LOOK what we found! DUW

[Barbel]

So my sister found this AMAZING dog roaming the streets in our neighborhood. She has to be the happiest dog on Earth! We so want to keep her because she has the greatest personality and is so playful, but unfortunately my dogs are dog aggressive and are not liking her. She just loves being around people so much and just makes you smile. Just so full of love and energy. She's a bit emaciated, but seems to otherwise be healthy. If anyone in Az would like an awesome pit mix or knows a RESPONSIBLE person that wants one, please let me know.

 

[Kellyr]

That has to be the sweetest little face I have ever seen!! Did the dog belong to someone? Did she recently have puppies?
She is too pretty, those eyes..

 

[Barbel]

I'm pretty sure that she has had puppies at some point, but she is all dried up now. I am also pretty sure that she belonged to someone, because she is so social and playful (she'll fetch), but I think that they dumped her off. She is so friendly and wants to be around people so much and she follows everyone around. I think that if she ran off she would have gone back to where she lives. She just doesn't roam far. I know she's been on her own for a while, because she is so skinny. She also didn't have a collar, we put that one on her.
I hope we can find a home for her soon!

 

[Kellyr]

I hope you do too. I wish I lived there I would take her!!! I hope her puppies made out alright!
Good luck with her, maybe your dogs will warm up to 'er? You never know....

 

[gitrdone0420]

Based on her pictures, she doesnt look skinny at all, she actually looks to be at a very healthy precise weight. Although you think that she doesnt belong to someone, I would highly recommend you attempt to find an owner. I know that I would be heartbroken if my dogs got out and someone just kept them. It might help if you get her scanned for a microchip, which they can do at a local vet clinic. If she is microchipped, tracking down her owner will be much easier. Good luck in your search

 

[BrilliantEraser]

Oh, she's beautiful! And she's not skinny at all -- she's very lean, and in very good shape. I agree with Melanie -- try your hardest to find if she has an owner. If not, well, I wish I lived in Arizona because I would take her in a HEARTBEAT!

 

[Barbel]

Looking at her pics she doesn't look that thin, but in person, she definitely needs to gain some weight. You can see her spine and ribs. Some people in our neighborhood said they saw her running around a couple months ago, so she has been on her own for a while. As far as her previous owners, honestly I don't think they deserve her. My sister was working with her on training and she said that she would cower and try to hide sometimes. Plus she isn't spayed, which we are going to do before finding her a home. With as many foreclosures as we have around here, all the rescues and shelters are full, so a lot of people are dumping their pets. We did look on craigslist and in some common flyer areas for missing pit mixes, but didn't find any that fit her description. I am sure we can find a responsible person to love her.

 

[goReptiles]

She looks to be a healthy weight. Most vets will recommend that you see a little ribs and spine, not too much though.

Some owners just let their dogs out. That could be what the person saw. Just because a dog was roaming, doesn't mean that it's a stray. Some owners are just irresponsible when it comes to letting their dogs in a fenced yard versus the street.

You need to put something in the paper, ask the pound, get her checked for a microchip, etc. It's irresponsible of you to not check. If I remember correctly, by law you're not allowed to rehome a "stray" until it's been to a city pound or animal control for the rightful owners to pick up the dog.

By the way, my cousin found a dog he thought was a stray, but it really had an owner. The vet said that the particular dog had actually came in with 3 other people 3 different times thinking the dog was a stray. Each time they call the owners to come get the dog. He was going to keep the dog, until he realized that it really had an owner.

 

[Shera]

ITA, you really need to search for her owner. I'd bring her to the pound. She looks very healthy to me. My family dog (when I was a kid) used to get loose all the time and roam around. I would have been heart broken if someone kept him.

If you are worried they might put her down for lack of space (do they even do that anymore?), then leave your number and have them contact you if it comes to that.

 

[Barbel]

I don't want to debate over this, but we have decided not to look for the owner as A) we are quite certain that she was abandoned and B) they don't deserve her anyway. When it comes to pet ownership, I have extremely high standards, particularly when it comes to dogs and more particularly when it comes to pit bulls, as to who should own them honestly most dog owners should not be dog owners. If you let your dog "escape" and let it roam the neighborhood regularly, then you are not a responsible owner. Especially if you let an intact dog run around without a collar and without tags, you definitely have no business owning a dog. We took her in and are sheltering and feeding her, so she has become our responsibility and we are going to do what we think is right with her. That is all I am going to say about the topic.

 

[JordanAng420]

She's beautiful.

And I know you don't want to debate this topic, but you happened to bring up a very touchy subject with a lot of us. I totally understand that you think these people don't deserve their dog back. I would tend to agree they probably don't. But that's NOT your decision to make, if this dog does in fact have an owner. In fact, if you find out it DOES have an owner, you can be in a lot of trouble if you refuse to give it back.

