Dog Followed Me home, a lesson.

hoppinglark

Saturday morning I was out for a jog when two dogs ran right up to me. My initial fear disapeared as they seem friendly, and trotted along next to me. I noticed that both appeared well groomed, but neither were wearing a collar.
After about a mile I realized I might be stuck with them following me home.
I took my phone off my arm and struggled to jog and snap pictures at the same time.





As I turned into my complex they continued to follow / lead me.



While making my extra lap around the property the black dog stopped following me, and the brown one stayed with me.

As I looped back around the black dog was gone.
Brown dog was right on my tail.



My wife took her to the vet, scanned her chip and called the owners to come get her.



And now I'm kicking myself for not, stopping and taking the dogs back to my place, the moment I realized they were following me.
If I had gone straight home, the owners would have both their dogs back instead of just one.

I can always jog more miles next week, but I can't have the opportunity to rescue the dog again.

I've learned my lesson :-/

I_Will_End_You

If they were chipped, there's a good chance they'll find the other one, too.

On the flip side of your story, we found a dog, were trying to find the owners, and it ended up tearing my cat's leg off so........

Anyway. I wouldn't beat yourself up about it.

DaveAkeman

I had pretty much the same thing happen at a park last week. I was in a park with a nice wooded 1-mile loop trail. A very friendly and well-groomed dog not only followed me, but heeled very well. This guy was very happy to be jogging alongside a human. I figured I'd do about the same - let him follow me for a while, then I'd find his owner when I was done. A few hundred yards down the trail, though, I came upon his owners.

Nice dog. Very irresponsible owners.

dakotababy

I recall once when I was younger I was driving around and spotted a dog walking around alone. I immediately wanted to pull over to try to get the dog, but decided not too.

The guilt got to me so bad for not even trying, I have now always stopped when I see a dog walking around by themselves, and at least call for them to come. If they dont - thats okay, I tried.

Dont feel bad, but in the future - remember this experience! There is still a good chance the other dog might be found.

ShibaEars

Hey, you helped them find one, which is more than a lot of people would do. Good for you for taking time to help out.

lmr0528

I once had a dog come up to me in the parking lot of a little cafe/deli in a very non residential area. Just some big factories nearby. No tags on it, very friendly, looked a bit disheveled. I went back inside to find out if it belonged to anyone, no one claimed him. I went back outside, started to break off pieces of the sub I just picked up, to get him closer to me and my car. I was going to take him back to my house, get him some food, maybe a bath, then take him our dogs' vet to see if he was chipped. Then out of nowhere, some guy came up and said hey what are you doing, this is my dog. I told him his dog was wandering the lot and came up to me, that if it was his dog, he better put a collar and tags on him or someone will take him, thinking he was a stray, like I almost did. He didn't seem to care at all, just walked away with the dog following.

I couldn't believe him. If that even was his dog, I'll never know, how could he just be so uncaring that he'd let his dog loose like that, in a parking lot on a busy street, with no tags, no nothing. Just another irresponsible dog owner. That dog could have easily gotten hit by a car, or taken by someone else who may not have good intentions.

Like @I_Will_End_You said, you can't beat yourself up over it. At least you were able to get the other one back to her home safely. Owners need to be responsible and make sure that they're dogs don't get loose and run free like that.

ShibaEars

lmr0528 wrote: »

I once had a dog come up to me in the parking lot of a little cafe/deli in a very non residential area. Just some big factories nearby. No tags on it, very friendly, looked a bit disheveled. I went back inside to find out if it belonged to anyone, no one claimed him. I went back outside, started to break off pieces of the sub I just picked up, to get him closer to me and my car. I was going to take him back to my house, get him some food, maybe a bath, then take him our dogs' vet to see if he was chipped. Then out of nowhere, some guy came up and said hey what are you doing, this is my dog. I told him his dog was wandering the lot and came up to me, that if it was his dog, he better put a collar and tags on him or someone will take him, thinking he was a stray, like I almost did. He didn't seem to care at all, just walked away with the dog following.

I couldn't believe him. If that even was his dog, I'll never know, how could he just be so uncaring that he'd let his dog loose like that, in a parking lot on a busy street, with no tags, no nothing. Just another irresponsible dog owner. That dog could have easily gotten hit by a car, or taken by someone else who may not have good intentions.
Like @I_Will_End_You said, you can't beat yourself up over it. At least you were able to get the other one back to her home safely. Owners need to be responsible and make sure that they're dogs don't get loose and run free like that.

