July is Lost Pet Prevention Month, and that’s a huge deal. After all, the fifth of July is the single busiest day of the year for shelters, due to a cross-the-country habit of loud explosives sending panicked dogs and cats screaming out the door the night before.
If you think your pet is a flight risk, there’s still time! Talk to the vet about anxiety prevention measures before you need them. Acepromazine, that old stand-by sedative, is actually a terrible choice as it does nothing to alleviate the underlying anxiety; we have all sorts of better drugs in our arsenals now like clonidine and trazodone, but it’s best to have tried them out ahead of time and be aware of how your dog handles them before the explosions begin.
Should the unthinkable happen, here’s a few tips for getting your pet back asap:
- Have a current picture readily available on your cell phone.
- Use redundant identification measures. When your average person comes across a pet running down the street, they’re much more likely to make a quick phone call than take them to the local shelter to get identified with a microchip, so have both and make sure they are up to date. I can’t stress that one enough.
PetHub Premium Digital ID Tags
In addition to being microchipped and (sometimes) GPS tracked, Brody wears a digital Pet ID tag from PetHub and has done so for a few years now. The genius of this tag is the QR code, which links to a free online profile with multiple contact numbers (who doesn’t have 4 ways to get a hold of them these days?); the tollfree number allows people without readers to call and instantly get the same contact information and let the person know if the pet has a medical condition.
PetHub has generously offered fifty Premium ID tags as part of our treat preorder campaign! In addition to the tag of your choice you get a year of the spiffy premium service, which includes extra bennies such as instant found pet alerts, scanned location information, and shelter alerts. It’s good stuff, and easy as pie to implement.
The Tagging Treat is still available for All Dogs Go to Kevin preorders! Are you ready?
How to Claim a Tagging Treat
1. Preorder 2 copies of All Dogs Go to Kevin (if you want them signed, get them from Warwicks)
2. Head over to the Treats Page and select “Tagging Treat”
3. Follow the instructions, including proof of purchase for 2 books
4. We’ll follow up in the coming weeks to confirm the order!
Our dog, Jake, spent the evening of July 4th shaking. I turned on some music and sat on the floor with him, holding his paw and he calmed down. I can’t imagine what he would have done had he been outside somewhere.
Mr. N does not enjoy the 4th but luckily his instinct is to flee to the house and to us instead of elsewhere.
I’ve been redundant (first time I’ve heard that term; much easier than saying my pets are tagged, chipped, and QR-coded 🙂 ) for a few years, and have PetHub tags, too. One can never be too safe; LOTS of people wouldn’t think to have a pet scanned at the shelter/vet.
You sure do have lots of cool goodies for those book pre-orders! I can’t wait to read it, and I will, just as soon as I get through The Picture of Dorian Gray. (Dark much?) Hope you get tons of orders and tons of dogs get new tags!
My dogs never go outside unattended, but when I travel I do have a tag on Riley… I’m really going to need a to get a PetHub tag! Those are just awesome!!!