Protect Your Pet

By

Carolyn Krause

Properly Identify                      Proper identification is simple if you do it ahead of time.  Make sure your dog wears an ID tag on a buckle collar. Have your pet micro-chipped and state that on his ID tag. Register his micro-chip on the AKC Companion Animal Recovery web site. www.akccar.org.  You may add a photo of your dog when you register.  Your dog does not have to be purebred to register him on this site.  There is a fee for this which helps defray the cost of maintaining this service.  Have a good clear picture for this purpose and have a hard copy on hand that you can copy for posters if Rover ever becomes lost.

Regularly Vaccinate                  Immunize your pet on your veterinarian’s suggested schedule.  In addition, Rover needs regular check ups just as you do to insure that his good health is maintained.  This will save you money in the long run.

Organize                                 Organize your dog’s identification information. If Rover disappears be prepared for an organized search.  Start immediately and check all area shelters and humane societies daily.   Someone, who knows the dog should go to the shelter, sometimes they receive more than 50 dogs in a day.  Keep the home phone free for incoming calls and have friends make the necessary calls from another phone.  Contact all local media and post the dog as lost on all local and regional websites that have a “Lost Pets” or “Lost and Found” area.  Do this the first day the dog disappears.   Put your posters everywhere, schools and churches are great places if you can get permission.

Teach                                               Teach your dog to never bolt out an open door.  He should wait for your permission to exit or enter any building or car door.  This is easy to teach.

Educate                                  Education minimums for your pet should at least include  walking politely on a leash, socialization activities so he is comfortable with being touch by people he doesn’t know.  You want a good Samaritan to be able to rescue him if he ever needs help. Even a well-trained dog should be on a leash for walks.  Too many perils exist for the unleashed city or suburban dog.

Contain                                   Contain your dog within your own property.  A fenced yard with locked gates is the best way to protect your dog from harm.  This will also protect him from roaming and becoming a neighbor- hood nuisance.

Train                                       Train him to come when called.  Train him to come to a whistle, which can be heard at much greater distance than a human voice.  Train him to have good manners so that he is a positive enrichment of your life. He can’t and won’t train himself, that’s up to you.

 

 Ó 1991 FireDog Enterprises, Inc