Pack for your dog before an emergency forces the question
Evacuations fail pets at the packing stage. People leave in minutes, in the dark, in bad weather, and a dog's food, lead and medication are scattered around a house nobody can safely re-enter. Keep a grab bag for your dog beside your own emergency supplies: enough of his usual food for several days, sealed against damp, a collapsible water bowl, poo bags, a familiar-smelling blanket or item of your clothing, a spare lead, a collar carrying current identification, and clear written notes on his feeding routine, fears and handling needs. Photograph his vaccination and ownership documents on your phone so the information survives even if the paperwork does not.
Practise the leaving itself. A dog who has ridden calmly in the car, worn his collar indoors during drills, and loaded up on a cue word is vastly easier to evacuate than one facing every step for the first time while sirens sound and adults shout.
Make an unfamiliar room or house escape-proof first
Hotels and relatives' homes are designed for people, not for a stressed dog. Before he explores, walk the space as an escape audit: do doors latch or swing, are there low windows, cat flaps he could force, a garden gate that does not close, a balcony with gaps? In a hotel, put the do-not-disturb sign up and tell reception you have a dog in the room, because a housekeeper opening the door is the classic hotel escape. Keep him on a lead in corridors, lifts and lobbies, and never leave him alone in a strange room longer than necessary — a panicking dog can injure himself on doors and furniture and disturb an entire floor.
Set up his corner immediately with his blanket, water and a chew, in the quietest part of the room away from the door. Familiar smells and an early, predictable base genuinely lower a displaced dog's stress, which lowers his drive to bolt.
Hold the routine together when everything else has changed
Feed at home times, walk familiar-length routes close to where you are staying, and keep sleep arrangements close to normal, including having him sleep near you if that is his habit. Walk him on a lead at all times in the new area, however reliable he is at home, because he does not know the roads, the local dogs or the way back, and a startled run in a strange town ends much further from safety than one at home. Check his collar fit daily, since stress and changed feeding can alter how it sits, and keep your phone charged and your number — the one on his tag — switched on.
At a relative's home, agree the house rules early: who opens doors, where he is fed away from resident pets, and how resident dogs and cats are introduced or kept apart, because displacement stress turns minor friction between animals into fights.
If he escapes in the unfamiliar area
Search immediately around the building and along the route you arrived by, since displaced dogs often try to head back toward home or retrace familiar scent. Alert the hotel or neighbours, local veterinary practices and shelters in that area, giving his description and your mobile number. Stay contactable at the place you lost him rather than ranging widely, because a returning dog needs to find you there.
Being unknown locally is a real handicap, and KinsLe offsets it: the Lost Pet Alert System sits inside his profile without charge, appears as a map listing, and enables whoever spots him near your temporary base to contact you by direct message.