Doggy Dundee

Craigslist.org Unites Stray Dog and Owner

Tracy Gault of Ashland, Oregon, a buddy of Doggy Dundee, was hailed by a white stray dog wandering near the Ashland Dog Park in the early evening of Friday, April 2. No ID tag (Grrrrrrr…). She added that doggy to her family brood of two all ready in the car, and drove out to the Jackson County Animal Shelter to drop the pooch off, but the animal shelter was closed-gates locked- by the time she arrived. Sigh…Well, what’s a good doggy owner to do, but take the pooch home for the night, right? BUT, Tracy also posted a ”Found” ad on the “Community” listing of Craigs List, describing the dog.

All end’s happily you see, because, though the frantic (crazed!!!!!) owner had not thought about going to Craigs List , the dog owner did know enough to call the animal shelter. The staff took down the dog’s info, but also told the fellow to “check Craigs List” as well as place newspaper lost dog ads, and post fliers. Craig’s List did the trick for this doggy owner, though. The fellow contacted Tracy early today, Saturday morning (4/3), before Tracy could even place a call to the Jackson County Animal Shelter, and the owner and doggy were ecstatic when reunited this morning! “Gosh, it felt so good to see them hugging each other,” said Tracy.

So, whether you find a stray animal or have lost an animal, make certain you post a notice on www.craigslist.org for the state and town/region within which the animal was lost. Place your ad under the “Community” section in that region. They have a category of “Pets” or “Lost + Found,” which are both appropriate in this case, though you may want to change your descriptive heading and terminology in each of those sections least the “powers that be” at Craig’s edit you out of one or the other due to placing a “multiple listing” (though Doggy Dundee thinks such a decision would be ridiculous!).

Thanks to Tracy, and to her tolerant doggy family(Carmen and Bayley) for taking such good care of the stray dog!

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.

Finding Stray Dogs = Meeting A Neighbor

G’day, mates!  Not all dogs go stray coz their owner’s a dolt. Sometimes mistakes happen – and a perfectly well-mannered and cared for dog can suddenly decide to “carpe diem” and make a dash, squeezing through an inch of almost-about-to-close doorway.

Doggy Dundee got a chance to meet one of those marvelous “dogs that got away” – A neighbor came huffing over, “Have you seen our dog, Shay?” Truth be told, these folks were so quiet I’d never even known they owned a dog! I assured the owner that “she be right” (it’ll be fine/work out, in Aussie), and said I’d help her find the stray dog. So, the owner ran one way down the street, and I turned the other way, soon hailing a couple girl skateboarders, and asked if they’d spotted a stray dog, and those kids laughed and pointed behind a bush behind me where, sure enough – what a beaut! – Shay was sniffing about. Called the stray pointer, who bounded out to greet me right nice. Then hailed the owner, and we ended up having a nice meet and greet, so, thanks to Shay going on a walkabout, Doggy Dundee’s made a nice cobber (eh…that’s ‘friend’ in Aussie).

Will Owner of This Stray Dog Ever Learn?

Doggy Dundee sometimes ends up finding stray dogs that have been found before, but Shadow is a “favorite” stray dog – a regular of ours. Matter of fact, he was one of the original dogs that resulted in the creation of this blog. However, Shadow’s owners aren’t favorites, though their lack of due diligence borders on laughable – You see, Shadow is one stray dog Doggy Dundee has found wandering the streets of Talent numerous times; We’ve even decided to write Shadow up on at least a couple posts before.

So, just for the record, Shadow was (again) wandering the streets near  Talent Ave and Wagner Creek the other day. I rushed from the coffeehouse – and left my lunch cooling - to nab the sweetie. Uh-oh, no extra leash, no car, and food on the table! Fortunately, Matt, a coffee and doggie lover who was enjoying his brew outside, used his cell phone to call the numbers listed on Shadow’s tag. As usual no answers, but one number would lead to cues to call other family member numbers,  and eventually a girl answered. Sigh…she was busy in Ashland. Couldn’t we “just take the dog home?  I’ll give you the address.” Meanwhile, another customer had loaned me twine from his car so Shadow could be more easily contained, and Dan, the coffee house owner, was feeding Shadow some chicken salad. Matt told the girl he’d wait so she or someone else she might call could come and pick up their dog. (Are you noticing how many strangers it was taking to take more care of Shadow than the owner was doing in those moments?).

After 40 more minutes, Matt finally gave up (Grrrrr…) and drove the rain-soaked stray dog - in his beautifully emaculate car – back to the “no one at home” house. He managed to enclose Shadow on a porch, hoping Shadow didn’t stand up, knock the knob, and rush away again. Shadow is an expert at leaving – especially when doltish doggy owners don’t lock gates or doors. So, dear readers, who represents the smarter species?

