# Had a real scare tonight someone called about the lost puppy



## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

I got a call around 8 tonight and the lady on the phone said she was calling about the lost puppy. I asked her to describe him she said red with a black beard young, really sweet personality. My heart sank and my stomach did flips. I told her it sounds like the puppy I have. I was almost in tears by this point I told her that we love him and have already vetted him the whole nine yards you know. She said around Mother's Day they left and when they came back he and the other dog were gone and that they don't have a fence. They just left the dogs in the yard. She also said they have had other dogs come up missing. I told her where I lived as she wanted to come and see if he was her dog and then she said well it sounds like he has a better home anyway, but if its him I would like closure. So I agreed to let them come see him. They were only about 5 mins away. I was so upset I the lady said if he was hers she would let me keep him anyway, but I was worried she would see him and demand him back. Well meantime my sister shows up I tell her what was going on and now we're all upset we all love him so much. We are all standing outside waiting on them to get to my house. Well, they show up a couple mins later. I walk out there with him and they first they say when they got out is "Nope that's not him". Then hubby says no our missing puppy has a black mouth and is a cur type dog. Well, when I had asked the wife earlier what was the breed she said she didn't know, but he was small red and with a black beard. I just wish she would have told me a cur type dog earlier so I would have not been so upset that I might lose Grover.

My question is should I go ahead and take down the found puppy flyers? We have already claimed him and I planned originally on keeping them up until his next shots which is around the 20th. It's only a week away. This incident tonight scared the you know what out me though and I don't want to lose him now. What's the standard on trying to find a lost dog's family before you can claim them? The vet told me the shelter only give a week, but that didn't feel right to me. I've had him for 2 wks now. What do you all think?? Take flyers down now or wait just in case his owners are looking for him??


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## Jelpy (Nov 8, 2009)

Two weeks? He's yours. I say keep him unless the owner turns up and happens to be a grandmother raising an autistic granddaughter who will only communicate with her beloved pet 'Freckles."

jelpy and the mesquite mafia


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

i agree. Two weeks he's yours. take down the flyers.


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I would take them down. (especially after two or more weeks)
He's happy, safe and settling into his new environment nicely.

It was very admirable and courageous of you to let them look though...I don't think I could be that strong.

*Rock the Grover!*


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Jelpy said:


> Two weeks? He's yours. I say keep him unless the owner turns up and happens to be a grandmother raising an autistic granddaughter who will only communicate with her beloved pet 'Freckles."
> 
> jelpy and the mesquite mafia


 

ha ha! too funny:laugh: I get what your saying though.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

KZoppa said:


> i agree. Two weeks he's yours. take down the flyers.


 
Ok will do he's already in my heart and I don't want to lose him. Tonight was too scary for me.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

JustMeLeslie said:


> Ok will do he's already in my heart and I don't want to lose him. Tonight was too scary for me.


 
he's wormed his way in and everyone seems to have accepted. You've got him. He's all yours. Flyers down.... like tomorrow! Next... throw a welcome to the family party!


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## aManicCookie (Apr 23, 2011)

Down with the flyers!


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

CarrieJ said:


> I would take them down. (especially after two or more weeks)
> He's happy, safe and settling into his new environment nicely.
> 
> It was very admirable and courageous of you to let them look though...I don't think I could be that strong.
> ...


 
I know when she described him I felt so sick to my stomach. I didn't want to let them, but it just felt like the right thing to do. If it were me I would want to at least know that my puppy had found a good home and was well taken care of. Let me tell you though I don't know how fosters do this everyday. My take my hat off to all fosters you are way stronger than me. It would have tore me all up if he'd been their dog and they wanted him back and not to mention they just left him outside in their yard with no fence or kennel so I would have been worrying constantly for his safety. 

Yes, let's all Rock the Grover!!!!:happyboogie:


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

KZoppa said:


> he's wormed his way in and everyone seems to have accepted. You've got him. He's all yours. Flyers down.... like tomorrow! Next... throw a welcome to the family party!


Oh yea, I'm taking them all down in the morning.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

aManicCookie said:


> Down with the flyers!


