So it is come to this! The decision has been sort of made, You and your family as kinda come to  an agreement... and this is it..... The kids are delighted, your spouse is resigned, and your not sure how the other house pets feel about it...  But what ever... they will all get over it one way or another.. It is not a big deal, besides it is your birthday and you all ways get what you want on your birthday. You even know what you want... A PURE BRED BOSTON.

 OKAY with that settled... There is that little issue of money, but you know there is something you can do about that to....  Oh and that other problem of not being to find a Breeder close by just those on the internet who seem to be hundreds of miles away.. Not a big problem. There is that slight uneasiness on how to go meet and find your perfect Boston and then the extra cost of having spending the night there and meeting the  breeder and making a selection.. Those eyes, you saw a photo, and even a great video. But what if the selected dog doesn't quit match your lifestyle. You better ask the breeder about refunds, and returns. That price wanted to purchase one was a little pricier than you had set aside for one, You understand the bloodline and health is guaranteed.

 Those eyes, the age, color even the temperament and some basic training comes with it.   Just can't get those eyes out of your mind... Forget it you decide to call and finalize the purchase...

 You drop the phone in anger, disappointment, and confusion... But... But .. That was your dog! What happened? How could the dog already be sold! Your heart sinks. The explanation, still echoing in your head.. "Sorry dear,  BUT this IS show dog stock. And a friend wants to show it when it gets old enough, We can always reserve one for you from our next litter. I know your disappointed, but They did offer more money. I just could not pass it up...Hello, Hello..." How could this happen? Its your birthday in just a few days...

 I agree. This may not be the best reason to decide on a Boston, by most peoples standard this would be a horrible reason...  But we know this desire to want a Boston or any dog is not always coming from anything more than impulse... But we must face reality. We also have seen where even that type of motivation has not prevented the right Boston from melting the hearts of all humans, and many a Boston has found happy, healthy forever homes even in these circumstances.

 Back to our story....

Our birthday girl (whose name is Ericka), is now in a very grumpy mood and called one of her friends complaining on the lost of the one dog in the world she wanted.... What can she do? All the trouble she went to get her spouse to agree and now this! she just can not bare it...  Oh my Oh misery... She cries to her friend.. Her birthday will be totally ruined!!!  Our Birthday girl was surprised when her friend suggested that she contact a local breed-specific rescue. At first there was no way she would discuss this possibility. Her friend would not let up and told her about the misconceptions that getting a dog from a breed-specific rescue.  "Listen honey, what makes you think they are is less desirable than getting one from a breeder? Dogs who end up in rescues aren't there because they're rejects from breeders, or substandard in any way. You need to check them out.. Silly, There is a reason why you did not get THAT Boston."  She went on to explain "... Because it was not meant to be yours.  Look, you have a couple of days yet till your birthday.. Will you let me introduce you to my friend, she just adopted a Boston from them and she is beautiful! You need to understand that Often, the dogs who end up in these rescues, are given up by owners who underestimated the effort it takes to raise a dog, or they figured out that the breed they chose isn't the right match for their personality or lifestyle. And many times they are well-loved dogs whose owners had to give them up because of life changes, like moving, divorce, a new job or leaving the country. You have just got to let me introduce you. Please.. Its your Birthday... "   Ericka said she would think about it, "Gee Whiz, Lisa you can be such a pest. Let me think about this, I just can not imagine "adopting " a dog!"

 SINCE THIS IS OUR STORY WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A SURPRISE ENDING 

 Which we will share with you in Part two..  sorry.. life is always taking us in different directions than we plan... 

Your not alone, hundreds of dogs go missing every day. Social Media if full of found dogs and lost dogs and many more sites are on line every day.

So the first rule is NEVER GIVE UP! Dogs have been returned to their owners sometimes years after they went missing.

We will assume that you have searched your home and yard. Next go door to door and speak to all of your neighbors with at least within your immediate home. make sure you leave your phone number with each one of them.

The first steps to finding a lost dog;

• Call the local shelters with in 25 miles of your home... Yes  I suggest at least 25 miles. I personally have had a lost Boston that had been missing for over 6 months show up 45 miles for the place it was last seen at. Luckily for this Dog, when he showed up at the animal shelter, he was spotted by a Boston lover and the rescue was called.
• And if it is during office hours call every vet with in the same distance. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND NAME  with every call you make.
• If you have help make flyers with your best head and body photos you are going to need them.Include a clear photo of your dog, a description of color and breed and your contact phone number. Tape them in as many mail boxes or doors as you can.   Make the flyers easy to read with a big heading LOST DOG.
• Now go to every animal shelter, vet, pet shop, convenience store, and ask to put up a flyer at each.
• be aware that many vets, and animal shelters now have Facebook sites and or answering machines

Use them if you can upload photo, contact info, etc on each site you find.

