
• Minimal words: “Lost Dog.
Do Not Chase! Call with
Info.”
• Large photo and phone
number
4 • OPH Lost Dog Handbook
• It is usually not recommended to put “Reward”
on yer because it might make people chase the
dog or actively search for the animal.
• Place yer in a plastic sleeve with the opening at
the boom. Tape the boom closed.
• Use packing tape.
• It is illegal to post on mail boxes, bus stop shelters,
and utility poles.
• Put yers on street signs, give to vet oces/animal
shelters, ask for permission to post them at stores,
coee shops, etc.
• Print at home or try UPS Store, Staples, Oce De-
pot, or Fed Ex.
• Don’t include pet’s name on yer. This will help
discourage people from trying to call the dog.
• Flyers produce sightings which helps pinpoint a
location. If there are no sightings after a few days,
post additional yers in an expanded radius.
• The contact person for the yer should answer all
calls, keep the phone ringer on even at night, and
keep the phone baery charged!
Posters
• Buy neon poster board, cut in half and you get two
14"x22" posters.
• Use large photos and bold leers/numbers.
• Square street sign posts work best. Add cardboard
strips for extra strength. Cut small slits at top and
boom. Put top zip tie through the post holes so
poster won’t slide down.
• Covering poster with packing tape protects it from
the weather.
Feeding Stations
• Rotisserie chicken, Royal Farms chicken, sausage,
cheeseburger, kielbasa, hotdogs . . . good smelly
food to use at feeding stations. Heating the food
prior to placing at the station gives added scent.
• Chum with Liquid Smoke, bacon soaked paper
towels, chicken skin, or beef/chicken broth. Also
use some of the food to chum (rub on tree trunks,
low branches, grass, bushes, etc.). It provides a scent
trail to the feeding station and also keeps the scent
in the area in case wildlife eats the food.
• Dry dog food does not have much scent so it is not
a good option.
• Don’t need a bowl . . . food can be scaered on the
ground in view of the camera.
• Refresh food in the morning and evening until you
know when the dog visits the food.
• Put a bowl of water near the food.
• The location of the feeding station should only be
known by a few people.
• A trail camera at the feeding station is key to know-
ing if the lost pet or wildlife ate the food.
Trail Camera Placement
• A cellular trail camera
will send immediate
photos when there’s
activity at the camera.
• Make sure the camera
baery strength is suf-
cient and the cellular
signal at the location is
strong.
• Place the camera 6–10
feet from the food.
• The camera should be
locked on an object
(usually a tree) at an
appropriate height for
the size of the lost pet.
• Ideally, the camera should be placed so people
don’t see it. You don’t want to aract aention to
the feeding station. Avoid pointing the camera to-
ward a road or busy sidewalk/trail . . . you will get
a lot of random photos.
• Use the camera strap to secure the camera as well
as a cable lock so theft is not an issue. (Master Py-
thon cable locks are perfect.)
• Add your name/phone number on the camera or a
yer (fold it up and stick it between the strap and
the tree) for the lost pet so anyone who nds the
camera will know how to contact you if needed.
5 • OPH Lost Dog Handbook
• Aim the camera so it has a wide view of the feed-
ing station so it provides for more possible photos
of the lost pet.
• Once the camera is set, check to see that it is send-
ing photos and that the placement is good.
“Go Bag” when Trapping
• Trap
• Towel or blanket for boom of the trap
• Bungee cords (2)
• Slip leash with “stop”
• Knife and/or scissors
• Weed clippers
• Flashlight
• Binoculars
• Trail cameras
• Locks for cameras
• Extra baeries and SD cards
• Small pieces of scrap wood can come in handy
when positioning the cameras
• Camera stand if there are no places to aach camera
• Reective safety vest
• Gloves
• Bowl and water
• Paper plate for food (to be used in the back of the
trap so the food doesn’t fall through the trap bot-
tom. It should not have raised edges that might
prevent the pressure plate from closing the door).
• Hand wipes/paper towels
• Liquid smoke (spray bole comes in handy when
using the liquid smoke) and good stinky food for
chumming.
• High-value hot foods for trailing a dog inside the
trap and then placed at the back of the trap (have
plenty of food in case you have to rell due to
wildlife eating food in the trap).
• Once trapped, the dog should not be removed
from the trap until in an enclosed area (garage or
house) so a vehicle is needed that can transport
the trap.
