Lost Shiba

edited August 2008 in Shiba Inu (柴犬)
Was walking the Laika Trio this morning over by the Holmes Run Parkway and I came across several copies of a poster listing a lost female cream Shiba named LouLou. She went missing near the library and dog park on Duke Street in Alexandria VA on August 8th. She does have a microchip.

We don't frequent the dog park much...I have to be very selective about who is there when we go. Noone deserves to be harassed by a pack of Laiki and certain genres of dogs make them edgy (namely labs, boxers, retrievers and the like who have poor conceptualization of personal space). But, one of my concerns is that the entrance is not "double-fenced". Most dog parks have two gates and a small holding area which is a better design in my opinion.

But anyway, this made me quite sad, and I can only hope that LouLou and her owners are soon reunited.

I would encourage everyone to get their dogs microchipped. You do not have to wait until they are under anesthesia for a spay or neuter...especially if you don't intend to spay or neuter them! :) The needle is large bore, and they may squawk...but it is a quick procedure. I have put them in very small critters...kittens and chihuahua puppies for example with no ill-effects.

I personally don't like jingly tags but instead get the flat riveted name plates or the nylon collars with name and phone number sewn right on. Orvis has a nice reflective version.

Here is a product that I think is quite clever.
http://dawg-e-data.com/
Really nice if you move frequently (military), or travel with your pets. The microchip info can be updated but there is a bit of a lag. Also this device can be continually updated by you and can include temporary information. For instance, I could put in my parent's Illinois address while we are visiting with the dogs during the holidays. Some people might not think to look for a microchip, or might not have access to a compatible scanner, but most everyone these days could recognize a USB device.

Here are some other resources that a quick search revealed:
http://www.dogdetective.com/pet-alert.cfm
http://www.findtoto.com/
http://www.lostdogsdatabase.com/
http://www.fidofinder.com/

What measures have you taken to keep your Nihon Ken safe and sound?

Comments

  • edited November -1
    that is quite sad. I hope they contacted the local shiba rescue branch to help spread the word!

    and i've seen the USB idea before and thought it was awesome!
    here: http://www.petsugar.com/1025219

    all our dogs are microchipped - we only took advantage of the 'while under anesthesia' situation b/c hachi was going for spay asap anyway.
    They each have a collar, with their name plate - and a harness (wear more frequently) with state license and microchip # tag on it. They used to wear these: http://shop-tag.com/index.php?crn=270&rn=596&action=show_detail
    But they kept falling off.
    We have a fenced in yard at our apartment and will also have one at the new place but I still do not feel comfortable as it is only a 4.5 foot fence! if they can clear the couch during a shiba 500 they can clear that fence no problem! So to keep them safe, we do a lot of walking to compensate.

    We've also taught them the command "BACK" to prevent a door bolt.
  • edited November -1
    Dude, totally buying that dawg-e-data thing. Yeah, I'm a huge nerd, I know. But that's awesome!
  • edited November -1
    The tags annoy me but ours have plenty. If someone finds my dog, I just hope they realize how badly we want them back. We have the normal name tag (gonna change them and put reward if found), they are both micro chipped and have their home again tags, Niko is registered with the AKC and has a tag and ID to call if lost...
    Sasha has the quiet spot that Nemo has but Niko ate hers.
  • edited November -1
    Thanks for the links Sarah! I hope LouLou finds her way home.~
  • edited November -1
    that's sad. Hope LouLou reunite with the owner.
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