On July 1st people at our local all breed show were bringing their boxer into the hotel room just as the local civic fireworks started, he slipped his lead and bolted. 3 local kennel club members have searched for a week, we think we have located where he is. Tonight we found numerous fresh tracks at the river at a local ranch, boxer's have a pretty distinctive paw print; however we cannot get him to come out. Does anyone have any suggestions, putting out food? camping in the spot? his owner's are elderly and frail so they have had to return home,they stayed and looked for 4 days but the gentleman has diabetes and was not doing well. A local hunter has cougar hounds but they will not track another dog. What about another dog? Anyone else done this in the past any and all suggestions welcome. Thanking you in advance.

A large Have-a-heart trap with the scent of his owners and some good food in it.

At the spot where you think the dog is hiding, leave a well worn article of clothing from his owners....the ones he knows and trusts the best. The dog should remain close to the familiar scent of his owner. If the dog is that skittish, it should be someone that the dog trusts who could coax him to come. Good luck.

Is this in Canada? (Just assuming given it was July 1st). If so, is it in the Peterborough ON area? (There was a show there last weekend) The more we can get the word out locally, the better. I have several friends in the area and can try to spread the word.

I placed a youngster that spooked at her new home and ran off. Once the new owner got up the nerve to call me and tell me what happened, I threw her best doggy friend in the car and hit the road! It took a couple of hours walking around where she was last seen, but she eventually came out to see her buddy and I was able to grab her and calm her down.

Does the owner have another dog they can use to lure him out? I'm assuming he's intact... what about a bitch in season?

I have a friend who hunts with dachshunds. She lost one once and had no luck searching. She returned to the area with crates containing something from home (with smells on). She left notes on the crates saying "if there is a dog in this crate, please close the door" along with her phone number. An early morning jogger saw the dog, closed the door and called her.

I hope the boxer is soon found and reunited with his family.

I also like the idea of walking around with another dog as a lure.

Thank you everyone! Yes this in Canada but BC we have done the flyers, newspapers, radio, kijiji, craigslist, stopping everyone on the street etc. we went to this area based on 2 "possible" sightings, "that's too nice a dog to be out on its own" not sure it was a boxer etc. We found a ton of fresh prints, that look like a boxers paw down by the river on the ranch. Went out twice through the night so see if he was moving around, nothing. Going to setup 3 feeding stations and see if anyone is eaten. Last week we did the ***** in season, walked through the area that made the most sense if he had run off. There is lots of standing water around so we are not worried about thrist, but this is going to take a by chance spotting I am sure. We are not giving up but the 3 of us who are looking all work and our time is limited to our off hours and I am used to labs that feeding time rules any fear!

Bring a couple of good barkers out to the spot where he was last seen/prints were found and play ball for a while. The commotion from the barking will interest him and the fact that everyone is doing something other than look for him will comfort him.

Good luck, we'll be praying!!

Have you tried a dog talker or psychic? They really do work!

All good suggestions, but if the dog was scared by noise and is now loose he probably won't come to a familiar dog, girl in season, etc...When they are "lost" and on their own their mentality completely changes. You could try a trap with some very familiar scents with the hopes it will trigger him to check it out. Just keep looking and hopefully you will get sighthings. What caught a dog in Winnipeg in the dead of winter was a couple of dogs in a yard he seemed to take a liking to and a smart home owner saw he was a stray and when the dog finally went into his yard he shut the gate and voila! This dog was out for 6wks. So, hopefully there may be something near where he is that will draw his attention somehow and he can be corralled.
Another idea is to try and get a tracking dog out to look for him. Put out a request to the CanWest List and see if there is anyone that could offer their assistance or know of someone who could.

Wishing his safe return

But he is not a stray and never was. He does not have the fear/flight instincts that a stray is born with. So unless he is, by nature, fearful of people and other dogs, he should eventually come to something familiar.

Keep going to where he was spotted. Make sure that EVERYONE who lives in the area has your contact info and that they know to call as soon as he is spotted.

Good luck!!

He may not be a stray, but when they get loose and are frightened, he will revert back to those instinct. All dogs are born with them and go back to them for survival.

We caught a very rare breed of dog several years ago. It was not a breed you would have thought you'd see running the streets. He came to my house because I had a bitch in heat. When we noticed him and how skinny he was, we started putting out food for him. He was extremely leery of people and would not let us near him. About a week or so of feeding him, I decided to trap him. I put out a large crate and food inside. It took me another 3 days to finally catch him in it and pull the rope to close the door. He freaked out at first, but quickly calmed down as he knew he was captured. I called the number on his tag and the lady said she had given him away a month or so ago and that the lady she gave him to said he jumped out of her truck. No one ever looked for the dog, but he came from Champion parents and was well-bred. He was still very fearful after running the streets for a while.

Once at a show, I helped track down a lost Whippet. The dog had taken off so I helped look for him for hours. I finally spotted him in the hills above the show. Of course he saw me and ran back further into the hils. I contacted the elderly owner and the handler came out to the area. The handler had to hike up the hill, but was able to capture the poor dog who was trying to hide from her as well.

They do get scared and they won't just come out for anyone at this point.

Good luck, I hope he is found soon. Hopefully he'll stay put in the river bed.

Was out at 4:15 this AM saw something might have been a coyote, looked a little too dark and big, disappeared into hay field. None of the food touched, but we are sure he or another stray is around. AM shift is mine, I look between 4 and 6 AM as we have a new litter no luck so far but will keep trying. Looked into a Have a Heart trap but they are not big enough. My husband says we could probably borrow a bear trap from forestry, but with my luck that is probably what we would get. Looked into the psychic yesterday, still working on that. These are nice people and their boxer means the world to them. Just worried about their health, it is stinking hot here now and we have had bad luck as another thunder storm rolled through yesterday. Send positive thoughts I think this all our worst nightmare.

Sorry, stray was bad choice of word....my point was that even if the dog was a cherished family pet and was sound in mind and body previously to getting loose, they often will revert to survival mode especially when being scared by a noise and will not normally come to someone familiar(dog or person). "Trying to help" is doing the right thing and perservering and continuing to check the area. There will surely be some sightings at some point if he is still on the run and they can adjust their search area from that.

Continued good luck with getting him back home safely

God Bless you for continuing to help!!

Are the owners able to get out there or is it just all you friends? Do they have another dog who can go out to sit with all of you? What about taking some kids or puppies with you? (ha, not on your shift anyway....)

Is this private land where you could get permission to put up a covered, open kennel? Perhaps a 10x10 with one of the panels(not just the door) left wide?

Prayers continue to come your way, good luck!!

Thank you all for the suggestions, we are not giving up we are just scaling back. We really feel this dog has been picked up or is being harboured waiting for a reward. Yes we have such scuzballs in our small community! He is on several lost dog sights provincially, craigslist, kijiji flyers everywhere, article in local paper etc. We will still look whenever we are going somewhere, we are just not going to make further special trips unless there is a credible sighting. Again thank you