417: Lost Pet Rescue and Prevention with Annalisa Berns
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What will you do if an owner’s pet escapes? When seconds count, planning and preparation are your best friend. Annalisa Berns, The Pet Detective, walks us through common ways dogs and cats go missing and explains the simple steps we can take to prevent that from happening. She points out that the normal behaviors we expect are replaced with more unpredictable ones once the pet goes missing. Annalisa speaks on the methods to recover a missing pet, and reminds us to get helps as soon as possible.
Main topcs
Lost pet behavior
How most pets escape
Prevention is key
First steps if a pet gets out
Main takeaway: Start planning and training today to both prevent a lost pet, and recover a lost one.
About our guest:
Annalisa Berns, is the owner of Pet Search and Rescue and Pet Search and Rescue Investigations. She dreamed of working with animals from a young age. Annalisa found her life’s work when she read Kat Albrecht’s book, “The Lost Pet Chronicles.” She is passionate about educating people about how to bring their lost pets home.
On a lost pet case Annalisa usually works 2-3 Search Dogs. She also coaches people how to find their lost pets. She is a licensed Private Investigator in California and Florida. She has also completed California Association of Licensed Investigator training NLITE. Annalisa helps train Search Dog Handlers to help find lost pets. She was a guest speaker at the Western States Veterinary Association twice and the American Veterinary Medical Association conference. She completed FEMA training with the Emergency Management Institute in Animals in Disaster: Awareness and Preparedness and Animal in Disaster: Community Planning. In 2023, she presented two mini sessions for Pet Sitters International. She also completed Introduction to Animal Psychology Certificate on Pet Behavior.
Links:
https://www.petsearchandrescue.com
https://www.instagram.com/petsearchandrescue/?hl=en
https://www.facebook.com/PetSearchAndRescue
training on calming signals for dogs: https://pethelpful.com/dogs/Dog-Behavior-Understanding-Dog-Calming-Signals
Phone: 310-880-8268
Kat Albright: https://www.missinganimalresponse.com
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A VERY ROUGH TRANSCRIPT OF THE EPISODE
Provided by otter.ai
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pet, dog, pet owner, missing, cat, search, pet sitter, talking, clients, backyard, trap, question, important, walking, id tags, give, sightings, home, fireworks, adding
SPEAKERS
Annalisa B., Collin
Collin 00:02
Welcome to pet sitter confessional. Today, we're brought to you by time to pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters. Today, we are tackling a topic that a lot of us fear on a daily basis in running our businesses of dog walking, and pet sitting. And that's a bit of a pet escaping while we are caring for them. And so to tackle this and give some great advice, we have Annalisa burns, the pet detective from pet search and rescue on to talk about not just how we can prevent it, but what do we do in the unfortunate case where they do get out and how can we help educate our pet parents so on Elisa, thank you so much for coming in and talking about this topic. I know you're super passionate about it. Please tell us a little bit more about who you are and all that you do.
Annalisa B. 00:45
Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me. I'm a real life pet detective just like Ace Ventura, but a little bit different. I actually specialize in Lost animal behavior. And I use trained search dogs to help search for lost pets. I got into this almost 20 years ago now. And I've devoted my life to helping lost pets and educating people on how to prevent their pets from going missing in the first place.
Collin 01:18
Now, what got you started in this and so passionate about it?
Annalisa B. 01:22
Well, I had a dog with major separation anxiety. And she actually got me into this line of work. I had adopted her from the San Diego Humane Society shout out to an amazing animal control shelter in Southern California. I had adopted this wonderful puppy. And the first day I tried to go to work, she literally turned into the Tasmanian devil and tore apart the condo, the doorframe, my favorite shoes, everything. So I hired an animal behaviorist and I did a consultation. And they suggested that she had low self esteem, and needed a job to build her confidence. And they were right. So I was trying to find different things to do with her. She was my soulmate dog, Lily, a German Shorthaired Pointer mix. Again, a shelter dog, I think they're the best. And so I was looking for things to do. I tried agility, I even tried human search and rescue, which didn't go so well. And so I finally saw it on TV. Media is amazing, because it really can provide us with all of these different ideas and information that we wouldn't know of otherwise. So I found about this person, Kat Albrecht, she was an ex police officer who had the great idea to use search dogs to find lost pets. And I took my training with her. And the first dog I found I helped to recover. And the first cat I searched for. I helped with closure and I was hooked.
Collin 03:14
Well I know it's definitely one that is high emotion, right? It's one that we have to kind of be mentally prepared for as well to tackle this because there's just a lot of stuff that we have to do. And earlier you said a phrase about last pet behavior. I think many of us are familiar with pet behavior and what they are trying to communicate us through body language and sounds. How is last pet behavior different than what we may be experiencing in a home?
Annalisa B. 03:41
That's a great question, actually. So when we have a pet in its normal environment, under normal circumstances, we kind of have an idea how it will behave. So you know, if somebody rings, your friend doorbell, your dog probably will go bark at the front door. Or if your dog isn't into that will keep taking a nap, whatever you have an idea of how your pet will behave in under normal circumstances. Now when a pet goes missing, it is not normal circumstances. So we have to throw that out the window. Now it can give us insight into how the animal will behave. But nothing really gives us 100% clarity on what will happen with the animal because the biggest unknown factor is the external factors. So does somebody honk their horn at the dog that's trying to cross the street or chase a shy dog? Those sorts of things. So, animal behavior in its normal environment gives us insight into how they might behave when missing, but it's not 100% Guaranteed because of the unknown external factors. So, for example, when a pet goes missing, they're probably overall going to be more shy, more skittish, more cautious than they would be with you at home because they're outside in an unknown environment may be hiding, maybe scared. So you can have an insight, but you can't predict it because of those reasons.
