A friend of mine opened the door while I was getting dressed and she got out. She ran off too fast (or he moved to slow) and he could tell which direction we went. This was Saturday! I've passed out flyers checked the pound twice, posted pictures on Facebook sites and put an add on Craigslist. I've been worried sick and crying everyday. I can't miss work and I'm tired of everybody acting like getting another dog is the answer. I'm still hopeful but really lonely. I miss her so much. Any advice will be helpful but I just needed to vent to those that love their shiba as much as I do. She had just settled in since I adopted her. I still have her food out in case she comes home :(
Where are you located? Inform the Shiba rescue near you, see if they have any information. Call local vets and tell them your microchip# if no chip, just give them as much info as possible.
I would underscore the need to visit shelters in person to check for lost dogs. You can also check petharbor.com and such sites for shelter listings. However, animal shelter workers frequently misidentify dogs by breed, or something may get lost in verbal communication, or they just might simply miss a dog. I would make sure to go in person.
Keep posting on CraigsList. A lady in my neighborhood lost her shiba last weekend and the shelter saw her craigslist post and realized someone had turned her shiba into them. I can't imagine your panic :(
Also, message vnovikova on the forum. Nami was lost for three weeks and they were super thorough and lucky to get her back. She'll have good tips too. Twitter will help too if you already have an account.
Sending good thoughts, and hoping you find your baby. Mine are runners too, and it's horrifying when they dig out of the backyard. It can happen so fast. Keep your thoughts positive - goodluck.
I'm expanding my search tomorrow after work and trying to stay positive. Thank you all for your tips. I've gone to the shelter. I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and there isn't a local shiba Inu rescue here. I've sent her picture to some vets but will be contacting more. I live in the downtown area with residential and business areas all kind of mixed together. There also aren't many rescue organizations I only know of one here besides city animal control which only holds animals 3 to 5 days before euthanizing them.
You may want to get in contact with the Shiba Inu Rescue of Texas. Even though they are located in another state, they may have connections in Louisiana that could help get the word out.
@Sawazi, I believe they can only euthanize dogs that DON'T have a microchip. Hand out flyers to the shelter and post them everywhere. Stay positive. Walk around the area and call for her....squeak her favorite toy (if she has one).
I wish you the best of luck and hope you find her!
Let postal delivery folks know about her. Also utilities in area that may have workers on site. Also local law enforcement. Pass out flyers to fire stations.
I'm so sorry this has happened and I really know how you feel. We were really lucky to find Nami. My best advise is to go crazy with flyers and not to stay in the same area, brunch out. Nami went back to where she was staying with my parents. From what I know, they stay close to the area familiar to them. Give your flyers to postal workes, UPS, FedEx, garbage truckers, cops, ice cream trucks. Nami came out only at night (around 10pm) and would not approach anybody, she ate cat food laid out for feral cats in the neighborhood. At the end, she only came out to us, when she saw us looking for her. We barely had any sightings of her, because she would stay under the radar, so don't panic.
DO NOT GIVE UP! Shibas are really smart and will find a way to survive and come back to you.
I am so sorry to hear this happened! I agree with everyone else stay positive!! Esp @nvovikova, Shiba's are very smart and she will find a way to come back to you! Keep posting and keep searching, I pray you find her soon.
I ran into a guy at a gas station close to my apartment who said he may have seen her a few days ago but he wasn't sure if it was Lucy or a lab. Other than that I've still been passing out flyers, calling her name, and checking the web. I also went out to a local Halloween dog walk to see if she might be attracted to the other dogs but she didn't show. hopefully the aminmal shelter will have good news today.
Still no news. Wish I had a better update for you all. The shelters still don't have her and I'm not getting any more feedback from the flyers or online posting. I've still been walking and driving around calling her name and my mom is posting flyers at the nearby college campus. Though I still haven't given up, it's become to emotionally stressing. Without going into too much detail, the absence of a Lucy has caused some old issues to resurface. Before getting Lucy I had thought about getting a puppy, I've decided to actually do it now. We'll Be looking for Lucy together :). I'm not replacing her nor do I intend on stopping my search. I have to have a companion and all I want is a shiba. I'm hoping ill be able to form the kind of bond I wish I had with Lucy and work on it when I find her. I'm expecting scrutiny for getting a puppy so soon but people have opinions and you open yourself up to them when posting. Again thank you all so much. I will continue to update any good news on Lucy and continue my search. I hope none of you ever have the experience.
If you feel you need to have a dog with you. Do it! It is no ones place to scrutinize you especially when no one knows what situation you are in.
I really really hope something comes up for Lucy. I know you have to be worried sick. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for you. Did you have Lucy micro-chipped? If so be sure to go to as many vets as possible with a copy of your craigslist ad that way if anyone tries bringing her in as their own they will be sure to have your information just in case.