• Send someone to go to every door in your neighborhood with a flyer ask for their help.

(if your are lucky enough to have help many of these things can be done at the same time.)

• Animal shelters:  When brought in to a shelter many authorities will euthanize stray dogs within a relatively short period. usually 5 to 7 days  Call and visit them daily or ask where you can see their impounded dogs. Many shelters now have Facebook listings. If you are able to view the impounded dogs, you should do so. Telephone communications can be open to misunderstandings. Your dog may be there but because of misunderstandings between staff and yourself, you are not told that your dog is there. All sorts of misunderstandings can occur regarding color, breed and description of the dog. You may be able to email or send them a photo of your dog. And ask to place a flyer there.  Several owners have been call right from the shelter, when a person brought in a pet and saw the flyer…
• If your dog or puppy is micro chipped ring the microchip registry. make sure your contact information is up to date.
• Call all the local vets. Your dog may have been injured and taken there. Many vets also have lost pet registers. If they do have, you should ask to have your dog put on the lost register.
• Call the RSPCA or ASPCA in your area.
• Ask your vet for phone numbers of any dog rescue organizations in the area. If you know them already then make contact and let them know share the flyer most are on FB, Twitter, and on the web
• Have all of your local friends share your FB status with photo and description of your dog ask them to share with their friends.
• Walk around your neighborhood calling your dog's name. Ask family and friends to help you. Hand out your 'Lost Dog' cards to people you meet along the way, walkers, joggers and children as they often see things that adults don't. Check under cars, bushes and out of the way places.  Also do not forget to check ditches, and coverts that run under driveways. Your dog may be lying there injured. Take a torch with you for checking dark areas or if you are searching at night. Ask your neighbors to check around their yards, garages and outbuildings. It's worthwhile asking your neighbors to ask their children to keep a look out for your pet too.

 More ideas on where to put flyers:

• Put your flyers or posters up at local stores.
• Place lots flyers at places where someone might go to buy dog supplies (Petco, vets, grocers, etc.) so that if someone has found your dog and is getting that dog the basics, they might see your flyer!
• It is also useful if you put tabs on the bottom of the flyer with your phone number on, this way people can rip off a tab & take it home with them for future reference should they come across your dog.
• Put them up at intersections or traffic lights where they will be seen by as many people as possible.
• Also put a flyer up near the local school where parents drop off their children and also in the school car park.
• Ask at local businesses in your area, leave a flyer with them.

 OTHER IDEAS

• Make your autos rolling billboard by taping extra large posters to them
• Always have your answering machine turned on if you are using a home telephone number.
• If you have school-aged children, have them ask children at their school. Print photos of your dog for you children to show around school.
• Place an advertisement in the newspaper. Don't forget to check the "found" listings in your paper too.
• Check on the Internet. Many dog websites have bulletin boards or forums, which have lost & found areas for lost pets.
• Maybe you have moved house recently. Check at your old address. Let the new owners know and leave them a 'Lost Card'.
• If you suspect your dog or puppy has been stolen you should report it to the police.
• Also, check the classified ads in your newspaper. If someone has stolen your dog they may be trying to sell it for profit.
• Put some food & water outside your house and even your dog's bed or some of your clothing with familiar smells.
• Unfortunately your dog may have been killed by road traffic. Ring your local council or authority to find out who collects dead animals from roads in your area. It's not a pleasant thought to think that your dog is a victim of a road accident but it is better than not knowing what has happened to him.
• I would try to think of anyone who is out on the road a lot around your area. Contact them. We suggest speaking to the local postman, the police, the Fedex/ UPS guys - Anyone who is out an about on a regular basis who might see him hand each one a "lost dog " card or flyer."
• See if they might announce it on a local radio station.

Start with Alabama Pet Registry (Dennis - 205-969-2241).

•  Post on craigslist Everyday place an add on Craig list.
• Fido Finder - Where Lost Dogs Are Found www.fidofinder.com
• Lost and found Boston Terriers on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/443509685705493/ A group where anyone can post pictures and help requests about lost and found Boston Terrier all over USA.
• Lost & Found Pets! Hartselle, Somerville, Decatur,& surrounding areas (Alabama) https://www.facebook.com/groups/lostnfoundpetspt/
• Place an add with Lost Dog.com they also do and amber alert with land line phone. POST with Lost Dog.com they also do and amber alert with land-line phone.
• Go on Face book to all your groups and email friends ask them to help spread the word.
• Please recheck with neighbors you would be surprised how many people have found their pet a block away and weeks have past....
• When searching your neighborhood:  Animals can hear you from very long distances. Bring your pets favorite things with you, a "squeaky" toy or favorite treats and rattle them loudly while calling your pet's name. It's also important to stop regularly, be quiet, and listen to see if your pet is making any noise. Sometimes they may make a noise in reply or they may be hiding somewhere whimpering or barking.

