Dog napping

 

There has been a lot of focus on pet theft recently, and apparently (so my humans say) it's good practise to stay vigilant when at home and when out with us dogs.

It seems that dog napping has increased since we've had the lockdowns, and personally, as a dog, I can think of nothing worse than being stolen and separated from my beloved, besotted humans. Unthinkable. What might happen if we were stolen, sold on to a new home, or taken to a puppy farm for breeding? Horrible.

The Kennel Club (I think they must be specialists of some kind) have some good suggestions about making sure we pooches are kept safe - you can read about it here. There's some useful info.

But common sense is a wonderful thing too, so make sure we're always in sight or on our leads when we're out (it's always safest on leads actually, especially if there are sheep or other animals about).

Please don't tie us up outside a shop and leave us while you go inside. The human who feeds me witnessed a dog theft a few years ago. The dog had been tied up outside the local Co-op. She was walking past and noticed two women untie the dog and start walking along the street. At that moment, the owner fortunately emerged from the shop, saw what was happening, shouted, gave chase and got her dog back. Nasty experience.

Make sure, if you have a garden, that it's secure and that the gate is locked. My humans had to make my garden secure because I started digging my way out under the fence and escaping to the next door garden to find their cat......but that's another story and we don't refer to it very often.

Make sure, too, that we're microchipped. That's an important one.

By the way, my use of the word "napping" definitely refers to kidnapping, and is nothing whatsoever to do with having a nap in the sun, in spite of the picture my owner has chosen to go with this blog post.