People finding dogs... Rant

[Fran27]

I sometimes go to see another dog forum. I'm not very fond of it because it seems mostly full of people who don't have half a clue about dogs compared to here (ie, they recommend nutro as the best food, or don't say anything when someone says they are getting their puppy at 6 weeks etc).

Well, lately people have been posting that they found dogs or puppies. And right away they want to find them a name. No mention at all of looking for the owner It really upsets me that people find pets and don't look for their owners! There must be some people who are so upset at the moment if their pup escaped God I hate selfish people...

 

[Renee750il]

It depends on the condition you find the animal in, I think. If it's obviously been cared for, absolutely try to find the owner!

Now, the time I found the young Bassett (about 7 months) wandering terrified in the median of a four lane road, I wasn't really terribly concerned about the owners! On the other hand, the Bassett I found wandering around at the Burger King was obviously well-cared for, had soft pads that told me she was kept inside mainly, and she had a recent spay scar, so I made an effort to find her owner (called around to the vets). When the owner was found I was thrilled. She belonged to a young widow and her four year old son. Someone had stolen her out of the yard one afternoon - a six foot chain link fence with a locked gate! Can you imagine how that little boy felt after his Daddy died - losing his dog?

 

[Fran27]

Poor kid

I see your point, although because a dog is dirty and tired doesn't mean that he was necessarily badly taken care of. Maybe he just was totally lost and has been walking for hours or days. I can understand that it's not always easy because you don't know what kind of owner you're going to find though...

 

[stirder]

we found a dog last year. he had a collar and tags, clean coat, well fed. he had a flesh wound on his shoulder that had been terribly infected. we had our vet contact the owner. ur first priority was taking care of this wound. the vet asked if they knew about it and how long the dog was missing. missing 4 days, must have gotten the wound during that time. vet said the wound had been infected for atleast 3 weeks. reported animal cruelty, dog now lives at vets house and spends the days in her office.

 

[Fran27]

It's not a bad idea to ask a vet to contact the owners actually.

 

[BigDog2191]

Well, I see your point. But there are flaws on this forum as well. Not that I don't like it.

But it gets irritating if let's say when someone says they're getting their puppy at 6 weeks old and then twenty people jump on that one person telling them that it's stupid or let's say someone wants to get from a breeder and another 20 people tell him to go get it from a shelter when they really want a purebred puppy from a reputable breeder. Sure, you can suggest, but when someone's already set on wanting to get a pure-bred GSD from a really reputable breeder, let them do so.


The thing about here is that a lot of people like to have things their own way which isn't always possible, I can't afford Innova... so guess what? I feel that I have to feed him decent food, something better than purina or pedigree, so I feed him Nutro. Not so expensive and it's decent. Will I give him up for that? No.

That rant was more along the lines of the forum than finding a dog.

 

[Renee750il]

You can tell, if you look, pretty accurately whether a dog is in poor condition because it's been lost for awhile or if the condition is ongoing - and if the reason the dog is lost is because it ran away . . . A lot shows up by the way the dog reacts to you. Another thing to look at is the pads. If the dog is very hungry, and the pads seem raw, you can guess that it's been a cared for pet and it's been wandering too long - the feet tell the story of a dog that's not used to being out walking on roads or bad terrain. Little things like that can give you a lot of information . . . but I doubt the people you're ranting about are looking at those things. From what you said, it sounds like they're just proud of themselves for "rescuing" a lost dog . . . just not thinking much about how other people might be feeling . . .

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

I think if I found a dog that was in horrible condition, I'd most likely think he were a stray. I'd clean him and start fattening him up and then I'd put posters up, just in case he did have a good home.

A few years ago, before we got Tippy, we found this gigantic male chocolate lab. Our girls were both spayed and he was a nice dog, so we put this lab and May in the kennel. My older sister went outside and saw these two chocolate labs in the kennels and was like, "What is going on?!" Obviously he had a good home - he was very clean and at a nice weight. He had a nice time here, hanging out with the girlies, the only probably was he liked to mark in our garden. Anyways, I believe he stayed with us for maybe a day, and then the police found his owner. A family with a little girl and I think a baby. They had been looking all over for him and were so relieved he was safe. The little girl was so happy to have her dog back, but she got kind of confused with two chocolate labs and started running after May - her Mom redirected her to their dog, LOL.

 

[Fran27]

I just feel this way most of the time Renee yes... The last one is about a 6 weeks puppy that had some kind of mites on his fur. He seemed hungry and thirsty of course. At least they took him to the vet, but nothing about trying to find the owner. It's great to rescue strays, but are people sure they are strays?

Bigdog21 - that's not totally wrong... but I much prefer seeing people warn someone that the breeder they are getting a 6 weeks old puppy from may not be as serious as they think, than seeing everyone just say congrats and ask for pictures. See my point?

On a side note, Innova is not more expensive than nutro. I currently feed nutro to my dogs, but switching to Innova as soon as their current food is gone (in 2-3 days for Tips, probably another week for Boris). The 40 lbs bag of nutro is $36, the 33 lbs bag of Innova was $36, except that they need half as much Nutro as Innova... so overall Innova is actually cheaper. You might want to check the prices around you and quantities they advise to see how much it would amount to, you might be surprised.

