Friday morning I woke up bright and early with every intention of going for a great run. My boyfriend and I are pet and house sitting for his Dad. They have 4 dogs of their own and run a pet sitting business, which we would take over for the weekend. Will had gone down first thing so the dogs could get more play time. I had a few appointments before I headed down and I wanted to work out before we left. There's a neighborhood right down the road that is pretty to run in and it's where I take my dog on walks almost every day. I got there, put on my 80s pop radio station on Pandora and started to run around the 1.6 mile loop.
I was pumped up, loving the music, and actually really enjoying my run. All of that was about to change. As I turned the corner I noticed a dog was running around without an owner. As I got closer it was running in the middle of the street as several parents just watched it while they walked their kids to the bus stop. Apparently I was the only one who thought maybe "I should get that Shih Tzu out of the road before it gets his by a car." It wasn't very fast so I grabbed him and he instantly started wagging his tail and tried to give me kisses. Obviously he was a very happy dog. I brought him back to the corner and started asking if anyone recognized him and knew who he belonged to. One parent said he would watch him if I wanted to go for my run still. I thought he was going to actually take the dog home and do the good citizen thing by putting up found dog flyers, but he set him down on the grass and proceeded to ignore him.
By this time I was fed up with his inability to even watch the poor, cute, lost dog. I grabbed the dog and walked in to the cup-de-sacs near the street to make sure someone wasn't desperately looking for their dog. After 30 minutes of this I decided to take him to the vet. He didn't have a collar so I had no way of knowing where he lived, plus his fur was a bit matted and seemed like he had been lost at least a day. His recent grooming and flowery smell made it seem like he wasn't gone longer too. I decided on the vet in case he was chipped so I could easily find his home.I drove the 5 minutes to the nearest vet and it turns out little fluff (that's what I named him) LOVES car rides. He was jumping around my back seat in the doggy hammock, jumping to the front seat and sprawling out in all his glory. Unfortunately, he wasn't chipped so we were back to square one. I asked the vet if they looked after lost dogs at all, but they, as a general vet policy, can't do that so they suggested the SPCA. The SPCA near us is phenomenal. We adopted our border collie from there and their facilities are well-staffed, no kill, all the pets get lots of exercise, there's tons of room for pets, and they are well-funded. I thought that was a great place to drop him off so back in the car we went!
Before everyone thinks I'm a monster for not taking him home with me to take care of him until we found his owners... I'm moving to NC in 3 days and we have a dog and 2 cats and have no idea of this dog's history much less how he does with cats or if he could possibly have gotten some illness that might spread to my dog. Not going to risk it. It wouldn't be fair to little fluff either. The SPCA doesn't take strays for one reason. All strays are supposed to go through the intake process at the Animal Control here so if anyone loses a dog there is only one place for them to go so it's easier for them to find. Makes sense. I would lose my mind if Atlas was lost and would call everyone imaginable, so I'm hoping little fluff's owners are as diligent as I would be.
Of course the Animal Control didn't open until 11am. What time did I show up? 930am... Luckily I ran into an elderly woman who volunteered there. She was walking a tiny dog and I walked up and explained that I had just found this dog. I'm not sure what she thought I said, but she went into a rant about how I was a horrible person for surrendering my dog. There was a super awkward pause and then I had to explain why I was not giving away my dog, but trying to do the right thing and find this dog's owner. She got mad at me then for not taking the dog myself and I had to explain that I was moving to a home that would have 5 pets in ANOTHER STATE. I was pretty grumpy with her for accusing me of hating dogs (for those of you who know me you know that I love my pets, especially my puppy, as if they were my own children so she's just ridiculous). I made her take me inside to find someone who could help me. 10 minutes later little fluff was being led to the back to presumably get a nice bed and await his parents!
I went home and immediately posted his story to Facebook to try and spread the word. If anyone knows this dog please let his owners know he is at the Animal Control at 341 S Birdneck Road. I found him in Courthouse Estates on North Landing Road in Virginia Beach. I hope this guy finds his home! He's insanely sweet and deserves a fantastic home.
Moral of the story> Please, please, please get your dogs chipped. There's nothing sadder than knowing your dog got loose and there's no way for anyone to be able to have a chance to contact you. Dogs are the best things to have ever happened to the human race and they are the only creatures on the planet who love us more than they love themselves. Keep the safe and happy. Make sure they have multiple ways of identification so they can make their way home :)
"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."--Milton Berle
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