Foo - Dog followed me home. Now what?

This is gonna be long but eh...I need advice.

So earlier today, a dog started following me home. She found me around a block from my house, and just latched on to me like whoa. I tried to shoo her away, told her to go home, etc. but she kept following all the way to my front yard.

I did shoo her away more forcefully when we got there, but then she started bothering other people in the neighborhood. It was also gonna be rush hour for the local elementary school, and I didn't want her to get run over by some parent picking up their kid, so I put her in my enclosed side area and checked if she had ID. No luck. I gave her some water, snapped a picture, and went door to door to all my neighbors within a one block radius to see if they owned the doggy. No luck here either, no one owned her or recognized to whom she belonged to. I printed out some fliers with said picture and posted some around, and I also posted up found dog ads on craigslist and other sites.

Here's a pic of the pooch:

http://www.fidofinder.com/dogpics/206191.jpg

She seems to be a german shepherd/golden retriever mix of some sort. Correct me if I'm wrong, so I can fix the ads I have up.

She is entirely too well-mannered and healthy-looking to be a stray, but she might have fleas, since I saw her scratching. She knows basic commands like sit, stay, lie down, etc., she is well-behaved towards humans, and is pretty chill even when the neighbor's dog barks at her aggressively through the fence. She doesn't like being on a leash though, and will pull like hell, so I didn't try to walk her outside--just around my backyard.

I did feed her about half a can of dog food mixed with some leftover chicken and rice for dinner. Dunno if that's enough for a dog her size (~50lbs) but eh. Now she's sleeping right outside my back door on a bunch of rags I piled up for her.

So...what do I do with her? I'll have the vet scan her microchip tomorrow, but I'm betting she won't have one. I'm hoping the owner will contact me soon, otherwise I will have to bring her to the pound in a couple of days. I'd rather NOT do that. What are my other options? Rescue org? Try to re-home her with someone else? Or do I just let her go to the pound even if I'll feel horrible about it? She cannot stay with me though, which is a shame.:(

Craigslist is a good start, as are the fliers.

I dunno what else to say...

How long can you keep her before having to give her to the pound?

To bad I don't have the space, the time and the money to own a dog ATM. If I had, I would bring doggie here. Me likes that doggie.

keep the dog, and feed it the cats.

*flicks botto in forehead*

Craigslist, give flyers to all vets and shelters in the area and if you have to, bring her to the rescue foundation.

I would notify the pound even if you don't send the dog there. If someone is missing a dog, it is a logical place to check. Is there a college nearby? When we lived in Ithaca NY near Cornell, every spring very nice dogs were abandoned by students who were going elsewhere. :notamused:

Looks like a nice dog, healthy, alert, etc.

Definitely contact your local pound, and give them a photo. When someone loses their dog, the pound is the first place they'll go to find it. If you can keep the dog for a while until the owner shows up, great. However, if not, I wouldn't worry too much about bringing the dog to the pound. If the owner is not found, this type of dog should easily find a good home. It's a friendly looking dog.

If you want to try the leash thing again, try out an old training method. Have a bunch of treats, or dog kibbles if the dog likes his food, in your hand. At first, feed the dog a kibble every couple of feet on your left side as you go for a walk. After a while, reduce this to every 20 steps, and so on. You'll be amazed at how quickly he'll stay by your side.

keep the dog, and feed it the cats.

OK, that was funny :lol:

How long can you keep her before having to give her to the pound?

Maybe a week at most. The problem is, I already have another dog adoption in the works, and the dog we are considering adopting does not play well with others. Plus I don't think I have the time, money, or energy for two dogs. But funny...it's like the universe says, "you wanna adopt a dog? Well, here's one!"


I would notify the pound even if you don't send the dog there. If someone is missing a dog, it is a logical place to check. Is there a college nearby? When we lived in Ithaca NY near Cornell, every spring very nice dogs were abandoned by students who were going elsewhere. :notamused:

Looks like a nice dog, healthy, alert, etc.

