How to make a storm plan for your dog

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency publishes hurricane evacuation zone maps for each coastal community, including Gloucester, Rockport, Essex and Manchester. Zones A and B are the areas that may flood first from storm surge in a tropical storm or hurricane, Zone A before Zone B, and the agency notes that the zones do not line up with hurricane categories. If your home is in a zone, plan to leave before landfall when officials call for it, and settle the dog's destination first.

Then set up the warnings. The City of Gloucester's emergency alert sign-up sends notices by text, email, voice message or social media, covering snow, flooding, school and beach alerts and weather warnings. The National Weather Service office in Boston issues the watches and coastal flood advisories behind them. For Dogtown itself, check the Dogtown app or call the front desk at 978 491-5922 on a storm morning before you set off.

Most of a storm plan is decisions, and they are easier on a dry Saturday than on the night the forecast turns. MEMA's pet guidance is direct: since you will not know how long you will be gone, you must take your pets with you. Ready.gov adds a buddy system, so a neighbor, friend or relative can collect your dog if you cannot get home, and the ASPCA suggests giving that person a set of keys.

The steps below follow that order: where the dog goes, who can reach it, what it carries and how rescuers will know it is inside. The ASPCA's rescue alert sticker on the front door tells responders the number and type of pets in the house, and if you leave with them and there is time, it asks you to write EVACUATED across the sticker.

Leaving the dog behind for a night or two is the mistake every agency warns about. Ready.gov puts it plainly: if local officials ask you to evacuate, your pet should evacuate too, because pets left behind may end up lost, injured or worse. The ASPCA's version is shorter: if it isn't safe for you, it isn't safe for your pets. MEMA's evacuation tips say the same thing in five words: if you go, they go.

The second mistake comes after the storm. MEMA notes that familiar scents and landmarks may change, so a dog can get confused or lost, that a normally friendly pet may turn defensive, and that downed power lines, spilled chemicals and displaced wildlife are all hazards. Leash every outing until the fence has been checked and the street cleared. If a storm keeps you away from a dog that is safe at home, our dog walking team can cover a midday visit once the roads are open; ask whether we cover your address.