My Monday afternoon was a typical one. Get home from work, clean up around the house a bit, change into workout clothes and get day 1 of 30 Day Shred done before I change my mind and lie down on the couch all night long. When I changed Keeley was thinking that I was going to take her out on a walk {insert Mom guilt here}. So I completed all 30 minutes of Jillian Michael's annoying workout video {I seriously cannot stand listening to her during the work outs}, and decided to be a good Mama and take my Keeley on a walk. I knew it was going to be a short one, but any kind of a walk is always in Keeley's favor. While walking down and around and back up our street a small dog decided to follow us home. Keeley wasn't very happy about it but I kept walking her acting like it wasn't a big deal. Now, normally I am one to ignore the dog and think that it's home is nearby. This dog however must have seen the words, "SUCKER" on my forehead. I put Keeley inside our house and sat down on my driveway with this dog sitting nearby. He was really skiddish and wouldn't let me touch him, but after 5 minutes of trying he came near me so that I could check out his tags. Of course, no name and number to call to find his owners. I decided to put this cute puppy on a leash and walk him around trying to see if his owners are looking for him or not. Well as you all know, daylight savings time happened Sunday morning and it was 6pm by now so no one could see us. Andy drove around to find me and we went home with a dog. We let him in our house to get in from the cool weather and rain that was approaching. I posted a photo of him on the neighborhood's facebook page asking if anyone knew his owner. Being a germ-a-phobe that I can be, we took him up to get a bath (he was scratching at lot), but didn't seem to be too dirty. He didn't have any matted fur or random bite marks on him either.
Andy and I decided that if we didn't hear from someone claiming him by 8pm that I would go to my Mom's house to get her extra kennel crate for him to sleep in over night (there was no way that I could let this dog wander around my house all night long). 8pm came and no one called. He ate a bit of food and drank a ton of water, so that was good too. We took him outside with Keeley and I swear he acted like he made a new home. It was so funny to watch. He even cuddled up on Andy's lap... We went to bed that night and the next morning I knew I was going to do some researching and calling around. I thought for sure Keeley was going to be upset that we brought another dog into the house, but surprisingly she was ok. Smokey on the other hand was so so mad!! He refused to eat the next morning and hid all day long while we were at work. Never did I think Smokey was going to be mad, but boy was he!
I first called the St Louis County Animal Control line and gave them the Rabies number on the tag. They then gave me the phone number to vets office where the rabies shot was administered. The vets office was so nice and said that they couldn't give me the owners information but that they would call themselves and let the owner know. I received a phone call from the vet's office 30 minutes later and was told the owners phone number was now disconnected. The vet then gave me information on the dog and told me that if we were to keep him that he had no known issues except for a seizure disorder which requires medicine if he has a seizure, that he was 7 years old, his name is Mikey and that he is a Shiba Inu. I asked if I could get the owners name so that I could ask around if anyone knew of her and they said that, that was fine. I then was having guilt. I so wanted to keep him, but yet Smokey was so upset. I knew that he would get over it, but just felt so guilty.
I decided that the last step before deciding to keep him was to call the animal control in our area to see if anyone called in a dog that was missing. I spoke to the animal control guy who said he received a call from a lady who was missing her dog that was red and white in color. I said that the dog is more tan and white but it could be her's. I asked the guy to ask that lady what the dogs name is, and if it is Mikey then we found his owner. He took my name and phone number down and asked if he would like us to pick the dog up at our house. I said no that I would gladly take care of the dog if that lady wasn't his owner. Andy and I decided that Mikey didn't deserve to live in a shelter or even be put down if no one claimed or adopted him. I just couldn't do that.
Autumn called me not 15 minutes later and couldn't believe that we had her dog. She was so greatful that we took him in and found her. She came over to our house that afternoon and picked up Mikey. Andy and I were very careful in letter her take him. I know that sounds silly, but we just weren't sure how things were going to go. She scooped him right up and you could tell that he was her's and that she loved him very much. She told us that he had run out of their house on Sunday because her boyfriend's nephew left the door open and the boyfriend couldn't run after him because he had ran under a fence and was long gone. They had just moved into their house not 2 days prior also.
So in the end, Andy and I were so proud of ourselves for taking in a scared and lost dog and finding their owner. Now it's our turn for things to turn around for us. We're hoping that God has some awesome plans of his own for us very soon. :)
Andy and I decided that if we didn't hear from someone claiming him by 8pm that I would go to my Mom's house to get her extra kennel crate for him to sleep in over night (there was no way that I could let this dog wander around my house all night long). 8pm came and no one called. He ate a bit of food and drank a ton of water, so that was good too. We took him outside with Keeley and I swear he acted like he made a new home. It was so funny to watch. He even cuddled up on Andy's lap... We went to bed that night and the next morning I knew I was going to do some researching and calling around. I thought for sure Keeley was going to be upset that we brought another dog into the house, but surprisingly she was ok. Smokey on the other hand was so so mad!! He refused to eat the next morning and hid all day long while we were at work. Never did I think Smokey was going to be mad, but boy was he!
I first called the St Louis County Animal Control line and gave them the Rabies number on the tag. They then gave me the phone number to vets office where the rabies shot was administered. The vets office was so nice and said that they couldn't give me the owners information but that they would call themselves and let the owner know. I received a phone call from the vet's office 30 minutes later and was told the owners phone number was now disconnected. The vet then gave me information on the dog and told me that if we were to keep him that he had no known issues except for a seizure disorder which requires medicine if he has a seizure, that he was 7 years old, his name is Mikey and that he is a Shiba Inu. I asked if I could get the owners name so that I could ask around if anyone knew of her and they said that, that was fine. I then was having guilt. I so wanted to keep him, but yet Smokey was so upset. I knew that he would get over it, but just felt so guilty.
I decided that the last step before deciding to keep him was to call the animal control in our area to see if anyone called in a dog that was missing. I spoke to the animal control guy who said he received a call from a lady who was missing her dog that was red and white in color. I said that the dog is more tan and white but it could be her's. I asked the guy to ask that lady what the dogs name is, and if it is Mikey then we found his owner. He took my name and phone number down and asked if he would like us to pick the dog up at our house. I said no that I would gladly take care of the dog if that lady wasn't his owner. Andy and I decided that Mikey didn't deserve to live in a shelter or even be put down if no one claimed or adopted him. I just couldn't do that.
Autumn called me not 15 minutes later and couldn't believe that we had her dog. She was so greatful that we took him in and found her. She came over to our house that afternoon and picked up Mikey. Andy and I were very careful in letter her take him. I know that sounds silly, but we just weren't sure how things were going to go. She scooped him right up and you could tell that he was her's and that she loved him very much. She told us that he had run out of their house on Sunday because her boyfriend's nephew left the door open and the boyfriend couldn't run after him because he had ran under a fence and was long gone. They had just moved into their house not 2 days prior also.
So in the end, Andy and I were so proud of ourselves for taking in a scared and lost dog and finding their owner. Now it's our turn for things to turn around for us. We're hoping that God has some awesome plans of his own for us very soon. :)
Mikey that night I found him
He sure made himself at home!
Me and Mikey
See, he made himself at home. Cuddling with Andy and Keeley!
3 comments:
I am glad you found his owner. My dogs have escaped before and it is nice to know there are people who will help a lost dog.
What you did was absolutely amazing! Not many people would do that and thanks to you guys Mikey is home. :)
he's absolutely adorable. what a remarkable story.
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