Doggy Dundee

5/9/10

G’day Mates!

In a previous post, Doggy Dundee moped about the three stray dogs that had eluded capture, and apparently each continued wandering into the lost dog zone; But last week was more successful, and Doggy Dundee actually found three (different) stray dogs! Seems the score was even’d up a bit.

A common theme emerged- again: Owner inattention!

The Pug and Yellow Lab-X were a friendly pair without ID. After locating the owner who’d been out searching for them for 2-1/2 hours, I learned that they get out alot “…if I forget to close the garage door soon enough because that’s the only route they can go where the shock collars can’t affect them.” So, first, fellow DO close the door, and second, get ID on these doggies! Stray dogs can become lost dogs real quick, especially when there’s no ID tags.

The very next day a small, long curly haired black Terrier-X named Neville came sniffing about (looked kinda like a cross between a Scotty and an Ewok). Thankfully there was ID, though the owner didn’t answer for a couple hours coz he was dining in Ashland and left his cell phone in the car (sigh). When the owner did pick up the message, he hustled to Talent to pick up his stray doggy, and he told me “Neville’s usually good about staying in the yard, but we don’t have a fence and if we get distracted with the kids and leave him out too long, he takes off.”  How long has this been going on? More than a year. Duh! That’s taking a big chance with your dogs life – plus that’s lots of other people taking care of your lost dog, fellow. So, first, pay attention to  your dog; Second, fence your yard or at least enclose a section of it for Neville to do his business; Third…thanks for having an ID tag (next time, add an address, too, so finders can bring Neville home quicker.

Where, Oh Where, Are These Stray Dogs? Lost?

G’day, Mates! It was a sad day for Doggy Dundee. Three stray dogs in sight and, yet, only one found its way home to an owner as far as we know!

Driving southbound into Ashland on Hwy. 99 there was a yellow lab pup lookin’ to  be about 5-7 months old lopping northbound on the sidewalk.  Doggy Dundee pulled over at the first available driveway (never as close as you want ‘em), grabbed a leash, and ran up the street, but…no lab pup to be seen. That pup could have wandered into any of the driveways along that section and been sniffing in backyards, so Chase and I headed back to the car. We can only hope that stray dog didn’t become a full-fledged lost dog!

Heading home northbound a couple hours later, an Aussie (a mate!) literally stepped in front of our car and sat down in front of us as we drove  Talent Avenue.  I breaked the car as did the gent in an SUV driving southbound; I got outa the car, but the dog wouldn’t have me anywhere near ‘em and off he dashed. Since cars were piling up behind us, I jumped back in and circled ’round about to park. After a short wander of the neighborhood homes, turns out this Aussie was living in a home facing Talent Avenue and was just looking for his owner who’d been doing some repairs. The owner’s response? “He left the porch? Jeez, he’s never done that before.” (Right! ‘Far as you know, mate! And why don’t you have a gate on your porch is what we’re wonderin’?)

Then 11:15 p.m on our late walk, there’s an adult stray dog (Lab-Collie-X (best guess), sniffing some fencing on Wagner Creek Road near Tark’s Market.  Tried to befriend this one, but she sped  ”off-like-a-light” across the street, the market’s parking lot, and down a dark alley northbound. Hoped she was racing home in a panic, but 10 minutes later spotted her fast-paced sihouette disappearing up Wagner Creek Road far west of us; must have circled the blocks. We heard the barks of outdoor,neighborhood dogs starting to set up protests for a long time after that, so this pooch wasn’t known in the area.

Question for me is (always) never where’s the dog, but where the heck is the owner that the stray dog is out wandering!

Lost Dog Found Again – “Shadows” Always Follow Us 

Regular readers of Doggy Dundee know about stray dog “Shadow,” a shephard-mix with the wandering spirit who has been a regular “find” of Doggy Dundee on the streets of Talent, Oregon, day and night, over the last several years; also, often “found” by other residents, too. Seems like the only ones not able to get a hold on this dog is the owner(s), who have earned the dishonorable title of “Doltish Doggy Owners.” They’re nice, mature people, and they seem to really love their dog, but “don’t have a clue,” apparently, when it comes to controlling Shadow.

