What should I do?

[Lobodeb]

Look what's been hiding in my yard all day! :eek:

I'm sure she's lost. She's very timid, but seems to be well taken care of. We managed to get her in the house. I can't, in good conscience, leave her outside tonight. It's cold and raining, not to mention that it's Halloween.

Sammy's having a fit, but other than that, she'll be kept by herself. I really don't know what to do. :confused:
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b168/Lobodeb/100_0208.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b168/Lobodeb/100_0210.jpg

[Flatcoatluver]

SHE HAS A COLLOR NO ID??? MAYVE IF YOU TAKE HER TO TH EVET SHE MIGHT HAVE A MICROCHIP AND MAYBE YOU CAN PUT ADDS IN PAPERS AND SAY FOUND DOG CALL TO IDENTIFY AND STUFF LIKE THAT. she pretty!

[Tollers-n-Dobes]

She's adorable, I love Miniature Pinschers :) I definitely wouldn't leave her outside, do you have a crate that you could put her in? That'd probably work best and then you could start trying to find her family tomorrow. She looks very well cared for and is probably (hopefully) missed by her family. Hopefully she's chipped. Did you check to see if she might have an ID tattoo somewhere?

[chocolatepuppy]

Can you call around the neighborhood and see if anyone knows if someone is missing her?

[Lobodeb]

I'll try seeing if she's chipped. She seems to be well taken care of.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Lobodeb]

do you have a crate that you could put her in? That'd probably work best and then you could start trying to find her family tomorrow.

She's penned up in the back porch right now. I have a small crate that I used for Payton, but I don't know if that's too small.


Did you check to see if she might have an ID tattoo somewhere?

She won't let me touch her very much. She's very skittish, understandibly.

[Dot]

What a beautiful dog! Thank you for taking her in until you can find her owners. I'd suggest you put signs on lampposts or such, indicating a small black dog has been found. If the owners are driving around looking for her, they'll see the signs.

Rather than posting your phone number in public, give your email address (or a throw-away one such as Hotmail). If anyone responds, require that they provide identifying information to prove the dog is theirs.

I have done this, and it works. Have reunited several lost dogs with their families. We live in the country and get many stray dogs. In cases when there has been no response, it's because the dogs were "dumped", but surely that little dear one is only lost.

Good luck! Also, watch the "lost dog" ads, of course, and place a "found dog" ad, too. There should be no charge for you to do so.

[poofy]

Good luck finding her owners , shes very pretty.Glad she found you and on a night like this is no time for the little girl to be out.. :)

[finn's mom]

I'm sure she'll be missed, and, you won't have too much trouble finding her home! She is obviously well taken care of, poor little girl must be so frightened! She's in good hands, though, now! ;) I'd just give her some place warm to sleep, some fresh food and water, and, just basically leave her be tonight. And, start the search for her home tomorrow! I hope she's microchipped!

[luvofallhorses]

I hope you find her owners. She's such a doll. :)

[wolfie]

Aww, she's adorable! I hope you find her owners.

[jesse_3]

I would see if she is chipped if she calms down..I would also call the local police daprtment and ask if there has been a missing dog report, and check local humane society's and pounds as well.
Thanks for taking her in for the time being, she is such a cutie!

Steph and the gang!

[Ginger's Mom]

Oh my gosh, Debby, she is so cute. Maybe she got scared and ran out when some trick or treaters came to her door. I agree with Steph about calling local shelters to see if anyone called reporting her missing. Also, something I learned about when Kay found the Rottie (I forget her name). You can go online and register your dog as missing in your area through Petfinder. You may want to see if they did that as well. I have a feeling that you will find her owners soon. And she may be chipped.
I think it is wonderful of you, Maggy, Payton, and Sammy to share you warm, dry house with this little girl tonight.

[vinjashira]

a gorgeous girl, I hope you can reunite her with her family.

[RobiLee]

Oh, she is such a cutie. I hope you find her owners soon. Best of Luck. You did a great thing by taking her in and trying to help her.

[beeniesmom]

Wow Debby, She is very cute.
Will you keep her if you can't find the owners?

[Lobodeb]

Wow Debby, She is very cute.
Will you keep her if you can't find the owners?

No, I promised Sammy that I wouldn't get any more dogs after his pit bull incident.

***UPDATE***

Someone suggested I call the police to see if they had any reports of a lost dog, but they don't do that. They suggested I take her to animal control and give her up. I really hesitated doing that as I'm 99% sure they are a kill shelter.

Our vet was still closed, so I couldn't take her there to see if she was chipped, so I ended up taking her to animal control only to see if she was chipped. I wasn't going to leave her there if she wasn't. Low and behold, she was chipped!!!! :D :D :D

They said they would find her owner and reunite them. I ended up leaving her there since they had her owner's information.

She was so sweet. She did calm down last night and only wanted to be held. Maggy wasn't crazy about that and got very jealous. Sammy stayed fluffed all night and Payton was very curious. Hubby wasn't too thrilled, but who cares about him, right? ;)

She didn't want to stay in the porch last night and kept leaping the baby gate, so I crated her and she didn't make a peep all night. She was happy to go for the ride this morning. If I didn't leave her at animal control, I was going to keep her here at work with me.

I'm so excited that she was chipped and she'll find her mommy. She is so sweet. I'm guessing that she is very loved and missed, and will be reunited soon.

Good luck little girl!

[Dot]

How wonderful! Can you check back with the vet and find out for sure she was reunited with her owner? Please let us know, if you can!

Your experience makes a good case for micro-chipping, doesn't it? I'll look into it, for sure!

[finn's mom]

Awesome! Yeah, please do check back so that we all will know when she goes home! Did you leave your information with them in case the owners weren't found or, worse case, they don't want her back? I hope little girl gets home safely! Did you find out her name? I can't remember if that's part of the microchip information! :)

[Cinder & Smoke]

...I'm 99% sure they are a kill shelter.

... she was chipped!!!! :D

They said they would find her owner and reunite them.
I ended up leaving her there since they had her owner's information.

:eek:

Please do a Follow-Up with the Animal Control folks!
Too many things can go wrong in those places!! :(

* Her Infrmation/Data may not be current in the Chip database
* She may not have a license - which can create more problems
* She may get "lost" in the Shelter

I'm suprised AC didn't call in her "Chip Number" while you were there and then
give you her owner's name and phone number.

She may still be "at risk" if the AC either can't contact her owner OR they will
levy a "fine" for her running loose or not having a license.

Ask AC if they will give you her owner's phone so you can check that she
really did "get home" all safe & sound.

I couldn't sleep without talking to her owner.

/s/ Phred

[Lobodeb]

I can try to find out but some places don't like giving out that information once you've surrendered to them. They do have all of my information, however.

The only thing that came up on her chip was a number. They have to trace it from there.

I'm confident that she'll find her home. She was obviously very spoiled. She knew how to get in the car, sat on my lap and looked at me like, "come on, I'm ready."

Such a little sweetie.

[Lobodeb]

:eek:

Please do a Follow-Up with the Animal Control folks!
Too many things can go wrong in those places!! :(

* Her Infrmation/Data may not be current in the Chip database
* She may not have a license - which can create more problems
* She may get "lost" in the Shelter

I'm suprised AC didn't call in her "Chip Number" while you were there and then
give you her owner's name and phone number.

She may still be "at risk" if the AC either can't contact her owner OR they will
levy a "fine" for her running loose or not having a license.

Ask AC if they will give you her owner's phone so you can check that she
really did "get home" all safe & sound.

I couldn't sleep without talking to her owner.

/s/ Phred

I'll do just that, Phred.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[k9krazee]

Yay, I love happy endings!!