Collin 05:27
Yeah, we think a lot about stress stalking for pets, when they're in the home of like, okay, did the doorbell get wrong? Is it trash day is there a squeaky fan on the ceiling that's been going for the last six hours, and then we walk in, and the dogs on edge are acting a little bit differently, how much more so when they're out in a completely uncontrolled environment. And we have the possibilities there are totally endless of what they're experiencing one after another in rapid succession.
Annalisa B. 05:53
100%. And I've seen this many times in person where the animal gets out, I have a case example for you about this, specifically, a dog that would hang out in the front yard in a neighborhood in San Diego, California, never had really much of an issue with it, the pet owner would be gardening and things like that. Well, one time the owner went inside for a brief moment. And some kids came by on bicycles. Well, maybe that's like not really a trigger normally, but maybe a little bit of stalking is going on there. And then one of the kids starts throwing rocks at the dog. So then that brings the animal up really high in an emergency response. Even though the dog doesn't want to leave home has never wandered off because of that situation, then the dog has to well guess what is two blocks away where the dog runs to major busy intersections. So then the dog now is beyond its threshold, and is trying to run across a busy intersection with almost getting hit and horns honking from the cars, people yelling, people trying to intervene, that sort of thing. So this is absolutely a factor. And the same thing with cats.
Collin 07:21
But I did want to kind of talk about common ways that dogs escape. I know again, the so many different factors. But from your experience, what are some common themes that you see with dogs that end up escaping or getting out of where they're supposed to be?
Annalisa B. 07:36
Well, a lot has to do with noise and holidays, Fourth of July fireworks, New Year's Eve fireworks, those sorts of things gunfire, that's a major contributing factor to dogs going missing. We know that the busiest times of year for lost dogs are going to be around those points. Also pet owners taking their pets on vacation going places where the pet doesn't know where it is. And newly adopted rescued. Pets are going to be at a higher risk of going missing because they aren't really comfortable and bonded with their pet owner.
Collin 08:20
How are those different or the same with with cats? Because I know we're not just talking about dogs here. We all take care of cats as well. Right?
Annalisa B. 08:28
A lot less cats go missing due to fireworks. That's a very uncommon thing for people to report. Cats are much more likely it depends if they're indoor only or outdoor access. Let me comment that so outside access, if the kitty cats outside they get into trouble. So that could be anything from getting stuck in the neighbor's garage to having an altercation with another outside chat. They definitely that they get into trouble. Indoor only cats that accidentally get outside or how they go missing because they are totally unaware of the territory. That being said, both cats and dogs are at a much higher likelihood of going missing. before during and after a moods.
Collin 09:17
You know you mentioned holidays people traveling moves. Those are actually really common reasons why people hire pet sitters because they are traveling and so when you're like oh yeah, this is the most time pets go missing. Well, this is also the busiest time for a pet sitter. So when you when you think of over holidays, especially noise related holidays, what are some things that we as pet sitters could be doing to help limit or reduce that kind of thing when we are in there taking care of them?
Annalisa B. 09:45
Exactly. You're spot on with this question. I think one of the most important things is the onboarding with the client, especially when we find out why they are wanting the pet Pet Sitter, and around these seasonal times times when there's noises, it's really important to have an idea of the personality, especially with dogs, are we talking about a shy skittish dog? Or are we talking about weekly but a dog that is happy all the time, and then taking precautions and educating the owner at that point, not waiting until after the fact. But really having these conversations when we're talking about being hired, for the pet sitting to begin with. Whether it's pet sitting, dog walking, boarding, grooming, all of that is the same, to really have a good idea of what the dog or cat is going to need to be safe. And sometimes that in my opinion, is requiring the pet owner to take a few preventative steps that I just would not, I would not be, you know, except a dog or cat or a house visit or dog walking without and I'll tell you my number one preventative tip and my number two preventative tip. So first of all, if I'm petsitting the pet has to have ID tags on especially a dog. Now I know this is controversial because people are concerned about the collar getting caught up on something which I 100% understand and agree with. But now there are so many products out there that are flexible, that stretch that are even made of paper like tab bands that are like a hospital bracelet, you have to have ID ID on the missing on the pet in case they go missing. And that's the number one thing that gets a pet home if they go missing. The second thing is GPS, especially for shy skittish pets, it's it to me it's a deal breaker to the point where if I have a pet in my care, that is feral semi feral under socialize, shy, skittish rescue, rescued from a puppy mill situation, I've literally have my own GPS that I put on the dog while it's in my care, because I know an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And trying to find a lost pet is like finding a needle in a haystack where the needle is moving, and it can cost the pet its life. So for me, I have my own pet GPS, I keep it on one of my pets. And then if I have a pet in my care that I put it on that pet or I would require a pet owner to do it.
Collin 12:47
What are your opinions of things like air tags from Apple? Because I know I don't know if you've used those before or have experience with those because I suppose are really popular. I see a lot of pets with them. But from your perspective, if that were to get out is that a helpful thing to have?