So, Shadow was wandering along the dark Wagner Creek Road in downtown Talent about 11 p.m. the other night again, and this time, rather than just come over to me (as normal) he was intent on teasing us, coming within inches but then running in circles or up and down and across the street, etc. Cars had to stop. Chase (who I had tied to a fence post) and Shadow had a grand time with this bounding game, and I finally sat down on some grass and reconciled myself to letting Shadow “play it out” and he finally came over (20 long minutes later) and nudged my arm.  I leashed him (remember that all good doggy dundees carry an extra leash for saving stray dogs), and we walked him to our home.

After receiving my call, the wife owner of Shadow drove over to pick up her lost dog. “How’d this happen again,” I wondered? Seems she’d taken Shadow out after dinner, he looked up at her, she instantly sensed his “spirit” was up, but before she could do anything, Shadow had raced off. Now, three things are off-kilter about this excuse: First, Shadow obviously wasn’t leashed and when you have a dog with a wandering spirit, leash him before you open the door! Second, “after dinner” time was, what?, three, four, maybe five hours earlier? And were they out looking for Shadow? Obviously not – again. Third, this stray dog act has been going on for years – Get a clue.

Well, Shadow, you can count on us! Doggy Dundee is always grateful to be in the right place at the right time for finding stray dogs – especially our doggy pals who are momentarily lost dogs.

Separation Anxiety: Report Lost Dogs To County Animal Shelters!

The two gorgeous Husky-mix lost dogs pictured on this post were renamed “Silver” and “Juno” by the Jackson County Animal Shelter. They were found together and brought in together, both dogs were obviously “house-mates” and best friends with each other. However, no lost dog report was filed with the shelter, there was no ID on either dog, and no response to the usual “found” listing the animal shelter placed in the Mail Tribune newspaper for several days. Finally, the staff placed both very well-trained dogs in adoption.

Two Reasons This Dog Story Is So Sad

First, Juno was adopted, but, unfortunately, the people did not also adopt Silver. We know Silver (the lighter-colored of the two, who seems to be a Husky-x, and Doggy Dundee is guessing some American Eskimo, too) misses Juno, and also is not very happy about being in the animal shelter versus a home. Silver is a beautiful, joyful, and obedient dog who’d obviously been well-loved and cared for.

Second, several days after Juno’s adoption, someone spotted a Craigs List “lost dog” ad  with those two dogs pictured. “Why didn’t they call us?” the staff wondered, and the staff immediately pulled Silver out of the adoption area, and tried contacting the “lost dog seekers” using the contact information provided via the Craigs List ad. They tried several times. No owner response. For days. Finally, Silver was returned to the adoption area this week, where she is, as of this date, still awaiting a home.

This tragedy of separation could have been avoided and resulted in a happy ending for both dogs if the owners had:

• Reported their lost dogs to the county animal shelter
• Licensed, or ID tagged, and/or a Microchipped on each dog
• Placed “lost dog” ads in the local newspapers (shelter staff will often check those).
• Not assumed that everyone would check a specific (or any) internet site to locate owners of a dog they’d found.

It’s the responsibility of owners to “get the word out” – not the responsibility of stray dog finders to scour the earth for the owner of stray dogs! Your dog will love you for it! Meanwhile, if you’re interested in possibly adopting Silver, contact the Jackson County Animal Shelter on Hwy. 99 in Phoenix, Oregon (Case #K0487). Phone number is 541-774-6654.