I have HUNDREDS of people who I see every day, with their dogs and cats, who don't deserve to own a freaking earthworm. However, I don't have a right to step in and say, "I'm not giving you your dog back this time, because I don't think you take care of it". My responsibility is to educate the owner about the RIGHT thing to do. These days you can get your pet spayed or neutered for as little as $10. Oh, and about 60% of the clients I see have intact dogs that run around their neighborhoods. Still, the dogs are OWNED, regardless of weather a law is being broken or not. And if it is, then you need to let the authority figures in your area deal with it. Not you.

 

[BrilliantEraser]

But that's NOT your decision to make, if this dog does in fact have an owner. In fact, if you find out it DOES have an owner, you can be in a lot of trouble if you refuse to give it back.

+1

Even if you think a person does not deserve their animal, there are ownership laws in place! It's frustrating for everyone who works with animals, believe me. I work at a dog groomer's in my off-time, and I cannot tell you the sheer number of dogs I want to keep, because I think the owner does not deserve them. It's not my place to do so, though. All I can do is file a report with animal control. Honestly, I think it's the same thing you should do, in this case.

 

[JordanAng420]

On a side thought, the veterinary technician in me tells me you're keeping the dog anyway. So here's my best advice.

-Take the dog to the vet. It's your decision if you want to have it scanned for a microchip. But you can't have one implanted with your information until you find out if she has one or not.
-Get the dog a set of vaccines including rabies, have a fecal checked and a heartworm test run. If negative, put the dog on heartworm prevention every month to protect against this deadly disease. Also, look into getting some flea prevention while you're there...
-Have the vet tell you if they think she's spayed or not. If they say she's not, make an appointment to have her spayed. There are places that will do it for next to nothing.
-Socialize her...take her to a dog park by herself, or to one of those "chain stores" that allow pets...but only AFTER she's had a set of vaccines and has been spayed. Socialization is very important!

I wish you luck.

 

[goReptiles]

It's irresponsible of you not to look. You can't judge everyone on your standards. I agree that better care should have been taken to keep the dog within a fence, but sometimes accidents happen. You can't take someone's pet, even you yourself claim has been a pet because you feel like it. The dog is in good appearance, behaves, and has a good temperament, you're very likely stealing someone's pet with little care or thought.

What if your dog's got out and someone decided not to find you. You'd probably be upset, especially if you ran into the dog with another person one day.

Your attitude would be like me saying, "you feed your dog alpo, sorry I'm taking it from you even though you probably love the dog and care for it as best as you can otherwise, and the dog is very happy and loved." I'm pretty anal about how my dogs are cared for and have gone above and beyond what most would for my APBT, but I don't have the right to look down on anyone who won't do for their dog what I have done for mine.

You have no clue as to what caused the dog to get out of the fence or house. You can't judge what you don't know.

I'm ditto-ing Maia... You're not going to listen, but not one has given you the right to tell someone they can't have their dog because because you don't think they're caring for it properly. You have no clue how they were caring for it, and have no clue how the dog got out. It could have slipped out or been let out on accident. It's really possible.

Definitely a touchy subject, sorry you're getting bombarded like this, but it seems the majority feels you're doing the wrong thing by the other people. The dog appears to have been taken care of, loved, and socialized to some degree as it is friendly to strangers.

I would understand keeping the dog without a care of finding the owners, if she was skin and bones, but a little rib and spine is perfectly fine, as like I said many vets will actually tell you that your dog is overweight if you can't see a little rib. My cousin was told her two lab mixes were overweight and she needed to trim them so that you could see a little rib, they are average 45-50 pounds, if that, and look no where overweight.

 

[Barbel]

Well this will be the last time I share something like this on here...

Honestly, I don't care what you all think about our decision. I have the chance to give a beautiful dog the home she deserves not one she has to be stuck in. I also never said anything about refusing to give her back to her owners, we are just not going to actively seek them out. My sister takes her on one hour walks twice a day and no one knows who she is, or who she belongs to. If we happen upon the owners we will of course have to give her back.

I don't allow my dogs the opportunity to escape or run away. We took the time to properly secure our yard and they are always leashed when leaving the house. If in the rare event they were to get away from us they are trained to come when called. Also my dogs have tags and all our neighbors know who they are so they would be returned.

JordAnge thanks for the advice, but I know how to take care of a dog. We already applied for a free spay voucher from the county, at which time a vet will also give her an exam. Once she has healed from her surgery, we will look for her a permanent home.

