should we keep this dog?

[hensylee]

a small dog appeared in our yard today. It looks well fed and healthy. He is very friendly and wanted in, in the worst way. We figure someone maybe dropped him off or he is lost. We just don't know. Last night we had a HARD FREEZE and there is to be another frosty night tonight and we just cannot leave him outside in the cold. Soooo - we discussed it, both of us (daughter and I), neither of us wanting to be the one who said 'we can't leave him out there' but we worked it out confessing that we each felt the same way. He looks just like my son/dil's dog and she is an Irish terrier we think and this one looks exactly like her. Daughter brought him in, cleaned his paws and under his chin (he drools and gets food there when he eats so he needs a haircut under his chin). He also needs to be neutered. He is tame, cute as can be, even barks to get in, is loving and wants to be loved right back. He knows 'sit', etc so he was somebody's dog. He has been sitting at my feet but has wandered over to daughter as we speak. We have named him Sebastian.

y'all think we should keep him? the cats want to kill him, but Miss SallySue is ok w/him and she's our other dog - a big ol Irish hound; very laid back. she sleeps mostly, barks when she has to so she doesn't mind whatever goes on. she's always happy long as she can sleep.

 

[geebee]

I always think of things like this as the pet choosing the owner. It sounds like he is begging to live with you so, if it were me, I would keep him. I might try a few inquiries to see if he "lost" his home but he sounds happy to be with you.

 

[Superbob]

Definitely sounds like a "keeper" to me, Ann. My daughter once rescued a little dog on a freezing night, and turned out to be maybe her most special dog ever.

 

[netmiff]

I would contact the humane society and local vets, maybe put an ad in the local paper / internet sites, just to make sure no-one has lost a dog, and if no-one claims him and you like him (seems he likes you so that's not a problem ) then congrats on the new doggy ! I've acquired a few cats that way, and they have all been good, especially my latest one. I've had her about 9 years now, and she's never done anything bad.

 

[Freddie]

Sounds like a keeper to me, but one has to make sure "Sebastian" doesn't belong to someone else and one has to decide if they do want to keep him.
I'd wait a week. Watch for lost dog fliers and contact you local humane society.
Until then, keep "Sebastian" happy, healthy and warm
Good luck with whatever decision you make.

 

[Eva]

I would keep this dog, especially you like him and he came to you, but only after I make sure he is not lost and no one is looking for him.

Enjoy and let us know

 

[Dennis S]

I know you don't want to keep someone else's dog. If this dog has never been neutered, and is running around with no license, it sounds to me like he has found a much better place than where he came from.

Given the way he seems to have been treated so far, I wouldn't break my neck trying to send him back. He might be going back to a place that would break your heart.

 

[Guest]

You could take him to the vet and make sure he is not microchipped. Both of my fur babies are microchipped. Some dogs are good at getting out when the owner does not know it.

If he is not chipped, no one has posted fliers, give it a couple weeks to give the owner time to locate him, they may have gone out of town for the holiday???, and you want to keep him, go for it.

Don't forget to post a pic for all of us to see just how cute he is!

 

[Wise]

Sounds like a keeper! You'll be in love with him in no time. Hope everything works out as you want it to.

 

[KAJ]

You could take him to the vet and make sure he is not microchipped. !

I was thinking the same thing as above.

When I was in high school in Illinois, this young cat came to our front door on a very cold and snowy November night. I let the thing in. For some reason I fetl sorry for it even though I hate cats, aka demons in fur. We kept it from my Dad for a few days. My mother asked my Dad if we could keep it. He suprisingly agreed. My mother named it Misty since it was a mystery of where he came from.

That cat lived with my parents for 18 years.

If no one claims the dog after trying to search for his owner, he sounds like a keeper. I just hope a child is not crying their eyes out because their dog is missing.

Karl

 

[Bina]

The rule in my rescue group is that we keep a found dog for 2 weeks and we call the local spca, vets, and police, to see if the dog is lost.
After the 2 weeks are up we get him vet checked, neutered/spayed, and groomed. If nobody claims him, he gets placed.
You would be surprised at the amount of purebred dogs that are dumped.... someone at one time paid big money for these dogs and then either lost interest, moved away, divorced, had a new baby, new boy/girl friend, new furniture, new flooring, etc, etc.
Ann, Good Luck. I hope things work out.

 

[hall]

Sounds like he's moving in Probably should give it a couple of weeks to make sure soem one doesn't claim him.

