We've acquired yet another stray...

I don't know how they find us but they always do!

DH's Grandpa died yesterday, so on the way up to SLC to go sit with the family, we get stopped at at traffic light and there is this dog wandering in and out of the stopped cars. The light was about to change, so DH hopped out and called the dog over to the sidewalk, but then it kept trying to follow him. So I pulled around the corner and parked, tried to call animal control but just got police dispatch, who was sooooooo helpful, "Well, they aren't in until Monday, so if you could just hang onto it until then..." Uh, thanks. Shelters closed early on Saturdays, so nowhere to take this dog. So, we put it in the back of the car and kept driving to SLC, since we were a bit numb and just couldn't think of a better solution, and had nowhere to keep her back at the house anyway... She hopped right in, curled up, and went to sleep. We didn't hear a peep out of her the entire drive.

As we were driving, we put an ad in the online classifieds for the local paper, which has always worked in the past, and on CL. And figured it would just be a matter of hours before someone would call on her.

When we arrived in SLC, we put her in the backyard, and everyone looked at us like we were nutty, having brought this stray dog to a completely inappropriate situation. BUT - almost everyone took a turn going out and playing with her and tossing a stick for her in the yard, just to get out of the house and have something else to focus on.

Hours passed, and still no phone calls. We ended up bringing her home and had to squeeze her into a pug kennel for the night, and let the displaced pug sleep on the big bed. We've now fitted her with an extra harness, so we can watch her (no idea about the potty training on this puppy) and had to stop at the store and get her some appropriate chewies, since she's not very old and wants to chew EVERYTHING! Her and Gracie have been playing all morning - its very funny. She's very much a puppy, all awkward and floppy, and wiggly. And is going to be good-sized dog, and really long!

Where are her people? She's so cute!

Lab/heeler cross maybe?

She's beautiful!!! I hope her owners are looking for her. I'm sorry to hear about your husband's loss-that was awfully nice of you guys to stop and help her during a stressful time!

She is so pretty, I'm sure someone is missing her! Thank you for being the people to stop, sorry about the loss of DH's grandpa...

She's one lucky pup! Hope her owners turn up. And that's the face and ears of a fox terrier if ever I saw one. With blue heeler.

And condolences on the loss.

She's a youngster!!! Is she chipped?

I'm think German Shorthair Pointer might be in the mix - or Heeler. I rarely see "hunting dogs" around here, so I could just be whacked.

Jen - so sorry to hear about your DH's grandfather.

She's a pretty girl - looks so sweet! I hope you find her home, or a new one..

She is cute! Thank you for picking her up and giving her a place to stay.

Wow, she has beautiful coloring. Too bad she is a stray.

Sorry for your loss as well.

Not a single call! What am I supposed to do with her?

The plan is to take her to the vet tomorrow and see if she's microchipped, but if not, I don't know what to do next! We tried driving around some of the neighborhoods near where we found her, but didn't see a single sign for her. Saw some signs for other missing dogs, maybe they'd take this one instead? haha Tomorrow we will also call the local vets offices to report finding her. I guess we should probably call the animal shelter, to see if someone reported her missing, but I'm afraid we'll have to turn her in if we do that. Not that I want to keep her, but I don't want anything bad to happen to her! What to do now?

P.S. She's a total puppy and has to be watched every second. Its exhausting! She tried to eat the carpet! And so far she managed to chew her bowl, and her leash, and part of the harness she is wearing, and Gracie, and my arm. And to think, I was dreaming about cute little pug puppies. Less puppy to work with, but who has the energy?

Thank you for helping her out. She's gorgeous. I hope that during her stay with you, despite it being a stressfu/painful time and it being stressful watching a puppy, that she can maybe bring some smiles and laughter. I hope you can figure out what to do with her soon, as well.

So sorry to hear of your loss - hugs to you and your DH. And huge hugs for rescuing that little cutie. Well, not so little, but awfully cute. Those paws are frighteningly large!

