Happy Day!

This past Tuesday morning, I was coming home from my morning appointments. My plan was to feed my fur kids, work on my daily pet reports and training plans, and eat a sandwich (which would be breakfast and lunch) before my next appointment. However, my plans went out the car window when I noticed a “stray dog” sniffing around in the green space by my house. I can’t help myself, when I see a dog wandering around alone, I have to try to catch him or her and, hopefully return the dog home.

I put my car in the garage and Jesse in the house, grabbed a leash, along with my treat bag. Then I went in search of the dog, and found her still sniffing around in the green space. I got her attention and tossed some treats between us. She immediately walked over and ate the food. I offered her food from my hand, and she walked right up and took it. She wasn’t wearing a collar, so no ID tags. So I used the leash as a slip lead, easily slipped it over her head and led her back to my house. I loaded her into my car and took her to my vet to have her scanned for a microchip. The scanner didn’t read one, so I brought her back to my place. BTW, she was great in the car.

I figured she lived close by and had just gotten out somehow. She was obviously older, but in really good shape. She looked well fed, with a beautiful coat. Her teeth were worn, which along with the grey on her face, made me think she was an older girl. She was also way too calm and friendly to have been on the streets for any length of time.

Now I was in a quandary, I knew I should take her to the shelter, but it’s not exactly close and I had appointments to get to soon. I also couldn’t take her into my house, my cats would freak. Luckily, I saw my neighbor, and told him the story. He volunteered to keep her until we could figure out what to do.

When I got back, I checked on the dog. She was perfectly content and acting like it was all a big adventure. We talked about taking her to the shelter, which they were very reluctant to do. Knowing how stressful it can be on a dog, I was too. I know I should have taken her in right away, but I just couldn’t… I had a strong feeling she was from the neighborhood and we’d find her home soon. We decided to give it three days. We walked her around the neighborhood, asking everyone we saw if they knew where she lived. I posted info about her on Craigslist, facebook and twitter. I made some fliers and we posted them around the area.

Today, when we were going to take her to animal control, my neighbor got a call from the owner. She’d seen one of the fliers, while she was out putting up her own. She rushed over, from a couple blocks away, and picked up Cindy, that’s her name. They were so happy so see each other… Thank God for a happy ending!

BTW, Cindy is 11 years old, and was micro chipped as a puppy. Eleven years later, it wasn’t working. Two lessons from this:

1. Occasionally have your vet scan your pet to make sure the chip is still working.
2. Make sure your dog is always wearing a well fitting buckle collar, with ID tags.