Expired Dog Tag Luckily Gets Stray Dog Home

G’day Mates! Next to not having any identification tag or dog license on your dog, having outdated tags is another aggravating factor that helps prohibit prompt reunion of dog with owners. Even if the average person ends up finding stray dogs and is curious and checks for tags, a dog without contact info is easily overlooked (“Sorry, pal. Don’t know where you live.”).

Not Doggy Dundee, though. I was getting out of my car at the local market when I noticed a large, furry beast of a stray dog wandering towards the outdoor grill area, his snout sniffing the air happily (“Yum…I smell chicken and ribs!”). Store employees didn’t know who the owner of the lost dog might be (though said it had been a rare visitor – meaning stray on prior occasion). The ID was useless – meaning NO ID tag and the county dog license had expired two years before. So much for my shopping! I easily enticed the stray sweetheart into my car and headed off to the Jackson County Animal Shelter in Phoenix, Oregon, arriving five minutes after closing time.

However, staff passed along the expired contact info that was still stored in their database (Dog named “Mako”), and I crossed my fingers that the expired contact address was still good; Meaning, I hauled the stray dog and myself back to Talent and began driving around town, asking passersby if they’d heard of the street. We arrived at the house just the owner arrived from work and was pulling into her driveway . I opened the car, the no-longer stray dog leaped out, and the owner tossed me that all too familiar sheepish grin and line Doggy Dundee has come to get-and not believe-from dog owners far too often: “Gee, he’s never gotten out before. It must have been the kids.”) Yeah, right, mate!

Homeless Dog Owner & Stray Dog

G’Day Mates! There’s lots of kindness to go around from shelter staff and residents for a homeless dogs owner and his stray dog. Here’s an example:

It was dark at 9:45 on Monday night 8-24-09 when Chase and I met Reena, a female Doberman-X, roaming near Tark’s Market in Talent. Doggy Dundee was (drat!) without her spare leash as Reena and Chase started playing and chasing each other around in circles in the middle of the street. Sigh… Obviously, a stray dog night. “Alright, buddy, ready to follow us?” I asked the brown and black and very exuberant Dobie-X.

Reena did follow us - all the way unleashed. As with most lost dogs, she was a gem of a gentle stray. At home, while I tried calling her tag’s 503 area code phone number (“No calls are being taken at this phone number. Please try again later.”), Chase and Reena raced around the livingroom, and chowed down on kibble. Early a.m. appointments would leave me no time to take care of the stray dog in the morning, though, so I called the Talent Police Department, explaining I’d found a lost dog. They (more…)

Doggies – Don’t Get a Whiff of This

In answer to the question “Can skunks and doggies be friends?,” the answer is apparently not , based on the adventures of a couple local doggies. Pew!  Skunks ward off attackers by releasing a wondrous aroma that leaves meddlers unhappy – and the unlucky doggy owners having a fit trying to wash the smell off their pet. FYI, a tomato juice bath is a useless myth. Try either of the following two “shampoos” instead.

Pepe le Pew

Here’s two “recipes” that have worked for various people; Stock up on the ingredients now:

(a) Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover — I’ll be adding it to the Doggy Dundee Amazon store, under “Grooming Supplies.” We missed this important item when building the Doggy Dundee store pages. Follow bottle instructions, and keep away/out of the doggy’s eyes.

or

(b) A popular, homemade skunk odor remover recipe,  described by Terrie Martin is:  Baking soda paste first (I guess that means you mix baking soda with water and lather it well on the pooch and rinse), which is then followed by a pre-mixed “shampoo” consisting of a combination of: 1 bottle peroxide, a half cup baking soda and a tablespoon of dishwashing detergent. Lather on, wash the entire dog, including between toes, under the tail, etc. and rinse off completely. CAUTION: Do not let any of this mixture to come in contact with the eyes! Gentle, gentle…

NOTE: If your dog came running back from the attack, and the dog’s eyes are red or swollen, he/she may have taken a direct spray in the face. That can require a trip to the vet for eyedrops to ease those symptoms and discomfort.

(Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you all that the danger of having a run-in with a skunk is about nil if you keep your dog on a short six to eight foot leash rather than letting the pooch run loose.)

Caution Hot Doggies

G’Day Mates – It’s that time of year again – blistering high temps combined with lower water levels has, as usual, resulted in unsafe bacteria levels (E-coli, etc.), and notices to stay out of the contaminated creek water. That includes hot doggies!

UNsafe Creek

  All doggy owners, no matter where you live, should be aware of this during the hottest parts of the summer. No city or county can put signage up along the entire shoreline of meandering creeks, and not all cities may test area creeks on a daily or almost daily/frequent schedule. Letting your hot doggy romp or drink in a contaminated creek isn’t a healthy/safe thing to do. So, break out the mini-pools or drive up to a lake or ocean with your hot doggies — just avoid any potentially unsafe creeks or other waterways. 

Sigh…Now Chase can’t rush and dive into the creek behind the dog park. Question is, “Who’s gonna tell Chase?” Gosh, it tears me up to have to break this news to her every year!

(Post photo is from The Asland Daily Tidings, accompanying their article entitled Ashland Creek Has Unsafe Bacterial Levels, dated August 6, 2009)

Leaving Paw Prints on Our Hearts

G’day Mates!  Two of Chase’s neighborhood dog buddies passed on in the last week or so. Love, licks, and tail wags to Rudy and to Muttley. Both pooches were black, one small, one large, one short hair, one long hair, and both had hearts of gold — So do their owners.

Doggy Dundee has been hoping to get some photos and background info on these two pals so we can share it with you, and we still may, but we sure didn’t want to put off this initial tribute any longer. 

Give a hug to your doggy, and please say prayers for our two pals – Rudy and Muttley – and for their owners who are missing them mightily.
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Talent Police Chief Endorses Doggy Dundee

Imagine Doggy Dundee’s surprise to pick up the June issue of the Talent News and Review and read that the Chief of Police is a Doggy fan, and read quotes

Chief Moran & Dogs

stating he finds this blog is “refreshing…informative and entertaining.”

It all started late one Thursday night when I was reading the “Flash Cop Talk” column. Chief Mike Moran addressed concerns about a stretch of newly painted yellow lines on Talent Avenue, then he went into some detail about check fraud taking place. Then–Ding! Ding!–without warning came this unsolicited endorsement from Chief Moran:

“Talent has another interesting source of information besides this publication. It’s an online site about the travels and perspectives of a woman and her dog in Talent. It has a refreshing outlook, and there are reminders about the rules and responsibilities of dog owners…the online blog of DoggyDundee.com is informative and entertaining…and has some really great stories about Talent’s Canine Citizens.” 

Much obliged, Chief! Natch, we had to find out about the dogs in his life.

Henry and Coco Were Shelter Dogs

Chief Mike Moran is pictured above with his two “shelter dog ” alumni. The black (maybe, Flat Coat) Retriever X is Henry — and doesn’t Henry bare a tad resemblance to Chase?  The white and brown Cocker  X (maybe with Springer?) is named Coco.  Both boys are furry and fun.

Henry, who is now seven years old, was adopted as a 12 week old puppy from the Animal Shelter. The last of 12 pups,  he’d been overlooked due to some social anxiety issues, but the Chief tells me Henry “is a great dog.”

Chief Moran adopted Coco, also now around seven or eight years old, from the Southern Oregon Humane Society (HS).  This handsome cocker X had been rescued by the HS from Josephine County, because that group was unable to find the dog a home.  As you can see, Coco is very happy to be living with Chief Moran.

Visit Your Animal Shelter

A great big THANKS to Chief Mike Moran for adopting shelter dogs – Chase and I want everyone to visit their shelters for their “fur-ever friend.” And, naturally, Doggy Dundee sends a big thanks to the Chief  for sharing his appreciation of the Doggy Dundee blog with the Talent newspaper’s readers.