Sunday’s front page of the Boston Globe included a story about a couple who tried to use social media in the search process for their dog. On Nov. 2, Andrew and Anindita Sempere’s dog, Marisol, fled into the Middlesex Fells Reservation after being attacked by another dog.

Some of the techniques attempted by the couple, who met at the MIT Media Lab, which “values, above all, unorthodox thinking about technology”:

• A blog, findmarisol.com, on which the couple posts daily with sightings, updates and notes to Marisol
• A twitter hashtag, #MarisolSearch
• Geo-targeted Facebook ads aimed at people who live in the vicinity of the Fells, and who list dogs and hiking in their hobbies
• A $100-an-hour tracking dog followed Marisol’s scent and whose route was later mapped using GPS

But, as specialists told the Semperes, Marisol was no longer thinking like a pet. Before living with the Semperes, she’d been a street dog in Puerto Rico. So, any attempt to call after or chase her will be interpreted as a threat. The traditional ways of looking for a dog — actively seeking the dog — would only push her further into seclusion.

So the Semperes have tried a new approach: “comfort stations’’ using a small amount of food and the Semperes’ scent to lure her. When she gets comfortable returning there, they can try to trap her.

The print graphic I did explaining the comfort station (click for a larger view):

For the web translation of that graphic, click here.

For more information on the search for Marisol, visit the Semperes’ site.

For more from Globe writer Billy Baker, click here.