Annalisa B. 13:01
Absolutely anything is going to increase your likelihood of recovery and also because of Murphy's Law increase the likelihood the pet won't go missing in the first place.
Collin 13:13
I know we have taken care of pets who have gone if this were to get away there's no way I'm getting them back. We've all had that gut instinct and so sometimes that may mean you know letting them into the backyard keeping them on a leash I will say is making sure that the harness and collar and everything is well secured and but like keeping them tethered to you may also be an additional option if you're in the backyard because all things can happen in the backyard the lawn mowers forgot to do it and you didn't look over there fully or pay I was at a house he's literally yesterday were three panels in the back fence had fallen down so I had to go out and hammer those back in before I got the dog out but just going do something to recognize okay, this dog is telling me something we don't have a connection we don't have a bond yet. So what are the barriers things that I can put into place before we get there and that that is on us and that takes having that conversation with that client in the pet history I'm always gonna say is so critical of just how long have you had this pet? Where did you get this pet from? Those two things are going to tell you a lot about is this pet familiar with this it with this location do are they have a history of struggles with this pet that can come from that further conversation and just talking with the owner about that can really help set you up for success
Annalisa B. 14:30
100% It's so very very important to get that feedback and insight from the pet owner. And if it is not a match for you turn down the work
Collin 14:41
which is really which is which is hard but we have to be honest with ourselves I'm going i i tend to look at these and review sitting with you all the information, never commit to anything at any point in time wait to review all the information and then say am I set up for success with this with this visit? Am I am I going to be successful is that head going to be successful in this situation as it currently exists? If no, are there things we can put in place are the things we can do or do I need more information? You also mentioned about the moving thing, we get so many people who are brand new to an area who need our services. Well, there are some additional questions. So what what should we ask? What are some things that we should ask or poker prior about when somebody goes? Yeah, I just moved in yesterday, I need you to start walking my dog.
Annalisa B. 15:26
Absolutely. I think the most important is the pets prior experience. And here's an insightful question. Has your pet ever gone missing before? That is huge, because if they disclose to you, my pet, oh, yeah, my pet went missing two or three times my pet got out all the time at my last house. My pet is an escape artist. You know, those sorts of things? And then you ask and how did you find your pet? Well, my pet came back to me right away, or my pet was found three miles away by going up to somebody's back, puppy dog door, whatever it is, that will give you a big insight into the flight risk possibility.
Collin 16:20
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Collin 16:46
new PET scanning software, give time to pet a try, listeners of our show can save 50% off your first three months by visiting timed pet.com/confessions. Because then that helps you understand what to do. And I think some of those follow up questions are really important in to know it's not just Okay, have they gone missing? And I love how you brought that up or going? How did you get them back? Because that is equally as important if they say they have gotten away before to say, you know, you may even say what happened when they got away? How did you get them back? How long are they gone? Like some of these questions are just going to help set expectations and help you understand what you're getting into. And and because some clients I will say may say, oh, no, they don't they don't get out that much. Okay, well, you said that much. You said that phrase. Tell me about that. What does that mean, be actively listening when you're having this conversation with the client?
Annalisa B. 17:36
Great points. And one thing I want to add on this is ask them how the pet got away or got missing. Because a lot of people will say, my dog backed out of its color, my dog backed out of its harness. And these are red flags, because most people unfortunately do not learn their lesson about having correct equipment that fits properly. So that is a red flag that you need to bring your own equipment, you need to double check theirs, ask them to show you how they put it on and off, maybe even do a double leash if you're doing a walk situation where you have the harness with the leash and then a slip lead around the neck as an emergency backup. But you have that loose. So you might need to have a backup method. So honestly,
Collin 18:35
let's say we come in and we have some clients who their dog is we're going to do over a holiday was over Fourth of July. Just basically what are things that we can do to prepare to make sure that that dog doesn't doesn't get out during those times when the fireworks are going off?
Annalisa B. 18:50
That's a really excellent question. I think I'm gonna go back to preparation is key. So finding out from the pet owner, are they sound reactive to fireworks? How have they responded before? What's their comfort zone? Where do they want to be when there's fireworks? And I think one of the best things is noise obstruction, sound machines, putting the radio on TV on, those sorts of things seem to in my experience work the best. So asking those questions. And if the pet owner isn't sure having them try some different things beforehand, so that you have a strategy and a plan of action ideal is that they have a person with them during the fireworks. So that's a possible addition to services, if it's available.
Collin 19:39
Also add if you typically are doing walks around dusk to change that, change that service. Don't be outside when you're walking but that takes you thinking ahead for that day going oh it's July 4 Guess when I'm not going to be out in the middle of the neighborhood walking this dog out walking.
Annalisa B. 19:56
Also, the days leading up to fourth of July. And the days after. And the same with New Years. It's not just the day of, so you really do need to change it. And there's also some areas that have fireworks on a regular basis. For example, San Diego has fireworks on a daily basis. Other places do where there's amusement parks, special events, community events, weddings, those sorts of things. So you need to adjust and have that in mind also,
Collin 20:30
yeah, or, you know, if you live nearby a big city, they've got an NFL football team, and they're doing really well or you know, the baseball playoffs or whatever they're doing really well expect those. And that takes us looking and planning ahead. And I'll also add that even if the dog or cat doesn't have a history of it, adding the sound barriers, adding the white noise, adding these things, does no harm, right, these are additional benefits, and they're going to help set that pet up for success. Because all it takes is one time to trigger this and one bad experience to last a lifetime.
