Sidebar: Do This Thing Now!
Yes, now. Do this now, because you never know — you might need it at a moment’s notice.
One of my friends is a Pet Tracker. She used to do Search-and-Rescue with her dogs, but these days she offers their talents to seek out lost pets. I might add, she has a very good percentage of positive results. But she couldn’t do a thing without a scent article.
She gave me this tip to pass on to all of you about keeping an emergency kit, including a scent article. We hope you never need it…but do this thing now!
For each dog or cat, you will need:
- Your Camera
- 1 or 2 Cotton Rounds/Discs (the kind sold next to cotton balls at the drugstore, not a piece of cotton fabric and not a cotton ball)
- A Ziploc Bag
- A Label, or Masking Tape to Label, and a Marker
First, take the camera and take some good, in-focus, close-up photos of each animal, against a plain background (such as a painted wall, or grass) in each of the following positions:
- Sitting, facing the camera
- Standing naturally, horizontal to the camera (nose at one side, tail at the other)
- Lying down naturally, horizontal to the camera
- Close up of the face
Please be sure to take these against a plain background, not against something busy like a plaid sofa. These, of course, are for a poster, and your holiday photos won’t pass muster. Ideally there shouldn’t even be a background on the poster; just the animal. Take new photos…do this thing now!
Now for the scent article. On each dog or cat, the ideal spot is between the shoulder blades; if you’ve ever applied Frontline or something similar, you know the spot. Take the cotton round and rub that spot five or six times (try to “cover” the cotton), then immediately place it into the Ziploc bag and seal it up, as airtight as possible. You can do more than one sample per animal if you like. The texture of the cotton round is perfect for picking up just the right amount of dander and scent to make it an individualized scent item.
If, however, you have applied Frontline or similar to the animal, wait 24 hours after the application to do this thing.
Do not put anything else in the bag with the scent article, and do not mark the scent article itself. If you want to mark the bag, use a separate label or a piece of tape to write on. Store them away, and we hope you never have to use them…but do this thing now, just in case.
One more thing…have your pets been microchipped? Are they wearing current licenses and clearly readable ID tags? If not…do this thing now.