A few years ago I found a dog wandering around my parents' place. There was a busy road nearby and it was getting dark so I took it upon myself to find his owners. I did end up finding their house, the dog was excited to be home, but the people didn't care. They were like "oh, yeah, I guess he did get out." You didn't notice he was missing from your yard for over 3 hours?! I will never understand why people like that have dogs.

tulips_and_tea

lmr0528 wrote: »

I once had a dog come up to me in the parking lot of a little cafe/deli in a very non residential area. Just some big factories nearby. No tags on it, very friendly, looked a bit disheveled. I went back inside to find out if it belonged to anyone, no one claimed him. I went back outside, started to break off pieces of the sub I just picked up, to get him closer to me and my car. I was going to take him back to my house, get him some food, maybe a bath, then take him our dogs' vet to see if he was chipped. Then out of nowhere, some guy came up and said hey what are you doing, this is my dog. I told him his dog was wandering the lot and came up to me, that if it was his dog, he better put a collar and tags on him or someone will take him, thinking he was a stray, like I almost did. He didn't seem to care at all, just walked away with the dog following.

I couldn't believe him. If that even was his dog, I'll never know, how could he just be so uncaring that he'd let his dog loose like that, in a parking lot on a busy street, with no tags, no nothing. Just another irresponsible dog owner. That dog could have easily gotten hit by a car, or taken by someone else who may not have good intentions.

Like @I_Will_End_You said, you can't beat yourself up over it. At least you were able to get the other one back to her home safely. Owners need to be responsible and make sure that they're dogs don't get loose and run free like that.

And that type of irresponsible pet owner would blame the driver of the car. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Really wish people could be rigorously screened prior to adopting or taking on any kind of pet, ever.

OP, you did a good thing. The pets owners should be the ones feeling badly. Hope they were grateful to you and take better care of their pets from now on!

JoRocka

BZAH10 wrote: »

And that type of irresponsible pet owner would blame the driver of the car. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Really wish people could be rigorously screened prior to adopting or taking on any kind of pet, ever.

it's already hard enough to adopt a pet- how could they possibly make it even harder when animals all over need more homes- I don't think I can even adopt a cat at this point- they have some weird *kitten* rules (I own 3 currently that are all rescues from none adoption places).

I_Will_End_You

JoRocka wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

And that type of irresponsible pet owner would blame the driver of the car. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Really wish people could be rigorously screened prior to adopting or taking on any kind of pet, ever.

it's already hard enough to adopt a pet- how could they possibly make it even harder when animals all over need more homes- I don't think I can even adopt a cat at this point- they have some weird *kitten* rules (I own 3 currently that are all rescues from none adoption places).

I'm trying to adopt a dog from a rescue right now, and the process is kind of ridiculous. We're employed, own a home with a fence, have the money to adopt and very eager....yet we're jumping through hoops. If I had bad intentions I'd be looking for a dog on Craigslist.

Sorry to derail, I'm being VERY rigorously screened and frustrated about it!

veganbettie

it is really hard to adopt and can be really expensive and it's sort of awful considering how many animals need homes. Yes we should be picky with who gets animals but there are so many that have no where to go, it's a double edged sword....

veganbettie

I_Will_End_You wrote: »

If they were chipped, there's a good chance they'll find the other one, too.

On the flip side of your story, we found a dog, were trying to find the owners, and it ended up tearing my cat's leg off so........

Anyway. I wouldn't beat yourself up about it.

That is so awful and scary!!!

I used to grab every stray I could, but since I have a kid now i'm REALLY careful, you just don't know.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

I'm one of those people who's scared of dogs and petrified if they're off leash (especially PBs). Good for you for keeping calm. I would have freaked out and probably gotten myself bitten
Hopefully the other pooch was reunited with his owner.

dougii

Last summer after having seen what I thought were a pair of coyotes I had two, full grown, German Shepherds run up behind me as I was working in front of my garage. After I quelled my pounding heart I reached out, petted one, and took a look at his collar tag. Got them both up on my deck and closed the gates, called the owner and she immediately dispatched her ex to pick them up. Of course this drove my German Shepherd crazy as she did not want them on her deck! Beautiful dogs, nice owners. They had escaped from the campground where the owner was staying and swam across the river to our side where they had run for miles in the woods and corn fields. Being a dog owner myself I know that on occassion they can get lose even when you are overly careful about this. My guess is the other pooch is home safe and sound. Job well done on your part!

