It Takes a Village to Find a Lost Dog

Just ask Poppy, star of a popular book Poppy in the Wild: A Lost Dog, Fifteen Hundred Acres of Wilderness, and the Dogged Determination that Brought her Home.

A whopping 15% of pets go missing every year. Regardless of whether a dog is found, in my work as an animal communicator, I know what these anxiety-filled situations are like.

New York Times bestselling author Teresa Rhyne is no stranger to this unfortunate experience. I talked with her and the canine star of her new book on my YouTube channel and podcast recently. She’s just released the book Poppy in the Wild: A Lost Dog, Fifteen Hundred Acres of Wilderness, and the Dogged Determination that Brought her Home. Teresa is an overall animal advocate, and a lover of beagles in particular. She’s written two very dog-centric memoirs prior to this one, the New York Times bestsellers The Dog Lived (and So Will I) and The Dogs Were Rescued (and So Was I).

In Poppy in the Wild, Teresa tells the tale of her beagle Poppy — originally rescued through the Beagle Freedom Project from the Chinese dog meat trade — who ran away during a thunderstorm.

And not into a residential area.

Into a mountainous 1500-acre Southern California wilderness park, filled with wildlife, near a busy road.

I don’t want to give too much away, but in finding Poppy, Teresa enlists the help of a fascinating cast of characters. Pet recovery specialists. People who can connect with dogs and try to gather information from them, similar to what I do. Volunteers. A Native American who talks to owls. The police. Teresa herself sitting alone in the wilderness park for hours at dawn and dusk with items that carried a scent meant to attract Poppy.

It’s a great story of Poppy’s resilience and Teresa’s tenacity, a dog story that will set you up for greater success should you find yourself in a similar lost dog situation. In my chat session with Teresa and Poppy on my YouTube channel, I used my animal communicator skills to tune in to Poppy’s side of the story. What I got from Poppy was that to her, her five days in the wilderness were a grand adventure. And perhaps even a needed learning experience. Teresa told me that when Poppy came home, she was more confident than she had been before, and seemed finally ready to settle into her forever home. Poppy agreed.

In most cases I’ve seen, a lost dog’s people understandably are panicked and think the dog must be equally frantic, trying to make its way home. But the dog doesn’t always think it’s lost. Despite sometimes being scared, disoriented, injured, or needing help, a dog often thinks it’s on an adventure (disclaimer: I can’t make a dog go home; all I do is try to tune in, share information, and encourage the dog to make certain choices leading home).

Disco, Erica, and Daniel

For another lost dog story with a happy ending, check out this video on my YouTube channel, where I interview Disco the dog, his trainer friend Daniel Charles, who asked for my help when Disco went missing, and Disco’s mom. It is equal parts thriller and heartwarming tale, including a carjacking, a fire, and ultimately a reunion. It’s in two parts on the YouTube channel, and is also an episode on my Talking with the dogs! podcast.

In that case, Disco’s trainer, who I’d worked with previously with another client, contacted me saying he had a lost dog situation, and asked for my help. I told him yes, in these cases I can help clients communicate with their dog, or offer support and information the dog is willing to share with me. I’d never met Disco nor his mom, Erica, and in fact only met them for the first time when I was recording their interview. I did get involved, and you’ll have to listen to Disco’s story yourself to hear how he eventually got home.

Search & Rescue

Again, no one can guarantee being able to bring a dog home. But those of us experienced in lost dog rescue can offer support as a team working to locate a dog. I do that locally with a group called Dog Days Search and Rescue. They’ll sometimes seek me out in cases where they’ve hit a wall in an attempt to locate a dog. They will send me a picture of the dog in question, but no further information. I try to connect with the dog, and see if I get any information about what condition the dog is in, or what the dog can show me. It’s amazing how they can piece info I share with other pieces of the puzzle. That’s why I prefer working with experienced rescue teams. They can make sense of the verified clues and are equipped with the tools and equipment to coach teams of volunteers on best practices to bring a dog safely home, or out of the wilderness, or find evidence of what may have happened to offer closure on a missing dog case.

Stay Well-Connected With your Dog

In Poppy in the Wild, Teresa shares the little-known, somewhat counterintuitive, and highly effective protocols she implemented with the pet recovery specialists and others who helped bring Poppy home.

Things like:

• Not walking all over the neighborhood spreading your scent looking for the dog
• Not walking around calling your dog’s name
• Putting a side view photo of your dog on your flyers
• Putting up signs, waiting for people to report sightings, and establishing a dog’s movement pattern
• Placing a warming box at a site where the dog has been seen
• Using trail cameras
• Setting a humane trap with the help of an animal rescue specialist

For more information and Poppy’s full story, purchase the book here.

Finally, keep your dog’s microchip information up to date, and make sure you truly understand your dog’s needs so you’re as well-equipped as you can be to help them thrive.

Get free resources on connecting with your dog at whatyourdogwants.com.

Subscribe to the Talking with the dogs! podcast or on YouTube for more dog stories and interviews, or watch and listen to a chat session with me.

To schedule a chat session to find out what your dog needs you to know, check out available appointment times now.