Pets for Life: What I did (and learned) when two strays wandered into my life

Last October, shortly aflter my husband had returned from Afghanistan, it was near dusk. It was a three day weekend, and we had just finished playing with our daughter outside when my husband came running in the house shouting to close the garage doors because there were two "vicious and nasty looking" dogs wandering around in our driveway.

After closing the doors, being the animal lover I am, I had to go out the front door and eyeball these "vicious, nasty looking dogs". Two dogs, a large tan and a medium size tan dog came running towards me with their tails wagging furiously- Total "wiggle butts". Once we went through the petting and licking ritual, I checked their collars for ID- none. So I enlisted my husband's help to get them both around to the back yard into our fenced area. I told him we couldn't let them wander on the busy street or they would be killed.

The first night, they were given water and food and stayed outside in the fenced area around the pool. When I went out the next morning, I noticed that the older and larger one could barely get up. Not knowing their health/immunization history, I did not feel comfortable bringing them in the house with our other dog, but I made a comfy nest for them on our screened in porch consisting of an old comforter and blankets so they had a soft place to sleep and were protected from the elements.

The first thing in order was to give them baths. I don't know what they had rolled in, but it smelled like something that had been dead for quite some time. After three washes, they smelled marginally better. They were great with the lathering and hosing- gave me no problems at all. At feeding time, they sniffed at the dry kibble that I give my own dog and looked at me as if I had just served them a plate of brussel sprouts. Next day, I had to get some canned food to mix with it, which they devoured. I knew I had someone's beloved pets on my hands. Everytime I went outside, they literally jumped in my lap, showering me with doggie kisses.

I took photos of the dogs, but did not display these on the "found dogs" posters I made. I did this for several reasons, the primary one being that I wanted to make sure that whoever called my number could DESCRIBE the dogs so that I knew that it was the actual owner claiming them and not someone wanting them for fighting, research sale, or bait, or to case my house. On the posters I listed that two dogs were found on my street, the date they were found, and my cell number along with a request to call and describe the dogs. My daughter and I spend several hours posting signs all over our neighborhood, particularly on stop signs, and community mail boxes where people would pay attention.

I also went online and posted the dogs anywhere I could find a local site to post lost and found animals. After a week and a half, my husband was insisting the dogs had to go and could not stay any longer. I told him they were NOT going to a kill shelter. If I needed to I would expand the brochure campaign. At work that afternoon, I had a "duh, why didn't you think of this before moment" and it hit me that I should take them to my vet to look for a microchip. When I decided that this was my after work project for the day, my cell phone rang. It was a man saying that he was hanging up pictures of his missing dogs in a nearby neighborhood, when someone pulled up to him and told him about the signs they had seen in my neighborhood. He described the dogs PERFECTLY, down to the collars they were wearing.

Here is a picture of the reunion:

Of course he and the dogs were thrilled.

I asked him what breeds the dogs were, and they were both pittie mixes. That's what sold me on pitties- before, I had been somewhat cautious because of the media distortion of the breed, but these loving sweet wiggle butts were the best! Additionally, the large older dog had hip dysplasia, so I was happy that I had been able to give her a comfy soft nest to sleep in. The smaller one preferred my patio furniture!

So, in summary, what did I do and what would I do differently if this happened again?

1. confine the dogs so they cannot wander away again- preferably in a fenced yard.

2. you don't know their health history, so letting them into your house is a choice you need to make. I was lucky because I had a screened in porch and could make them comfy beds and protect them there, while propping the screen door open so they could do their business at will.

3. take care of basic needs first- water, food, shelter

4. make signs and post them in places where people will see them- stop signs, mail boxes, parks. If I had expanded the signs to grocery stores, other neighborhoods, and vet offices I may have found the owner sooner. I recently learned that animals can travel MILES away from home, so the more you can spread out signs into different areas, the better. REMEMBER TO PROTECT THE OUTSIDE SIGNS BY PUTTING THEM IN TRANSPARENT SHEET PROTECTORS OR IN LARGE SEALABLE BAGGIES SO THAT IF THEY GET WET, THE INK DOESN'T RUN AND THEY ARE READABLE.

5. describe dogs on the signs minimally so that any callers have to identify the dog and you KNOW it is the owner and not someone falsely trying to procure dogs or get access to your residence.

6. take the dog to your vet to see if they have been micro-chipped

7. post the dogs in online lost/found pet resources

8. call local shelters to find out if there have been any inquiries about missing dogs

9. be patient. You may have them for a while, but please don't take them to a kill shelter. I would have put them on a rescue or no-kill shelter waiting list before I took them to a kill shelter