Yep, there are some colleges nearby. If it was a student who abandoned her, shame on whomever it was. :notamused: I'm more inclined to think it belongs to a neighbor though.


Definitely contact your local pound, and give them a photo. When someone loses their dog, the pound is the first place they'll go to find it. If you can keep the dog for a while until the owner shows up, great. However, if not, I wouldn't worry too much about bringing the dog to the pound. If the owner is not found, this type of dog should easily find a good home. It's a friendly looking dog.

She's friendly but a bit people shy, but definitely good mannered once she warms up to you. A bit stubborn though. If I do have to send her to the pound I'm gonna choose the one with the least kill-rates and hope she gets rehomed quick.

keep the dog, and feed it the cats.

Nice.

I 've had well behaved dogs follow me for a mile or so . But, finally they gave up and turned around... So you did not put the pedal down and try to out run Fido.. ?

I 've had well behaved dogs follow me for a mile or so . But, finally they gave up and turned around... So you did not put the pedal down and try to out run Fido.. ?


I was on foot so I couldn't outrun it even if I tried, lol. In any case, the darn dog is not my problem anymore. She jumped the front fence and is now running around somewhere. I tried to call her back, but she just ran off. I did call animal control to pick her up. :notamused:

Call animal control and see if anyone has reported it lost.
Many news papers will let you place a free ad for found pets too.

1) Take pictures with dog
2) Get your friends to do same
3) Make another website (like the cats one)

................................................................


Serious note, craigslist, check for chip, then flyers broadcasting his location: the pound.

It followed you home by instinct and adopted you.This has happen to many a human.Sorry dude.

As for the crude post above about feeding the dog cats.
Never feed a dog raw cats,always bake or broil first.

keep the dog, and feed it the cats.


i would eat the dog myself. why should the cats get all the goodies?

In addition to what people have already recommended, you might check with the cops as well.

Based on your description, it sounds like he may have just escaped from a yard presuming he wasn't dumped. What is it with people that they don't put ID on their dogs? I catch loose dogs from time to time, and they practically NEVER have ID on them. Even the few that have licenses or rabies tags consistently lack any kind of info that would help you find the owner.

In addition to what people have already recommended, you might check with the cops as well.

Based on your description, it sounds like he may have just escaped from a yard presuming he wasn't dumped. What is it with people that they don't put ID on their dogs? I catch loose dogs from time to time, and they practically NEVER have ID on them. Even the
few that have licenses or rabies tags consistently lack any kind of info that would help you find the owner.

I know right? So frustrating to find the owner when you have nothing on the dog. Hopefully she just ran back home. :notamused:

Rabies tags have a unique number and a vet name/contact, and that serial number is used to identify the vet's client family that owns the dog or cat. Same with a pet licence...unuque number that references back to the owners name/address.

Now, that said, I have gotten Annie ID chipped.


In addition to what people have already recommended, you might check with the cops as well.

Based on your description, it sounds like he may have just escaped from a yard presuming he wasn't dumped. What is it with people that they don't put ID on their dogs? I catch loose dogs from time to time, and they practically NEVER have ID on them. Even the few that have licenses or rabies tags consistently lack any kind of info that would help you find the owner.

All of my animals are chipped. I wish I didn't get Sakima done though. I'm hoping he'll run away but he won't. He probably won't leave until he kills me.

All of my animals are chipped. I wish I didn't get Sakima done though. I'm hoping he'll run away but he won't. He probably won't leave until he kills me.

Lol, why are you hoping he'll run away?

All of my animals are chipped. I wish I didn't get Sakima done though. I'm hoping he'll run away but he won't. He probably won't leave until he kills me.


i bet your pets aren't so squeemish about eating you. don't be so soft. it's eat or be eaten.

All of my animals are chipped. I wish I didn't get Sakima done though. I'm hoping he'll run away but he won't. He probably won't leave until he kills me.

Does Sakima take after your most notorious bike, or something?

