Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Found dog dilema

Driving into town in the dark last night. Loose dog running in traffic. Stopped and soon coaxed it into the car. Skinny, shaking, and scared. Beautiful young female GSH. Gash on her leg. Brought her home, fed her, doctored her wound. Son wants to keep her. Slept on my son's bed last night. Took her to the vet this morning. 12-18 months old. Not spayed, chipped but not registered.

Son wants to keep her. She gets along well with our schnauzer. Cat is an unknown.

How much effort should we put into finding prior owner?

Call the local shelters and let them know in case anyone inquires.
Good on you for taking care of the dog.

Called the local shelter. No reported lost dog of her description.

Why doesn't the microchip identify the owner?

Microchip was never registered

IMO you should try harder to find original owner.I lost my two GWPs for three days and it sure was a difficult time for my wife and me. I looked at many sites plus talked to everyone in the area where they were lost. I would imagine the owner is doing same. All they have to do is bump into the information somewhere. I would contact animal shelter frequently.

Perhaps you can go back to area you found the dog and ask locals? Let the Police, Game and Fish know. Run a news paper ad. Place found posters on bulletin boards in stores laundermats etc in area. Put up found posters placed on poles etc in area where she was found. Someone raised and is bonded to that dog and visa versa. The dog and the original owner deserve to find each other again.

Craig's list has a listing lost dogs

https://petfbi.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz8ap6c7U5wIVjtdkCh2QkQpZEAAYAiAAEgJFj_D_BwE

Type in "found dog websites" there are tons of sites pertaining to this issue.

The fact that she is skinny could indicate that she has been on the road a long time so she might not be a local dog. When they are lost, they can go a long way.

Craigslist is probably your best bet.

In the meantime, feed her well but try to keep your son open to the possibility that the owner will be found.

Post pictures on facebook , if you don't have an account ( and I don't blame you if you don't ) get someone to post for you ,

More dogs are found these days on social media than any other way .

If you still don't hear anything then you've done your due diligence . Seeing as you have already contacted the local animal shelter .

I lost my pointer for a week and it tore me up. Someone picked her up and called my number on her tag so I got her back. I was really grateful.

The right thing to do would be to contact the animal shelter. If nobody contacts you then I'd keep her.

Vet called the local breeders, no one reported that any of their customers had lost a dog. We checked the shelters and the local lost dog websites.

The area we found her in is pretty rural. We were actually visiting for the weekend. My son lives there. He understands that we may find the owners.

They couldn't do the surgery on her leg today, so Monday there is another chance to get her claimed.

We figure a week to ten days before she gets to stay.

I don't understand why you would go to the expense of a microchip and then not register it

What is a gsh

German short hair

Include GSP in your ad. GSP seems to be the more common nomenclature for German Shorthaired Pointer.

I think a good effort to find the owner should be made. It will work out the way it is supposed to. You can always get a GSP if you lose this one to the owner.

Even though the chip isn't registered they should be able to get the number and call the company. Tyen call the company tobfind out the veterinarian or breeder the chip was issued/sold too. Then go from there.

We found the owner and reunited them.
An hour later he calls back and wants to know if we want the dog.
Bought her for $1,250. Spent $1,300 on training. Just walking away from her because she is a digger.
They have her brother as well. Both dogs have gotten out before.

She had been gone 3 days, but looked like she hadn't eaten well in weeks.

Now we have a free dog.

SCORE!

Looks like your son found a keeper. The digging was because she was bored.

So what is a GSH? I lost apointerfor about three weeks years ago, pre chip. Had a Dunn's locate tag on her and the guy that found her called them three time's and they didn't know what he was talking about. Wife worked about 25 mi from him and he just happened to stop in the store and was telling her about the pointer he'd found, it was my Katie! My name and phone number is on all dog tags now.

I once knew a Brit named ‘Digger’.

There are a myriad of reasons one might not register the chip after paying for the dog to be chipped. One might be laziness or forgetfulness, another might be financial not knowing there is an additional cost for registration as well as periodic renewals. It also seems common that the vet or their staff does a poor job of explaining to the owner that the chip needs to be registered. That is an issue according to my former vet and one of the reasons my current vet includes the initial registration in the chipping price. He or one of his staff has the owner fill out the paper work prior to doing the chipping. That way the price, and need to register is taken care of and the added cost of renewing is learned.

As mentioned, the owners can still be tracked down even if the chip is not registered. It does taken more effort and time but it is considerably less than posting signs and calling local breeders, shelters, and pounds.

Last but not least, good job taking in this dog and the effort put in to find the owner. It is sad the original owner thinks so little of the dog but it was to your benefit. You will have your work cut out as the dog has learned to find freedom by digging under obstacles. That is a habit that probably won't be broken. I learned to sink hog panels under the kennel to stop the digger I had, that is until I replaced the gravel with cement. I also had to put a cover over the top of the kennel as that dog learned to climb the chain link fencing as it preferred to be running free.

Again, good for you for caring enough to help this dog out. Sounds like it really needs it.

I am so glad it worked out for the dog, you and your son. That dog is going to be a challenge.