Annalisa B. 21:01
Exactly. And that's really important for people to acknowledge and keep in mind is that pet owners and pet service providers are lulled into a false sense of security. Because something negative hasn't happened. And it's actually the reverse is true. If something negative hasn't happened, statistically, it's going to happen. So you want to be very aggressive in your preventative techniques and methods and actions and not count on Well, it's never happened before to predict that it will never happen in the future.
Collin 21:42
Yeah. And how many times have we had clients who'd say, Well, I don't know why you're doing that we haven't had a problem before. And you just simply respond with, I understand that. But this prevention is in place to protect your dog or your cat or your home. And it's what we've is how we want to move forward with this. And that's really I mean, you can provide the more stuff but from a business perspective of going I understand, this is what we believe to be best practices and something like we get it a lot for people who have a cat, they only want us to come by every other day or every third day and having to explain No, we won't do that we need eyes, hands ears on the cat on the home, minimum once a day, preferably twice a day at best, then just explain to them to that about the importance of that and then adding on top of that the the escape artists and things like that to go, we really need to stay on top of this.
Annalisa B. 22:34
Exactly. Prevention is key.
Collin 22:38
Talking a little bit about educating the clients. And you had even mentioned earlier like during this onboarding process, there may be things we need to talk to the clients about. How do we approach clients with this with educating them in an appropriate manner without really Doom scaring them? Or maybe do we need to be doing that more, I guess?
Annalisa B. 22:59
Well, I think a reality check is really good. If somebody has a shy skittish pet recently adopted or rescued puppy mill, all those types of of animals. I don't mind it being the reality check about that, because we're talking about the pet safety and their life, because it is really a life or death situation. If you have a puppy mill dog that gets out in Chicago and is running up and down the streets. It's it's really God's are not in your favor at that point. So I think you have to weigh the scenario and the risks as best as you can. And if there are substantial possible risks, be more assertive in your communication and more clear with your boundaries. And then if you have a wiggly but golden retriever that the family has had since it was a puppy, and they gotten trained it they go hunting, the dog isn't even reactive to guns or whatever, okay, then you aren't as fastidious with reviewing procedures and asking these very intense questions. And I think informing clients why you're doing it, say, well, it's F concern because we want your dog to be safe. And we know you recently rescued this dog Are you recently moved to the area and your dogs gotten away before so we just want to cover our bases and be as thorough as possible. I think that's really important. And at the end of the day, you want to work for clients who are amazing understanding and appreciate how much you care for their pet. So I think that's the biggest priority. Yeah, explaining
Collin 24:53
those reasons is huge and no one on our intake form. We even have a question of like, for like the house of like, where's your electrical bill? afterwards, your water shut off, like people will look at you and go, why? It's like, floods happen, right? Like, excuse me, like, do you want to, we need to be able to shut off the flooding toilet, like, explain why this is coming up. Same thing with this going, Oh, you just moved to the area, you have a newly adopted pop and you need to travel over the Fourth of July. Okay, wait, here are some additional questions that we need to walk through to see if this is even feasible for us and how we're going to make this work because I don't want your pet to get out during this because this is a high flight risk. And just being honest with them about that. And you know, it's hard sometimes for pet parents to see that going, Oh, no, they're great. They're perfect. See, they're happy and healthy here, going there. But you've never experienced this with this dog. This is your first time going through this. So let's set each other up for success. So that we don't have to worry about this stuff on the back end.
Annalisa B. 25:48
And keep in mind, if you're providing a service, there is a possible liability to you at the end of the day, talking
Collin 25:57
about some other some preventative things about having the ID tags, having those GPS trackers and I did want to add about the ID tags. If your client hasn't had them on you as a pet sitter can make some of your own that include I'm with a pet sitter with your contact me with your name and contact information on it. And just have those in your car, have those in your go bag so that when you arrive, you can put those on the dog if the client forgot to do that.
Annalisa B. 26:21
I absolutely love that. And I you can actually get them pre printed disposable ones. We have actually had veterinary clinics that utilize pre printed paper plastic, they're like Id bands or you know festival wristbands or hospital wristbands. They have been pre printed with their hospital, the Veterinary Clinic name and phone number. Upon intake, they put that on the pet. When the pet checks out, they leave them on the pet. They've actually helped recover people's pets because they left the paper ID tag, you know banned on the pet when it went home. So you actually could be doing the pet and the family member service.
Collin 27:10
Yeah, exactly. And those don't cost too much. There is a cost to them, but they don't cost an exorbitant amount of money. And you know, they're very reasonable at that.
Annalisa B. 27:19
Absolutely. The last time I checked for like 200 unprinted one so you'd write your phone number on it was like $20.
Collin 27:27
Oh, well, that's okay. Well, I know what I'm adding to my Amazon list. But other other than you know, us having GPS trackers making sure I did tags on there. How else can we help pet parents prevent this? What should they How could they prepare before they even leave to foot on their trip?