Older Stray Shephard Eludes Doggy Dundee

G’day Mates! Alas, not all Doggy Dundee tales end happily. In the dark of this evening I thought I spied a shadow move down a side street of Siskiyou Boulevard in Ashland (Was walking back to my car where Chase was waiting for me to be done at the chiropractor’s).  Sure enough, it was an older German Shephard showing signs of some rear leg difficulties and with plenty of tuffed fur that needed grooming.

Finding stray dogs is never a problem, and catching them is usually not much of a problem for Doggy Dundee; Tonight, though, this particular stray dog was too elusive even for me. After tailing this stray German Shephard for awhile, he slowed and showed himself under a street lamp where he’d started munching something delectable that had been tossed aside by some littering person. I tried enticing the stray, but, unfortunately, he was too spooked, and I couldn’t get a hand close to him, much less a leash on him. He’d come close, but not close enough before scooting back into the darkness. Too bad, coz I could see he had an ID tag, so returning this pooch to his owner might have been easy. Hope he’s safe and someone can get this stray dog back to his owner, or he finds his way home. A dark stray dog walking across dark streets (and so near a main street) isn’t a good thing.

Boyfriend “Forgets” Dog

That Heads Down Highway

The tiny, vanilla-colored stray dog was a chihuahua, happily following his nose along Hwy. 99 in Talent, Oregon, sniffing delightful grass scents along the curb. Fifteen inches or more to the left and he’d be smushed mustard. Finding stray dogs is par for Doggy Dundee so we sacked plans, and pulled our car into a driveway, mindful that if this stray dog spooked and ran into traffic it wouldn’t be pretty. Thankfully, this chihuahua hadn’t been a lost dog long, coz he was curious and friendly rather than fearful or defensive, and ran into my arms and gave Chase a “licking.”

Oscar was his name (thank you ID tag), and since the Anjou Apartments were right there, we headed into their office and the manager called the number on the tag – Yikes! The woman owner was pretty “pissed” that her “pea”-brained boyfriend had let the dog out and “forgot him” (apparently again). Grrrrr…Guys, what’s with you?

Assured the woman would immediately call the doltish boyfriend to pick up Oscar, the manager suggested I let Oscar down to play with her dog in the office. Nice — until Oscar peed all over their carpet. Hmmm…Seems “p” runs in the family.

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!

Stray Dog Ruffles Doggy Dundee’s Fur

G’day Mates! Not feeling too proud even two days after this event. Guess it was was only a matter of time before the fur on our (well, ‘my’) back would get ‘roused about finding stray dogs.

Chase and I were out walking late on Friday night, and, on our way home, met a friend walking her Lab-X , Arrow; so instead of turning into our driveway like normal, the dynamic duo of Doggy Dundee kept on strolling along the (very) dark street with our friends – Be careful about which path you take in life.

We all finally turned back, but a half block from the Doggy Dundee driveway, we spot (in the darkness) a bicyclist doing crazy loops and crashes and tottering – all accented with grunts and (’nuff said) thanks to a wild stray bulldog whose running crazy off-leash.

This dog’s bats – running all over the biker, into the street and caused a car to swerve in the dark as the flash of white fur dashed across. There’s no collar so there’s nothing for us to grab onto as she’s leaping and ramming and jumping all over and around Arrow and Chase acting like a wild dog on drugs. I’m royalty upset coz I know this pooch belongs to one of my (more…)

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…)

G’day Mates! It sure is easier finding stray dogs when the stray dog comes to us, especially on hot days.

We’ve had record setting temps of up to 108 degrees in Southern Oregon, so on this cool 97 degree day I was on the front porch balancing on a step ladder to replenish a hummingbird feeder bottle. Taking the last step down and turning, there was a large dalmation standing right behind me, tongue long and panting.  Chase had started a bark alert from her post in the house.

The dalmation was friendly, though tired. Had a license, but no ID tag.  Doltish doggy owners - An ID tag is the easiest way to get stray dogs returned quickly by anyone finding the pooch. So, Doggy Dundee gave her a bucket of water to drink, hosed her down, and leashed her, then decided to take the stray dog for a (hot) walk in hopes the owner would spot us.

We didn’t have to go more than two dozen steps when a neighbor couple told me they thought it was the same dog they’d found wandering a couple weeks earlier; that time, the dog’s owner had posted a note at the local market and the couple had been able to return the dog to its home.  Today, my neighbors were heading to a barbecue and offered to drive the pooch back to its home, and, if the owners weren’t home, leave a note and keep the stray dog till the owners called back. They also said that two weeks before they’d told the dog’s owner to add an ID tag to the dog’s collar – advice that had obviously been ignored.

Doltish doggy owners – Why wouldn’t you ID tag your dog?  Isn’t it interesting that the stray dog stopped for a rest right at Doggy Dundee’s front porch, though?