16 March 2013

Almost

I was driving home the other night in Elvis.  Still trying to figure out the various buttons/settings.  Momma has yet to drive Elvis for any extended period of time - she's a bit paranoid about who will get the first scratch.  I am getting used to driving it but it is a wee different that the Land Barge.    

When I pulled into the neighborhood, I spotted a dog in the yard across the street from our house.  The dog had no collar and looked young/scared.  I was worried that the dog would run out into the street so I parked Elvis and came back to check on it.  Very skittish, but friendly.  A young Australian Shepherd.  As I got closer, I could tell it was: 1) a puppy; 2) female; 3) had no collar; 4) very nervous/shy.  She was friendly but unsure about me (couldn't blame her).  I thought she belonged to the neighbor whose yard she was in so I went up to the house and rang the bell.  The woman came out and said it wasn't hers.  Two neighbors walked by and the did not know who owned it.  Looked to be very young and sweet and a local dog, but no one had any idea as to who it belonged to.  I  decided to take her across the street with me to see if we could hold her until we found her owner.  Was considering taking her to vet to see if she had a chip.  I got Claire's leash/collar but that turned out to be way too big for a puppy so I had to find a back up collar.  Finally corralled her and took her home but you could tell she was not used to walking on a leash.  Let her into my back yard to give keep her safe.    




Hello Maggie

Now, at this point I would point out that my two were just besides themselves cause I hadn't greeted them yet.  They could see the activity outside but weren't involved so they were a bit put out.  With the puppy secured in the back yard, I attempted to introduce my two.  BIG MISTAKE.  Both Grayson and Claire are very loving dogs and not aggressive but as soon as they spotted "fresh meat" in the yard, they had to go check it out.  The puppy, however, had other ideas.  As soon as she spotted two big dogs 3x her size in the yard, she took off wailing and running away.  Of course, my two immediately tried to come to her aide but it only added to her fear/panic.  I had to separate them and bring her into the house to calm her down.  I sent a picture to Mary (DIL's mom) since they are part of the Aussie rescue group and was getting ready to canvass the neighborhood to see if anyone recognized her when the doorbell rang and a girl from down the street asked if we had her dog.  Turns out she is an 18 week old Aussie named Maggie that had gotten out her back yard (appears she's a digger).  No collar cause they had given her a bath.  No microchip either.  Was a happy reunion of dog/owners.  She was definitely a cutie and we would have loved to keep her for a few nights just to find her home, but my two would have probably been too much for her so we would have had given her to Mary and the Aussie rescue group.  That's enough drama for one day.  

Addendum:  Maggie was out again this morning (with a collar).  Apparently, she's becoming quite an escape artist.  

6 comments:

Reggie Hunnicutt said...

Such a beautiful dog.

meleah rebeccah said...

Awwww.. Poor Maggie all lost and scared. Good thing people like you live in her neighborhood and kept her safe.

But her owners seem to be very irresponsible. They need to get her a collar and the chip like ASAP. Clearly, Maggie likes to take off a lot!

Abby said...

Oh PRETTY Maggie! Australian Shepherds are great dogs. Our Domino (RIP) was half. So glad this story had a happy ending! Hopefully this was an exception for the owners, and they'll keep her collared and get her a chip. Agg to the rescue!

ShadowRun300 said...

How sweet she is! But I'm glad she found her owners.
Funny that she's named Maggie. We have a Maggie on our block. Her owners put in an underground fence. Maggie would run through it and then through ours just to play with Chancie. I watched her do it one time. She got up a good start... ducked her head and ran across the fence. She would let out a yelp and then duck her head again and run through ours. (Letting out another yelp.) It was well worth her shock to play with her friends. Her owners finally got her a stubborn dog collar and she hasn't gotten out since. :)

lotta joy said...

Precious. Nothing but sweetness wrapped up in an innocent package. That's why I'm so glad you were the one to find her. In Indiana, I would keep a bag of dog food in the car because there were so many dogs put out of cars that would end up sitting for days at the side of the road, waiting for their loved ones to come back.

In Florida, for some reason, dogs don't get 'dropped off' as much as they do in the country.

terri said...

Awww, Maggie is gorgeous! You did exactly what I would have done. I'm glad you found her owners, but I hope they get a handle on the digging/escape artistry. Hard to keep Maggie safe if they can't keep her contained.