Annalisa B. 27:46
One of the biggest tips I have is to put locks on the gates. The number one way that pets get out in the bed from the backyard is that someone leaves the gate open or kids playing in the neighborhood open the gate, or the dog jumps up and this one time hits the latch and is able to open it. So when the pet owner is I mean, I think they should have locks on the gates, or at least a carabiner. That keeps it from popping open. If they when they're meant when they go on vacation or for travel, they absolutely should have locks on the gates and cancel all yard services, no landscaping, no pool maintenance, nothing like that. Especially of course for a pet that has access to the backyard. You just don't want to risk someone else coming and going or opening the back gate without you knowing as the pet sitter. So those are some easy tips.
Collin 28:45
And it might not even be somebody it could be the wind or or have a storm come in, it just shifts it just enough. And so they've already they've canceled their yard services or they don't have yard services. And yet the gate still swings open so that that's a great preventive measure. So another thing that we can have on our hand of just some cheap little carabiner is to slap on those if we're in the when we're when we are in the yard, doing the walk inspection and clipping through. Exactly. We've talked a lot about prevention, education and some common ways and reasons why pets escape. Let's let's dive into the you know, the worst case happens in the end they do get out what are some of the immediate steps that we need to take
Annalisa B. 29:28
the number one most important step that can be very uncomfortable to hear and to do for a pet service provider is to notify the pet owner immediately. We have a natural response when the pet goes missing to think let me look for it. I can find it. But really, you probably won't. So my rule of thumb for my own pets with my pet sitters with my dog walkers is you have 15 minutes. If you can't locate my missing pet in 15 minutes, you need to call me and notify me right away. Now why is that? Why not take a couple hours? And look, because maybe you can find the dog? Maybe it's down at the park or in the neighbor's yard? Well, the first thing is, that's not your decision to make. The decision is the pet owners to make. If you call the pet owner, and say, I, the dog darted out the front door as I was coming in, I went up and down the street, it's been 15 minutes, and I can't locate your dog. What do you want me to do? Or can you return home? The ask that question, and they say, Oh, I'm not worried about it, you know, go around the block a couple times, let me call my cousin Susie, she'll come over and help, whatever it is. That's the pet owners decision. That's not our decision. It's like trying to decide if a pet needs veterinary care. When it's not a life threatening thing. It's up to the pet owner to make that decision. The second thing is that the pet owner is more likely to be able to recover the pet, then the pet sitter or the dog walker. So it's really important that they are empowered with the information so that they can come on site as soon as possible if it's possible.
Collin 31:25
No, not not not delaying. And that's a conversation that we need to have with the the pet owners to write of going. Okay. We think about this, whenever there's an elderly pet, and we go, what do you want us to do in case the worst case happens? Right? Well, let's have that conversation now. So that's out, you know, and but like you mentioned, because we're lulled into this false sense of security, oh, I've had this dog for five years I've had I've been pet sitting for 11 years, and I've never had a pet escape. So why would I even bother asking? But having that conversation and making just part of your general intake when you're talking with them in their home? If the worst case were to happen, how would you like us to handle that? And you can say, Here's how here's our procedures, here's our process, how we would like to do this? What would you like to have happen? Is it 15 minutes? Is it immediate? Is it just don't even bother searching and call us as soon as they slip out? Because you need to make sure that you are both on the same page with that because you are on a partnership with this person to care for their
Annalisa B. 32:18
pet. Exactly. And especially with cats, it's very critical to ask the question because we know kitty cats indoor only kitty cats can be very good at hiding, and you can come do a home visit and you might not see them. So asking the question of it, does your kitty cat hide a lot? How many visits does it need to be? Before I should be concerned that I'm not seeing the cat, that sort of thing that would be really recommended.
Collin 32:51
Now let's say we've we've been 15 minutes, we've made a phone call, and the owner wants us to keep looking, walk us through the next you know, 1224 48 hours, kind of what's that process begin to look like
Annalisa B. 33:05
for us. The process is very different searching for a dog versus a cat. Okay, because the kitty cat more likely is hiding nearby and the dog can definitely get further away even though many times they are found near home. So you need to take that into consideration. After you've notified the pet owner, you do have to initiate some emergency actions. So one thing is back to it's an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, having an idea of some strategies or a plan of action in advance and having that baby print outline printed out and in your glove box or at your place of work. So that you know these are the 10 things I'm going to do if the pet goes missing, so you're already on top of it. So for example, for a cat, you want to do a very careful physical search of the interior of the property and the exterior of the property. Because most cats are found very near home. I like to recommend that pet service providers have their business cards on them always so that if a cat goes missing, they can go to the immediate neighbors. We recommend three houses in each direction, knock on the door, explain the situation, make sure they know what the cat looks like and then give them the business card so that they can reach out to you day or night and they have the contact information that's an emergency action to take. For dogs it's a little bit different because they can get a little bit further we recommend having a few posters made up in advance. These can be ones that are laminated that you roll up and keep in your car or you keep them in the back of your storage closet. Whatever it might be, but big signs, we're talking about poster size signs, and have them made in advance. So you just use a black permanent marker, last dog at the top with your phone number already written in at the bottom. And then if a pet goes missing, you take the black marker and in the middle, right, a brief description, black lab Dalmatian, whatever it might be you bright that in the middle, and those would go up at the ends of the street where the pet got away from. And at the closest busy intersection, that's the emergency action so that you get possible sightings or if the dog goes up to someone, they see a big advertising sign and are able to reach out to you. Please note, the different municipalities have different laws about signs. So you do want to be on the safe side about that. A good tip is if you see some yard sale signs up and about, you're probably safe in that area to put up a sign. And after you get the pet back, please do go and remove them so that they're not a visual disturbance and messy in the community.