Thanks Aiko :) Lucy was microchipped to her previous owners, who abandoned her, so I was told it wouldn't be any use to me by her foster. Honestly around here people either keep stray dogs or leave them be. Even though I think somebody has taken her I'm still hoping and anticipating her being recognized at the pet store or the vet. Shibas are rare here. In fact everyone at the pet store is always amazed to see a real shiba. Somebody will spot her :)
Well, I would just say this....PLEASE don't rush into this and get a dog from a puppy mill because you want a Shiba asap. I understand the desire to get another dog when you lose one; I really do. But please, please don't support this awful, unethical business that really causes Shibas to suffer.
I've been researching shibas since 2010 and reputable breeders for about 3 to 4 months now so no puppy mills, pet stores or byb's are on the list. The last thing I need is an unhealthy, ill tempered shiba to add insult to injury. I'd be crushed. I've emailed a few breeders and feel pretty good about the breeder I spoke to today. She's highly recommended has a 10wk red male that I'm waiting to see pictures of :)
FYI - it's easy to change microchip registration. We did it easily when getting a retired show dog. Also, most ethical breeders would already have placed a ten week old puppy unless someone pulled out last minute as happened with @arctic. Not to be a jerk two threads in a row but we also have members that did carefully research and still ended up with a byb. It says more about the increasing cleverness and tactics of bybs than owners, so please do be extra careful, especially since you are stressed. Also note that training a new puppy will leave you with little time to look for Lucy.
Yeah, just be careful. It's easy to be swayed by the desire for another dog....one of my friends just lost her dog (he died) and she came close to making some mistakes in her desire to get another right away.
@violet thank you for the micro chip info. I'm going to contact the foster and the rescue organization again about the micro chip. Still don't quite understand how it works. I doubt you can pull your pets location on a map but I know vets and shelters check for them so ill try again. I did wonder why the pup was still available at 10 weeks but didn't ask. I'll do so today. The breeder is Asahanna. I didn't name her earlier due to the forum guidelines.
That breeeder advertises her pups on puppyfind.com. Not sure what that means, but to me, it does not bode well. But, then, I'm a newbie to ShibaWorld, so what do I know?
Not listed in the NSCA Breeder Directory. Must be harder to find homes for Shiba pups in North Carolina, hence the advertising on Puppfind? The pictures look cute of the pups, but then again, I have no idea......
@sawazi - you can't pull a location, but vets scan for chips and the service itself sends out alerts to members in the region. Check with the foster. On the slim chance that the puppy came from an ethical breeder, they often require that they be listed as a secondary contact on the chip. You should also investigate in the future which service is prevalent in your area. It may be the unfortunate case that Lucy is chipped by a company that isn't prevalent where you are and therefore they know the dog is chipped but their scanners can't read it.
Another note - if it 's rainy where you are, it's good to laminate your posters and to specify things like whether the pup is people shy. Do keep expanding the search area. It's emotionally harrowing but sometimes it's the perseverance that gets the pup home. Also, as I said, check to see if the foster knows what breeder Lucy came from on the off-chance it was an ethical one. There have definitely been owners that abandoned the dog (literally abandoned in the street) and because the breeder was a secondary contact, they go there, get taken care of and either stay there or get placed carefully. It seems very much a long shot but you should try all options. Plus they might have other contacts in the area (one of my breeder's dogs was lost and they drove several times to help with the search and contacted me and probably others that could spread the word to friends and family in the area).
Oh and in case you weren't doing it, it's worthwhile to ask the residential buildings (check with a manager if it's an apartment) and retailers if they'd permit you to post a poster there with your contact info and Lucy's. @sukoshi'smom also had a really good suggestion re:police, fire stations, utility workers. It 's best not to concentrate mostly on shelters, petstores, and online since if Lucy is skittish the sightings will be more likely with others.
@dianaboston - she is a longtime conformation breeder, but like quite a few, not one where there is a consensus. There are many that researched carefully who couldn't be happier with her pups, and some who are personally uncomfortable with what they see of her or have been unhappy. I can say she's definitely not a byb, so it's really a matter of whether @sawazi personally likes and feels comfortable with her, though I'll reiterate that getting a new puppy right now will leave her with little time for search efforts.
Thanks violet. I live in a smaller community but have talked with the landlord and surrounding residents as well as local police, we have a lot of bicycle cops patrolling the area, and fire stations. I haven't been turned down on posting a flyer yet :) I also tried the fast food restaurants in the area as well. Lucy isn't skittish. She loves people and that's what's scary to me. I know the previous owners were contacted when she was found in Miami but the foster didn't say anything about the breeder. She was turned over to a rescue organization so thanks to the info I've gotten today ill be checking with them again.
I just want to add that you should keep hope alive. There was a shiba that went missing in Brooklyn earlier this year that was found a month later! Keep looking. Keep getting friends together to go searching at different times. I know it's not the same situation, but it's too early to give up.
Not yet. People are getting the word around though. Whenever I start talking about her they're like "oh! That's your dog!? I saw that". I also had a few people think they saw her until I showed them a better picture. still keeping my fingers crossed. I still miss her :(