Sigh. I just don't know what to do.

Yesterday afternoon I saw this black dog in our neighbor's yard, didn't think anything much of it, cause her daughter visits who has a little cute beagle and we see it out in their yard. So when I saw this black dog I figured it was someone visiting's dog. But no it wasn't. And since the one fence dividing our yards is kinda short (all our other fences around our yard are tall but the one), it hopped into our yard and was hanging out on our side porch and looking at us, wagging its tail, from the porch door. Sigh. So we went out there, and man this dog is the nicest dog. Is black, with longish hair like a golden retrievers, so soft too, so sofft! I think it's not quite grown up yet, but close, it's teeth were very white, so it's a youngun either way. Male too. Not sure if it is fixed or not. We gave him some water and he drank it down like he was very thirsty. I didn't have anything really to feed him, as I don't have a dog, and didn't want him to hang about if I fed him. I felt he needed to find his owners. The land behind our backyard is a park with a jogging path, and many, many people daily walk their dogs back there.

Well, after time it got dark and the dog wasn't in our yard anymore (it barked a lot back there, like it lived here LOL), so I figured it jumped the fence and left. I felt though really bad for it, that it was in the dark, lost and alone. :( I tried to convince my hubby to call Animal Control, but he didn't want to because he doesn't want the dog to end up being put to sleep. And I don't either, this do is so nice! It layed on its back and rolled around in front of me, then when I sat down on the side porch steps it leaned into my legs and looked up at me, it is just the nicest dog! And so soft too! Gah it killed me wondering what happened to it overnight last night.

Well, I got up this morning, no sign of it, and I just hoped that maybe it found its way back home, and just put it out of my mind. Until I got home from work, and about an hour later after it got dark, I'm sitting at my PC, and have the window open, and I hear this familiar bark LOL. So I go to the side porch, turn on the light, and yep, there he is again. Sigh, still about. So I took another bowl of water out to it, but it didn't seem to want any (there IS a creek not far off, so I figure it probably had drank from it). I got to petting him and ran my hand along his back, and got to behind is ribs? And it was only about 5 inches wide. OMG. He is really skinny! You can't tell with all the fur! I could also feel his ribs. :( So I dunno, I didn't want to feed him, but at that point I just thought I had to do something. So I got these dog treats in my pantry that I occasionally toss to the neighbor's dog, and I gave him like, eight LOL. Then I gave him 5 pieces of bologna at once (all I have!).

I just know now this dog will return. I think if it was living in a house nearby it would have found home by now, as he seemed to find our house again. Also, when I first saw him, he had a collar on, but nothing written on it. Today no collar. NO idea what happened to it. I'm gonna have to do something, but not sure what. I just got a feeling the owners are gone, but I'm going to call the animal shelter myself tomorrow and ask them if anyone has been looking for a dog. I have no idea how long this dog has been astray now that I saw how skinny it was. I just don't want the dog to be put to sleep is all, I really don't. He'd make an excellent pet for any family I swear. I'm sorely tempted to take him in myself, but it would be a lot of work as I'd have to chain him in the backyard, because of that one short fence he can obviously vault right over LOL. And my cat. Sigh. No really great timing. But again, I've got to do something if it keeps returning here, I feel responsible because it came to me. LOL man I'd love to just open the door and let him in, I bet he'd be a good boy and just sit somewhere politely I swear, if not for hubby, I'd probably have already done so.

Ack. Just driving me nuts worrying about this dog, had to post about it, my apologies for the rant!

Awww bless you for caring LZ [img]smile.gif[/img]

I think you should call the animal shelter - if this dog has been lost rather than abandoned they owners may well have called the shelter already. If they can't find the owner they are bound to be able to find a new home for such a friendly dog, so it is unlikely to end up being put to sleep.

Other things you can do:

Call round local vets, they may know the dog if they have treated it in the past, or owners may have reported the dog lost and phoned vets to see if it had been reported found to them

Check local newspapers for lost dog adverts

Look out for posters and flyers

Ask round your neighbourhood to see if anyone knows where it lives

Hopefully the dog will be reunited with his owners or will be rehomed.

tough problem you have there, id first of all, whether hes your dog or not, send him staright to the vet to get nurtured. i mean, if he is someone else's dog, you wouldn't want him to die, and if hes a stray.... well i guess you wouldn't want him to die either way. but take him to the vet so you at least know he's healthy.

Epona gave a lot of good ideas, but I'd add one more -- put up your own "Dog Found" fliers. You do those things & nobody shows up -- he's yours.

Well, I know she's asked neighbors and they don't know who he belongs to.

LZ, I think calling the shelter and the vets is a good idea. I hope he finds his family!

Take the dog's picture, and pin it on the wall in your local supermarket, together with a note that you found the dog and if the owner would be so kind to come collect it. ;)

if he is still around, you can put an ad in the paper about finding him, or put flyers around, just no pics, you do not want some creep claiming it is their dog just to put them in a puppy mill :( if all else fails, and you really do not want a dog, I am sure the shelters can help you, or you can find a foster home for him, that is where dogs go that are too good to be put down. alot of states have them now, all you have to do is ask a shelter or vet about it. hope he is going to be ok

Hm, you're right Stormy, i didn't think of that. Then again, you could check for minor details that only the owner can know, like a tattoo in his ear perhaps ?

Or check if it understands Dutch, if so, sent it to me and i'll take care of it. :D

Well so far I haven't seen the dog tonight. What I did see though was a mess in my back yard this morning LOL. Cloudy, remember when we were gaming last night and I said I could hear leaves rustling? And I thought the dog was running around or rolling around in them, but I couldn't tell because it was too dark outside? Welllll, apparently it had gotten ahold of a big trash bag full of raked leaves I had stored near the side porch, and shredded the bag I mean to BITS, leaves strewn all over the place too LOL. Also the thick plastic bowl I put out there with water in it was out there too, chewed to hell LOL. So much for me thinking I might want to take the dog in! I can't imagine what he'd do to the inside of a house! I wish I could have seen him out there ripping and shredding, would have been quite a show! [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

Again, I can't put out signs or such, as I have no way to contain the dog other than to bring it inside, and I ain't doin that now. Not to mention I saw the dog in our yard two days in a row, and around the same time, early evening, right when it gets dark. So I must wonder if someone is coming home from work, and just letting the dog out to roam free rather than walking it. Again the dog is just too clean to be an "outside" dog that gets dirty, wet, etc.

So still don't know what to do if I see it again, maybe I won't. It's 6:00pm now, so about the time I should if it's gonna come round again, will see!

Oh geez! He had himself a good time, didn't he?! LOL

Well, at least we know where he lives now!