The good news is that someone called my friend this morning, saying that she had seen one of the 100 signs my friend and his son had hung up all over, and dog is now reunited with his family. Zack had managed to get himself trapped in someone’s shed. As was mentioned more than once when Lucky swallowed my ring…Pets are teh stoopid.
I’m pretty sure that he got the dog after he moved to his home, but this is always good advice. As Cat Whisperer mentioned, its very easy to forget to update that info when moving.
I know TOO much about finding lost pets. This is something I always recommend. Its not just that the info gets waylaid, but descriptions of animals can differ a LOT from person to person.
:eek::eek::eek: Yes, I do live under a rock, but this sort of urban legend would have pinged my radar.
I hear coyotes every night. I’ve not heard of any large dogs being coyote killed, but I could easily imagine a pack taking one down. Coyotes are very smart and very clever. So smart in fact that they would move down the street to eat a few cats and then help themselves to any petfood left out.
I agree with you 100 percent that Zack should have been on a leash. I disagree with you about my friend trying to absolve himself (actually his 19 year old son) of responsibility. They know they have a high energy hunting dog. The son shouldn’t have let the dog off leash to run.
The reason I started this thread was because I couldn’t believe that such a rational man who lives in such a rational country would believe in dognappers. It was mostly the Canadian part that made me go whoooo. If I had heard that from people in Phoenix, I’d have done some research and then filed it in my “urban legend” folder.
If his dog was not aggressive towards people or other dogs, then what is the problem? Yes, he is raising the possibility of something happening to his dog, but he knows the area and knows his dog and that is his choice to make. In the right setting, it is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.
I’m so glad this story has a happy ending. I was going to suggest re the Craigslist ad that if some scumbag had dognapped Mr. Idiot Dog and was looking to sell him there, seeing an ad calling attention to the missing dog would force said scumbag back underground. Might it not be better to scan Craigslist for folk selling Idiot Dogs, then go to meet them? Let the scum rise to the top, as it were.
But now my point is moot, since Idiot Dog is back home. And we don’t really believe in dognappers anyway, right?
Wonderful ending to the story, flatlined. As an owner of a Weim, hence the screen name, I’m stunned that the dog got lost in the first place. It’s a strange day where the dog willingly gets further than 50 feet from me, unless she’s chasing a tennis ball or other prey. And then she immediately looks around to see where I am. Other Weims perhaps aren’t as clingy. (Prey, unfortunately, includes cats, squirrels, and, on one memorable occasion, a deer. She can’t catch them, but it didn’t stop her from trying) I guess I can see it chasing something and then getting lost. Weims can be big—mine’s about 80 lbs—but they’d still be dogmeat for a coyote, or more likely, a pack of same.
As far as off-leash hiking goes, there are numerous places in Austin, Texas where you can legally do that, and so far, it hasn’t been a problem for us. Or many of the other people and dogs with whom I used to go hiking. Of course, I clip a leash on when we’re near the road, cars, or other hikers we didn’t know—it’s just courteous and safer. All I needed was for the dog to see a squirrel on the other side of a road and take off after it…<sigh> Oh well, that’s life with a sporting breed.
Agree with Implicit about the useful energy burnoff of an off-leash park. We’d go walking about 2 miles. The dogs, with all of the laps they ran around us, grab-assing, chasing thrown toys, probably ran about 5-6.
This is an online friend, I’ve never seen said dog and I’ve never seen the park. From what he’s told me, the park is unfenced acres where people take their dogs to let them run. We do talk about pets often. From what I know, Zack is a well mannered dog who farts a lot because they give him people food.
Grins and waves back. This has been my month for idiot critters. Besides ring eating cat and idiot dog almost getting dognapped, my neighbor’s dogs got out of his yard and lost, then were found by me going to look for them at the shelter. I HATES going to the pound.
I was trying to trap a stray cat with a humane havahart trap (to have said cat fixed and then released or adopted out) and somehow a raccoon got its front leg wedged in the bars so bad that there was blood all over when I found it (raccoon got picked up by animal rehab people)
What the heck are raccoons doing in the middle of Arizona!!! There isn’t any water here. But…thinking…its as reasonable as coyotes in Vancouver.
Much more reasonable than bands of dognappers lurking in dog parks
Thank you, Gray Ghost. I’m really happy my friend and dog are back together
This is why my friend thought his dog was dognapped.
And this is why, if I’m able to have a dog, I’m going to get a basset or a bulldog. An adult, low energy dog.
Due to my friend sending pics of his dog, I did some research and I can sure see why you would love the breed. They are elegant dogs and from what I’ve read, they are smart, loyal and protective.
(for those of you with dirty minds…I’ve also sent my friend pussy pics!!!)
A friend of mine had her dog stolen a few months ago. He got out when workmen accidentally left a side gate open. After pasting reward posters up all over the neighborhood, she got an anonymous call from someone at a nearby construction site who said he’d seen another construction worker pick up the dog and throw it in the back of his truck.
The dog had his tags and was chipped, but that doesn’t make any difference if the person who finds him decides to keep him.
She hired a private detective and put pressure on the construction company. Eventually she made enough trouble for the thief that a hand-off was arranged. She got her dog back, although he was considerably thinner and more skittish than before.
Why would you steal a dog and not take care of it?
In one of the cities I lived in, the grocery store I always shopped at (Market of Choice, if you’re interested), people would always tie their dogs up outside. If my apartment didn’t have a no-pets policy, I’d have been tempted to steal the occasional dog. But I would have loved it/cared for it.
