How Do You Know When a Dog is Really Lost

MsFifers

A couple of days ago a little dog I hadn't seen in my neighbourhood before followed me for miles when I was out for a walk. Another man out walking told me the dog had been hanging around for quite a while and he was wondering too where it belonged. I thought maybe I should bring him home, but when I got back the dog ran off after some other walkers and latched onto them instead. He was in good condition and well fed looking, so I figured he was probably ok. No sign of him the next morning.

Got me thinking though - how do you know when to intervene? I'm always reading here about people finding lost dogs and taking them in and being helpful etc:). But anytime I see a dog without any owner I usually reckon the dog has just gone for a wander and if I were to call the dog warden then it could end up being a bad outcome for the dog.

I've also known a few dogs who are allowed to roam, and who love to go for walks with people and just latch onto anyone who is around.

I've never had a pet dog so I don't feel I can read dog body language - so how do you tell if a dog is lost or frightened etc? What advice do people have about when to you see a dog wandering around?

adser53

Great question but I don't think there's a straighforward answer. A newly lost/abandoned dog often looks healthy but can be slightly distressed and it's hard to tell if it is actually lost or just out for a wander. You'd spot a dog thats been lost for a few days straightaway as they'd be thin, dirty, nervous and visibly distressed. I've had this happen before too and all I could do was go home and frequently return to where the dog was. If he's there all the time and his condition wasn't stable/improving I'd take it that he's lost and not just out wandering from a nearby house. Does that make sense???

They should really have a collar with contact details
then you would be able to ring and check

rebel10

Ya its difficult to know. I would imagine it would depend alot on the type of dog too. If i was out walking and saw a king charles, westie, shih tzu or any small breeds that would rarley be seen as an outside dog, i would probably bring them home. Reason being that these breeds aren't generally very "worldly" and may be hit by a car or something.

I remember driving down a country road before with my friend and all of a sudden a westie popped out of the ditch. I picked him up and walked to the nearest house, asked there if they knew who owned him. They told me that he had been hanging around the house for about a week because their dog was in heat. They told me to leave him there because a neighbour would probably pop round looking for him at some stage. I was reluctant, but i suppose no harm could come to him if he was hanging around their place.

My sister-in-law works for a dog shelter. She has been talking alot recently about people who have been dumping dogs everywhere because they can't afford to keep them anymore:( They cannot be even bothered bringing them to a shelter themselves:mad: Even if you go to the trouble of posting up "found dog" signs, they will more than likely ignore them and you are stuck with their dog.

My best advice would be to judge the individual circumstance, if it is unlikely that this dog would be outside, roaming on their own, call into a vet, get them scanned to see if they are micro-chipped, if not, put up a few signs, look after the dog for a week or so and if nobody turns up, bring the dog to a shelter where it can be re-homed. Thats just what i would do, i could be wrong though.

stupidusername

If the dog looks like it needs help and/or doesn't seem to take any notice of traffic I would want to bring it home, then ring animal welfare. I wouldn't be too bothered about whether or not it actually belongs to someone as if it does these are the places the owners should be looking anyway.

I have recognised two dogs that are in need of help and have done as much as i can to help. One JR i brought home with me, as he was dirty and wet, and following everyone around town, and he didn't have much awareness of traffic. It's just as well I did as he was underfed and had obviously been abused.He's now being rehomed with a family. The other dog is too terrified of people to be able to catch him, so while I'm waiting for animal welfare to pick him up, I've been feeding him for more than a month.

I would assume a dog without a collar is probably homeless / has been dumped. Though I know a few dogs that I see wandering that don't have collars, and they do have a home. Generally you'd just have a look at how clean they are, do they look like they need some medical attention and how they react to people. I would say that a dog that is terrified of people needs help. And I'd also say that a dog that follows people around for a long time needs help too. Although this is just in my experience.

toadfly

Ya its a hard one, I got a call aboout 6 months back that my dog was wandering around our estate (couldnt figure out how she got out) so left work to go get her and it was a different yorkie. I very nearly ran her over coming into the estate so decided the best best was to stick her into the house until I got home from work so she would be safe. She had a collar but no tag. Turned out she belonged to my neighbour so all worked out.

A friend of mine is minding a pup at the min, she was found straying on Monday. We have plastered the lost and found sites, let the guards and warden know so if we dont hear anything in a few days and cant rehome her ourselves she will be going to a rescue. She is only about 3 months old so should be no problem rehoming her. brought her to the vet as well - no chip!

tk123

TillyGirl wrote: »

brought her to the vet as well - no chip!