 Recap from our friends

Judith Doyle Stewart I just found a dog and she had a microchip! All it took was to be scanned! Even if the owner can't be located, it can track the chip back to the purchaser. In this instance it was the SPCA.

• Classified ads help too! Check with local rescues. Flyers/ posters help as well.
• And of course keep checking the shelter! Don't call them, actually walk through! 
• Place lots flyers at places where someone might go to buy dog supplies (Petco, vets, grocers, coops, tractor supply, grocery stores etc.) so that if someone has found your dog and is getting that dog the basics, they might see your flyer.

Use a piece of clothes that you have recently worn but have not washed, and leave it somewhere where you think the dog might go to or might have been. Come back and periodically check those places and sometimes your dog will be at your clothes.
Go to Wal-Mart, H.E.B even go to the mall, you will be surprised how it will get back to whoever has this dog.

• First, make sure you have properly searched your OWN home to confirm your pet is not just hiding somewhere. Pets can get into some very strange and small places. Look behind, under and inside all appliances such as washing machines, stoves, refrigerators. For cats, make sure to check in attics, on the roof or roof gutters, and up in trees.
• Post signs at intersections and around your neighborhood. Place signs within a 2-mile radius of where your pet was lost
• Use the Power of Scent: Place a recently worn article of clothing belonging to a family member or the lost pet's unwashed bedding in your yard or outside your front door where the breeze can carry the scent. Familiar scents can bring them home. Cats will respond to an open can of tuna fish or litter box also.
• Place an advertisement in your local and community newspapers, some will even place ads for free. Check often columns dealing with "lost and found" and animals for at least two months. Advertise on both Sunday as well as during the week as some people on get the Sunday paper. Make sure you also check the newspaper's found section as most newspapers will provide free ads for people who have found lost pets.
• If your pet's ID tags have an old address and phone, contact the people who now live at that address and now have that phone number - even if they are out-of-town numbers. Let them know your pet is missing and give them your current information. Check back with them occasionally, in case they lose your information. If your pet has current information on his ID tags, follow all these tips anyway. Collars come off very easily and he may no longer have ID on them.
• Unfortunately, you must also check to find out if your pet has been fatally injured on the road. This is very sad, but necessary as you may never know otherwise and it's best to know if they passed on. The road crews for your local and state department of transportation (DOT) are usually in charge of picking up deceased animals from the roadside and city streets. Sometimes Animal Control will also do this, so check with them. Dogs are picked up quicker than cats, usually within 24 hours, so check with them everyday to see if they have found them.

MORE IDEAS TO PUT ON YOUR FLYER

• You can also post signs at grocery stores, pet stores, vet offices, and apartment complexes.
• Don't put your name or address on the flyer, but make sure there is contact info such as a phone number and/or email address.
• Put a color photo preferably and include the date and where the pet was lost as well as a couple distinguishing marks.
• Don't include all distinguishing marks, withhold some marks and characteristics so if someone does call you can verify that they actually found your pet by telling you some distinguishing marks.
• Include the breed of dog or cat, sex, age, weight and color, use bright colored paper for higher visibility. Give copies of your flier to people that walk their dogs in the area. They're more likely to spot animals than most people.
• If you go to the parks early, you may find people who regularly walk their dogs together as an informal group.

MORE IDEAS ON ANIMAL SHELTERS YOU SHOULD THINK ABOUT

• Any animal may become dirty, matted and neglected looking very quickly, and you must visit the shelter, even if your pet was wearing tags when it was lost.
• You should go to the shelters at least every other day. Few shelters can keep animals for more than 72 hours.
• Sometimes it takes more than a few days for a pet to be picked up and brought to a shelter. It's important to visit all the shelters within 20 miles of where your pet was lost.
• In many areas stray animals are picked up by a government agency which holds them for a period and then turns them over to a shelter.
• If someone took your pet in for a few days hoping you would knock on their door and ask about it, they might later drop your pet off at the shelter that's most convenient for them, rather the one that's closest.

 When we left of from our story Ericka was recovering from a devastating event. Well at least to her it was devastating and you might agree. She had convinced her family to go along with her selection of this years Birthday present and then it happened. The most horrible thing, just a few days from her big event... She was faced with the fact she could not get what she wanted... This had never happened before. Well at least not that she could remember in ages, maybe when she was 20 and her father had given her the wrong gift. To make matters worse, it was really meant to go to her older sister who's birthday was the next month.. A shattering experience for the whole family...

