Whilst we’re busy greeting guests and keeping everyone entertained and fed, it’s easy for dogs to slip out unnoticed – sometimes for hours before you realise. So here is a little advice to keep your four-legged family member safe:

• Check that gates and fences are secure and that your dog can’t dig his way out: A bored dog will always think the grass is greener.
• Keep exterior doors shut and locked at all times
• Always know where your dog is – however busy you are – and ideally assign one person to look after them
• Don’t leave your dog in the garden for long periods, tied up outside a shop or in the car whilst you visit friends and relatives. Thieves work Christmas.
• And don’t forget that chocolate, grapes, raisins, onions and many nuts are poisonous to dogs, so absolutely no Christmas cake or pudding!

Christmas is one of the busiest times for DogLost with so many dogs going missing. But we will be manning our free helpline all over the Christmas period with our normal opening hours of 0700-2100.

Ask the owner of any missing dog the time of year that they dread most and they’ll say Christmas. That stocking full of presents that won’t get opened or that empty food dish that won’t be filled.

So DogLost is pleased to bring some Christmas cheer with more than 150 dogs reunited in the week leading up to Christmas.

Here are just a few of our favourite heart-warming stories.

Firstly there was Bonnie the Akita cross puppy who was snatched from her garden in West Yorkshire wearing her Christmas reindeer jumper. She was spotted being sold on Facebook two weeks later by the owner’s sharp-eyed father.

Then there was Alfie the young Afghan who had just moved to Blackpool and escaped not knowing the area. Seen around town, the owner and helpers searched a caravan site and an adjacent compound for the shy but friendly dog. Alfie was finally tackled by a member of the public the following day and returned home.

And on the subject of runners, a racing greyhound called Sizzling Girl escaped from the Sheffield Owlerton stadium still wearing her racing jacket. Spotted in the woods near the stadium Gina – her pet name – managed to evade capture for a whole week despite the search parties and traps.

Meanwhile in leafy Surrey, Maximus the Cocker Spaniel puppy was snatched in a break-in. Leaving the other working dogs behind, the Police believed he was stolen to order. The car involved was later pursued by the police and when it crashed little Maximus had already been moved on. The following day the puppy was handed in to a local kennels and reunited with its very happy owner.

Little Reggie the Chihuahua was found 200 miles away from his north London home some four months after he went missing. Convinced that he was stolen, owners Lucy and Gerry were elated to get a call from Merseyside Dogs Home where Reggie had been handed in and scanned.

Another Chihuahua called Charlie was reunited with our Halo scanner after being missing for more than five months from Washington, Tyne and Wear. Quite out of the blue our admin team received a call that Charlie had been scanned at a vets. What a wonderful Christmas present for the owners !

For more seasonal tales, go to our reunited pages:

DogLost’s first Christmas auction raised nearly £700 in a five-day period last week.

The auction – the brainchild of DogLost supporters Vanessa Stollery, Chrissie Heath and Lesley Jones – attracted more than 70 lots including ones from Barking Heads, Company of Animals, Ruffwear and Turtle Mat.

Bidding was fierce and frantic on some lots, particularly on Nina Ottoson interactive games for dogs and a top of the range Powder Hound dog coat.

A special thanks goes to Lesley Jones for crafting many original Christmas decorations and gifts.

The funds raised will go to supporting the DogLost helpline which offers valuable advice to owners who have lost their dogs. The helpline – which runs 14 hours a day, seven days a week – operates on the country’s largest lost and found website.

The DogLost Auction Page will continue year-round and will have plenty of bargains for DogLost members.

A DogLost spokesperson said: “We are very grateful for all the donations we received for the auction and for the many people who bid.”

A Border Collie separated from his owner along a creek-side path is the 50,000th dog that DogLost has helped to reunite.

Sam was running along a footpath that leads to Godrevy beach in Cornwall with fellow Collies when owner Lorraine Sharpe suddenly realised he was nowhere to be seen. Terrified he had slipped into the water and been washed away, Lorraine turned to DogLost for some help.

The Cornwall team – headed by Area Co-ordinator, Maxine Young – swung into action making sure that Lorraine got the advice that was needed and that Sam’s details were shared around the locality through the website’s automated service, social media and local contacts.

For Lorraine it was a long and worrying night, and a search of the beach by volunteers in the morning failed to reveal Sam.

But good news came later in the day from a couple who run a remote b & b at Nanterrow Farm.   Said Lorraine: “Sam was found sitting where their old Border Collie, Billy, is buried and they believe that he was led there by the spirit of their old dog.”

Sam is the spitting image of Billy in looks, temperament and personality. When owner, Glyn, came home, Sam just tucked in beside him like Billy used to. Continued Lorraine: “ When Glyn looked down he thought he’d seen a ghost ! So we are really thanking Billy for guiding Sam to his lovely owners.”

Like most owners, Lorraine is so grateful to DogLost, its network of volunteers and helpers, and of course, in this instance, the spirit of Billy. “Thank you so, so much for everything that everyone did to find him., continued Lorraine. “I met people on the beach who came out specifically to look for him and I’m eternally gratefully to have him home and safe and cared for.”