Sakima is pure evil. I try to be nice to him but he always goes around beating up the other cat, he beats up the dogs to takes their snacks and he will jump out of nowhere and attack as you are passing by. He has no fear at all. If you yell at him he just crouches down to get ready to attack again. Ask Dan. He's seen Sakima bite me. And then after he bites he will open his mouth and hold it that way waiting to bite again. One time I went to kiss him on the forehead and he moved so quick and bit me on the lips. I had holes in my lips. And they hella hurt. Damn cat. :notamused:

Please keep an eye open for my homework.

Rabies tags have a unique number and a vet name/contact, and that serial number is used to identify the vet's client family that owns the dog or cat. Same with a pet licence...unuque number that references back to the owners name/address.
Sure, but it makes it more of a pain to ID a dog since you have to wait until the vet is open before there is any hope of the first contact. Same schtick with licenses which must be traced through the city. In any case, most dogs I catch have nothing whatsoever. Tags and collars can be lost, but a name tag with a phone number is one of the best things you can do to improve a lost dog's prospects.

When I am able to figure out who the owners of untagged dogs are, 95% of the time they are complete imbeciles who have no business owning a dog. Few of them show any concern for the dog or that they plan to do anything differently to keep the problem from happening again. I actually turned one dog from a repeat offender to animal control. I felt horrible about it since that's normally a death sentence, but this dog needed to have some chance of getting an owner who wouldn't just let him wander in traffic until he was killed. A few months later, I found out that a family about 1/2 mile away had adopted him :)

Sakima is pure evil. I try to be nice to him but he always goes around beating up the other cat, he beats up the dogs to takes their snacks and he will jump out of nowhere and attack as you are passing by. He has no fear at all. If you yell at him he just crouches down to get ready to attack again. Ask Dan. He's seen Sakima bite me. And then after he bites he will open his mouth and hold it that way waiting to bite again. One time I went to kiss him on the forehead and he moved so quick and bit me on the lips. I had holes in my lips. And they hella hurt. Damn cat. :notamused:


Yep Sakima is a psycho cat.

I had a Manx once, that could be as nice and friendly as could be, then would suddenly bite your hand when you were petting her. After the second time I bit her back, she quit doing that. Have you tried that on Sakima?

Yes. But he bit me back. :cry:

Sakima is pure evil. I try to be nice to him but he always goes around beating up the other cat, he beats up the dogs to takes their snacks and he will jump out of nowhere and attack as you are passing by. He has no fear at all. If you yell at him he just crouches down to get ready to attack again. Ask Dan. He's seen Sakima bite me. And then after he bites he will open his mouth and hold it that way waiting to bite again. One time I went to kiss him on the forehead and he moved so quick and bit me on the lips. I had holes in my lips. And they hella hurt. Damn cat. :notamused:

I wonder if there is a "cat whisperer" ?

Neko, good for you. Post a few posters near where you found him. Call the local shelters and file a found dog report. Someone is going to be calling for him.

Thursday, My wife and I were in a part of town called the "bottoms" (it lives up to it's name in multiple ways) and I saw a Black Lab across the street. The street is the major East-West artery, 6 lanes wide and usually quite busy. The dog was trying to cross the street, I was mortified. Suddenly all traffic disappeared and it was clear for a long way out both ways. The dogs was still wanting to cross so I called him, and he ran right to me. He was a beautiful young guy, about a year old. He had a choker and collar but no tag. His teeth were pearly white, and well mannered. A prime specimen if you ask me. I keep a leash in the car, and clipped it on him.

I called the local dog shelter and they said they could send out a truck, but it would be a few hours, and that I could bring him if I cared to. And I did care to. So I tried to get Buddy into the car (I already named him Buddy) and he wanted none of it. I had to lift him up and put him in. He didn't bite, bark or growl. So we drove around the neighborhood and talked to several locals, but no-one had ever seen him.

We started out for the shelter about 5-6 miles away on the other side of town and he was a real good boy riding. He got up and looked about a few times and gave us both a few licks, and tried to get in the front seat once and we told him to get back and he did. Finally at the shelter, we dropped him off. They told me that they were going to check him for a chip and that a dog like this would get a call soon, or if not, be adopted right away... being young, friendly, handsome, and healthy as a horse.