I was once given a totally trained 3 yr old GWP years ago and she was a fence jumper. Once I got her hunting hard and often she calmed down. Off season would have her jumping but staying in neighborhood and coming back within an hour. I never left her alone outside which was a PITA. Very frustrating till she got older and couldn't jump the 5 1/2 ft fence. Had to be vigilant with doors being opened to outside. She would blow past you as you entered or left the house.

A digger may be easier to deal with after making the area secure with concrete along bottom of fence. ha ha.

Everyone wants a friggen hunting dog.

But, if you aren't going to channel that dogs talents
they are horrible pets. Done right, their great.

Crazy!

Work on obedience, make it her job.

I’m excited for you and wish you all the best of everything!

Tater: Outside kennel run pour a concrete slab. Put kennel panels on top of slab. Make sure you use a stretcher bar on the bottom of the chain link between upright supports. Put a top on the kennel. Use a snap link on kennel door latch. For perimeter fence around property string electric fence (not Invisible fence) along top and bottom of fence. Use a solar panel to charge. Be discrete (no yellow insulators) if you live in a city. Most municipalities outlaw electric fences. If you have an escape artist they learn quickly to take the pain of an invisible fence with shock collar. They quickly find any chink in your armor such as flicking up door latch with nose, climbing chain link, etc.

Hmmm, how does one hunt with such a Dog and plan on returning home with it each time? Good Dogs figure out the trilogy and prefer to hang with those who brought them.

If you can't train it out of the Dog, then the battle never ends. However, perhaps the time fending for herself made an impression....

An escape artist can make for a very good hunting dog as they tend to be smart, motivated, and adaptable. They can just be a challenge to contain when left alone.

It really depends on what motivates the dog's desire to escape. The allure of a feed lot manure pit, a female in heat (either yours or one in the neighborhood), the great dislike of being penned up, or any number of other temptations can draw a dog when not under supervision. The most common cause, in my experiences with my dogs and those of others, seems to be a form of separation anxiety. When with the handler the dog obeys well and is manageable but leave it alone and it will do whatever it takes to escape confinement. Then the dog will do what it needs to do the feel less anxious which can range from lounging in the yard to roaming the countryside.

I had a Springer that would leave on occasion if you didn’t watch him. He had a purpose for doing so and that was to kill Groundhogs. He would be gone, but would leave a Groundhog on the deck and take off again if you didn’t see him. Normally two days max and he would be home covered in dirt, tired and his claws often messed up. He was going in after them.

THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For clarification, what do you mean by the above comments?

Keep her running and working. Good exercise for all of you.
Find out who the owner spent the $1,300 on training with and find out their methods, commands etc. they used.
Better to use some consistency if possible.

A lot of breeders implant microchips but don’t register them, leaving it to the new owner.

Honestly, I don’t have much faith in them. Most people see a dog without a collar or tag, they assume it’s been dumped.

And unless whoever finds the dog specifically asks the vet to trace the chip, they won’t bother because the finder often wants to keep the dog, especially if it’s a nice dog.

Checking the chip puts an obligation on the vet to contact whoever registered it and they don’t want the hassle (even though that’s the purpose they sell you a microchip for).

How has this gone four pages without pics?

SWEET!

I would be very very hesitant about posting pics of it. I've been in this very situation before. My wife posted pics and within a couple hours we had 4 different people claiming it as THEIR dog. It was easy to tell when we allowed each person to come identify the dog that it was not their dog as the dog wanted absolutely nothing to do with any of them. You can make a post though saying you've found a GSP and let them send you pics of their dog that they think it could be

Did you find the rightful owner?

We live in a lard butt society full of lard butt dogs and perception of what is healthy is often skewed pretty badly. A GSP isn't a Lab, and a prime weight young GSP looks skinny. My pointers ribs show at fighting weight and I get comments. Strangely enough the vet rates his body condition as "ideal" at exams, and I can run him 15-20 GPS confirmed miles per day over a multiple day hunting trip. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.


Best of luck with the dog. They need a LOT of exercise, especially when young, but are great dogs if you put in the work.

.....and just spend the money and get a Garmin Alpha. I thought they were expensive too, until my very promising young GSP got killed on a road after I lost her when she jumped some deer and chased them.

Nope. He ended up living with us til he died a few years later. He ended up being a really great dog to have around.

Those vets wont be in business long!

Microchips are followed right up to the last known person in possession; Manufacturer, distributer, vet, hospital, whoever. The final Owner can check number at any time to see if his dog has been found... if such request finds that the dog was found and the notice was ignored by the vet or anyone else in the chain puts them in a legal hurt.

Any decent vet or shelter or person with any decency its the first thing they do.

My vet, checks every animal that comes in that he's not seen before.

Me, I've found and rescued so many stray's I've purchased my own scanner, and have been able to return "All OF THEM" to their owners within minutes or at least hours.

Any vet that doesn't trace the chip implanted in a lost pet brought in needs their license revoked. Here it is done without charge.


AAHA Universal Microchip Lookup Database:

Link


Phil

plus 2 on the alpha

Glad it worked out.

That's a very good point, BTW.