Away From Home – When a Dog Gets Spooked and Run Away

So when a friend offered to go to the “Splash Symphony” in the Inner Harbour of Victoria BC, it sounded like a fun thing to do. Since the concert was outdoor and the festivities started in the afternoon, it was cool to have all the dogs hanging out with us for a few hours before the beginning of the concert.

After a few hours of crowd, other dogs, smells and interesting things to investigate, our canine friends were ready to go back to the vehicle and doze off.

The concert was fabulous and I thoroughly enjoyed it until I realized that it was ending with a small firework.

I knew Bear was going to be scared. But she was in the car so at least she was going to be safe. So I thought. I headed back to the car.

Timba and Tara the other two dogs were both sitting on the front seats as usual happy to see us.

No trace of Bear.

A gentleman in an other car said he saw her flying through the open window with the first bang. Now the window was only a third down. Bear is a big dog. She is a cross between a Greyhound, Mountain dog  and Labrador and is quite tall.

This story ends well. Even though it took 3 hours to find Bear, in the end she came back to the car. Safe. She scrapped the pad under her back paw and that was her only injury.

In the summer dogs get lost all the time. On a walk, an outdoor event, when a dog get loose or scared who knows where they can go. They run faster than we can walk. So going out looking for your dog might be a waste of time. I know it feels better going out there looking for her/him but it might not be in his best interest. If you are with friends, split in two groups: one stay by the car and one go out looking.

But if you are by yourself, stay by the vehicle, stay where the dog took off. Eventually your K9 friend will come back to that spot. It might be agonizing hours but the best thing to do is to stay where the dog disappeared.

Make sure your dog  wears a tag and some id. Beside the city tag, get a tag with name and phone number. It makes it a lot easier for people to connect with you. I have rescue/found quite a few dogs running a stray on the streets. When there is a phone number it makes it easier to find the owner. Being able to call the dog by his name, seems to help him calm down as well.

Do not tie your dog up in the car. A dog that get spooked will bolt and can strangle himself.

This goes for your house too. Every years dogs get lost on Halloween, fireworks nights or get spooked by loud noises from parties. It is not always easy to keep our animals safe. But we have to do the best we can.