Lisa's tips to help you find your pet:

•POST SIGNS IMMEDIATELY. When you are putting up signs in the area that your pet went missing, extend the area where you think your animal might be by another 5 miles. While normally cats tend to stay reasonably close to where they were, dogs can travel very far, very fast. Animals of any species that are panicking can go farther than you think. Make sure that you put signs up at the vets and pet stores in the area and it also doesn't hurt to put them up at schools in the area as well. Kids are outside more than adults. A lot of times, they might have seen your animal but don't know who to call. If you can, put flyers in mailboxes. If there are apartments, put flyers in the laundry rooms and any other place they will let you. Post flyers in grocery stores and convenience stores and also dry cleaners and any other place that are within the area that will let you..

•If your animal has been picked up by someone, they tend to look in the area they are found, not always where they were lost. Don't assume people will drive all over to find a sign. Most people don't. Most people will look within 1 mile of where the animal is found and while some people will come back and take another look later, most won't. You need to have signs up immediately.

•When making signs to post in the area, keep it brief and make it big. You should have the word LOST, a large picture, the breed or description of animal, it's name, the date lost, your phone numbers and REWARD. You want it to be easily read from a car as most people who might have seen your animal will not get out of their car to read a sign, but are more apt to call if they can read it from their car. **If you have a breed that is known by a nickname, put that nickname as well. Example: Dachshund, put Weiner Dog. A lot of people don't know what a Dachshund is, but everyone knows what a weiner dog is!

•When considering the animal shelters in your area, do not discount the shelters outside the area your animal was lost. It's very common for someone to find a stray animal, pick it up and drive it many miles to a shelter in THEIR area without ever looking for signs. If you cannot get to every shelter within a 50 mile radius in person, at least fax or email them a detailed information sheet on your pet with a clear picture.

•When visiting the animal shelters in person with your detailed information sheet with picture, try to go at different times and talk to at least 3 people and be NICE and CALM. Shelter workers are overworked and underpaid and deal with many emotionally distraught people every day. Those people are not remembered. You want to stand out so they will make an effort to look for your pet and not just put your sheet in the file. Visiting with more than one person will better your odds that someone on every shift will recognize your pet should they be brought in. If they find your pet and you are reunited, please consider rewarding them for calling you. *If a shelter reunites you with your pet, please have them microchip your pet while he/she is still there if they are not chipped already. $25 is worth every penny to be reunited with your pet!.

•Be sure and visit ALL of the vet offices/hospitals/clinics with your detailed information sheet and picture. Again, when you think you've gone far enough away from where your animal was lost, go farther. If people find an animal that's hurt, they may take it to their own vet and not one right where they found the animal. Make sure that the office staff at the vet's offices knows that you will pay any charges incurred by your pet.

*If your pet is a certain breed, check all of the breed rescue groups in your area. Even if your pet is a mix, if it looks like a certain breed, someone could turn it over to a rescue group. There are also 'all breed' rescues. If you can, contact them with your pets info.

•Post your lost pets information at www.petfinder.com, www.petharbor.com and www.craigslist.com (in your city). Include a picture. Advertise in the lost/found section of your local paper and any free publication distributed in your area. Keep checking the pets/animals section of these websites and the papers. Someone might not have seen your ad, but they might be looking for a home for your animal at one point. **Beware of people trying to scam you online. There are many sleazy people that tell you they have your pet but really just want money. Be mindful of any information you give out and ask for proof that they really do have your pet before agreeing to meet them. Meet in a public place and don't give out your address to just anyone. Use your intuition. If something doesn't feel right, pay attention!

•Take time every day to visualize your animal returning to you. You have the strongest connection to your pet, so try to get quiet and concentrate on your animal and ask them to give you a message about where they are and how they are and how you can find them, then LISTEN and TRUST the information that you get. It may be pictures, thoughts, words, feelings or a combination of all four. Write down all impressions, no matter what they are, exactly as they come through. What happens is that as it's coming through, you start rationalizing that you're making it up or you just WANT or DON'T WANT to get the information you've received. Writing it down takes the emotion out of it and you can go through it later and read it for what it is and not what you 'think' it should be.