2.17.2006
Meet this dog
Yesterday as I was opening our gate a little dog nose touched my hand and I looked down to see this dog sitting at my feet patiently waiting for me to open the gate and let her in. I hadn't even seen her approach! She has a collar but no tags. And she was starving. Her fur is full of dreds. But she is the sweetest thing. I put a leash on her and walked her through the neighborhood looking for someone looking for her, but no luck. I called Animal Control, but instead of telling me if someone had reported her missing,(something they've done for us before -- we have a habit of picking up lost and wandering dogs and returning them to their families) the man on the end of the phone just insisted on sending someone out to pick her up. THIS I did NOT want to do. I hate animal control (long history there that makes me cry and which I don't want to bore you with right now while I'm already boring you with this story) After a futile argument with the guy about how it would be better for this dog to stay in a comfortable home environment than a sterile cage waiting for a needle, I hung up the phone nearly in tears. So Kristin waited a few minutes and called up the guy and told him that it turned out our neighbor knew who owned the dog and they were on their way to collect her.
So, ok. We left Brittany (she's a brittany spaniel, get it?) out in our yard till all the light was gone, just in case someone came by looking for her. And after we brought her in we kept an eye on the street for people driving by slowly looking for a lost dog. Nothing. She's settled in quite nicely and is a very sweet, mellow, loving dog who enjoys cuddling and hanging out in the nursery (we're not leaving her near Julia unattended, though, just in case). Oliver vacillates between playing with her and trying to make certain that she knows that SHE is the bottom of the totem pole and that HE is the one who controls where SHE gets to go and what SHE gets to do. Oscar is just ignoring the whole thing. We've brought too many strange dogs home to stay for a while for him to get all worked up about dominance issues. Strange dogs come, strange dogs go, it's no skin off his back (he's still waiting Oliver to go, though). We'll make some flyers tonight and walk her around the neighborhood some more to look for her owner -- though my gut feeling says she's either wandered very far from home (and been wandering for a while) or was abandoned.
Still, just in case. Oliver once escaped our yard and lost his tags in the process, and I know how we felt while looking for him, so we'll do what we can to find Brittany's home.
So, my question. Do you think we can just go into a vet and ask them to scan for a microchip? I REALLY don't want her to have to go to animal control if I can help it.
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Yes, I think you can take her to your vet and see if she has a micro chip. That would be one way to see if she has owners.
Good luck. It looks like you may have another dog. I do know a great no kill shelter if you can't keep her.
We have a cat in the neighborhood who keep insisting that it should come into our house and live. So far, we have shewed it off, but only because she appears well fed and has a very nice collar on. If she shows up skin and bones....
that's one thing I admire about north americans (sorry I have an issue with the "american" thing) you really care about animals and even have laws that protect them.
I hope you can find her owners, or a good shelter where she will be loved and not killed, or if you keep her, congrats! the family will be still growing!!
I have a problem with the "American" thing too. We're not the only Americans! Of course there are so-called Red-blooded "Americans" who wish they were the only ones...
I cannot guarantee that, if Brittany is still ownerless and living with you next month when we visit, she will still be there when we leave if Lauri sees her.
You could call around to few vets and run the scenario by them and see if they'll check for a chip, no questions asked. By the shape of the dog though, sounds like she's been on her own for quite a while. Good luck with her.
She's a beautiful dog, I can't believe her owners aren't scouring the city to look for her! You should be able to just take her into a vet's office and have them scan her. Call ahead first to see if they have the scanner wand, not all vet clinics do. Just an fyi (and I'm not trying to be a pita--just trying to help you "describe" her), I don't think she's a brittany, at least not purebreed. Britts are either orange/white or liver/white. I think she might be a Springer.
I'm sure my vet would scan for a chip (not that MY vet does you any good, but you know) -- they might charge for a quick office visit, five bucks or so, but I'm sure they'd do it. She looks like an absolute sweetheart! I hope you find her home, or find a good home for her.
One of our kitties was brought to us by a 10 yr old boy who rescued her at six weeks from his friend's house. The friend's mom was about to take her to the pound. Now, she was a baby and very cute, so she would have probably been adopted. But, she never made it past our door.
We also have a neighbor kitty who lives across the street and is mostly fed enough, but he prefers to hang out on our property. Maybe that's because before I knew he had a home I fed him (and still give him our kitties' unwanted crumbs) and because our downstairs tenants now seem to feed him on a regular basis...scammer cat! He's super cute though too.
Any luck with the micro-chipping yet?
i really don't think most vets would give you any trouble. They are generally very happy that the animal has someone taking care of it. What a lucky little pup to have found such a great home (even if it's just for a little while).