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Hens
I think Sebastian has already made the decision.....and the cat will adjust!!! I'd just check things out with the local vets, maybe do a "found" ad and check with the police and the pound to see if anyone called or went there about a lost dog. He might just be microchipped, which would be wonderful. I know how I'd feel if one of mine ever ran off.....I'd love someone like you to find him, but I sure would be hurting till she was home.

If you don't hear anything after two weeks, I'd say Sebastian is yours. Good luck with him, but get him neutered....maybe that's why he's around your neighborhood.

Evelyn

 

[zipper2]

Ohhhhhhh keep the dog,the cat will adjust,i hope it all

turns out for the best for everyone.

My cats had to adjust the one i own is 18 years old and a real

mom to the dog even though she is sooooo old shes numbered her

days as she has abit of dementia now,but the dog lays and trys to

PURR for her they are best of buddies and if i lose her the 18

year old cat omg i dont even wanna think about it.

Sounds like you got a friend for life though: Keep us posted.

zipper2 (DEB)

 

[tobagotwo]

You should also notify the police that you found him. Many people call the police when they lose their dogs, long before they call the shelters. He may not have a collar and tag, because the collar or tag may have broken off when he got loose.

When I was young, we moved, and our family dog took off unbeknownst to us to follow my brother, who was walking. Well, he never saw her and got on a bus. She was found by someone near the center of town six miles away, sitting on the curb howling sadly. Many years later, a different dog took off on a lark (again, right after we had moved) and was captured by some people several streets over. Fortunately, their neighbors called the police in concern (they didn't tell anyone themselves - they already had given her a new name - and she DID have a tag).

The way he showed up makes it sound like he had recently been in a place that protected him from the cold. Give the owners a chance to find him. If he has none, then it looks like you're the one...

Best wishes,

 

[Mary]

Years ago I was drinking a cup of coffee in the backyard, sitting on top of the picnic table, when the cutest dog I ever saw came bounding around the corner and jumped up on the table with me.
Since I am a coffee junkie, I assumed the dog was responding to the aromatic aroma!
Anyway, although all the kids . . . five . . . wanted to keep her, and I did too, we launched a search for her owner. It took several days before we got a call from the distraught owner. It seems that the dog stayed outside during the day, in a fenced in backyard, and generally kept watch of the neighborhood by sitting on the picnic table on their patio.
Due to a service problem in the neighborhood, an electrician from the utility company had been in their backyard and didn't bother to shut the gate when he left. Voilla . . . the dog decided to go on a sightseeing tour!
She had been missing for 10 days, and her collar and tags had been lost before she came to sit on our picnic table.
So, no real advice to offer, Ann. Just wanted to add my own experience that sometimes dogs get away from loving owners but seem to find loving adoptees to take them in for the duration.

 

[hensylee]

here is the little one:

 

[Marguerite53]

Now really, who is going to dump a dog that adorable????

Ann. Can you call the non-emergency line of your local police and ask if the animal control officer has a chip reading "gun"? They could come right over (or you could take the dog to them for free, perhaps) to see if there is a microchip in him. That is what happened to me once. I don't know if there is a rule that they then have to take the dog, though, so be sure that isn't the case when you ask them to swing by. Another time I paid at an emergency vet to have a different dog scanned.

Please make every effort you can to find the dog's owner. But if after several weeks, nothing comes up, I'd say that is one lucky dog to have wandered onto your front porch!!

Marguerite

 

[Bina]

Wow, what a cute pic....he really looks like a Shih Tzu mix,
and if he's not neutered, he may have been off chasing a girl and lost his way home.

 

[Woodbutcher]

What a sweet little dog ! I would imagine his owners are probably looking for him, I would be. Maybe he's not been "knobbled" because his owners breed from him, in which case he would probably be "chipped" so a local vet could find his owners easily ?
I was building a cottage roof recently when a lovely black dog appeared watching and barking at me. He was a cross between a Lab and a Staffy, so anyway, I climbed down, talked to him, patted him and got back on with my work ... He stayed all day watching me ? Of course I'd named him by then ...Bulls eye, a cool name I thought, just needed the right dog and this was the right dog. I put him in my truck at dusk, all prepared to take him home and introduce him to my very scruffy Jack Russel, Alfie Moon... When along came pick up truck.Pulling up the driver wound down his window "Hey Mate, you've not seen a black Staffy cross dog today have you ? I was gutted ... We'd bonded, me and Bulls eye !
So, good luck, and I hope his owners show up... Or not !?