Stray dog---what should I do?

Thanks for keeping a lookout for her. I hope he's changed his mind for good, but often that's now how it works. But we'll hope for the best. Thanks for caring! :)

Thanks for your concern as well! This isn't over yet...I will still make sure the dog is treated properly. If not, I'm making some phone calls! I will let you all know tomorrow how she's doing. But for now, I'm going to watch the rest of the Oscars (Daisy is already in bed...she was hoping the food film 'Super Size Me' would win an Oscar but it didn't, so she is kind of angry and went to bed LOL)

Hey everyone, not good news. I said yesterday that I saw Shelby in her previous owner's yard yesterday. Well, about an hour ago, I found her again in the yard behind us. Apparently, the man must have kicked her out again. But there is good news...the person who works with my dad (I'll call this person M) is going to take Shelby in.

The problem? We cant get ahold of Shelby so she can go home with M.

We tried putting a leash around her neck. After several attempts, we got it on but it came off. M tried to jump the fence and pet her/talk to her but she was so scared to come to him most of the time. She would run off whenever he tried to get her to come to him. Why would this be? Because she was abused in the past?
We tried to get her to come in our backyard but she was too scared. She does jump fences, so shes pretty athletic :)

M is going to try to get her tomorrow because it was so hard to catch her. I've got door/water in the back again. The worse thing is that tonight its supposed to be in the teens outside and snow...I dont want her to freeze to death.

After dinner, Im going to try and get her. If I am lucky to, M will come and pick her up.

So the good news is that she has a home waiting for her. The bad news is that we cant get ahold of her. She keeps on backing up and running off. What can we do? She doesnt seem mean, just scared. Poor thing

Sadly, the Harder M tries to "catch" her, the more fearful she may become.

It may be best if YOU, and only you, try to approach her -
she may be very much afraid of "men" in general due to her
previous "owner".

Get some very small (bite-sized) treats, and try "tossing" them in
her direction - LOTS of treats BEFORE you try to touch her.
And if she'll follow you to get treats, try getting her to
follow you into a garage or enclosed porch - so you can close
a door and confine her.

And when you do manage to "capture" her - don't rush to touch her
for a while - just sit down and keep "tossin treats" - let
her come to you.

After you capture her - be sure Mr. M repeats the "treat tossin"
BEFORE he tries to touch her.

Good Luck!

/s/ Phred
.

Hi Cinder & Smoke--thanks for the tips! We do have some puppy treats that I could try giving to the dog (they're Daisys treats but she has to learn to share!). I've tried calling her name (it is a good thing I know it) and it does seem she is more approachable to females.

As you were saying about trying to capture her into a garage/enclosed porch, we tried to do that actually by bribing her with a bowl of dog food. We were trying to get her to come into our backyard (which it gated in). We all hid in the garage so she wouldnt see us, but I guess she did. She ran off and I havent seen her since. I hope she makes it out here in the cold tonight.

I'll try using treats and using your suggestions C&S--thanks for your help! BTW, are those German Shepherds in your picture? They are very pretty :) My grandparents had a sweet German Shepherd named Duke when I was little who was so friendly. He died of old age unfortunately. I remember my cousins and I trying to ride Duke like a horse but he wouldnt let us LOL

Don't give up on your mission of mercy. You have surmounted the biggest hurdle by finding M. The rest will take a bit of patience. Despite the cold, Shelby will probably be okay for the time being. C&S had excellent advice. You must be careful so not to scare Shelby, because -no matter how nice - a scared dog could bite. The process of gaining the trust of Shelby may take several days. The tastier the treats the better.

Thanks for the advice Rachel! I know, one of the reasons I hope I am doing the right thing is because one of my goals is for her to not bite me! I havent seen her since I saw her yesterday when we were trying to catch her. My father said it looked like she had some husky in her, so she might be suitable for the cold weather we are having here in KY. But no dog should be out in the cold wandering around like this right??? Her food bowl was almost empty this morning so I refilled it, and the cold weather froze the water, so thanks to an end to a broom and fresh water, I fixed that problem! If I see her again, I'll try to bribe her with treats. I dont know how long it'll be until she trusts us but I hope it works. I dont want to see her starve to death or get hurt. Thanks for the advice you all! I really appreciate it!!

