If you’re concerned about your dogs, check out the New Zealand Companion Animal Register (NZCAR) - if your pet is micro chipped, for $15 they can add you to the register and access updates about your pets online.

NZCAR has over 850 agents nationwide (including vets, SPCAs, local authorities, pet shops, shelters, rescues and more) that can scan your pet’s micro chip and contact you when your pet is found. This service is free for registered pets.

Here are some tips and steps you can take when you have lost your pet -

• Make sure your contact details are up to date on the microchip register and your local council’s dog registration database so that when an incoming animal’s microchip is scanned, the vets or SPCA can get in touch with you.

• Start your search immediately. The longer you wait, the more likely it is that your pet gets further away. Most pets stay fairly close to where they were lost so get word out early!

• Report your pet missing to the NZCAR and place an ad on lostpet.co.nz (it's free!). Also make sure you check the ‘found’ listings on LostPet.

• Use social media and flyers to raise awareness and spread the word around your neighbourhood. There are heaps of ‘lost and found’ pages on Facebook for pets that you could use to find out if anyone has seen your dog!

• Register your pet for Facial Recognition! This is a new service run by NZCAR that uses facial recognition technology to scan images uploaded by owners of missing pets against images uploaded on the ‘found’ database and finds a match for your dog!

• Contact every shelter, pound and vet near your home to check if a dog similar to yours has come in.

• After following these steps, you have a good chance of finding your missing pet but it can take some time so make sure you keep looking!

Once you have found your dog -

• Let everyone who was helping you look know that you’ve found your dog and take down any flyers.

• Update your dog’s details on their collar and microchip them if you haven’t already.

• Take a good photo of your dog for identification purposes.

• Finally, if you can figure out how they got away (e.g. through a broken fence), make sure you fix that so it won’t happen again!

And as far as reunions are concerned, here's one that we love - Reunited With Kase