Strut the Pup, a local dog-walking and pet-sitting service, is opening its first retail store in Phinney Ridge, at 6003 Phinney Ave. N.

I Heart Dogs will sell dog food, toys and accessories such as leashes, collars, dog beds, training tools and pooch-themed artwork. It will also offer a dog food and pet supply subscription delivery service.

I Heart Dogs plans to open on Saturday, Jan. 12.

Jen emailed to tell us that her dog was just diagnosed with Parvo, a highly contagious disease affecting dogs, and she wanted others to be aware.

I was hoping you would help get the word out that my 11 mo. old fully vaccinated lab was just diagnosed with Parvo, and the time frame makes it almost certain that she contracted it at Woodland Park offleash dog park. I just don’t want any other pups getting sick, or if they do show signs of getting sick that their owners take them in asap!

Update: Kolie has been found!

Earlier: Kolie, a black and white Australian Shepherd/Pit Bull mix, disappeared from her Greenwood-area home. Her tags fell off but she is micro-chipped.

She has one ear that is always limp. Call Elizabeth if you’ve seen her at 410-591-1053.

All The Best Pet Care is opening its newest location at 10005 Holman Road NW, in the QFC Plaza in Greenwood/Crown Hill.

The store sells natural dog and cat foods, treats, toys and accessories, such as driftwood scratching posts and natural cat litters. They even have a “toy testing station.”

The store will celebrate its grand opening this Friday through Sunday with free samples and 10 percent off everything in the store.

Update: Nikita has been found and is home safe and sound.

Earlier:

Nikita slipped out of her yard while her owner was gardening on Wednesday evening. She is a pit bull, 11 years old, 55 pounds, white with tan spots, and very friendly. Her owner’s contact information is on a silver plate on her collar. If you’ve seen her, please call Laura at 206-218-7664.

Update: Koji is back home, according to Ryan in comments.

Earlier: Several people have told us about a grey/brown German Shepherd that’s been running around and near Greenwood Park the last couple of days. The dog appears to have a collar, but no one could get close enough to it to read the information.

One PhinneyWood reader tweeted us this picture:

And GreenwoodAN posted some information in the Forum.

Update: Matilda has been reunited with her owner.

Earlier: Dan says a beagle wandered into his back yard near the corner of NW 67th Street and 2nd Avenue NW this afternoon. The dog’s tag says her name is Matilda, she belongs to Rebecca, and she needs seizure medication.

Dan’s wife has left two messages at the number on the tag, but no luck. If Matilda is yours, or you know who she belongs to, please call Carolyn at 206-914-0773.

By Ilona Idlis, UW News Lab

Greenwood resident Becky Refae never expected her cat, Sugar, to go missing. After all, the chatty Siamese had been an indoors cat for most of her 11 years and, like a dog, always came when called. But after years abroad, the Refae family returned to Seattle and decided to try to allow their pet a little more freedom. They were reassured by Sugar’s behavior. The kitty stayed close to home during her outdoor ventures and still preferred her indoor kingdom.

So when Sugar didn’t return one night last September, Refae panicked.

“We just couldn’t imagine what happened. Did she get spooked by a raccoon, or follow another cat? Did she get hurt nearby and get disoriented? There were a million scenarios running through our heads,” she recalled in an email.

Refae immediately set to work on the search. She phoned her local veterinarian and the Seattle Animal Shelter, printed up posters and hung them on telephone poles, then walked the neighborhood calling Sugar’s name and straining to hear the familiar meow.

The community board at the Seattle Animal Shelter is plastered with missing animal fliers. The most effective postings use large, color photos and bold headings with memorable descriptions, like “BLACK LAB.”

Her husband decided to expand the search by posting to the PhinneyWood forum. The online response was immediate. Tips and sightings poured in as comments and phone calls. Though the Refaes sped to the mentioned locations, Sugar was nowhere to be found.

“It did keep our hopes,” Refae said. If people were seeing her, she was at least OK.

