Stray or Lost Dog, Treat Them all as Lost

Some people have a Pied Piper effect on animals and are always finding strays or unwanted critters following them home. In busy areas or really remote areas, it is best to get them off the street, but don’t buy them a bed just yet. Not all wondering souls are in need of a new home. Some dogs make it their goal in life to hack every attempt at keeping them inside a fence. And sometimes a door or gate gets left open or unlatched and Fido finds it and goes on an adventure. Either way, it is a sickening feeling to come home and find your dog missing so keep that in mind the next time you “save a stray.”

One day I got a call from my brother saying he had just found a dog wandering around and decided to bring it inside. No collar, no tags and my brother didn’t know what to do. He is a dog lover, just not well versed in their care.

Unfortunately, the poor dog already got into it with his roommates dog and got his faced used as a pin cushion by his cat. I arrived a few hours later and met the little stray armed with chews, leashes, harness, and gentle leader. She was a beautiful blond and strawberry spaniel mix.

“Don’t you think she has a bit of pit bull in her,” my brother asks, “I’m calling her Corn.”

“No,” I reply, “None at all. Spaniel.”

“I really want to keep her,” he presses.

She was skinny, but clean, and her teeth were whiter than mine. No way she’d been a stray for long. She was loved as I told my brother, NO! Somewhere, someone was looking for this beautiful girl and he needed to take her to a local shelter so the owners would have a chance at finding her.

So the next day, my brother took her to the local animal shelter. A few hours later they called him to report that her family had gone on vacation and she had pushed her way past the house-sitter and ran off.

Who knows this may have even been their agility dog! They did their best to keep the dog in a safe and familiar place while they were on vacation by leaving her home with a house-sitter. I cannot even imagine the pain and fear they were going through when they came home and found her missing.

It’s always good to hear the stories like this that have happy endings, isn’t it? I hear a lot of happy rescue stories, but so often when I see a rescued stray/ abandoned/ lost dog I wonder if that dog has another name and another bed, and someone, somewhere is left holding an empty leash with an empty heart.