We have decided to do what's right for the dog and NOT what is right for the person. If that upsets some of you, oh well. Nothing you say will make me feel bad or guilty about our decision.

 

[gitrdone0420]

This will be a shame if she does actually belong to someone.
Yea, I have taken the time to secure my dogs with an invisible fence. All my dogs are microchiped and have collars and tags as well. However, my stupid lab will not stay within the boundaries. We have double collars on her and she still gets out and roam. She is also trained to come when called, and she does. But that doesnt stop her from going through the fence. There is not much more I can do, Ive had the trainers come out numerous times to train her and work with her and she doesnt care.
So now, we can only let her out to leash walk her.
my point is, stuff happens. Animals get out.
That dog in the photos does not look like an unhealthy animal that was horribly owned. I feel very bad for the owners if there are any since you want to keep the dog, just because she is a nice dog.
Im sorry, but you wont find a stray that is just a nice dog.
And on another note, Maia wasnt telling you how to take care of dogs, she was giving you advice on what the best course of action was since your mind was already made up. She is a veterinary technician, as am I and we both see a lot of people who are clueless on regular dog maintanence. Its good that you know how to take care of a dog, but she doesnt know what you know and she was only trying to help.
I have numerous clients that "Know how to take care of a dog", yet their dogs arent on flea and hw control.
But whatever. Have fun with your new dog.

 

[Shera]

:main_no: This thread makes me sad.

 

[goReptiles]

:main_no: This thread makes me sad.

I'm sad, as well. I feel sorry for the owners of this dog, as the dog was not mistreated or in ill conditions. Accidents happen, even though precautions may have been made. It's not to the judgement of one person to deem a person a bad owner when the person does not know the original care of the animal. Now, if the person knew the care of the animal and it was truly bad, then by all means, but in this case, it's a case of a person deeming something she does not know just becuase she thinks she's a better pet owner than someone who probably just made a mistake or hasn't had a chance to find the best way to keep the dog in the yard. Just because her dogs haven't gotten out, doesn't mean they never will, and in a way it'd be karma if someone kept the dog and wouldn't try to find her (the original owner who does love her dogs). Maybe not all precaution have been tried or the dog keeps finding a new way out. No one will know, but the owners will probably never get their dog back.

This is not a mistreated dog by any means, and she probably would appreciate being with her original owners, especially if someone spent the time trying to help the owners keep the dog in the yard. Maybe they can't figure the best way to fix the problem and what they've tried hasn't worked so they're still working, or they don't know the problem.

My aunt's dog kept getting out of the yard, but when she came home, the dog was back in the yard. She didn't know until the neighbor behind her told her that the dog was getting out.

Barbel, you don't know what the owner has done to try to keep the dog in; so you can't say that they haven't tried. It's not right to keep the dog without trying to find the owner first.

 

[Barbel]

Have fun with your new dog.

you're keeping the dog

As I have stated multiple times, WE ARE NOT KEEPING THE DOG FOR OURSELVES! She is getting spayed then we are finding a loving home for her. One where she will be loved and provided the best of care.
If her previous owners love her so much and want her so much and miss her so much, why aren't they looking for her? Where are the "lost dog" ads on craigslist and backpage? Why aren't there any fliers up around the neighborhood? How come they haven't been knocking on doors asking if anyone has seen her? I am home all day; I would know if someone came looking! People have seen her out wandering around for months.
But, I guess I am the horrible, heartless one. Next time I see a wandering dog, I'll just leave it there.

 

[goReptiles]

Maybe they are looking. Not everyone knocks on doors. Maybe they've called and looked at animal shelters. Maybe they've asked around. Maybe they don't have the internet. Maybe they're are work. There are a lot of maybe's, it's not all black and white. Look for the gray.

If the dog had been wandering for months, she wouldn't be in as good of shape as she is in.

Trust me, I've lost a dog before, and searched for him. Got leads, followed up. Posted fliers. Never got my dog back. The person who found him, should have returned him. I also know someone who lost her dog because it got out of the yard when. The other dogs returned, but someone picked up the red nosed APBT, they didn't search for her owners; after weeks they finally got their dog back because someone who knew someone said something to the person who ended up with Cali and the original owners got the dog back. It's heart breaking losing a dog, and sometimes even when you do what you can think of, you may not get the dog back. What's sad is when someone knows they have someone's dog and won't try to find the owners.

I found a stray in my neighborhood. We tried for about 4 weeks to find the owners, and eventually adopted her out. Sometimes it happens that way to, but you have to try. It's the right thing. The dog was cared for, so you can't say it's from mistreatment you don't care to find the owners.

Do whatever you're going to do which it sounds like you don't care to find the owners or try to, but at least we've gotten a chance to voice our opinions to a brick wall.