By the fourth day, Refae wasn’t so sure. Then she got the call. A family living off Aurora Avenue North and North 110th Street — almost 30 blocks away from home — found Sugar trembling under their car. Both of her back legs were broken and she crouched, terrified, unable to move.

Refae rushed Sugar to an emergency animal hospital, fearing permanent damage. Thankfully, a next-day operation and weeks of love and painkillers helped Sugar to a full recovery and the Siamese now bounds around the house with lots of energy and a slight limp.

Becky Refae’s Siamese cat, Sugar, was missing for four days before a Greenwood family found her hiding under a car, injured. They used the phone number on Sugar’s ID tag to contact Refae. (Photo by Becky Refae.)

This story wouldn’t have a happy ending if it wasn’t for Sugar’s collar. The family that found her was outside the mile radius of paper fliers and hadn’t seen the online forum. Instead, it was Refae’s phone number on the cat’s ID tag that proved crucial to Sugar’s rescue.

“Best $10 I ever spent,” Refae concluded.

Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) worker Kara Main-Hester, too, cannot over-emphasize the importance of pet identification. This means microchips, licenses and collars.

“If you have all of those three things up to date, your animal will get home to you,” Main-Hester assured. But no amount of posters or postings can help a found animal that can’t be traced to its owner.

The SAS takes in strays daily and the pattern of reunification is telling. Of the 821 stray dogs received last year, over 65 percent were reunited with their owners. Conversely, only 12.3 percent of the 739 found cats made it home. Why?

“Dogs are more likely to have identification,” Main-Hester explained. “A lot of people believe that cats shouldn’t have to wear collars, but that leaves no way to reunite them.”

Proper identification is a three-step process that can ultimately save a four-legged family member. A grain-sized microchip implanted in an animal’s nape is the first and most permanent form of ID. Most of the time, dogs and cats are tagged at their local shelters and vet’s offices, which makes those locations the default address on the chip.

Seattle Animal Shelter worker Kara Main-Hester demonstrates the microchip scanner on Melissa. The grain-sized chips are usually implanted in the animal’s nape, and just a swipe of the scanner will pick up the coded number and company information.

Jessica Ancheta of Phinney Ridge Animal Hospital encourages owners to update the microchips with their personal information and phone number. The re-registration process requires a small fee — around $20 depending on the company — but provides a direct route back to the owner.

“If [owners] don’t have the chips registered, it’s keeping [the Animal Hospital] as the middleman,” she explained, which means the company calls the animal hospital first and delays the process.

Pet licenses are the next line of defense. They’re required by law for cats and dogs in the city of Seattle and usually provide the SAS with the most accurate data for its license/microchip cross-reference database. Moreover, license fees directly fund the shelter’s facilities.

“Collars are third on the rung,” Main-Hester said. “It’s the easiest to use for you and me as normal public citizens, but it’s the most likely to get lost.”

Keeping dogs on leashes and cats indoors are common sense ways of preventing physical escape, but if they fail, the chances of finding your animal are greatly increased by following the guide below.

If Your Animal is Lost:

First, notify and visit the shelter immediately. The SAS is a central location for the area’s found pets and should be the first place an owner checks. This step is particularly important if the animal has no form of ID, as the shelter is only required to hold unidentified pets for three business days before they’re put up for adoption. So, come in person to visually verify your animal and come often.

Second, alert the community. Main-Hester says online and print postings play an equal part in establishing “a local rescue network,” increasing the number of people looking for your animal. Do both. Post to Craigslist and local blogs, such as PhinneyWood and MyBallard. Print fliers with large, color photos and emphasize key descriptor words, like “CALICO TABBY” or “BLACK LAB.” Hang them in your neighborhood vet’s offices and community centers. Mount your fliers on fluorescent poster boards and pin them by busy intersections. You only have a few seconds to grab drivers’ attention so use bright colors and bold type to convey what’s missing quickly. (For more tips on formatting fliers, visit missingpetpartnership.org.)

This flier is an example of poor formatting. The black and white photo doesn’t help the viewer recognize a generically colored cat and the type doesn’t jump out with an immediate description. Since this cat doesn’t have any identification, like a microchip or collar, the chances of reunification are slim.

