Free to a Good Home

Jack Russell terrier, rough coat, white with brown silky ears, 15 lbs, a little chunky. This lovely, well-behaved dog was found wandering on Queen St. W. in Toronto. No collar, no tags, no microchip. A great city dog. Low maintenance, enthusiastic, affectionate, good on lead. Free to a good home.

The backstory
On Valentine's Day, a guy on a bike picked this little darling up so she wouldn't get hit by a car. He went into the adjacent park looking for the owner. No owner in sight. I happened by at just that moment and thought I recognized the dog. Long story short, I took her home and started the search for her owner.

Now a week later, I'm realizing how impossibly challenging it is to get a lost dog home. We think of our world as expansive and inclusive when really it includes our immediate family and home, friends, one or two neighbours and the places we frequent. We are the proverbial needles in a haystack, or like the night sky, tiny points of light separated by light years of darkness.

How to find a lost dog's home
Among the things I've done are:
- posted a "found" notice on our local Humane Society's website (they no longer take phone calls, since this scandal)
- called the city's Animal Services dept, the folks who run the pounds in Toronto, and left a description of the dog with the south area pound (reputed to be the best in the city)
- posted notices on Craig's List and Kijiji, under Community > Lost and Found
- put up paper posters (download the poster in pdf format in the park where the dog was found and around the neighbourhood, other dog parks too
- took the dog to my vet and had her checked for a microchip (none), and to see if they recognized her (didn't)
- taking long walks with the dog, asking people randomly if they recognize her

The kindness of strangers
Small dogs in particular attract smiles from people on the street. It's amazing how often they stop. When they do, I tell them she's a stray and we're looking for her owner. Two people already have said that they regularly foster lost pets and volunteered to take her and help find the owner.

The illusion of neighbourhood and networks
The hardest thing has been posting notices. You start out where you found the dog and you work out in ever expanding circles. But once you get 100m (500 ft.) from the spot, you don't know where to post. You're talking hundreds of telephone polls, doorways, shops and offices and apartment buildings. The possibilities of where this dog lives multiply exponentially. It feels hopeless.

On the other hand, one lady I stopped to talk to referred to a poster in her neighbourhood for a lost Lab. I saw one poster in about a four block area. I was impressed. Maybe people notice more than I'm giving them credit for.

Hide and seek
If no one is looking for a dog, and I mean really looking, not just peering wistfully out the window once in a while, not even Miss Marple or Rockford could find this dog's home. You would think people would know enough to call the Humane Society or the pound. But you can't make assumptions. As my vet pointed out, many people in our neighbourhood don't venture very far outside of their own communities. Many older people barely speak English and can't read it. In these communities, like all communities, dogs have puppies, puppies get distributed and live happy, more or less housebound lives. In our neighbourhood, hundreds of dogs live in the confines of private houses and yards, mostly out of sight, rarely seen on the street.

CSI Lost Pets
Veterinarians are arguably in the best position to network and find out where pets come from. Virtually every pet visits a vet at some point, if only for their initial shots. The microchip system is supposed to be that network but I took this dog in to my vet to see if she had a microchip. She doesn't. They were very nice but what can they do? Apparently there is no database of DNA samples, or diagnoses, or registered shots. Why don't vets have a network by which they could post notice to vets across the city?

Sense and scent ability
We make too much of dogs' intelligence. Apparently dogs do find their own way home; a quick Google search turn up stories: http://pettails.mydogspace.com/2009/11/12/sabi-the-army-dog-returns-home-after-14-months-lost-in-afghanistan/. But 14 months is a long time. Other stories are 6 or 9 years. This seems amazing unless you ask what the dog was doing for those 14 months, 6 or 9 years. For a dog to return home after 9 years is pretty much random luck. It's like me putting up posters. Choose the wrong poll by even one house and the owner might never see it because they turn the other way to go to the bus stop.

Reason and unreason
One begins to search for reasons when a stray pet comes into your life. This dog is a great "ratter," a classic terrier. I happen to have had, right now, a rat problem, so she spent all of one evening this week tearing around growling and scratching. It was unbelievable, relentless, terrifying (to a rat). Good news. No sign of rat since. A Littlest Hobo story? If that were the case, then my Even Littler Hobo should have slipped out the gate the next day, mission accomplished. (Or maybe her job isn't quite done yet:)

Yes, we are getting "attached." But not so attached that I can keep her. I have a dog already and one is more than enough, for now. So if you recognize this dog or know someone who wants a great, easy to look after companion, please contact me, contact info on this notice.

