There have been several sightings of a dog that took off from a Freeport residence on July 3, but attempts to rescue him might be proving counterproductive, his owner says.

Ashley Perkins of Brooklyn, N.Y., said that people in the Freeport area have been most helpful in putting up posters around town showing a photo of Popeye, a 2-year-old mini Australian Shepherd, and including the phone numbers to call if anyone spots him. A Facebook page, “Find Popeye,” includes a photograph of the dog and the phone numbers to call.

Perkins and her husband, Roderick Salguero, posted on Facebook on Sunday that people should, for now, curtail the search.

“Thank you again for all the recent help and support,” Perkins and Salguero wrote. “As you know, yesterday seemed to be a busy day for Popeye. We got a ton of sightings for him, but he may have been chased away due to all the activity. It is important right now to not go out looking for him at this time. We are afraid that if people keep searching for him, he may continue to travel in another location and we are hoping he is getting close to settling in an area. Thank you to everyone who left out food and water! We are going to ask to not leave any more out as we hope to get him hungry enough to go in a trap.”

Perkins and Salguero were married in North Haven on July 3, then went to the Freeport home of her sister, Whitney Hayre, to do some shopping. Popeye, a skittish dog that Perkins thinks was abused when she adopted him, escaped when a door was cracked open.

“A lot of people have helped us show the poster,” Perkins said last Friday from her home. “Two people thought they saw him (Thursday), one on Durham Road and one in downtown Freeport. One of them can’t be Popeye because they’re eight miles apart.”

On July 10, someone in Brunswick who saw a deer in the back yard also saw Popeye, and snapped a blurry photo of the dog. Perkins confirmed it was her dog.

Perkins urged people to call the phone numbers if they see Popeye.

“People keep seeing him and they get out of their cars and try to get him, and that scares him away,” she said.

Perkins said that Heidi Nelson, the animal control officer in Brunswick, had set one trap to catch Popeye as of Friday. The trap contains articles of the couple’s clothing, and some food.

As she spoke, it had been two full weeks since Perkins and Salguero had lost their dog only hours after they became married.

“I think he’s eating blueberries and grass and probably deer poop,” she said. “He’s pretty smart. Their instincts really kick in. My only sense of comfort is that he’s still alive. We need to have a sighting, and set up a trap in that area. This community is so wonderful. Strangers are putting up fliers for us.”

Popeye