:thumbup:sure thing


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Is there a chance that the original owner has not come across one of your flyers yet?

Did you put them everywhere? Did you inform Vet clinics, Rescues, Shelters, Animal Control?


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## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

If I lost my dog I would be devastated. I would hope whoever found her would do their utmost to return her to me; of course I would be doing my utmost to find her too. IMO it's too early to be taking down the fliers after only two weeks just because you want to keep him; Dogs can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Considering the area you live in, I doubt the original owner is still looking- or even started looking- for the puppy. They probably think he didn't survive the two weeks. I know there aren't any shelters or rescues or animal control in your area so the effort you've made is more than most people would do.


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## wyominggrandma (Jan 2, 2011)

Take the flyers down and enjoy your new puppy. After a couple of days he would already be adopted out by most humane societies and since he was not wearing any kind of identification, seems the owners must not have been real concerned.
IF and this is a big IF somehow the original owners see him with you or in your yard in the next week or so and claim they were gone on vacation or some such garbage, just say" oh okay you can have the puppy back, but before he leaves I need reimbursement for the vet appointments, shots, worming plus $10 per day board and care since I have been keeping your pet safe all this time.".
About the time they realize they owe $300 or $400 to get him back, they will happily say" oh never mind, he wasn't our puppy anyway" and go get another puppy free somewhere else that they won't take care of.
Have fun.


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I would also consider the condition the animal was in?
Did it look like a week or so out, or longer? When I found a tiny infant kitten on the side of a busy street...it's eyes were barely opened and even then they were glued shut with the mucous of a upper respiratory thing. Loki actually found him before I did.
He weighed less than 8 oz. I also "played god's arbiter of the universe" and figured if someone owned him...letting your cat have and keep kittens outside under a vacant house was probably not the most caring owner.
I just brought him home to die in a warm safe environment...and he lived. He now lives in SF...with views of the ocean.

I used to foster kittens, haven't done puppies...but yes, it's hard. But very rewarding to see them go to a better place with a good start in life.
Now...4-H the rabbit butchering...*sigh* Nope..I'm a weenie.


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## AgileOllie (May 13, 2011)

Jelpy said:


> Two weeks? He's yours. I say keep him unless the owner turns up and happens to be a grandmother raising an autistic granddaughter who will only communicate with her beloved pet 'Freckles."
> 
> jelpy and the mesquite mafia


You made me SOL!! (Snort out Loud!)


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

It took me 19 days to find Arwen. 

I had fliers up. I visited the shelter every day for a week and then every other day. 

I went to vets, and followed every lead. 

I had ads in the paper. 

It took 19 days. The people who were feeding her, had her for a week, but they were in the next county 45 miles away. I did not think she would be so far away. 

They put an ad in their paper, which I did not see. 

I got her back because someone else was looking for her dog and came across my search. She saw their ad and looked at her and told them there was a lady in the next county looking for her dog. They called friends in my county and they looked it up in the paper. 

If you have put ads in the newspaper, called local vets, and called your dog warden/shelter, as well as putting flyers up, I think you have done all you can. I would give it another two weeks. And then take down the flyers and stop trying to find the owners.

It will be excruciating to give up the puppy, I know, but there is always the possibility that someone took that puppy in their car, thought better of it, and then dumped the poor thing. It is possible that they simply have not seen your ad. Depending on the age of the pup though, you never know, they may have already replaced the puppy. 

My girl was gone dead of winter, and I was physically sick the entire time, not knowing if she was freezing, starving, injured, or dead. It is a horrible feeling. 