GAH!!! Why do people not get them chipped?!?!?!? As some of you will know our guy (who is 1 today lol) cut his paw 2 weeks ok so we've been back and forth to the vets... Anyhoos last week somebody was leaving in a yorkie for xrays and the were asked the usual question

Nurse -"do you need anything else done/checked while she's knocked out"
Owners - "Like what"
Nurse - "well she could be microchipped?"
Owners - "on no she doesn't need that"

I hate to bite my tongue!!!


I found a dog in work - I knew he was lost because my workmate had been in at 2:00am (IT on-call) and had seen the dog and the next day at lunch he strolled by the window. He was really skinny and mucky so I brought him to the vets - and guess what? No chip!! :rolleyes:

Graces7

tk123 wrote: »

GAH!!! Why do people not get them chipped?!?!?!? As some of you will know our guy (who is 1 today lol) cut his paw 2 weeks ok so we've been back and forth to the vets... Anyhoos last week somebody was leaving in a yorkie for xrays and the were asked the usual question

Nurse -"do you need anything else done/checked while she's knocked out"
Owners - "Like what"
Nurse - "well she could be microchipped?"
Owners - "on no she doesn't need that"

I hate to bite my tongue!!!


I found a dog in work - I knew he was lost because my workmate had been in at 2:00am (IT on-call) and had seen the dog and the next day at lunch he strolled by the window. He was really skinny and mucky so I brought him to the vets - and guess what? No chip!! :rolleyes:

With great respect; chipping is not as far as I know, free ,and someone already facing a vet bill simply may not be able to afford it.

Desirable as it may be. These are hard times for many. Who care deeply for their pets.

Graces7

It can be hard indeed.

A few years ago, a pair of dogs we did not know wandered back and forth past our market stall... a lab and a westie; odd pair and clearly devoted to each other.

After watching them playing Russian roulette with the traffic, my heart would stand no more and as the Gardai station was opposite, I led them over. Friendly pair they were.

We know all the local dogs so assured the Garda as he fended the lab off as he tried to lick his face, that they were not so .. he kept trying to say that they were local dogs.

Later one of the local rescue groups arrived and went off with them.
A no-kill group.

Chatting with a friend at another rescue group later, there was a stunned silence.. They had taken that pair in off the the street several times and had to return them to their owners as technically they could not be taken away from them.

Seems we had done what no one else could manage to do..

You can only do what seems right to you to do; if the dog is neglected? Needs a loving home.

tk123

Graces7 wrote: »

With great respect; chipping is not as far as I know, free ,and someone already facing a vet bill simply may not be able to afford it.

Desirable as it may be. These are hard times for many. Who care deeply for their pets.

True but only costs around €25 and 99% of the people who post here about lost pets didn't have them chipped! Also these people in the vets had insurance because they were signing an Allianz claim form..

redalicat

I would assume a dog without a collar is probably homeless / has been dumped.

I'm wondering about this in the current economic climate. A few weeks ago two Bichons showed up out of nowhere, looking dirty and had no collars. They were definitely used to people, kids, so not feral. After asking around the area, I took them to the vet and they had microchipping.

So here's the thing: when the vet rings the owner, she doesn't sound pleased at all and isn't surprised to hear that her dogs are here in Co Kildare--and she's in South Dublin. Even the vet was concerned, and we told the vet to ring us if they weren't picked up. The vet rang us later to say the owner did pick them up, and her kids were overjoyed to see the dogs.

When I've told this story, several people have gotten mad at me saying that I shouldn't have let the dogs go to the owner because it sounds like she dumped them. But isn't that the point of the microchipping, that they're returned? If they'd no chip then it would have been different, but I had no way to know before the owner was rung if the dogs were truly missed or had been dumped.

I ask because if I encounter another lost pedigree dog, should I assume it's a victim of the economy and not bother to locate the owner who may just ditch it again in another area?

morganafay

I'd ask all the neighbours and see what they say. Someone would hopefully know who owns the dog or if it seemed like a stray.

There was a lovely Golden Retriever wandering on my road for a week or two, but I only saw it when we were driving past, and then when I went walking looking for it I couldn't find it. I really wanted to bring it home! But then it just disappeared, but I guess someone probably did own it, because loads of people let their dogs roam here.