Collin 36:17
Yeah, cuz the last thing you want to do is have the sign out that it's meant to help and it gets take taken down by code enforcement in the area or an angry neighbor.
Annalisa B. 36:25
Exactly, exactly. Now, there are some other really important protocol items I wanted to go over about cats specifically. But some of them there's an overlap with dogs also. So one thing is to preserve a scent article, especially if there's multiple pets in the household. Because if you do or the client ends up, bringing out search dogs, you want to have a good scent article. So this can be toys, color bedding, you just want to pick that item up and put it away from the other pets. You could like say it's a toy, put it in a Ziploc bag and put it up in a cupboard, someplace cool and away from the other pets. Don't put it in a hot car, don't wash it, don't do anything along those lines, do not smoke around your scent articles also. One other thing is to be prepared for sightings. So make sure if this is the interim between when the pet goes missing, and the pet parent comes home, if you get a sighting, you need to get as much information as possible. So the scenario is you're the cat went missing, you go outside to the neighbor's house, you knock oh my gosh, yeah, I saw puppy in the backyard. You want to write down the person's name, the address, the time the date, and hopefully get their phone numbers so that if the pet owner needs to reach out to them, they have a way to do that. We talked a little bit about the signs, the signs are really critical. Another place you can post a sign is actually in the front yard of where the pet went missing. But that requires a little more supplies like a wooden stake, and that sort of thing. But that really can be critical. We have gone on so many searches where even the next door neighbor did not know that the pet went missing at all. So we went over physically searching the inside and the outside of the property. We went over talking to the neighbors in three houses in each direction. And if possible use for cats, you want to personally search those properties. Please do not leave it up to the neighbor to check the property. Because it's such a high probability that the missing cat is there. You need to have your eyes in the backyard. Is there hiding places? Or is it just a concrete backyard where there's no place for the cat to hide? Is there a crawl space, a deck, those sorts of things. And one more insider tip about kitty cats going missing at all but especially within 24 or 48 hours. Sometimes it's easier to find them at night because you can use a high powered spotlight and look for I shine the reflection of the cat size. So let's say there's a deck on the neighbor's property and you really can't see that well during the day asked permission to come back at night with a flashlight.
Collin 39:37
Yeah, that is because again, it's shaded sometimes it was crawl spaces are really tiny, really small. Those decks are slammed right down on the ground but there was one little tiny hole that they're able to get her into. And so shining that light I absolutely love that and just doing working through those scenarios. And I know one that comes up a lot is when we start talking about lost or escaped pet people Trick asking question about trapping, right? Do I When do I bring out a trap? And then the other the other questions like, Where do I even get a trap to try and get this cat back inside.
Annalisa B. 40:10
So for the average pet parent, I would say, that's the time to bring in a professional or a volunteer who has extensive trapping experience because a pet absolutely can be heard from a trap that is not monitored or set properly, etc. Now, if we're talking a pet service provider, there's amazing training online that different businesses offer and rescue groups and cat feral cat trapping organizations, I highly recommend taking that making sure you know how to trap safely. For cats, the rule of thumb is if it's an indoor only cat that gets out, you want to get a trap out immediately. Because many times they are outside hiding nearby and luring them and getting them to go into a trap is the only way you're going to get them back home. Shy, skittish dogs, traps can be deployed, but usually you have to wait until they've calmed down. They're not just running blindly and frantically and they've established an area where they're hanging out and then you need to deploy a trap. In those instances, those depending on the size of the dog can be quite large. So again, that's where you might need to work with a professional.
Collin 41:31
Did you know that the National Association of Professional pet sitters or naps is the only national nonprofit professional pet sitting association dedicated to raising and abiding by industry standards. Naps provides pet sitters with the tools and resources to own and operate successful pet sitting businesses and their in person conference is coming to Savannah, Georgia March 1 through fifth 2024. And it's called the bloom and grow your business. Their goal is to bring together industry leaders with session topics that are IDF focused on a wide range of topics to foster learning inspiration and provoke conversations that matter. If you attended the 2023 conference, you can enjoy a discounted rate through August 31. And if you're listening to this episode, right when it comes out, that's tomorrow, otherwise, they have early bird registration through September 30. And the registration October 1 through February 19 will be at the full price of $225. Visit the NAPS website at Pet sitters.org for information regarding the naps, membership certification and complete conference details for their conference March 1 through third in Savannah, Georgia. What are some best practices for getting that pet back in I know we kind of mentioned trapping might be an option. But you know, just going up and grabbing the pet or like we do with treats or kind of what's our next step at that point.