Ahh... I just found this thread!!

Oh please keep trying to get her so M can take her and give her a wonderful home!!

Keep us updated!!!

Paws Crossed!!!

Thanks for your support pitc9!! BTW, your dogs are gorgeous!! They're German Shepherds right? I told someone earlier that my grandparents who had one named Duke. Not sure how old he was when he went to doggie heaven but he lived a long life! I visit the animal rescue site everyday and contribute my "click"! I just wish we can click as many times we want to provide food.

I havent seen her in a day, I still keep my eyes open for her. I thought I saw her this afternoon (my hound kept barking at something back where Shelby hangs out, but you never know my dog barks when the wind blows!).

Hope she's OK out there is she's still out there--its cold here in KY and snowing (we got the edge of the snowstorm that the Northeast people got...you poor folks always get the brunt of the storms). I told M (my dads friend who wants to take shelby in) that if i saw her, i would let him know. But as I have told everyone, that's not easy. She wont let anyone grab her. I'm going to try to use treats to lure her in

Hey everyone, just wanted to give an update on Shelby. This post has gone to 2 pages, so for the ones who just found about this post, I'll give a recap:


**********The man behind us had 3 dogs, including one named Shelby (she looks like a fox--maybe a shiba inu?really sweet face and gorgeous red coat). Last week, I found her and another dog(pit bull) belonging to the man roaming around our street, the next street over from the man. I called him and told him that his dogs were loose. He took the pit bull and brought him home but left and Shelby was still roaming.This concerned me,but I didnt see her since. Fast forward a few days later..we found shelby again-this time at a restaurant parking lot a few blocks from her home. We went by the man's house to tell him his dog was loose again, and he said he was missing a dog but it was that pit bull..just said that shelby was found by some people awhile back and they brought her back to her home. I figured he just let her go. My family knows the man, and I had a feeling he was that type. He has a very junky backyard (we can see it from our kitchen window). There's no telling how he treats his animals.

I didn't know what to do with the dog--I already have one dog, a beagle, who doesnt get along with other dogs.Putting shelby in our yard couldnt work anyways-she jumps fences. I saw her still roaming around every 1-2 days. I kept some water/food in the yard behind ours b/c that was where i usually saw shelby (this yard is right next door to her "home") so she would be fed. On Mon, I found someone who would give shelby a home but we had a hard time trying to catch her..she was very scared and would run off if anybody approached her.We werent able to get her because she ran off, and I havent' seen her since. Some members on the board gave me many suggestions on how to capture shelby. *************


Now, for the ones who have read this story, I had said that I last saw her monday after running off when M (the man trying to give her a home) and I were trying to catch her. Never saw her again. I thought (and hoped) somebody took her in. BUT, this evening (Wed) around 10pm my father said he saw Shelby once again outside (she was across the street sniffing garbage or something). I was like 'her we go again'. It was too late to call M and get her. So, I took some food and water and went to my front yard and called her to eat the food. She ate about half the food. I then through a rib out for her to eat (which made MY hound jealous b/c that rib was supposed to be saved for *her* LOL), which she ate quickly. I tried to see if I could lure her into my backyard (its gated in) and keep her there in the morning so M can get her. But once again, she was scared to come to me. I took some dog food and made like a "trail" along my driveway--she followed the food which made me happy because i thought i would be able to finally get her contained, but about 6 feet from my b-yard, she turned around and ran off. The last time I saw her, she was across the street somewhere. I tried to look out my front door and saw her walking around but then i lost sight of here. I kept the food and water in the front in case she came around.

I had the best opportunity to get pictures of her for you all to see BUT it was dark (10 pm)..maybe tomorrow!