It was settled, at least in Lisa's mind. She had called the Breeder to make the final arrangements. She was going to get the PURE BRED BOSTON who's photo she had fallen in love with. A perfect Birthday gift. Those eyes, Lisa just knew that was the one. But when she called to make the final arrangements to come get this amazing Boston It happened The worst thing possible! It had been sold! That was yesterday and the disappointment and shock she had not gotten over. And of all things, when she called her best friend Lisa, pouring her heart out, when to her surprise instead of being as sympathetic as she would have like Lisa to be, she instead, made a strange suggestion. She could not believe what  Lisa had said. "There is a reason why you did not get THAT Boston."  Liza explained "... Because it was not meant to be yours." Then of all the stupid things to say just to humor her, something about meeting a friend who "adopted" a Boston! Who ever heard about "adopting" a dog! What was she talking about.. And a dog from a rescue at that! That is just plain crazy. What kind of birthday present would that be a mongrel, sickly, warped dog. Nope. That would not do, not at all...

"What did you do that for! What do you mean you are on your way over with a mutt! Liza I NEVER said I wanted to meet your friend and her dog. What on earth were you thinking! Oh alright but if you were not my friend I would not even let you in the door! I can not believe your doing this!" Ericka slammed the cell phone on the counter. Sometimes Liza just goes to far. Boy am I going to tell her off. What a horrible day this is going to be!

Okay I will try to be nice at least while her friend is here but after that.... The doorbell... OH no their here. Hello come on in,  OH MY  Goodness!  Nice to meet you and THIS IS A RESCUED DOG!

In walked Lisa and her friend Jasmine, and in her arms was the most beautiful dog Erika had ever seen.

She could not take her eyes of the Boston in Jasmines arms. WOW ! Lisa seeing how stunned her friend was took charge.... "Jasmine, Please come out of the doorway and have a seat, I think that Ericka would like to take a look at Lady Mae."  Ericka managed to back out of the doorway enough for them to enter the room.. It took a little bit, but Ericka did finally gather her wits enough to hold a conversation. In fact there came a torrid of questions from Ericka. Jasmine did manage to answer most of them. Lady Mae in the meantime, was busy trying to lick Ericka's face some of the time, then became busy jumping and bouncing around the room checking it out in normal Boston fashion.

" Most pets end up homeless through no fault of their own—"moving" and "landlord issues" are the top reasons people give for relinquishing their pets, meaning shelters and rescue groups are full of wonderful, family-ready pets." Jasmine was explaining how Lady Mae landed up in rescue. "Pets adopted from shelters and rescue groups typically cost less than pets purchased or even acquired for free—once you add in the cost of vaccinations, spay/neuter surgery, microchip, dewormer, and other "extras" included in your adoption fee, you'll probably be surprised what a bargain an adopted pet really is!"  By now Lady Mae and explored the room and was trying to get up in Ericka's lap... "The rescue I adopted Lady Mae from always conducts through behavioral analysis of each pet to ensure that she would be the right fit our family. Jasmine smiled as she watched Lady Mae making friends with Ericka who had reached down to help her into her lap. "Expect to fill out an application, be interviewed, and have an in-person home check. It may feel like a hassle but there is a reason for the red tape. There are too many instances of people who adopt dogs only to neglect or abuse them, to turn them back in to the rescue when things don't work out. Any rescue worth its salt will do extra work to avoid these outcomes." Reluctantly  Ericka returned Lady Mae into Jasmine's arms and said good bye. "I'll call you later." Lisa smiled as she shut the door and they were gone. THE END.....  or maybe not.. 

Something to consider.

• 6–8 million pets end up in shelters each year; half of those will probably not be adopted.
• 25 percent of pets in shelters are purebreds. Breed-specific rescue groups always have purebred dogs and puppies looking for new homes.
• What is also great about breed-specific rescues is you can get a dog that is the breed you want and also has personality characteristics you know you want.
• You can find dogs of all ages, and all temperaments; you can look for an adolescent dog with a boisterous personality, or an adult dog that has mellowed out.
• The rescue will be able to tell you everything you need to know about each dog's personality and quirks so you can minimize the surprises when you bring your new pet home.
• If for some reason you don’t find what you’re looking for right away, don’t be discouraged. Sadly rescue groups receive new animals every day, so keep checking back with them.
• Some groups also keep a waiting list, so they can call you if an animal matching your preference becomes available.
• Before most Boston Terrier Rescue places a dog with a family for adoption, the dog is vetted.
• Then the dog goes to a foster home so we can learn about his personality.
• Then the dogs matched are easier to place with approved applicants. We want the right match for the dog and people so the placement is forever.
• There is also the appreciation that if the wrong dog is placed with a family that much unnecessary stress will be placed on the family and the dog may have to be returned... which is just not fair to the family or to the dog we are trying to help.. That is why it takes sometimes only weeks sometimes months some times a year to find just the right family. 
• The goal is to ensure each dog is happy and safe in the arms of its forever family... Otherwise, what would be the point of all of this to start with?