Third, hit the pavement. Walk the streets while calling your pet’s name. Talk with your neighbors. Physically check hiding spots like porches and garages. (This step is particularly important when looking for cats, who tend to hide silently when hurt.) If your animal is hiding nearby, you may need to set up feeding stations with humane traps to lure them home. The SAS can deploy workers to build them.

If You Find a Lost Animal:

Let the animal come to you. Unfortunately, there’s no way to calm a skittish pet. Chasing after a scared dog or cat will only drive it farther from home. Worse, you may get bitten and “that’s a situation no one wants,” Main-Hester reminded.

“If they’re handle-able and friendly, they’re probably just a couple doors away from home,” she added. In that case, try to entice the animal with food and corral it inside a fence. Check the pet for a collar with owner information, as it may be your neighbor’s.

Notify the SAS of your find. If there’s no visible identification, don’t just house the animal. Instead, take it to any local veterinarian or shelter during business hours to be scanned for a microchip. You don’t need an appointment. Check local bulletin boards and online forums for matching descriptions. Finally, if none of these methods yields results, do not hesitate to take the animal to the SAS. The owner will think to visit the shelter, not your house.

Fortunately, the SAS has an excellent adoption record and will find the animal a good home, even if reunification isn’t possible. With 300 available foster homes and large on-site facilities, the shelter never euthanizes for space. In fact, the SAS had a 91 percent “save rate” for all its animals last quarter, placing it in the top ranks nationally.

“We’re really, really proud of it,” Main-Hester said. “’We’re one of the highest municipal shelters in the country and that’s because the Seattle community is absolutely amazing and really cares for its animals, and adopts here first.”

(Ilona Idlis is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.)

Update: Chewbacca has been found and is back home!

Earlier: A female beagle named Chewbacca ran away from home near NW 87th Street and 3rd Avenue NW around 11:30 a.m. today.

She also answers to “Chewie.” She is 5 years old, tri-color, and 16 inches tall. She doesn’t have a collar, but does have a chip. If found, please call 206-409-8233 or 206-890-7625.

Jacqui says her dog, Roxy, escaped from her leash at the north end of Green Lake Park on Sunday afternoon.

She is a small (16lbs), white whippet/jack russell terrier mix with a long white tail, tan ears and a tan circle around her left eye. We have had 2 confirmed sightings of her on Phinney Ave, once Sunday evening at 72nd and again Monday morning on 59th near Woodland Park Zoo.

She is not wearing a collar but is microchipped. She is very skittish and will run if chased. If anyone has information regarding her whereabouts, please call (206) 399-5676 or (206) 240-7392. We are offering a reward to anyone who can return her safely to us.

Update: According to two comments below, Judd’s owner has been found.

Earlier: Lara tells us she found a medium-sized dog, likely a Beagle mix, near Aurora Avenue North and North 85th Street on Thursday night. The male dog did not have a collar.

Stopped at the Jack and the Box parking lot at 10:45pm and he jumped into my car. Several other people, along with me, were very concerned he would be hit by a car on Aurora. Nobody claimed him, so I brought him home with me. He was wet and scared with long nails, but otherwise looks healthy. He is likely a Beagle mix. He can sit and is friendly with dogs and people. Lots of energy. Likely 40ish lbs. Brown and white color (Fawn). Long tail with curled end.

If he is yours, or you know who he might belong to, please call 206-799-8309. We hope to bring him to the vet tomorrow morning to see if he is microchipped.

Lara just told us this that the dog did not have a microchip.

Elizabeth tells us she saw a dog that looked lost at the southbound 358 bus stop at North 85th Street and Aurora Avenue North around 7:10 a.m. today.

This morning I saw a dog that seemed to be lost. It was small and black, possibly a terrier mix, with a green or blue collar and no tags that I could see. It seemed friendly but confused, more like a lost pet than a street dog. I couldn’t take it to my apartment for safety, but if its owner reads PhinneyWood maybe s/he can find it before it wanders far.