[EvonsRorgon]

also to make things worse i think i may know who the dog belongs too and i don't know if they are home. i can't be for sure the dog is always in their backyard but they are the only other people with pitbulls in the neighborhood but i haven't seen this dog since he was a puppy from my memory he looked similar in color but i can't remember if that dog had cropped ears. this one had natural ears.

---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:15 PM ----------

you all are far kinder than i am. strays spook me honestly, you never know if they bite, if theyre sick, or just a good pet that got loose.
i'll admit it, i dont look twice and it honestly doesnt bother me. sure its sad, but i have my own to worry about. thats priority #1

honestly this is how normally i am. this dog though reminded me so much of my own boy it was hard not to care.

[voksveta]

I am so sorry about the dog.. you did NOT fail him his owners did.

[MizzDaizzy]

I'm so sorry PeanutsMommy

[LongaDonga]

I agree, I generally don't go up to strays either. But I usually call AC, especially because I have to think of my dogs safety and my own safety first.

Don't feel bad, it wasn't your fault. His owners obviously suck and the world is a pretty harsh place. People are so damn lazy, its really not that hard to keep dog's safely contained.

---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 PM ----------

Here's a story that might make you feel better. So the guys at my bf's frat (we're both alums from the college) found this super sweet stray Malamute bitch. They looked hard for her owners for several weeks and no one came forward. They decided to keep her as the house dog and all share walking responsibilities and she's always on leash or on her tie out in the backyard when outside. Its perfect for her because she is never alone and gets all the attention she can handle.

[CathBraun]

I am sorry you came across this unfortunate encounter peanutsmommy, but as everyone has given you the truthful fact here. It simply was not your fault and most certainly nothing you caused to fail yourself or the stray.

Ever since I was a child I have always felt it was my role to properly take care of strays. At least until my parents would tell me AC must pick them up but I still felt it was my duty to at least rescue them from harm, feed them, and shelter them.
Well I certainly have caught loads of strays until this day but I also was faced with strays who simply would not come to me to offer them a chance. There will always be that part inside of me that rethinks what if to those I couldn't catch but I have to tell myself the failure for this stray began before I came across it. Although I always and still may think I am somewhat responsible to capture and do more good for these strays, you and myself can only try as apart of our good hearts but will not and cannot accept it as failure if it's not meant to be in the end.

It's a very pleasing and a positive realization just how much we have given and continue to give to our own dogs. I hope your feeling better about all this Peanut certainly would like his mommy to not feel like a failure when you have him to prove your simply not.

[EvonsRorgon]

thanks monkeys and Joey. You guys make me feel better about what happened.

i do now have a paranoia though with cars and my own boy. when we were running yesterday we came up to the road and when waiting for the walk sign to come i looked down the road and seen so many speeding cars coming and could not help but see in slow motion in my head what that dog may have went thru.

after we got to cross the road as we were running still i was thinking of Peanut looking at him ahead of me with my husband. he is small and hard to see. we run at 7 pm so that the weather is cooler and the sun is going away. when we got home last night i got on amazon.com and ordered Peanut a high vis vest. he is going to look like a dork but it is for his own saftey. when it comes i will get pictures of him in his dorky saftey vest. it is going to make me smile to see him like that but at the same time that vest will bring me peace of mind and that means a lot.

[ftpsoft]

I can't wait to see him in his vest!

[EvonsRorgon]

i will post him in it when it gets here. he will look like a dork for sure but he will be a safe dork and this is inspired from this stray's situation

[MizzDaizzy]

Hope you are feeling better today.

[EvonsRorgon]

What would you do?

my husband was getting ready to leave tonight and he told me not to take Peanut on his evening walk yet because there was a stray am bully about 2-3 years old out side and it was very scared and was going up to each house looking at it as if he was trying to find his house. i came out (without Peanut) and the dog looked at me and he took off running. i usually don't try to approach strays but i thought what if it was Peanut lost and scared. well this dog took off running towards the main street so my husband and i got in our car to follow him to get ahead of him to try to shoo him back into the neighborhood where he could at least be safe from the main road. well he go to the main road and again i tried to approach him enough to gain his trust so that he would go back in the neighborhood and again he looked at me and slunk down and ran. we tried to call a/c but since it was 6 pm the office was closed so there was nothing we thought of to do and thedog disappeared so we drove where we thought he would have gone and did not see him in the road so we figured he might have found a safe place to go and we turned around.

fast forward about 30 minutes. i decided to take Peanut on his nightly walk with my sister in law and neice. we are inside the neighborhood (a good safe part deep in the neighborhood away from any main road, actually 2 dead ends and an island) we seen this dog again. i stopped and sat Peanut down and waited to see where this dog was going to go. he looked at us and then ran across the street from us and sat at one of the neighbors houses on the grass. so we continued to walk. i felt okay that he was where he was no cars would get him and i couldn't do anything i had Peanut. well we are walking a few feet and a man and his wife complimeted Peanut and were very nice. they then seen this stray am bully and asked if he was our dog. i told him no he seems to be a stray. he then asked if he had a collar i said no. so he started to whistle to the dog. the dog looked at him then slunk down and ran. the man and his wife then started to walk towards the direction of the dog. i didn't see if they got to him. inside me i am hoping they were able to get him and gain his trust.