Annalisa B. 42:57
It really comes down to the pet professional or the pet parents past experience and knowledge with recovering their pet or any pet at all. So someone who isn't knowledgeable, isn't experienced and is absolutely frantic and can't think straight. They probably should not be involved in trying to recover that pet or grab it because it's so likely that it can can have a bad outcome. So you need to assess the situation and decide what is the best course of action based on knowledge experience training, and the actual situation. ideal is to get the pet safely confined in some way. So for dogs This means getting them in the backyard and closing the gate to a fenced yard where then you know they're safely confined for a cat that snuck into somebody's garage, close the garage door get them safely confined. So safe confinement is the number one best way to actually catch a pet. For dogs, I highly recommend researching and watching videos on calming signals. This is really important in recovering a dog and being able to actually capture them, but it's quite complex and how to approach a dog you bet or cat you never approach them straight on or like stalking them. You don't do that you do from the shoulder approaching or make an arc around them so that you're not just straight on and you don't stare at them so it can get quite complicated. So I would recommend doing some training on that. There's many tools that can be used like a snappy snare or a catch all with dogs or cats. But this is a lot of equipment that it's not realistic for most people to have on hand. It's expensive and takes up a lot of space. Acer it can be. So but those are some things to consider and think about at least.
Collin 45:05
And that number one tip of getting them into a confined space, somehow leaving that door open, leaving that garage open, leaving that backyard door open somehow and having it monitored. And that gets complicated if they have additional pets that you're still needing to care for, if they have additional things that, you know, they have to account for, I found a really good one is, you know, if we have if we've been asked to help recover a lost dog, again, depending on the dog and their history, and this is asking additional questions. If they love car rides, and you spot that dog stopping your car throwing open the door, a lot of times they'll jump in before they even realize what's going on.
Annalisa B. 45:44
It's true, it's true. One time I was driving in central California, and there were two German Shepherds running on the side of the road. And I just went open the car door and said Come on, get in. And they both just jumped in. And they were on a busy busy highway. So unfortunately, I had just gone grocery shopping, and they decided to eat all of my groceries in the back of the car, but they didn't get hit, they were fine.
Collin 46:12
It's a small sacrifice to make rip groceries, right. And as we're talking about this on Elisa, this kind of it's got me thinking a lot about just like, like emergency management of like is what what role should we be taking on during this? And and I guess one of the important aspects of this is the effective transfer and communication of information and data. So how do we get in that mindset of now, I'm managing this and I need to be communicating well and quickly to people.
Annalisa B. 46:44
I think one of the first things is to think about this in advance as a pet service business owner, you want to make a decision about what your policy is. And that has to do more with availability, flexibility, and, and being realistic about a situation than anything else. So for example, deciding in advance, here's what my policy is going to be, and you don't have to disclose it, it's just what you know, that you're going to do, I'm going to try to have a backup pet sitter or dog walker, who I will call immediately and have them take all of my clients for three days. And I will devote three days to looking for this pet after three days, I transfer the search to the pet owner. But maybe it's not three days, maybe it's a week, maybe it's one day, maybe it's an hour, I can't make that call for anybody else. Because let's say you're a single parent with a small child at home, you can't be out searching for a pet, or let's say on the other hand, you're semi retired, you have a lot of free time, then maybe it's going to be different based on your personal logistics, think about it in advance and have that set out, you can always change your mind based on the new information you get. But let's say you decide with my example, three days, I'm going to turn all of my I'm either canceling or I'm going to have a backup dog walker, pet sitter take my cases for three days. And I'm going to be we're just searching for this pet full time. The important thing is to keep in touch with the pet owner and to document everything you're doing. And I like to ask the pet owner, is there anything else you would like me to do until you get here? So being clear about that, and I think using in your communication, the reality that the pet owner actually will be the primary point of contact and the primary person, nobody's going to search better than the pet owner for their own pet. Let's be realistic about that. They're the one who's bonded with the pet. And that's the most important relationship and their most important advocate for that pet.
Collin 49:05
And as you mentioned earlier, they're the one who's going to be making the ultimate decisions, right. And so while you can be collecting information that needs to be funneled quickly and efficiently up to the owner so that they can know what to do with it. You can give advice, you can give recommendations, but at some point, they may say you know what, we just need to stop like I can't do this anymore. And that, that may be hard that's hard to hear as a person, especially if they got out on your watch, but respecting that decision and still doing what you can to support them.
Annalisa B. 49:37
One of the other things is you really want to write everything down. Don't think you're gonna remember there was a sighting of fluffy on West Avenue. With so much information coming in. You want to write it down and pass that on to the pet owner. One of the other things you can do is provide the pet owner with resources is so that they can make the decisions about what course of action they want to take. So in advance, you can just do some internet research and search your area for pet detectives, humane trapping rescue groups that help with trapping lost dogs. There's Facebook pages that cover the entire United States with a variety of resources, some are free, some are fee based, but you could for your area, have a list and provide that to the pet owner when it's time for you to transition out or as possible resources that they can then reach out to for assistance.
Collin 50:41
I'm envisioning kind of a neat Google Doc with a lot of this up there. And then even then you can give them one link to a Google Doc. And then that's where you're storing all of the information, all the photos, all the sightings, your checklist of things that you've done, instead of having to send them individual texts and go, I was here, I was here, just keeping it all in one place, and keep it all really well managed. And what's the other important part about this? We're talking about prep ahead of time of going especially those timelines, I think those are so critical. Do I search for 15 minutes? Do I search for three days, taking the my personal risk assessment of what I'm able to do, because that means that when that happens, and your heart rates elevated, and your adrenaline's pumping, and you're going through, you don't have to make those decisions, you just turn to your policy that's over here, you flip to page three, and you start activating this and like you said, going, Okay, I may need to adapt and change as this happens. But at least I have something to turn to I'm not having to make this up on the fly.
