Things You'll Need
- Hot dogs or cooked meat
- Old blanket
- Animal handling gloves
Instructions
Buy a live-trap animal trap. Get a trap large enough to accommodate the size of the dog you're trapping.
Place the trap in a quiet, isolated area near where the dog has been spotted.
Cover the trap with an old blanket. Sometimes dogs feel safer entering the trap when it's covered and provides a place for them to hide.
Bait the trap with hot dogs. Hot dogs are good bait because they will stay intact if it rains. Cooked meat can also be used but it spoils more rapidly.
Place bait behind the trip plate on the trap. Bait has to be placed so the dog will go to the back of the trap and step on the trip plate to get to it.
Tie the trap door so it won't get tripped. If the dog is reluctant to go far enough into the trap to trip it, tie the door so it won't close and then place the bait closer to the front of the trap.
Leave the door tied for three or four days. Continue placing bait in the trap, moving it a little further back each time, until the dog feels safe entering the trap.
Set the trap. Once the dog is going into the trap far enough to trigger the trap, untie the door and bait it. The next time the dog enters the trap, it will step on the trip plate and be caught.
Call your local animal control for help removing the dog from the trap. If the dog is a stray, it may welcome human contact. If it is truly a feral wild dog, it may be extremely aggressive and only an animal control professional should attempt handling it. If you decide to remove the dog yourself, use heavy-duty animal handling gloves to prevent injury.