What About Dog Trackers?
There are some organizations or individuals in the re-
gion who oer the service of dog tracking—e.g., having
a trained dog follow the scent of a lost dog to try to
determine the lost dog’s general location. Dog trackers
can be costly (usually in the range of $200–$600).
OPH does not usually use these services. We can of-
ten achieve the same results with yering and posting
on social media to determine the general location of
the lost dog. We do not have a budget for dog tracker
services. In some cases, fosters or adopters choose to
pay for dog tracking services themselves. There are in-
stances where it can be helpful to use a dog tracker, es-
pecially if we have no idea if a dog is still in the area or
has traveled farther away. In those cases, an item with
the dog’s scent (like a dog bed or a collar) is needed for
the tracking dog.
Note that a dog tracker will almost never catch a
dog—they may help to determine a dog’s general lo-
cation, but after that, we will most likely still need
to set up feeding stations and cameras and a trap to
catch the dog.
After a Dog is Caught
• If the dog has been caught in the box trap, do not
open the trap until you are in an enclosed area (ga-
rage, house, vet oce)! As soon as you approach the
trap, place bungee cords across the front and back
doors of the trap to prevent them from accidentally
opening while transporting the dog. Put the trap in
a vehicle and move to the foster or adopter’s home.
Do not open the trap until it’s in a secure loca-
tion! If the dog escapes being removed from the
trap, it will be much harder to trap the dog again.
• Check the dog for injuries, eas, and ticks. Remove
ticks if you nd them.
• If the dog has been loose for more than a short time,
the dog should be seen by a veterinarian. If the dog is
a current OPH foster dog, the OPH medical coordina-
tor will set this up. You can reach the medical coordi-
nator at meds@ophrescue.org.
• If the dog has lost a lot of weight, begin by feeding
small portions to not overwhelm the dog’s digestive
system.
• Provide fresh water but don’t allow the dog to drink
too much water all at once because that could cause an
imbalance in their system.
• Once a dog has been found, he/she will need several
days or weeks to decompress and for stress levels to
go down. Give the dog time and space to get back to
normal!
• Being lost can be traumatic for dogs—but don’t wor-
ry, previously lost OPH dogs have all done ne with
some time and TLC!
Preventing Lost Dogs
Ultimately, we would prefer to prevent dogs from being
lost, rather than going through the grueling process of
nding and trapping them. OPH communicates as much
as possible with fosters and adopters about the best ways
to prevent dogs from being lost, such as:
• Use a martingale (self-tightening) collar and a harness
on the dog.
• Use “double leashing” with a leash aached to the col-
lar and another leash aached to the harness.
• Be aware of your body position when walking a dog
so the dog can’t squirm out of their collar/harness and
escape.
• Make sure you have a good grip on the leash
before
opening a car or house door.
• For dogs that are escape artists, have the dog on the
other side of a baby gate before opening a door to the
outside. Make sure you do this when you have people
coming to your house to do repairs, cleaning, etc, as
they may not be careful when opening the door.
• Register your dog’s microchip (all OPH dogs are mi-
crochipped), and have tags on the dog’s collar with
your address and phone number.
• If your dog goes o-leash in your yard, make sure
that the fence is high enough (at least six feet for dogs
that jump). Make sure it is solid and secure along the
entire perimeter, and cannot be easily dug under. (If
your dog is a digger, do not leave them in the yard
unaended).
• Make sure gates and doors are always securely
latched/locked. Be especially careful with lever-type
door handles that a dog can open by pushing down
on the handle.
• If your dog is considered a ight risk, consider geing
a GPS tracking collar like the Fi or Whistle collar.
As a lost dog volunteer, you can help to reinforce this mes-
sage whenever possible!
Ways You Can Help
• Sign up as an OPH volunteer, and take the Lost Dog
Training to get added to our volunteer list.
• Join the Finding OPH Lost Dogs Facebook group.
• When a dog is lost, we’ll reach out to volunteers ask-
ing for help with:
▪ Sharing and posting on social media
▪ Puing up yers and posters
▪ Seing up and relling feeding stations
▪ Transporting the trap and trail cameras if needed
▪ Taking a shift on a “stakeout” when a trap is live
• In general, help to spread the word about how to pre-
vent and nd lost dogs!
Thank You for volunteering with OPH! We look forward
to working with you on geing lost dogs back home!