These were the pictures I used on my flyer:


















My girl was not, just left outside, or unloved. She got out while I was at my parents on Christmas Day. I was up all that night looking for her. My folks came and helped me. Sometimes it is not for lack of trying we do not get our dog back. I was very, very fortunate to get her back.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

What was weird about last night when those people came up to see him. The wife described him to a T on the phone. I never spoke to the husband on the phone only the wife and she also kept repeating well if he's our dog it sounds like he has a better home. She said I just want closure if it is him she didn't say we like the hubby even cared.Then when they pulled up they kinda stared at us all at the fence waiting on them to get out and the man said "oh no, that's not him our boy had a black mouth and he described a totally different dog like a cur and the wife didn't say a word while he was describing his dog and kept petting Grover the whole time and she even hugged me while I was holding Grover. Then her husband said ok let's go while we were still talking btw and you could tell she didn't want to she hesistated and then she turned around on her way back to their car and said "go take your signs down. They don't need to be up anymore". Btw, I could smell the alcohol on the hubby too and he was the one driving scary. I kept replaying the whole incident in my head last night and today and something just seems odd to me. I think he was thier dog and the wife knew he had a better home and was loved and the hubby didn't want him back. They had lost many dogs over the yrs. b/c they just leave the dogs loose outside w/o a kennel or fence. She told me that they lose dogs all the time when they come back from being gone that they don't understand why the dogs are always gone. They expect the dogs to still be there when they come home.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Selzer, I am so glad you found Arwen.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Verivus said:


> If I lost my dog I would be devastated. I would hope whoever found her would do their utmost to return her to me; of course I would be doing my utmost to find her too. IMO it's too early to be taking down the fliers after only two weeks just because you want to keep him; Dogs can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time.


:thumbup:

Same here! If my Sinister was lost, I would tear apart the world trying to find him.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Yes, I put flyers up at the few places I could around here. We don't have alot out here and no animal control. I contacted the vets and the SPCA in the closest "big" town. I had an ad up on CL too. I looked on Pet Harbor and other sites to see if any of the lost ads matched. I even looked at lost ads that were a 100 miles away. I have talked to people around here and none knew of anyone who lost a puppy, but all of them told me that there has a surge of dumping in our area. Everyone I have spoke with has had dogs/puppies or kittens dumped on thier property or down thier road/near them here recently. I told know what's going on with people and the dumping. We have never had this many animals dumped around here and I've been in this area over 20 yrs. It's crazy.


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## DharmasMom (Jul 4, 2010)

Personally, I would take the flyers down. Yes, if my Dharma went missing I would be going crazy and wouldn't stop looking. But she also has tags AND is microchipped so if someone wanted to return her, they could.

You have done more than enough looking for this pup' owners. Sounds like it might have been them with that weird exchange but regardless, I would consider Grover yours at this point.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Yes, Grover will be microchipped too next vet visit. I went earlier today and took the flyers down. I know some may say its too soon, but I really got the vibe from those people last night that he was theirs. They just didn't want him back.


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## Sue Smart (Jul 12, 2002)

I had a similar problem when I was left with a foster - I contacted the police and they said that if I had tried for 10 days then the dog was mine. The laws will obviously be different in the UK but I'd check with them to be on the safe side.


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## Dogaroo (Mar 4, 2003)

I think the vibes you got were probably right, Leslie. It makes me sad not just for their dog(s), but for the woman. Sounds like she's in a potentially dangerous situation herself. If so, I hope she can escape before something really bad happens to her. The fact that he came along with her & did most of the talking isn't a good sign. 

Some places do have rules/guidelines regarding how long to search for an owner & what you need to do before you can claim the dog as your own. Two weeks is generally the max, I think.... many places less. Have you advertised in local papers? Had the dog scanned for a microchip? (My vet does this for me for free. Their scanner picks up all the major chips.) 

When Kaija adopted me, I discovered she was chipped & was able to trace her history. I knew she had been dumped; my grandma witnessed it. (The jerk didn't see her watching him.) When I confirmed who dumped her & did some research, I decided I definitely wanted a paper trail, so after I talked to the Animal Control Officer about what happened (he was pretty excited about having a witness & a history on a dumped dog & was gonna go have a "talk" with the guy) I registered Kaija with Animal Control & legally adopted her as soon as her legal hold time was up, just to have the paper trail in case someone came back later & tried to claim her.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Sue Smart said:


> I had a similar problem when I was left with a foster - I contacted the police and they said that if I had tried for 10 days then the dog was mine. The laws will obviously be different in the UK but I'd check with them to be on the safe side.