Something else though about shelby, and my dad told me this tonight after seeing shelby. He knows the man who owns shelby (or who owned her..heck i dont know--read the rest!) and said that this man usually has his gate open, and his dogs often get loose. He added that shelby probably still belongs to him and he's the kind of guy who doesnt care whether his dogs come in or out of the yard. My dad leaves in the morning for work and said the past 3 days, he has seen shelby in the man's yard with the other dogs. So he's thinking that shelby is still the man's dog, but she escapes but is smart enough to come back home when she needs to. He said that this morning, the other dog was out and at the end of the street. So with this, I dont know what to believe. Sure, my dad is concerned about the dog, but he thinks that she still lives with the man but just roams around as she pleases and then comes home. But I told him that why was it recent that shelby has been on our street and in the yards. He said that the man might have had his gates open recently and the dogs started escaping. Truthfully, I dont know the real story about this. First I am thinking the man just abandoned shelby, but now we are finding out shes in her yard at times like normal. Sounds kind of mean, but i dont know if i believe my dad LOL. I think hes making stuff up so I wont feel bad about the dog running around in the streets, but i myself did see her one day in her yard (then i saw her back on the street and figured he kicked her out of the yard). Dad said when he was little, dogs from the neighborhood would roam around and follow him to school, but they always went home...and he thinks shelby's like that.

After he pointed this out to me, i wondered if i should still call the pound and go through all that. I mean, i dont want to give the man's dog away. Maybe he's the type who lets his dogs run around but always know they will come home. But then again, I hate seeing her roam around like this. I dont want to call the man and ask if he's letting her go..he's a loser and theres no telling what he'll say to me. I'm still feeding her now and keeping an eye on her like usual. But my father had a new insight that makes me think differently now. What do you all think about this? Ever heard of dogs who had homes but kind of just roamed around? I've seen alot of dogs in the country do this.

1 comment and 1 question. first the question Do you have leash laws in your town.? you could use that as ammo for your dad.
Comment listen well to Cinder and smoke Phred is a terrific with this kind of thing. He got one of his dogs this way also read the thread "plea for Help" Its the stroy of capturing and rescuing another PTers old freind. Tear warning though.

Thanks for the advice Corinna! Actually I tried using dog food (i need to get more dog treats...3 dogs share them, so they go quickly!!), and it seemed like it helped but then she ran off!! I'll have to read that story you referred me to..I might get some pointers from there :)

I'm not quite sure what you mean by leash laws. I live in Louisville--as far as I know, i never hear any strict enforcement of leashes. It's such a big city, so probably not. They have other issues to deal with LOL.

Thanks for your help!

Can you get her to follow you with the food in your hands BEFORE you let her eat? Maybe you could lead her near a gate to your yard, then move the food closer to the gate every time you feed her, and eventually into the yard.

I don't think I'd let her continue to wander the neighborhood. I'd surely hate to be the one to hit her with my car.

I fed a stray dog for a week, sitting 10 feet from the food until she decided to come to me. She followed me home finally--and had three puppies a few days later.

Patience is the key.

Mary

Thanks for the advice Mary! Well, I have some news for everyone...it looks like shelby does belong to the man--he is the type though that doesnt care that she comes in or out of his yard. He said she also gets loose time to time but always comes home. Its sad that he is that kind of dog owner. But there's more to the story, and it's good:

Remember I mentioned M, the man who wants to give Shelby a home? Well, Shelby's previous owner is going to let M (his name is Melvin) take Shelby. The previous owner is even going to come over and help us capture Shelby today. Melvin's backyard is fenced in with 8 ft tall picket fencing, so there's no way she should get out (dad said unless shelby used a ladder to escape LOL). Melvin and his wife are huge animal lovers--they lost one of their dogs, a rottie named bear, to cancer in fall of 2004. They do have another dog, a lab mix named bear. Since shelby lived with other dogs, having a new home with another dog shouldn't be a problem. I know for a fact that shelby is going to have a loving home with lots of yard to run in and treats to eat :)

Yes, it is going to be hard trying to get shelby (the man said that he had a hard time getting her to come to him also), but I am going to use the advice that many wonderful people on this post had given me in trying to get her. Wish us luck! I'll let you know how it goes!!!