What to do if your dog goes missing: the first 24 hours

In the first hour: search nearby, calmly

Many lost dogs turn up close to where they escaped or to home, hiding or disoriented. Start there before widening the search.

• Have someone stay at home or at the spot where it went missing, in case it comes back on its own.
• Walk the area calling it in a calm voice. Bring its lead, its favourite treats or something it knows the sound of, like its food bag.
• Check doorways, garages, under cars and in gardens: a frightened dog hides and may not respond even if it hears you.
• If you see it, don't run towards it or chase it. Crouch down, talk softly and let it come to you. Chasing can make it run further.

In the first few hours: alert whoever might find it

The more people know you are looking, the sooner someone calls. Call or visit:

• Your local police (Policía Local, 092 in many Spanish cities). They are often the ones who pick up loose animals.
• Your town's animal shelter or animal protection centre, and local rescue groups. Ask whether a dog matching its description has come in.
• Nearby veterinary clinics. If someone takes it to one, they can read its microchip.
• Neighbours, local shops and regular dog walkers. They see a lot of animals every day.

Check its microchip details

In Spain, dogs, cats and ferrets must be microchipped, and it is the most reliable way for you to be traced if someone takes your dog to a vet or the police. But it only works if the registry has your current details.

• Call your region's pet registry or your vet and check that your phone number and address are up to date.
• Tell them your dog is missing, and ask whether your region sets a deadline for reporting it.
• Keep the microchip number handy: the registry, the police and shelters will ask for it.

Make a poster and share it online

A good poster can be understood in two seconds from a distance. Include:

• “LOST” in large letters and a recent photo showing the whole dog and its colour.
• Name, breed or type, size, and the area and day it went missing.
• Your phone number, in large print.
• If it is timid, ask people not to chase it but to call you with where they saw it.

Put it up where it went missing, at vets, pet shops and local businesses, and post it in your area's neighbourhood and lost-pet groups.

Keep back one feature that isn't on the poster or in the photos (a mark, a scar, the colour of its collar). If someone says they have your dog, ask about that detail. And never pay anything up front to someone who asks for money to return it.

If it wears a LinkID tag

Whoever finds it just holds their phone near the tag: they see its profile and a button to call you, without installing anything. Also:

• Mark it as lost from your account: its profile will show an urgent notice at the top.
• Check that the contact phone on its profile is the one you will have with you these days.
• If the finder taps “I've found…”, you get an email straight away, with their location if they choose to share it.

Before 24 hours are up

• Go back to the shelter and rescue groups in person: over the phone, a description can easily fail to match the dog they have.
• Repeat your route early in the morning and at dusk, when there is less noise and traffic and frightened dogs move around more.
• Leave something with your scent or its scent, like its blanket, at your front door or where it went missing.
• Widen the search gradually and note where you have looked and who you have told, so you don't repeat yourself.

When it comes home

Take it to the vet for a check-up, especially if it spent the night out. Let everyone you contacted know, take the posters down and remove the lost notice from its profile. It is also a good time to check that the collar fits well and the tag is firmly attached.