Well, the vet said that it's generally just a week here. I didn't call police b/c we don't have AC here and our nearest police are over 30 mins away and they don't care. This is the country for ya and if you dial 911 the ambulances and the cops don't show up for a hour or more seriously. They only patrol in the town where the station is and this is a very large county so they don't come out to edge of the county unless they just have to. It's sad.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Dogaroo said:


> I think the vibes you got were probably right, Leslie. It makes me sad not just for their dog(s), but for the woman. Sounds like she's in a potentially dangerous situation herself. If so, I hope she can escape before something really bad happens to her. The fact that he came along with her & did most of the talking isn't a good sign.
> 
> Some places do have rules/guidelines regarding how long to search for an owner & what you need to do before you can claim the dog as your own. Two weeks is generally the max, I think.... many places less. Have you advertised in local papers? Had the dog scanned for a microchip? (My vet does this for me for free. Their scanner picks up all the major chips.)
> 
> When Kaija adopted me, I discovered she was chipped & was able to trace her history. I knew she had been dumped; my grandma witnessed it. (The jerk didn't see her watching him.) When I confirmed who dumped her & did some research, I decided I definitely wanted a paper trail, so after I talked to the Animal Control Officer about what happened (he was pretty excited about having a witness & a history on a dumped dog & was gonna go have a "talk" with the guy) I registered Kaija with Animal Control & legally adopted her as soon as her legal hold time was up, just to have the paper trail in case someone came back later & tried to claim her.


Yes, I've posted in a local paper and I did have him checked for a chip when I took him to the vet the day after he showed up here. He was covered in fleas and ticks and extremely wormy. He was a mess so I immediately took him the next day for vet care. She scanned him there and nothing came up. 

I know the whole incident with them last night had me so suspicious. She was just fawning all over Grover while the hubby talked. On the phone she described him perfectly, but when they got there the hubby said nope that's not our dog. Very odd indeed. But what really got my suspicions up was like I said before she turned right before getting in thier vehicle and said to take the signs down they didn't need to be up anymore. Just too weird!!!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

JustMeLeslie said:


> Yes, I've posted in a local paper and I did have him checked for a chip when I took him to the vet the day after he showed up here. He was covered in fleas and ticks and extremely wormy. He was a mess so I immediately took him the next day for vet care. She scanned him there and nothing came up.
> 
> I know the whole incident with them last night had me so suspicious. She was just fawning all over Grover while the hubby talked. On the phone she described him perfectly, but when they got there the hubby said nope that's not our dog. Very odd indeed. *But what really got my suspicions up was like I said before she turned right before getting in thier vehicle and said to take the signs down they didn't need to be up anymore. Just too weird*!!!


 

i think from that he was hers and she just needed to see he was in a good place and that he was safe. Her husband probably dumped him. Hope she didnt get hurt because i imagine she pushed to find him and make sure he was good.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

KZoppa said:


> i think from that he was hers and she just needed to see he was in a good place and that he was safe. Her husband probably dumped him. Hope she didnt get hurt because i imagine she pushed to find him and make sure he was good.


Oh yea, that's what I think b/c she said numerous times if he is our dog I just want closure and it sounds like he has a better home. I sure hope she didn't get hurt either. I could smell alcohol on him and he was the one driving. She even hugged me when they first came up to fence while I was holding Grover. She just kept petting him and petting him the whole time.


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Sounds like you all have 'closure'- he's your pup now!


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

poor woman.


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

Stosh said:


> Sounds like you all have 'closure'- he's your pup now!


:thumbup:


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## JustMeLeslie (Sep 15, 2010)

KZoppa said:


> poor woman.


yea, I know.


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## krystyne73 (Oct 13, 2010)

Makes me think of an beautiful adult GSD I found once. He even had tags so I called the vet and they called the owner. The person on the phone said "no we don't have a dog missing" and then said let me ask my husband. Turns out they had a dog missing from their plumbing business 4 months earlier but had just decided he wouldn't be found. I found him wondering at a store parking lot and he looked very well cared for. Obviously some one had been caring for him indoors. I kept him at my house and the guy got him that day. 
I was a little mad when I found out the dog was being used as "just a guard dog". Good dog but obviously didn't have anyone searching for him with love.


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