Annalisa B. 51:33
You're exactly right about that. Because when that actually happens, everything in our brain is just scrambled. We're just on a immediate, visceral response to the situation. And if we have a plan to fall back on, we don't have to think about it. It's so much more efficient.
Collin 51:54
I know you've you've also talked a little bit about, and stuff that you do through through the pet detective and pet Search and Rescue is is about equipping other people with this knowledge and with this experience. So if people are listening to this, and they're going, Well, how do I how do I learn more about this? Or maybe is this something that I could offer to my community? They do that they do that research, and they go, oh, there's nobody here locally to do this. How would somebody get started in this?
Annalisa B. 52:22
There's such a high demand across the entire United States and even around the world. For a wide range of services and products that help people search for and find their lost pets. I highly encourage pet service business owners to consider adding services and options to their community. Because when a pet goes missing in many areas, there is no help. And that's why I started my business over 18 years ago is because my soulmate dog went missing. And in that moment, I realized there would be nobody to help me. So if somebody wants to know no more, there's a wide range of things, from trapping to witness development to helping with flyers and posters. And of course search dogs training search dogs to help sniff out lost pets or evidence. One of the best resources is Cat Olbrich. Two I went through my training with with missing Animal Response. And that's her website missing animal response.com. She offers online training for how to be a pet detective how to help people who have lost pets, also great free information and education and videos that she puts out there. And she also has special training where if you want to train a dog to help search for lost pets, you can actually go through her online training to see if that might be a match. Also,
Collin 53:53
you specifically search with with rescue dogs to find lost pets. How How, how big of a difference does that make in the search process?
Annalisa B. 54:01
Many lost pets would never be found if it weren't for search dogs. Because they're using an ability that we can't even comprehend their sense of smell their vision, their hearing is so far superior to ours in a searching capacity that they can find a pet that is is not visible, they can find evidence that would never be discovered. One of my search dogs, she found a tuft of fur the size of a penny on an 18 hole golf course that was from the missing pet. That's just not possible. If you're a human being and you're searching.
Collin 54:50
That's amazing. And so there's Are there particular kinds of dogs that would be better or worse for that I don't know how to phrase that question.
Annalisa B. 54:59
That's a That's a great question. That's a great question. I think having done this for so long, and I've probably trained, I don't know 20 dogs for specifically search and rescue from a for lost pets from a wide variety of breeds and backgrounds and experiences. In my experience, it is amazing enrichment for almost any dog. And almost any dog can have a lot of fun, learning how to use their nose to find very to find their target, whether it's your other dog, whether it's your house, kitty cat, or the neighbor's turtle that got out of the pool and is wandering around the backyard, it's really fun for them. So the real question is, what the pet parent or the business owner has as a goal, what they envision and what they do, and if that's a match for the dog they already have, or a dog that they're planning on getting. But I support all dogs that the owner if they want to do something fun with them doing scent training, doing the last pet scent training, even for senior dogs, they just really love to use their nose, and it's a lot of fun for them. And it's very rewarding for the owner or the handler, because you work as a team with your dog. And you communicate with your dog in such an amazing way where you're asking them, I'm giving you this scent, or I'm giving you this que please find this, please match this or let me know if this is nearby. And to have your dog search and then find it and let you know where you know, they just found this. It's like nothing else in the world.
Collin 56:47
That sounds really magical. That sounds really cool. Especially have that bond and that relationship with that pet. On Elisa, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show today and talking about prevention. And then in the worst case scenario, what some steps that we have to do in our in our arsenal to get them back and the importance of communication and partnering with the pet owner and those in our community. This is a huge topic. I know we've just barely scratched the surface with a lot of this stuff. So if people want to learn more, get connected, follow along with your work and pick your brain How best can they do that?
Annalisa B. 57:21
Absolutely. And I want to add that I offer free consultations with people if they would like to train their dog to search for lost pets, whether it's for fun or a business, you can schedule a consultation with me where I will talk with you about your your dog, or getting a dog I'll talk to you about your goals. I'll give you feedback. And I'll tell you about all sorts of resources, whether it's in person training, online training, because this is my number one thing I'm passionate about. It's amazing. And I encourage people to do it. So please do reach out to me. I also offer free advice and feedback about lost pet cases, I want everybody to find their pet, whether they hire my services or not. So I can provide my contact information. My website is pet search, and rescue.com. And I'm also on Facebook and Instagram with that same pet search and rescue.com. And I also give out my cell phone number, because I want you to call me I believe 100% in giving people feedback. And even if I can't help trying to steer you in the right direction, so you can call or text me personally anytime. 310-880-8268 This is something I'm so passionate about. It's it's to part of who I am, I want to help you find your pet. And I want to encourage other people to help others find their pets to thank you so much for having me.
Collin 58:59
The realities are in the kind of businesses that we run that at some point a pet will get out and we have to be prepared for that event. Instead of laying awake at night stressing about it and worrying about it. We should direct that energy into doing something into the planning. Having the forms ready, having those ID tags ready, having your communication plan ready and the network that you're going to reach out to already in place so that you can sleep better and that you truly can give that peace of mind to your clients. We want to thank today's sponsors time to pet and the National Association of Professional pet sitters for making today's show possible. And thank you so much for listening. We hope you have a wonderful rest of your week and we'll be back again soon.