Some useful links
Toronto Lost and Found Pets, a great free service.
Pet Harbour helps you search pounds anywhere in North America to find a lost dog or adopt one. A very interesting idea; why don't vets have a network like this?

Bark bark barking

Thanks to Ryan Bauer of dogfencediy.com for sending along this article by vet Susan Wright. Ryan sells invisible, electronic dog fencing, which he supplies in a do it yourself (diy) format, at substantial savings. I'm not sure I'm for electronic anything when it comes to dogs, but on the other hand, bad behavior is very challenging and one needs stuff that works.

Before Barking Has Shattered Your Last Nerve
By Susan Wright, DVM

There are as few things in this world as annoying as a barking dog that just will not stop. Actually I am listening to one right now. You see my neighbors have hearts of gold when it comes to animals, and they rescue pretty much anything that breathes. Officially, they operate a Great Pyrenees Rescue, but they have dogs and cats and birds and donkeys and horses that were all cast aside and forgotten who have found a place to be safe.

And how could your ever complain about the noise? These are dogs that have been neglected and abused and sometimes left to die. The amount of time, money and work that goes into saving even a single dog is phenomenal. Nail biting surgeries, when successful usually require a long confined recovery time, and as the dogs are feeling better, the barking begins. So on the one hand the barking is great news, but on the other hand there are days, when the Chinese water torture bark, bark, barking just works my absolute last nerve.

Thankfully, pretty much the only time that a dog bark gets my attention is when my dogs are outside, and that is because I do not want them bothering anyone. Once my guys are tucked inside, then I really do not care what is going on outside. Dogs can be barking or pigs could be flying. It makes no difference to me at all. However, some people are not so lucky, and they cannot ignore a chronic dog bark. So unless you have some really extenuating circumstance surrounding your dog and his barking, do your neighbors a favor and zip it.

Dogs bark for a myriad of reasons, so rather than just punishing your dog, see if you can find out what the underlying problem is. Trust me, it is easier to address the cause than to simply try to modify the behavior. In extreme cases I have seen people have their dog put to sleep or debarked when they are at their wits end, and I am always a little sad when this is the solution to the problem.

Dogs bark when they are defensive. When your dog is frightened or just protecting his territory, he will bark at an intruder. This kind of barking actually can be encouraged depending on your dog’s definition of an intruder. If every bird and squirrel is an intruder, you may have a bit of a problem. However, if there is a creepy guy with a ski mask sneaking in your back door, well, I guess you still have a bit of a problem. It makes the first problem not look so terrible, doesn’t it?

The squirrel and the birds become entertainment when your dog has too much energy, so grab that leash and hit the trails. Take your dog for a run, a walk or a bike ride, and you will be amazed at the transformation that you see. Tired dogs sleep, and that is much better than barking. As for the creepy guy sneaking in the back door, I think this may also be an excellent time to grab that leash and take a run with your dog --- to the police station!

If your dog is defending his territory against a perceived intruder like the postal carrier then you want to interrupt his barking with a loud noise (like shaking a soda can with some pennies in it) and redirecting his behavior. Have him sit and stay, and it is absolutely fair to reinforce this behavior with a treat. If your postal carrier comes at the same time every day try to plan a training session for that time, so that it may even be possible for you to have his attention before he misbehaves.

If your dog is barking because he is simply bored, of course take him for a run a couple of times a day before you try anything else. Then you can try capturing his attention other ways by switching his toys every few days to keep him interested, or if your dog is food driven try hiding treats in the toys. If your dog loves to chew, you can also keep a couple of large butcher bones in the freezer and occupy his attention with one of those as a really nice surprise.

When all else fails, you can always try using an anti-bark spray collar. These collars spay a light mist in front of the dog’s nose with an unpleasant smell. Between the mist, the hiss and the unpleasant smell most dogs quickly get the message.

So be kind to your neighbors even if they have not complained about your dog. If you notice that his is barking at an inappropriate time, be proactive before he is working on your last nerve.

Dr. Susan Wright, a licensed veterinarian, writes on various canine topics for dogfencediy.com, which provides do-it-yourself underground electric dog fencing solutions and training for owners.

Hammacher Schlemmer's pre-Xmas gift catalog has a lot of gizmos for pet owners, including an indoor barking deterrent thingy. There are few things as annoying as a dog that barks incessantly.