please help, picked up dog

[wild blackberry]

hey.

yesterday when i was on my way to work a dog ran out into the street, almost got hit, and then just kind of stopped in the turn lane. i let her into my car and brought her home.

she is an extremely energetic and social puppy. large. i would like to let her inside the house but for now i am keeping her confined to the backyard, the garage, and the laundry room because we have a cat who is not used to dogs, and has been known to attack them. but she doesn't like to be by herself, and last night when it got dark she started barking...and didn't stop until the sun came up. it doesn't bother me personally, but i am really afraid that my neighbors are going to throw a fit and call the police or something.

is there anything i can do to help this behavior? she seems well cared for and i think someone will claim her once the newspaper ad runs (should be tomorrow) so it doesn't seem necessary to try to introduce her to my cat. she is such a spazz and my cat is so defensive.

my mother is trying to get me to give her to animal control, and assures me that i can call about her and take her back if no one claims her before they euthanize her. but even if that's true, i am worried that she would feel frightened and miserable there in a cage, especially since she is so energetic. so unless someone more experienced says that this is the thing to do, so far i am planning on keeping her here for now.

what should i do?

[kpickell]

Yes, I would take her to animal control in order so that they can scan her to see if she has a microchip and also to see if there are any lost dog reports. Call any shelter within a 1+ hour radius and place a found report. Watch to see if she limps or displays any signs of internal or external injuries. It would be great if you could keep her until you can find her owner or a new home. Shelters are usually pretty full, so if they take her in they may have to boot someone out permanently, though you could ask them how their space situation is. She should be fine in your garage or laundry room for a few days. I wouldn't keep her out in the yard unattended for long since she may be an escape artist if she was found running. That was very nice of you to pick her and take her home! :up: I hope it's a happy ending.

[wild blackberry]

thanks for the quick reply.

we have had her since yesterday morning and she has not shown any signs of injury or sickness at all. she just hops around in a frenzy constantly. to me she just seems very young and does not seem to have been trained much, if at all. she also hasn't found a way to escape our yard yet, but she doesn't seem to have tried at all. because of all these reasons i am afraid someone dumped her. not an unusual story with large, unruly puppies.

any ideas on how to deal with her barking through the night?

[brownieB26]

I know when my dog barks he wants something: food, water, attention :D If she is a puppy then she might b scared being by herself in the laundry room. She might have slept with her previous owners and isn't used to being all alone. I'm not sure how one would resolve this though, becasue if you let her in your bedroom ro something you don't know what you'll wake up to in the morning

[wild blackberry]

this problem is over for now.

she's gone, and i'm pretty sure my family (who does not live with me) let her out of our yard on purpose because they did not want her to be with us. they thought we should take her to animal control.

i am so upset over this. i do not want her to be injured or euthanized. i called animal control today and they said they haven't picked up any dogs in our area, but i am going to try to go and walk through their facility on monday when they open to make sure she isn't there.

no one has answered her newspaper ad. i'm almost sure she was dumped. also interestingly, there is another found ad in the paper for a chocolate lab mix, about her age, found in another area of town.

my family didn't want her to be here because my brother sleeps in our building outside sometimes (it's a studio apartment) and he didn't like to listen to her barking (which was much better last night, i should add) so i'm pretty sure he complained to my mother and she convinced him to let her out and pretend she ran away. i have evidence to support this but there's no need to go into it.

i strongly feel that even if we are inconvenienced some, her well-being is more important. we may lose a couple of minutes of sleep, and have to get up a little earlier to take care of her, but it's her life that's at stake. and letting her out on the street is not the solution.

sorry to go on, but i am very upset by this. if she is at the animal control facility, i think i will bring her back until we can place her. i don't want her to be locked up, and certainly not euthanized.

[brownieB26]

:cry: :cry: Hope you can find her blackberry!

[mouse]

Oh Blackberry, I'm sorry, especially if your family did this. Please let us know if you find her.

[Jessica]

Oh, I'm sorry she's gone. I hope you find her again. Could you put up a few flyers asking for people to call you if they see her?

[kachina]

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation, when you were trying to do a good deed. I work in animal rescue, and thought this would be a good place to list some tips for anyone who comes across lost dogs in the future (some have been mentioned already):

1) Definitely contact your local shelters to see if anyone's listed the dog as missing. Often they'll list the dog in their "found dogs" list, even if you choose to keep the dog until the owner is found. That way, if the owner calls the shelter to see if the dog's been picked up, the shelter can tell them to contact you.
2) Take the dog to animal control or a local vet to scan for a chip (usually in the ear or shoulder)
3) Often newspapers will print "found pets" listings for free
4) Put up "found" posters in your area (or the area where the dog was found). Describe the dog enough that it could be recognized, but leave out a key detail (a torn ear, a collar color, etc). That way unscrupulous people claiming the animal dishonestly can be detected.
5) Often there are rescue groups devoted to a particular breed (including mixes). They'll place the dog in a foster home until it can be placed in a permanent home.
6) Ask your local animal control if there are any no-kill shelters in the area

Finally, regarding the dog's behavior about being left outside: my dogs would go *insane* if they were left outside overnight. They've never been alone a day in their life, and they've never spent a night outside (unless we were all camping). Chances are the dog was lonely, scared, and confused, which caused the barking and running around.

If you can't keep him/her inside with you in a situation like that, the kindest thing is to place it in another home (foster or permanent) or contact someone who can. Dogs are pack animals, and being left outside alone (especially when they've be raised to live inside) can devastate them.

Hope this helps in future situations.