MeanderingMammal

Notwithstanding anything else, she's gorgeous.

It can be quite challenging to adopt from the reputable rescues here in the UK as well, complete with home visits, trial stays and a number of covenants applied to the adoption. We have a rescue Staffordshire Bull Terrier, who is the most terrifyingly affectionate creature, he wants to be friends with everyone, to the extent I have to lift him when I'm answering the door.

ythannah

ShibaEars wrote: »

Hey, you helped them find one, which is more than a lot of people would do. Good for you for taking time to help out.

^^ this

Animal Services is the first number I program into my cell whenever I get a new one. I walk a lot, and encounter loose dogs quite often.

gothchiq

Yeah they practically make you stand on your head and juggle bananas with your feet to adopt. My apartment complex permits two pets. Any more and they evict. I have two cats. When one cat gets uber old and passes away, I just sit tight a few months until some friend inevitably says "Hey! I'm looking for homes for all these kittens!" then I swoop in, get a kitten, take him/her to the vet for the usual vaccinations, tests, and parasite removal, and bypass all the ridiculous paperwork and third degree crap.

sofaking6

JoRocka wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

And that type of irresponsible pet owner would blame the driver of the car. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Really wish people could be rigorously screened prior to adopting or taking on any kind of pet, ever.

it's already hard enough to adopt a pet- how could they possibly make it even harder when animals all over need more homes- I don't think I can even adopt a cat at this point- they have some weird *kitten* rules (I own 3 currently that are all rescues from none adoption places).

If you don't have a home or lifestyle that a shelter would accept, there are tons of people dumping their poor animals off on anyone without a question asked on Craigslist and Facebook. Many of those animals end up in torture porn or fighting rings. I'm 100% in favor of massively rigorous screening.

Last week I looked out my window and saw a brown dog running right down the middle of the street (I'm up on the side of a canyon & it was the street way down at the bottom). I was so scared, but then coming up after him was a cop with his lights on, keeping all of the others cars back.

VegasFit

I_Will_End_You wrote: »

JoRocka wrote: »

BZAH10 wrote: »

And that type of irresponsible pet owner would blame the driver of the car. No personal responsibility whatsoever. Really wish people could be rigorously screened prior to adopting or taking on any kind of pet, ever.

it's already hard enough to adopt a pet- how could they possibly make it even harder when animals all over need more homes- I don't think I can even adopt a cat at this point- they have some weird *kitten* rules (I own 3 currently that are all rescues from none adoption places).

I'm trying to adopt a dog from a rescue right now, and the process is kind of ridiculous. We're employed, own a home with a fence, have the money to adopt and very eager....yet we're jumping through hoops. If I had bad intentions I'd be looking for a dog on Craigslist.

Sorry to derail, I'm being VERY rigorously screened and frustrated about it!

Some rescues are defintiely stricter than others but those rescues tend to not have the dogs returned to them. I had to go through an interview and home check to foster with my current rescue. I hope you eventually find what you're looking for.

Christine_72

I'm grateful these places do home checks. If they are vigorous and make sure the person and dog are a good fit, then there's less chance of the dog being returned.
I've lost count of how many stray dogs I've bought home over the years. If there's a lost dog within a 5 mile radius, I'm guaranteed to find it...
Some owners tho.... Grrrrrrr. My dogs are like my kids, and I just can not relate to pet owners who just don't give a *kitten* where there dogs are and what they are doing!!!
Even worse are those dog owners who make their dogs live outside 24\7, why get a dog if they aren't even good enough to share your home?????

ReynaDay01

I was out walking one of my dogs a last year and a littleish dog came up to us from someones back yard. I figured that the owners were just letting her out and continued on my circle of the block. I came back around to the other end of the alley over 15 minutes later and find the dog still there, by itself. She was very nice and let me come up to her so I checked her tags for an owners address thinking that if they lived nearby they just left her out in the yard. The only address was for the Vets office and their phone #. I figured she must be lost as she had no food or water out that I could see. I went back to drop off my dog as I lived nearby and asked Dad to help me find the owner. We came back to the alley and got her loaded in the car when an old lady came out of a house nearby to see what was going on. She told us that the dog belonged to a neighbor of her's nearby and they let her stay outside. She wouldn't tell us where to take her back to so we could talk to the owner. I had seen her many times out there after that and still don't know who she belongs to.

There is my long winded story of how I attempted to rescue a dog.