One of the most important things I've learned in the missing pet recovery field is something that perhaps applies to every day life - well if we remember to apply it anyway.  The phrase "Keep it simple!"  There is no need to recreate the wheel, no need to take a situation and complicate it and no need to overdo it with grandiose gestures.  At least not in my opinion anyway.
This also very much carries over into locating a missing pet.  One of the best tools is a large flourescent poster - and keep it simple!  These are much more effective in gaining public awareness than hanging the 8.5x11" fliers and I promise you the difference between posters and fliers can very much be the difference in recovering your pet.  Fliers are for handing out - posters are for.....postering!!
So should you lose your pet start making these highly effective tools as soon as possible and remember to poster far and poster well.

the phone calls will undoubtedly start to triple in the next two weeks! This time of year there is so much hustle and bustle and followed by 4th of July I think this week tops the list of times of the year in which a large number of pets become displaced.
We travel with our pets and have so much on our minds while travelling that we forget to take that extra moment to secure our four legged children in the crates, in the seatbelts or in the backseats. Cats are placed in their crates but oftentimes the crate door is not secured and these crafty animals manage to shove their way out the crate and into the big strange world.
Dogs tend to be bathed more this time of year as we either have company over or send our dogs off to doggie vacation while we become the visitors. Either way the bathing leads to removal of the collar and it just so happens that our dogs utilize bath time and collar removal time as an event in which they escape their enclosures.
All of these accidents are just that - accidents!  Pet owners easily become victims of the self blame game, and although I have been there and fully understand it our pets don't blame us and this emotion can become overwhelming and counterproductive in the search for our missing pets.

So remember - during the holiday festivities let's take an extra 15 seconds to secure our loved ones who cannot secure themselves!  If you are boarding your pet or seeking a petsitter don't hesitate to ask the what their steps are should your pet get loose. Do they call you immediately? Do they seek professional guidance or do they wait for your return before advising you?  These are questions you have every right to ask.  There are so many wonderful boarding facilities and petsitters out there who have big hearts and are every bit professional, but mistakes do happen and being prepared is key.

Happy Holidays to you all and special kisses to your pets! 

When the opportunity presented itself to bring the pet recovery business to Northern Virginia I was incredibly excited!  Having previously been living in Montana the amount of travel involved in this line of work was extensive.  I loved working in Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Southern California but the reality is that the travel expenses made my services out of reach for so many. There were constantly calls from the East Coast and South asking if I would travel to those locations and unfortunately it was just not feasible... until now!

So having been in NOVA since the end of September business has been all I could have hoped for, and more importantly the people I have met and the pet owners I have worked for have all been nothing short of spectacular.  While this always is the case for my clients (another reason I love my job) it was a very nice surprise to learn how pet friendly Virginia is!  I have thought about a weblog on and off for quite some time and I have been so concerned with not being able to keep up on it that I have procrastinated. Then I had a client give me a very smart piece of advice: "If you only post one useful tidbit a month you never know how many pet owners you may be helping."  So thank you Susan for the reminder that something truly is better than nothing!