Anyway I wonder several times a day about him, hoping his owners called. If not, he's still there, hopefully waiting to get snipped and adopted. I worry about him getting the big needle, but I am sure he wont. If I already didn't have 3 dogs and 4 cats and an unfenced yard, I'd have taken him home and called the shelter and posted a found dog report. We once got one of our pomeranians back because someone called her in.

If I did, I'd have probably gotten to attached to him, because I am an idiot for pets. As is my wife.

So anyway, do what you can to get him back home. Someone is having an unhappy Easter because their dog is gone.

This is gonna be long but eh...I need advice.

So earlier today, a dog started following me home. She found me around a block from my house, and just latched on to me like whoa. I tried to shoo her away, told her to go home, etc. but she kept following all the way to my front yard.

I did shoo her away more forcefully when we got there, but then she started bothering other people in the neighborhood. It was also gonna be rush hour for the local elementary school, and I didn't want her to get run over by some parent picking up their kid, so I put her in my enclosed side area and checked if she had ID. No luck. I gave her some water, snapped a picture, and went door to door to all my neighbors within a one block radius to see if they owned the doggy. No luck here either, no one owned her or recognized to whom she belonged to. I printed out some fliers with said picture and posted some around, and I also posted up found dog ads on craigslist and other sites.

Here's a pic of the pooch:

http://www.fidofinder.com/dogpics/206191.jpg

She seems to be a german shepherd/golden retriever mix of some sort. Correct me if I'm wrong, so I can fix the ads I have up.

She is entirely too well-mannered and healthy-looking to be a stray, but she might have fleas, since I saw her scratching. She knows basic commands like sit, stay, lie down, etc., she is well-behaved towards humans, and is pretty chill even when the neighbor's dog barks at her aggressively through the fence. She doesn't like being on a leash though, and will pull like hell, so I didn't try to walk her outside--just around my backyard.

I did feed her about half a can of dog food mixed with some leftover chicken and rice for dinner. Dunno if that's enough for a dog her size (~50lbs) but eh. Now she's sleeping right outside my back door on a bunch of rags I piled up for her.

So...what do I do with her? I'll have the vet scan her microchip tomorrow, but I'm betting she won't have one. I'm hoping the owner will contact me soon, otherwise I will have to bring her to the pound in a couple of days. I'd rather NOT do that. What are my other options? Rescue org? Try to re-home her with someone else? Or do I just let her go to the pound even if I'll feel horrible about it? She cannot stay with me though, which is a shame.:(

Give her a name and love her for the rest of her life. =0)

I was on foot so I couldn't outrun it even if I tried, lol. In any case, the darn dog is not my problem anymore. She jumped the front fence and is now running around somewhere. I tried to call her back, but she just ran off. I did call animal control to pick her up. :notamused:



Never mind.

Never mind.

No, not never mind. Guess who was waiting for me curled up near the side gate when I got home from work? Yeah, Miss Doggy over here. Le sigh. I should feed her, but I am too annoyed at her right now. :notamused:

In any case, I will call animal control the first thing in the morning to have her picked up, since I can't have her jumping over the fence again. I only let her in the front yard since she was doing the pee-pee dance but was so well-trained that she refused to go in the backyard. It's kinda cruel to keep her fenced in when she needs to go potty, but oh well; it's ok if she pees, since my backyard is mostly pavement.

Hopefully her owner finds her at the pound, or if not, she gets adopted by a good home. I would've liked to keep her, but I don't think we are the right home for her.

she loves you. Smart dog. ;0)

When my dog was a pup she used to crawl through a drainage hole through the wall. Don't know how she fit through it but she always came a bit after. Same for when she got out of her collar when walking her. I looked for her for a while and ended up giving up, going home and there she was in front of my house waiting for me.