She's beautiful! She looks like a lab/german short-haired pointer mix to me. But who knows.

Oh man. She looks BUSY to me. She could be anything--GSP/lab/heeler/terrier. A curbstone setter for sure.

Good luck with her and finding a home. She's cute as a button, however.

I'm sorry for the loss, Jen. My condolences to you both.

Well, still no luck finding her people. Got a few calls on the ad, but all about different dogs.

We took her to the vet this morning to get scanned, but no chip was found.

Keeping her just is not a longterm option we like. Too much dog for us!

I called the shelter to see if anyone had reported her missing, but they would only tell me to call animal control. I hate to turn her in to the shelter/animal control, but isn't that the first place that people look when they lose their pets? I need advice!

What do I do?

lawpug wrote:...What do I do?

I'd make up a flyer with her picture & your phone # in every vet's office I could find. I think you said you listed her on craigslist?

People can call the pound, can you give them a flyer, too? Our pound will take a flyer while we 'foster' the dog.

I think you're doing the best you can. Maybe soon start another craigslist ad to find a home for her.

She is so adorable!

Are there any good large breed rescues in your area that would take her? I've turned over quite a few dogs to different rescues if they will take them.

Took Puppy to the dog park tonight, to get some of that energy out, and surprise of surprises - there was a dog there that could have been her twin. They looked exactly the same, except for the face - he had some white and brown on his, while hers is all black, and he was bigger, more filled out. But put the two of them together and the likeness was uncanny. The girl wanted to know what kind of dog ours was, as she wasn't sure what kind of mix he was! So funny! And so, they played like crazy animals for an hour or so, along with Gracie, Jack, some 8 wk boxer/pit/random cross the girl was fostering (so cute, little puppy, big growl = hilarious), and whatever other dogs came to visit. Gracie and Jack are exhausted, Puppy seems to be interested in doing some before-bed chewing. So much energy!

Anyway, the girl we met at the dog park is fostering that puppy for a local rescue, so I'm going to call them tomorrow and see if we can arrange something. I think they will have me drop Puppy off at the shelter, so she can possibly be reclaimed by her owners, before they can take her into rescue, but we shall see. Apparently that little puppy only got two days before the shelter decided it's time was up and the rescue could take him. Two days! That's crazy! So, definitely need a plan in place before we take her there.

Also, while we were at the park, we got a better look at her tummy. I'm wondering if she recently may have had a laparoscopic spay? She's got a little bump on her belly and closer inspection seems to look like a few stitches, and there are some bumps under the skin too, like scar tissue. Maybe? So I guess I will call some of the local vets and see if anyone has done one of those on this kind of dog lately. ????

Got nowhere with calling the vets.

BUT - was able to make contact with the rescue coordinator the girl from the park told me about. Rescue lady told me to turn pup into shelter (as required by law, apparently) and to get her the puppy's shelter ID #. The law requires a 3-day hold for owner, and if not claimed, she will go up for adoption. We can call shelter to check on her, and if not adopted in a few days, rescue can take her. In the meantime, rescue will work on arranging a foster home for busy puppy.

It's good to have a plan in place, but I felt awful taking her to jail. Such a sweetie! Way too busy and puppyish for us right now, but very, very sweet. I REALLY hope this works out. Though, I suppose, no matter what happens, it's better than her getting hit by a car while wandering the streets. So, not a total disaster, right?

I'm so conflicted.

Jen, it's way better than her being out on the streets! At least you know she is safe in there, and it won't be for long. Hopefully the resuce will be able to get her, and if not, I am sure she will get adopted. Either way, MUCH better than where she was headed.

Thanks, Saira. I've been feeling bad. And relieved, which makes me feel bad again.

Then again, Gracie is much happier now that she's figured out puppy is gone. It was stressing her out to have something wanting to wrestle her to the ground and chew on her legs ALL THE TIME. It was kinda sad to see my little pug realize that she wasn't going to be in charge if puppy stayed, due to puppy's sheer size advantage. Can't let the queen-bee feel bad!