 

[oriondw]

You can tell, if you look, pretty accurately whether a dog is in poor condition because it's been lost for awhile or if the condition is ongoing - and if the reason the dog is lost is because it ran away . . . A lot shows up by the way the dog reacts to you. Another thing to look at is the pads. If the dog is very hungry, and the pads seem raw, you can guess that it's been a cared for pet and it's been wandering too long - the feet tell the story of a dog that's not used to being out walking on roads or bad terrain. Little things like that can give you a lot of information . . . but I doubt the people you're ranting about are looking at those things. From what you said, it sounds like they're just proud of themselves for "rescuing" a lost dog . . . just not thinking much about how other people might be feeling . . .

If you looked at my pups feet you wouldnt guess he's an inside dog.

 

[smkie]

there is a second aspect to keeping a dog that you have found..when i lived at the house that burned, it sat along side a creek lined with woods..i guess it was a natural draw to dogs that had escaped for whatever reason..the street ended in a very busy road where more then one poor pup had met it's end..and their were accidents regulary. IF i saw a dog in my yard that wasnt' from around here, or like the two pomerianians i saw on a 103 degree day i went out and gathered them up, giving them food and water..putting them in my backyard while i called lost dog registry and the the rest. It annoyed my neighbor who was a big dog hater..he had almost backed over those two overheated pomeranians and shouted at me when i said HEY STOP..so he called the animal control on me. By the time they got out there i had found the owner..btw i had washed and brushed the dirt, sticks and burrs out of their fluffly coats, rehydrated them, they were in far better shape and without so much as a thank you the owner collected his dogs and left..he acted like i stole them or was making the whole thing up. I don't think his dogs would have made it much longer, if they got out from where he said he lived they had traveled almost a mile in disasterous heat..anyway the animal control said by containing the animal and not calling them..i could be considered stealing the animal..and that i should call them immediantely from this point on..i said then what am i to do..let them go on down to that road and get hit or die from dehydration? the woman said..well we couldn't really get here until the next day anway...just make sure you call.
As to getting a puppy at 6 wks, i will over and over again advise against it..my concern is not ever for the anticipating new owner, but for the baby that needs his own mama and for his health.
as to Nutro..i cant afford to feed inova either right now..and the only place to buy it is way far across town..so i feed nutro..i asked Mordy and she said the amount of protein that Victor should have..i searched and that was the best i can give him..and he is fine. When i become more affluent, i will switch over.
We all just want what is best..and when advice is asked, we or at least I try to give only my best opinion. That is what it is, and people can take it or leave it...that is the point. to gain different perspectives to make the best decision from.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

I hate how many people here seem to push certain brands of food on people, and when they say that it's not available where they are or it's too expensive, they seem to get looked down on.

 

[Fran27]

Well, you need to see both sides. Of course, there's nothing to say about lack of avaibility, but do all the people who claim that Innova is too expensive actually do a search to compare prices?

As I said earlier, I thought it would be too expensive too, then one day I actually went to a store that sells it and I was able to find the large bags of Innova at the same price as Nutro, and as you feed them less of it, it's actually cheaper for me. I have no idea how much Innova is worth in other states/stores.

I would probably not have decided to switch if it had been more expensive either, as they seem to do fine on nutro and I'm not really rich. It just doesn't hurt to do a search to make sure. And I'm not saying that people haven't done it either... Just that if they haven't, it might be worth it.

 

[gaddylovesdogs]

What I mean by expensive is the price isn't the same in each area. Where I am, I think Innova is like $35.95 for a bag of Innova Evo (not sure, haven't been to the kibble house for a while now). I feed my dogs a high-quality food. They've got nice coats, pretty good teeth, and are happy, healthy, and energetic. Soon they'll be eating a completely raw diet.

What I'm saying is that when people see how many react towards what they feed, or consider feeding, they may just not even mention food again or post their choice of food because they're afraid of people jumping on them.

 

[Fran27]

It's the same here... But the same for nutro too. Raw is great, it would be much more expensive for me than anything else though

But I see your point. I think it's mostly because lots of people just don't know that they are feeding crap that so many of us criticize some brands.

 

[juliefurry]

I felt the same way about the food issue when I first came here. I didn't know Iams would crap, and then people told me about Eagle Pack and Innova and I switched. It is more expensive (by maybe ten dollars) and my dogs don't really eat less of it but it's a good food and I am happy with the results. I will keep them on it unless I can't afford it for some unknown reason, but if I HAD TO switch I would probably go to Nutro because i switched them to that for a few weeks and they all seemed to like it (although considering Shelby's condition I would rather keep her on Innova).

 

[EliNHunter]

I didn't know Iams would crap, and then people told me about Eagle Pack and Innova and I switched. It is more expensive (by maybe ten dollars) and my dogs don't really eat less of it but it's a good food and I am happy with the results.

What kind of results did you see when you switched?

 

[juliefurry]

Well our dogs don't shed nearly as much as when we first got them. They did one really big shed and then now it's tolerable. Also their skin and coat condition is really good. Mack had dandruff and really bad skin when we first got him and now his coat is beautiful and his skin doesn't bother him anymore. I think it's helping their teeth too though, because I don't brush their teeth but they are always sparkly clean and their breath isn't horrible. I think they feel sort of softer too, they weren't this soft when I first got them.