[badtzmaruxo]

Hello, I'm new to this forum. I actually just registered because on the way home from work today (about 2AM) I encountered a "stray" in the middle of the road. He's tame (hasn't growled or tried to bite) but not overly friendly. He had a plastic "no scratching" cone on his neck (like the kind vets put on animals after surgeries but I can't find any reason why. It's a male. I don't know if he's been fixed, but I can see his... ahem, danglies. He's not interested in food (cat food), but did drain a water dish. I refilled it, but he's ignoring it now, so I guess he's not too thirsty. I took the cone off and gave the poor thing a "bath" with baby shampoo (it's what we use on the cats) but he's got so many matts on his chest and legs I just can't get him clean. I've owned dogs all my life, but I've never had to deal with a rescue before. He must belong to someone in the area, but I don't know how to go about reuniting him and his owners. My boyfriend is looking up shelters in the Tampa Bay (Florida) area at the moment, but it seems most of them take reports of lost/found animals but do not take the animal itself. I have two kittens that are NOT happy at the moment and I am not equiped to care for a dog.
Any advice would be great.
Thank you.

Here's a picture of the little guy (if it works). Can anyone tell me what breed it is?
[IMG][/IMG]

[Whirling Dervish]

Bless you for keeping him even with your cats. He's cute, too. There are a few things you can do:

-If you think he's from the area, take a photo and post it at local vet offices (you probably knew that one :-). Also the grocery store and library.
-See if you can determine his breed and contact breed rescue--all of them should have a rescue organization. Even if you can't keep him they will find a foster.
-Definitely get him a vet checkup (especially if he isn't eating) and explain your issues to the doc. Sometimes they will take a dog for awhile. My local vet has several hospital "pets" and they're very happy. :-)

I'll think of some others and post them as they come to me.

[Benji]

You should get ahold of Joe Camp (The creator of the Benji movies). He's huge into rescued animals. In fact, all his Benji dogs were rescued pets.

Well, maybe he wouldn't want another, but the idea is there is some high profile support for rescued pets.

I suppose you could do the poster thing - some smaller radio stations might provide a 'pet patrol' kind of announcement for lost and found pets. Maybe a classified ad.

Maybe you could tell I like Benji. Perhaps a personal bias - but we're all mutts in some way or another.

Good luck.

[badtzmaruxo]

Thanks for the advice.
I thought he might lead me home, but he just wants to mark EVERYTHING in the apartment complex. He's not taking me anywhere yet.
I'm having fliers made and I'll be taking him to a vet to see if he's microchiped.
I'm calling vets in the area to see if maybe they know him. I'll also contact the local papers to see if they'll run a FOUND ad for me. I'm letting animal services and all the shelters know that we found a dog. Hopefully, he's being looked for and they'll find him that way.
Thank you for all your help.

[badtzmaruxo]

So I had all of these things planned to get this dog to his home.
I was making fliers, calling vets, going to see if he was microchipped, the works.

The first thing I wanted to do was to call all the shelters that I could and at least report a found dog. That way if the owner was looking for him, a shelter would have some info.

So I did a Google search for all of the shelters in the area and started calling.
Now I know why there are so many strays.
Everything is automated. Hardly any actual people work at these shelters. Unfortunately, since it's automated and most don't have answering machines, it's very difficult to report a lost/found dog. Besides, they don't even take them. The ones that do don't seem to be happy about it. This is what I got from the phone calls I made that didn't just direct me to call Animal Services or the Humane Society. The people may say different, but this is what the automated systems say.
The Humane Society only picks up pets that people don't want any more by appointment. They don't take drop offs of strays. I could not report a found animal. Oh, and at 11:45 on Thursdays, the Humane Society is closed. Yep, closed.
Animal Services will take an animal you bring in (they will not pick up) and only house it for 5 days. The first time you bring an animal in, there's a $50 fee. The second time, it's more. And there's an $8 per day housing fee, no matter what.
I got tired of machines so I tried to talk to a human being at Animal Services. I was on hold forever and when I was about to talk to someone, I was disconnected. Twice.
So I called again and praise be to Jesus I actually got through to someone. She was very nice (even after I blurted out "I want to report a found dog!" before I could get disconnected again). She asked me what kind of dog it was. I told her that it looked like a poodle thing and that he might have terrier in him, too. She asked what color he was. I said grey. She said "hmm." Then she said someone called that morning looking for his grey poodle. I asked her if he had a cone around his neck and she said yes! I said "I have his dog!" because I'm an excitable and mentally challenged 5 year old. She did not have his owner's information (? uh... duh?) but she took mine and said she was sending someone to come get him. Turns out, he didn't have his collar on him because the guy was giving him a bath when he got out. He's filthy because he was also wet.

Huzzah! I've got the day off from work to wait for Animal Services to come and take him (eventually, when they find out where he lives) home.
It will make my cats VERY happy to see him go.
Though I have to admit, it was kinda neat to see them both arched up and poofy tailed.
We keep the cats in the bedroom while we're at work. When we came home last night, I put the dog in the bathroom first and then let the kitties out. Normally, they scatter, but yesterday they stopped in the doorway and puffed up immediately. I'd never seen that before, so it was neat for me.

[GSD lover]

You are an incredible person for picking up that dog and taking care of it and trying so hard to find its owner. We need more people like you in the world! Keep us updated!

[Benji]

Yeah, kuddos. I have a mother-in-law that would snatch a dog that's just outside of the owners land. She's got a huge softspot for pets and has rescued (or kidnapped ) more than a dozen animals over the last year.

If they're on the streets - she's certain they require her help.
Gotta love her - but, hey if you're ever in my neck of the woods make sure your pet is never out of your sight.

[sheltieluver4]

Ok 4 sure there is poodle up in there, but thats all i can say

[ThxForNothing]

That dog soo looks like a Poodle x Schnauzer.

[Mastiffmom]

So glad to hear this has a happy ending! Bless your heart for taking him in !!

Our old rescue was found along side a busy road in the western burbs of Chicago. Thin and filthy . Luckily the animal control there contacted the rescue we volunteer for and that's how he ended up here! Lucky us! I did do searches for lost dogs. He is SO, so sweet, I just couldn't imagine someone dumping an old boy.......come to find out I guess it happens all the time......but sure enough I never found any lost ads. Much to my relief! They would have to pry him from my dead hands

[iamcool1109]

hmm... it looks like a miniature poodle..... maybe a pure, maybe a schnoodle?
the elizabethan collar definitely says that this dog was probably a well-loved pet. contact all the authorities you can find, and usually, at the shelters, there should be a book with many lost dog/found dog ads in it.

contact the local vet, and see if there are any records of a poodle mix with stitches or an enflamed body part. a vca clinic can contact most of the other vca clinics, to see if the dog was taken to any of those.

[choochoo2005]

yes it looks like a schnoodle......i find stray pets alot.....
you need to first of all find out what breed it is.
then consult with your vet.
learn all you can about the breed.
post flyers,put a fyler in the classifieds of your local newspaper.
get him dog food.....that dogs eat.......and keep the water out even though he ignores it.
give him tons of love.
of course if you have a female dog or your boyfriend does keep the schnoodle away because apparently he's not neutered.

i hoped my info helped ... and good luck to you and the little guy.

[choochoo2005]

uhh sry i didnt read all the threads before writing my reply.....well then.

GREAT JOB....your a great person....that dog was probly very thankful that you came along..well done