ethically, i feel like i failed this dog. i feel i should have done more to help this dog out. i just didn't know what to do for a dog that was scared and didn't want to be approached. i feel that if this had been Peanut i would want some one to do more to help him to get back to me. but this area is known for people to dump stray animals so i feel that this could be this guys case. i walk and run in this area a lot and know most of the neighbor's dogs and haven't seen this guy before but thats not to say he hasn't been running scared for a few miles trying to find his way home. should i have done more? i just feel really bad that i didn't catch this guy and try to find his home. i keep worrying about him now that he doesn't make his way on to the street. he seemed like had he not been in a scared lost situation he would be a very friendly happy guy. i am hoping i see him again so that i know he is safe and maybe i can try again to get him or call a/c during buisness hours.

anyway, what would you do?

[remstaling]

I would have done the same thing you did. And you did not fail the dog, the previous owner did. Try calling AC in the morning and see if they can't catch him.

[AALee]

I would pretty much have done all you did, and little more. When I see/find strays, I will help them if they want to be helped, but endangering myself in traffic etc, is (now) over the top for me. I think I would still call A/C in the morning and report it, if he is scared, he poses a threat. Don't beat yourself up, you would have done alot if he had come to you. I know the feeling in your gut of "I didn't do enough", but really you were willing to try, and that's more than most do these days.

[flowersnewaho]

^ ^ ^ Ditto,.. what mstngchic said,.. although if your AC is anything like ours they usually don't come out unless the dog is caught then confined or threatening someone.

[EvonsRorgon]

thanks. when i walk Peanut tomorrow morning i am going to see if i see him again and if i do i am going to call AC again and wait til i know they are coming.

i usually don't feel this way about strays but seeing a dog of similar age and similar breed to Peanut makes me feel like what if it was Bubs I would die to have him in that situation.

i do have to say seeing that guy like that made Peanut get extra lovins. it makes me feel so bad for that guy he had a home for few years now he is without his home ad family.

also, inside me i am hoping that the man and his wife i seen gained his trust and maybe they could take him home. if he was a dump i hope they keep him and have him apart of their family. i don't know them or ever seen them before but they seemed to care about this guy and tried to get him. seems more then his owners were doing (as of right now) no one seemed to be looking for him and no signs. i kind of want to check craigslist and see if there are missing posts for him and if so kind of tell them where he has been seen.

[remstaling]

You could cook up some hotdog and try to lure him with that if you want...

[AALee]

thanks. when i walk Peanut tomorrow morning i am going to see if i see him again and if i do i am going to call AC again and wait til i know they are coming.

i usually don't feel this way about strays but seeing a dog of similar age and similar breed to Peanut makes me feel like what if it was Bubs I would die to have him in that situation.

i do have to say seeing that guy like that made Peanut get extra lovins. it makes me feel so bad for that guy he had a home for few years now he is without his home ad family.

also, inside me i am hoping that the man and his wife i seen gained his trust and maybe they could take him home. if he was a dump i hope they keep him and have him apart of their family. i don't know them or ever seen them before but they seemed to care about this guy and tried to get him. seems more then his owners were doing (as of right now) no one seemed to be looking for him and no signs. i kind of want to check craigslist and see if there are missing posts for him and if so kind of tell them where he has been seen.

Checking CL is actually a really good idea, and my avatar is of Murray (bubby to me, lol) he was a stray dumped on our dead end road almost 2 years ago. So have faith, good things can happen.

[EvonsRorgon]

Checking CL is actually a really good idea, and my avatar is of Murray (bubby to me, lol) he was a stray dumped on our dead end road almost 2 years ago. So have faith, good things can happen.

i am going to check. i wasn't sure if that was a good place but never know right?

i love that you call your boy bubby!! i also call Peanut bubba which has evolved to bub(s) then recently it again became bubby..he really gets excited with that name

[AALee]

i am going to check. i wasn't sure if that was a good place but never know right?

i love that you call your boy bubby!! i also call Peanut bubba which has evolved to bub(s) then recently it again became bubby..he really gets excited with that name

LOL. Yeah it cracks people up to hear me calling a 90 pound dog that.. haha, but it fits him. He knows when I call him that it = all good things,and you are right, you never know, and it certainly can't hurt to check CL.

[EvonsRorgon]

**okay i just checked craigslist and didn't see anything but i did make a found posting and gave the area he was seen in since i couldn't catch him. i just hope he gets home safely and doesn't get in the street. we have some very busy roads around here and his safety is my concern.