To Stake Out or Not to Stake Out

I recall a lesson that I took away from the very first lost dog search I joined, one that was, sadly, unsuccessful. I had been interested in “lost dogs” for many years and had done as much self study as I could figure out how to do. But I hadn’t learned this.

The effort was for a dog whose story had been chronicled in the local newspapers, and the volunteer base was a pretty good size. After they felt that the fliering was sufficient, the search organizers utilized the volunteers for mostly just one thing -- to come out each evening to the location of the latest sightings, stake out a particular spot, and watch for the dog. I followed the instructions, and would monitor this post or that one from my car, sometimes with a partner, sometimes not.

The sightings had already begun to grow older and colder by the day at the time I began my participation. Eventually I came to understand that there is a good possibility that the intense amount of energy that all of those passionate volunteers had brought in to this quiet residential neighborhood may have been picked up loud and clear by this frightened, already skittish dog. There were deeps woods that the dog could, and may well have, retreated in to before reaching the other side and ending up who knows where from there. No trace of the dog has been found in the years since that search effort.

Ever since then, when anyone suggests a stakeout, of a feeding station or a trap or an area where a trained missing pet scent tracking dog has trailed a scent, I ask that we are sure we know exactly why we are setting up the stakeout.

I can’t say that there is never a reason for a stakeout. I’ve been the one to suggest it in cases when there hadn’t been a sighting in a couple of weeks – to hopefully generate a sighting. In areas where there are a lot of other known animals, I’ve taken a laser light pet toy and shooed away foxes and other animals approaching a trap from the distance of my car. (I think there are probably some high powered kids water toys that can also work for this.) I’ve seen people stake out a fenced enclosure with no kind of spring or closing device, without an actual plan, succeed in closing the gate behind the dog because they were staking it out. So, by no means am I saying to never do it. At times, such as with some types of traps, monitoring is necessary.

But feeding stations and most traps can work without being monitored. Feeding stations are used to lure and condition an animal to a specific area, and keep coming there when it’s deemed a reliable food source by the subject. Humane traps are made to work without monitoring.

When you want to know if the animal you are seeking is the one that’s eating from your feeding station, first look for other ways to determine this. Snow is great for showing that it was birds eating the expensive prime rib you left out for a dog you know must be starving by now. Loose dirt that will show paw prints of varying sizes can work, and if there’s none of that around, bring flour.

Motion sensored wildlife cameras can give you some of the best proof you can get. They’re expensive for the owner of one missing pet to purchase, but several of them would be a good investment for a missing pet recovery specialist since they can be used over and over again. Whether you use them to capture videos or still shots, photos confirming the right animal eating at a feeding station are invaluable, and a good alternative to a stakeout for the same purpose.

Yep, this was the long lost Radar approaching the feeding station

If you can’t get out of a stakeout, you may be able to increase the distance you can monitor from with the use of night vision. Sure, this is very pricey equipment, but there are lots of choices out there (monoculars, binoculars, goggles, glasses, scopes, cameras, and more), and some opportunities to borrow this type of equipment.

Future blog updates may deal with the question of "what if you see the animal you are looking for, then what?"

Familiar Scents v Food Scents

The basic recipe for recovering a lost dog once the dog's general location is found, but the dog won't readily come or be contained, is to lure the dog to a humane trap, and contain the dog that way.

Typically, we start with feeding stations located in spots that we can swap out with a humane trap once the dog is conditioned to come to that spot for his food when he determines that the food source is reliable.

But food isn't the only lure that works for some dogs. In cases where the lost dog is bonded to someone (meaning this doesn't work with a dog who just landed in town via transport from a shelter in another area, for example), is the scent of a person, or a dog, with which the dog was bonded. I offer a simple story to illustrate.

In the case of Rocky, a toy poodle lost while hiking in the mountains, was found after three days -- having not touched the food that was set out for him, by lying some distance away on a sweater of his person's, with his scent on it. Read Rocky's story at: http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2009/05/20/news/news3.txt

There are a ton of stories of scent having been the ticket to luring a dog successfully. The beauty of this story is that it demonstrates the power of the familiar scent OVER the scent of food, even after three days, for a dog bonded to a specific person, since both were available to him.

Can you contribute a story by comment that illustrates how the scent of a familar person can help lure a dog, or condition him to stay in or close to a specific spot?