Dog owners are encouraged to pre-register their dogs with DogLost and take away some of the stress involved when a dog gets lost or stolen. The simple process can be done online at www.doglost.co.uk and is entirely free.

Dog owners are being urged to keep their dogs safe as the fireworks season starts.

Said DogLost founder, Jayne Hayes: “This time of year is one of the busiest as dogs get frightened by fireworks and bolt.”

Whilst many return home on their own, or are found locally, others are often tragically involved in road accidents or hit by trains.

Said a DogLost spokesperson: “We have a few simple suggestions for owners to ensure they keep their dogs safe:”

• Never take your dog for a walk after dark – even if you think he isn’t nervous
• If you have to take him out in the back garden use a lead – dogs have been known to leap fences out of fear
• Create a safe and secure ‘bunker’ in a familiar place
• Invest in some Adaptil or a Thunder shirt if your dog is particularly nervous
• Make sure he’s registered with DogLost should the worst happen

Continued Jayne Hayes: “Many owners get caught out because of the length of time that fireworks are being used. It is no longer just Guy Fawkes nights but also includes the Diwali festival.”

DogLost is launching a new app that will link directly to the website.

The moment a dog goes missing, its photo and description – together with the time and place last seen – will be sent out to all DogLost members up to a 20 mile radius. The information will also be posted to social media

The app, which will replace the existing DogLost app has been developed by award-winning Taiga Technologies who originally created an app for missing children and elderly persons.

The app will be available for both iPhones and Androids at the end of the month.

When Border Collie, Misty, was reported missing to DogLost, from Seaford railway station this afternoon, no-one expected her to be found in the sea.

Newhaven Coastguard were alerted and whilst the response vehicle was en route, another member of the Coastguard team arrived on scene.

Misty was 200 yards out and too far for one of the rescue swimmers so a request was made for the Newhaven Lifeboat, which was quickly on the scene and two crewmen entered the water to assist Misty who was struggling to swim and continually going under the water.

Said a spokesperson for the Coastguard: “The Lifeboat crewmen managed to get the dog aboard despite despite snapping and injuring one of the crewmen.”

Once in the cabin and wrapped in a blanket, Misty calmed down and was returned to the Lifeboat station where she was met by Coastguards and owner, Sue.

Misty was taken to an emergency vet in Brighton and the crewman to an out of hours doctor.

Said a spokesperson for DogLost: “Obviously our volunteers are not able to rescue dogs from the sea, so we are very grateful for the Coastguard and the Lifeboat coming to Misty’s aid. We hope that both Misty and the crewman make a speedy recovery.”

If a dog owner should find themselves in a similar situation, they are reminded that they should call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.

Photo courtesy Newhaven Coastguard

After five long months of work by DogLost to help Monty the English Bull Terrier get reunited with his owner, a tip-off came through to our helpline.

Monty who disappeared from Buckhurst Hill whilst out on a walk with his owner, Martin was recovered some 30 miles away by Essex Police working in partnership with DogLost.

Monty is a very special dog as he was able to detect cancer in his owner who was subsequently diagnosed with throat cancer.

Said Shelagh Savage, DogLost Area Volunteer, East London: “Monty wasn’t in great shape when he got back and he needed to go to the vet who thought he’d probably been chained up for the entire time he was missing.”

Monty and a thrilled Martin are pictured here with the two officers who attended and recovered Monty.

Photo courtesy Essex Police.

DogLost is returning to the Pet Show at Stoneleigh this weekend as charity partners.

With the increase in dog theft, DogLost will be advising owners on how to keep their dogs safe from the fear of theft. We will also be raising the awareness of microchipping and registering with the site as well as ways of combating theft.

You will find us in on stand F112 by the Kennels Arena, where volunteers from the Central region will be on hand to offer advice,

Other attractions at the show for dog owners include a fun dog show, agility, dog display teams, special guests, the West Midlands police dog team. There will be plenty of stands featuring the latest products, top dog breeds plus much more for other pets.

The Pet Show 2015 returns to Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire on 1st – 2nd August 2015 and is open 1100-1700 on both days.

Advance tickets are available online.

Our supporters will bake cakes, hold raffles and parade around in all manner of costumes just to make sure we can keep our service running.

But one organisation went a step further and did all this for an entire year. Border Collie owners at the Ladies Kennel Association have set themselves the task of raising funds for a cancer charity and a dog charity each year.

2014 was DogLost’s lucky year and we have just received £1,200 – enough to keep us running for four weeks,

The group – lead by Pete Simmons – held raffle after raffle at championship shows and auctioned everything from Pete’s own pickled onions to a beautiful hand-made encrusted ring number arm band.

Much of the Border Collie fundraising was organised by Laura Wiltshire, who told DogLost “Pete even dressed up for the day at the LKA championship show as a snowman, and we had lovely jewellery donated by Tiny Treasures.”
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“Raising the money wouldn’t have be possible without the generousity of the dog show community, “ continued Laura, “but I’d particularly like to thank Phil Surridge, Joanna Lake and Dog World for their support.”

“DogLost is an amazing organisation who do so much to help owners when pets go missing, so by supporting them it’s our way of giving back and saying thank you”

Photo shows a limited edition print donated by artist John Silver