A few weeks back I wrote a post about responsibility, if you missed it you can read it here.
My intention this morning was a half hour morning walk and then another half hour, forty-five minute walk this afternoon.
Alas the best laid plans……
We were joined this morning by Brady and his mom, and then shortly after we were joined by three more dogs.
Just dogs. No person.
The dogs were the ones I wrote about in this earlier post. But their human was nowhere to be found. I’m pretty sure I heard her whistle a couple of times, but she never called for the dogs, and she never showed her face.
There are two entrances to the park. We noticed a vehicle at one entrance, which is the one Brady and his mom use. The next time we approached the area, there was no vehicle. But we still had two extra dogs.
Both dogs had collars on, but there weren’t any tags to identify them.
I called them:
White Dog
And
Brown Dog
At first I couldn’t place the dogs, but eventually I remembered the woman and how the two brown dogs (not to be mistaken for the 2Brown Dawgs) had taken off on her the last time. I thought maybe she had parked at the entrance I use, so I told my friend I would try to take the dogs with me and see if she was waiting.
She wasn’t.
I didn’t know what to do. I text my friend and asked her if any vehicles were up her way.
There weren’t.
I then asked her for Brenda’s number so I could call and let them know I had two of the dogs, but Brenda didn’t answer.
The white dog left, but the little brown dog stayed near me and took little bits of kibble from me. I tried to get him into the car so I could at least bring him home and put him in the fenced yard, but he wouldn’t do it.
I put Sampson and Delilah in the car and started walking back up the hill, hoping I could get the dogs to follow me, but the brown dog wandered off too.
Since they didn’t answer to white dog and brown dog, there wasn’t too much I could do.
So as much as I hated it, I got in my car and left.
About an hour and forty-five minutes later my friend text me and said they WERE Brenda’s friend’s dogs and they were at home, safe and sound.
I’m not kidding when I say this woman LEFT the area, without her dogs and was gone a minimum of an hour. Not to mention her dogs have no form of identification on them!
Sampson and Delilah ALWAYS have a tag with their name, my name and my cell phone number on it, even in the house.
Because you just never know!
When we were in the process of trying to sell our old house, during one of the showings the prospective buyer let Sampson out. OUT. Not in the yard where it was fenced, no out in the front which was very close to the busy street.
Luckily for us our neighbor saw him just walking around and was kind enough to get him and put him inside the fence. Thank god we didn’t have Delilah at the time because that would have been a whole different story!
If our neighbor hadn’t seen him, at least he would have had a tag with a phone number to call.
What about your dog, does your dog have tags? What kind? Do they wear one all the time, or only when you are out?
Oh and Happy St. Paddy’s day, we had a yummy corned beef dinner!!
That is sad. I don’t know what to do about these things either. I want to be a good citizen and help when I can, but I also don’t want dogs walking around off-leash, especially in areas where children frequent.
Yes, or older people too. They were nice dogs and weren’t jumping or aggressive but it’s still not right. 🙁
What a great post! I just don’t understand people who don’t put tags on their dogs. It’s people who don’t put tags on their dogs who are most likely to have dogs that run away anyways – at least it seems so! Just plain irresponsible. I would have a heart attack if mine got out and didn’t have tags on. Mine is micro chipped either way…
I don’t understand it either, I would lose my mind if I couldn’t find mine immediately. I like the micro chip, but I’m not sure if my animal control has a scanner or they would have to take the dog to the vet, which would take longer to get them back. At least with the tag then animal control or whoever found the dog could call immediately.
It saddens me how lightly people treat their animals.
Thank you for stopping by and for the comment. 🙂
I had a dog trainer tell me i was endangering my dogs’ lives by leaving a collar and tags on them all the time because of the danger of the collar getting caught and causing them to choke. I thought about and weighed that against their getting out of the house or yard and decided that while I had never heard of a dog choking on a collar (I’m sure it happens) I have heard of many dogs getting loose.
I wonder if anyone else feels the way the trainer does about having the collar and tags on all the time.
I did consider a break away collar but then thought since my dogs aren’t really all that active unless we are home it is better to have the collar. Besides, if there is ever a fire or anything you will need to have a way to secure your dog.
I’m sure people feel the same way as the trainer, I know that Brenda that I spoke of doesn’t have any type of collar on her dogs.
