Get Help

If you are currently worried for the whereabouts of someone please contact the police.
If you have lost a dog please contact DogLost Cornwall for immediate advice, who will liaise with us should a search dog be required.

What to Do If Someones Goes Missing  

If a loved one goes missing, the most important first step is to contact the police as soon as possible. Time is critical, and the sooner the search begins, the better the chances of a safe outcome. Share as much information as you can - where the person was last seen, what they were wearing, their physical and mental state, and any known routes or locations they may head towards.

While Cornwall Search Dogs is not formally tasked by the police, we have been approached by families during active searches. In exceptional cases, and when it's safe and appropriate, we may be able to assist in a voluntary capacity. Our trained dog teams are skilled in searching urban, open, cliff-edge and rural areas, and we work carefully to ensure our involvement complements - rather than complicates - any ongoing search efforts. 

Your first call should always be to dial 999 and ask for the police.

What to do if your dog has gone missing. 

IMMEDIATE ACTION IF YOUR DOG IS LOST

THINK LIKE YOUR DOG!

It will help you to help your dog if you understand how he or she is thinking when they realise they have become lost.

A lost and disorientated dog may switch into a state of mind known as 'survival mode' or 'going feral'. In that state of mind, it may soon regard every human as a potential threat, even the ones that it has lived with for years.

You are looking for 'a' lost dog not 'your' lost dog.

Don't expect your dog to respond to your voice, whistle or seeing you by coming towards you. It may run away instead perhaps before you've even seen it.

Stay in the place you last saw your dog; dogs often return to this location themselves and if no one is there to greet them will then wander further away. If necessary, set up an impromptu camp there and prepare to stay there continually for several days.

Lost dogs are often seen moving near the location lost during late evening (after dusk) or very early (pre-dawn) morning hours, i.e. in summer between 10 pm and 1 am or between 4 am and 6 am.

Have someone go to a safe place where the dog could make their own way to. For example, where you parked the car at the start of your walk or home if the walk started from home or home is accessible from where the dog was last seen.

Lost from home: Keep any gates open so the dog can get back onto your property and owners should stay close to home again waiting for a sniff at the door...

It is believed that dogs that become lost rely on 'familiar' scent to lead them back to their owners, and that often sound and sight of people looking for them can drive them further away.

As a first stage and as counter intuitive as this sounds you need to allow your dog to find you rather than you find them. If the owners cover too much ground their familiar scent trails will be 'confused' and the dog will be less able to follow them back to safety.

EVERYBODY who is worried about the lost dog will exhibit lots of anxiety and stress in their body language. Dogs read that body language and dogs will smell the adrenalin we produce when stressed or fearful and our tone of voice will change under stress too. This combination of an unfamiliar voice, stressed smell and strange body language keeps dogs away.

Initially, hold back on sending out search parties made up of unknown and therefore potentialy threatening strangers (in your dog's mind) as they could drive the dog away from the place last seen.

However, if your dog remains lost and you decide to use search parties you the owners should remain in the key locations, the place last seen and any place of safety to avoid confusing the scent trails the dog will follow to return. People less well known to the dog can then go searching as the dog will be less likely to be distracted by or follow the scent of people they don't associate with safety.

Make sure to brief all involved on the best ways to search and respond if they see your dog and that you have adequate communications between searchers.

  It is very important that if you or a helper sees your missing dog who is feral/flight mode:

DON'T call out

DO Turn to face away from them

DO Make yourself small - sit or lie down to reduce your size as a threat

DO Wait: remain still: Expect to wait for 30 minutes or longer before the dog recognises safety and approaches you. It may circle out of reach for that time.

DON'T follow or chase your dog if it moves away as this might drive it away faster than you can run!

DO move away from your dog, if you can drop tasty treats behind you as you go to create a trail of food and scent to lead them to safety.

When the dog comes to you act slowly and only grab hold if you are confident you wil get hold first time. If dog won't come close enough to recapture consider setting a dog trap in location it was seen seen.