Dogs and other animals have always naturally liked me, ever since I was little, and I'm good at communicating with them, and I can't turn down an animal in trouble, so this happens to me more often than I'd like. Here's what I do when I become a foster parent:

1.Call the local non-euthanizing rescue shelters to see if they have room.

2. Put an ad in Craigslist, listing the description of the dog, asking a small fee (the fee is to turn away people who want a free pet to torture/neglect/whatever and making sure it's people who actually WANT the dog, not saying this weeds out everyone but it probably discourages meth-heads who get everything for free off Craigslist.) In the dog's description I downplay any sort of "Pitbull" references, again to discourage mouthbreathers and meth-heads.

When people show up I ask them a lot of questions, if they look like trash, I apologize to them and say the dog is taken.

3. If it's a purebred dog of any popular breed, chances are there is a breed-specific rescue project in your area, Google it.

I have recently had to make a rule for myself regarding stray dogs. When I find one (and I seem to find them more often than most) I have to get ahold of the dog so it's safe and then turn it over to the Humane Society as quickly as possible because I'm like that little kid that brings home every stray and begs to keep them all. I usually find their original home within the first day but occassionaly I have them up to a week before finding their home. I have had 4 dogs I couldn't find their homes for. I had 2 for longer than I should have and cried like a baby when I found homes for them. Another one of them I ended up keeping. Then Tucker was a dog I rescued from his neglectful owners. He is a german shepherd/plott hound mix who only weighed 40 something pounds...skin and bones. He's 80 lbs now that he's healthy. That brings my total dog count up to 4. I think 2 is a good number and my DH thinks so even more than I do. I just can't help myself!

Tiff :)

Update on Miss Doggy:

So animal control picked her up yesterday around brunch time, and she whined and struggled as they took her away. :( The animal control guys told me they'd hold her at the pound for around a week for her original owner, then after that she will be open for adoption, and if I want, I can be first in line to adopt her. I seriously thought about it because she looooves me, but said no thanks about having the chance to adopt her. Like I said earlier, I don't think we are the right home for her, unfortunately. She didn't seem to get along well at all with my two youngest siblings. So here's hoping that she finds her original home, or a better home.

Neko did you hand out pics of the dog at all animal rescues, vets and shelters? When I lost my cat I went to all of those places, thinking that maybe she got hurt and someone brought her in. Or did you have the chance to have her scanned? Any vet would be more than happy to see if she had a chip too. And from there the owner would be notified.

call the authorities

Neko did you hand out pics of the dog at all animal rescues, vets and shelters? When I lost my cat I went to all of those places, thinking that maybe she got hurt and someone brought her in. Or did you have the chance to have her scanned? Any vet would be more than happy to see if she had a chip too. And from there the owner would be notified.

I did put up fliers at the nearby vets and dog grooming places but not at the shelters. Also put up some at the local parks, grocery stores, petsmart etc. The shelter can scan for microchips, and IF she has one, then lucky. If not, which I suspect is the case, then at least the shelter is better equipped to deal with those sorts of things.

Well at least you tried. Hopefully she does have a chip. Thanks for doing the best you can, Neko. Takes a big heart.

When my finances calm down, *If* I do get a pet (guinea pig, dog, cat, rabit, ferret or whatevah), it will be from the shelter. Many little furry friends there need homes.

Take this dog, Ruben. She needs a home!

Awww... cute puppy.

You did all you could Neko. At least at the pound, there's a chance that she'll find a home that can take better care of her. Hopefully, the future owner doesn't neglect her like her previous owner did.

Update on Miss Doggy:

She got adopted!!!! By a couple in my neighborhood, apparently. The guy saw one of my fliers that hadn't been taken down yet and contacted me, thinking it was a LOST dog ad. When I explained that no, it was actually a FOUND dog ad and I was the one who got her off the street, they thanked me for saving her life. Then I thanked them for making sure her life was really saved. They have another shepherd who she gets along with swimmingly. I'm glad she now has a good home!

It's a happy ending, yay! This totally made my day.

you awight Nek! ;0)

Yay!!!!