I’m with you Jan, I’ve heard of many dogs getting lose, I want my dog back if it ever happens.
That woman’s irresponsibility really pisses me off.
My dog doesn’t wear her collar in the house, which really scares me if she gets loose. But I had no choice w/her, as her skin is so sensitive & gets really irritated when I leave it on. It’s been ever since she was a puppy
I could never leave the area if I lost Flo… I would be out of my mind with worry! She doesn’t always have a collar on when we’re at home but if I go out and leave her in the garden I put her collar and tag on just in case!
I’m sure those dogs are having a great time wandering around. But they’ve been very lucky. I hope, if their person doesn’t wise up, they continue to be lucky.
In reply to Jan’s comment about collars being dangerous, I can attest to the danger. Years ago in a wrestling bout, Agatha’s tooth caught Christie’s buckle collar. The more they struggled the more caught they got and Christie was choking. The only tool we could find in a hurry was a kitchen knife which my husband managed to use to cut off Christie’s collar without hurting anyone.
So I routinely remove Honey’s collar in the house unless I see some other threat that’s greater. Anything that raises the possibility of Honey ending up outside on her own counts as a greater risk. She’s far more likely to end up hit by a car on the street if she got out than to get trapped by her collar in the house.
Do you have any thoughts on what you’ll do next time you see these dogs on their own, Jodi?
My dogs don’t wear collars in the house because the collars chafe holes in their neck. I’ve tried nylon, I’ve tried leather, and I’ve even tried the comfort harness. They always get a big huge red sore in the same part of their neck.
They do wear a collar when out, and I’m hoping to get them microchips.
Oh yes, our dogs have tags with their name and our phone number on them. We had both of our dogs get out of the back yard while we were having some construction done on our detached garage many years ago. I was in the hospital visiting Carter who was in the NICU and could not get home quickly. Luckily one of our neighbors saw and recognized them and brought them back home.
I can’t imagine letting them run loose!
Some people are just nuts… I know there are plenty of dogs that do make their way home just fine, but I hate to see them near busy streets. When I can I stop and call owners if they have a tag. And after we had a string of dogs show up at our kennel randomly we decided to get a microchip kit so we could offer it to our clients and any other neighbors that may want it.
My own dogs usually have a collar on with our number on a plate attached to the collar. I have been meaning to look into getting some official hanging tags for them though, maybe some of the cool ones that have a lost ID connected to them too. Wyatt is also microchipped, and Luna has a tattoo on her inner thigh with her AKC number which my info is connected to. I may end up microchipping her too, but they move so I kinda like the tattoo idea more. Can never be too safe, but at the same time this is why I also have an e-collar on my dogs anytime we are off the property running. I can’t imagine just leaving them and letting them find their way back though when I brought them someplace.
Anna
http://www.akginspiration.com
Running loose is not good especially with no kind of identification. I do hope she wises up and gets her dogs on a leash.
All my dogs are micro-chipped, they have i.d. tags with their name, my phone number and city on them, a rabies tag, and a license tag. Now they do not wear their collars in the house for a couple of reasons, they wrestle to much and there is a risk of someone getting choked and it causes them to have what I call collar neck, wears the hair off and it doesn’t look good for the show ring. They wear them when we are out but I do remove them when they are in the vehicle in their crates so they don’t get caught. It’s not the getting caught on something that chokes them as its the freaking out and them trying to pull away.
I do know of dogs getting their collars caught and choking to death. He was outside and jumped up on the fence and his collar got caught and he hung himself, terrible slow way to die.
Our dogs do not wear collars at home or in the car, but they do when they are working or training away from home. They are also chipped.
I cannot understand a person who leaves their dogs. I understand you wanting to sure they were safe, but boy that sure gives that owner a pass for her behavior. Not really sure what the answer is there.
Thanks for the shout out…lol.
I cannot understand a person who leaves their dogs 🙁
ok, seriously? what the heck is wrong with people? oh my god. i can’t even deal with this.
we are SO paranoid about desmond running away or getting lost forever, that he wears his ID tag w/our phone number & his name on it & his rabies tag on one keyring and then he wears his blanketID on a separate keyring–just in case one falls off or something. plus, he’s microchipped. and his info on blanketID and HomeAgain is always up to date.
i don’t even let desmond go out in our fenced-in yard w/o his collar on!