Poppy is the centre of our world (understatement of the year!) Since adopting her from the Blue Cross, she has been an amazing addition to our family. Naturally, as a result, we are super serious about looking after her. I have alerts set up in our calendar for all her vet appointments and treatments, she’s pretty much the centre of attention wherever we go, whether she’s with us or not, we factor her in to every decision we make; to put it bluntly, we’ve changed the way we live to accommodate her. Therefore, the thought of her going missing makes my blood run cold.

Poppy did go missing for a little bit last year – fortunately not for long. As a general rule, we walk Poppy on the lead. The main reason? We don’t exist, especially if there are squirrels or other distractions about. I can wave a treat right in front of her face, but if there’s even the scent of a squirrel nearby, I might as well just be waving a ball about. Nothing competes with a squirrel. Nothing. Even on the lead, Poppy tries to chase it. If she’s off the lead, you won’t see her for dust, as I learned.

Picture the scene: It’s a sunny day and Poppy and I are in the park. I’m practising recall with Poppy off the lead. She is top of the class. I call her, she comes to me, she gets a treat, she walks on. I’m thinking, ‘Yes! I got the good dog!’ Then I call her and she runs in the opposite direction. Gulp. Okay, just give her the ‘Get here now command’ and she’ll come back. Except she didn’t. She followed scent after scent after scent. By this time I am terrified. The park is surrounded by road and all the worst thoughts are running through my head. I must have gone around the park about 15 times, asking everyone I meet if they’ve seen a little black dog. Even now, just thinking about it, I am in full panic. What if someone takes her? What if she gets hit by a car? What if she gets confused and can’t find me?

Finally, someone says they’ve seen her in the nearby school. I run over and there she is, looking like butter wouldn’t melt! Obviously, I burst into tears. Don’t think I’ve ever been so relieved in my life. I count all my lucky stars, put Poppy back on the lead and head home for a stiff G&T.

While I was incredibly lucky, lots of pet owners aren’t. In fact, 60 cats and dogs go missing in the UK every hour, which is a ridiculously high number and why I downloaded and registered Poppy with TagiApp. TagiApp is a free app which aims to unite the local community and help find lost pets and it’s just 69p to register a pet. Take a look:

With so many pets going missing, it makes sense for every pet owner and pet lover to download and use TagiApp to help bring these pets home. I know that if the unthinkable happened, and Poppy did go missing, I would really appreciate the help of as many people as possible in finding her.

TagiApp are also running a great competition at the moment. If you’re a dog owner, simply download TagiApp and register your dog before 5th November, and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a Lily’s Kitchen Starter Pack for your pooch. Win win right?!

*Disclosure: TagiApp is a client. As ever, opinions are my own.