Unexpected guest for Christmas

[ReaperKK]

Evening guys. . .  So today has been an interesting today.


My girlfriend and I were driving home from doing some last minute christmas shopping when on this two lane road we see a dog walking down the opposite side of the road. There is no sidewalk and cars move 50+mph on this road. There was an suv following this dog closely, my girlfriend and I assumed that it was the owner who probably wanted to get their lost/runaway dog. I turned the car around because I wanted to make sure she grabbed the dog.

I'm driving back down the road and I see the suv pull away and this dog is just strolling. We follow it into this elementary school which is closed for the holidays. I kept trying to get him to come over to the car but he wouldn't. He looked well groomed but no collar. He wasn't scared and didn't run from us, just didn't come close. Eventually he comes out the other end of the elementary where there is a very busy road near a mall.

We block the sidewalk access with our car to this road and call animal control. I didn't want to leave him to cross the road and risk getting hit and I wasn't going to leave this dog here even if he wasn't coming close to me.

While waiting for animal control another car sees us and pulls over and say's that they saw the dog (who is now sleeping on the sidewalk) at 10:30am and called animal control (it's 3:30pm). We call my girlfriends father and asked to bring some dog food over from the house, our house is really close by.

My girlfriends dad brings us the dog food and we slowly gain his trust with it. He inhales the food and water we got him. We get him in the car and get him home. We feed him and now he is sleeping on the floor. We are going to see if he is chipped and see if we can find the owner but if we can't we are wondering if we should keep him. He is incredibly skinny, but otherwise seems really well taken care of.

This is when he gave up and lied down on the floor:



This is when we first got him to the house:



This is him now:



tl;dr We found a dog, if we can't find the owner, should we keep him?

[El Barto]

You're stuck with him, mate. By the time you put forth a legitimate effort to see if he's owned and wanted he'll already be your dog.

[ReaperKK]

I fear that too bart, I had a german shepard growing up and have always had a soft spot for the breed.

My concern mainly is we already have a dog, a yorkie who is incredibly sweet and already has welcomed this new dog into the house. I just don't know how that will play out in the long term.

[TAC]

....and your girlfriend will inform you on Christmas morning that she is pregnant.

[ReaperKK]

Now that would be a nightmare.

[Prog Snob]

I would keep him in a heartbeat. But first obviously see if he/she belongs to someone else.

[Dr. DTVT]

Such a sweet looking dog.  I hope he gets his forever home, some way or another.

[bout to crash]

Awwww. Well I hope you either find the owner or keep the pup.

[wolfking]

You have a new dog bro.

[ReaperKK]

Just a quick follow up.

He has been an amazing house guests only peeing once (the first night) in the house. He is incredibly gentle, calm and affectionate. He's become my shadow for the most part. Something is up with his hip though. He has a hard time running, I think it may just be soreness.

He is going to vet tomorrow and we'll see what shape he is in and if he is microchipped.

[bout to crash]

Aww, hopefully he's okay.. and kinda sorta hoping he's not chipped so you can keep his cute ass.

[ReaperKK]

I'm taking him in today to find out. My gf's friend works at the humane society; she says legally if he is chipped we file a report and the owners have two weeks to claim him, after that, he is ours.

Either we'll take him or my gf's parents will.



That's him christmas night with the new toys and bed we got him.

[bout to crash]

AWWWWWW 

[hefdaddy42]

THE FEELS

[Samsara]

Any update? Great rescue story!

[ReaperKK]

Yes.

Murphy has been awesome so far, he has regained most of his strength and has been doing laps in our yard. We have talked a lot about it and decided that we are going to give him to one my gf's co-workers who lives a quarter mile from us, he will have a great home ther. She has a german shepherd already, a large yard and fosters dogs. Plus we can see him whenever.

I just don't think it'll be fair if he stays with us. I work everyday and my girlfriend is gone every week and he still has a lot of energy in him.

[El Barto]

So he wasn't chipped? Did y'all check other avenues to see if somebody was looking for him? Judging from his behavior and the way he sacked out on the sidewalk I'd have bet money he was owned. Though that's certainly not to say that some asshole didn't drive him 30 miles away and dropped him off somewhere.

In any case I'm on the dog's side so I'm glad you found him a good home.

[ReaperKK]

I took him to the vet to get checked out and to see if he was chipped. He wasn't chipped and was in good health. We looked at all the local sites for lost dogs and couldn't find anything.

Apparently in our area its common for people to go and just dump there dogs in the woods. In fact, our one neighbor came over last night with another german shepherd thinking it was the one we just picked up that may have gotten loose from us. It wasn't and she took the dog to animal control.

[PowerSlave]

Apparently in our area its common for people to go and just dump there dogs in the woods.

I'm not a dog person, but I've been following this thread and I've got to say that that is damn sad thing. I'm not sure where you're at, but I've heard of people doing that in my area as well.

[Samsara]

Glad he is healthy and doing well. Good on you for finding a home for him. I hate it when people do what they likely did to that poor dog. Cruelty sucks.

[ReaperKK]

Yea he is doing great. He'll be going to his new home January 2nd. Many tears will be shed when he leaves but he will be going to a good home.

[cramx3]

You da man Reaper.  That's a nice thing you guys did for that dog.  Dog looks great too and glad to see it was in good health. 

[DebraKadabra]

Good on you and your gal for recognizing that you can't give Murphy a forever home, but are taking good care of him regardless. Good looking doggo.

[TAC]

Glad he is healthy and doing well. Good on you for finding a home for him. I hate it when people do what they likely did to that poor dog. Cruelty sucks.

E. All of the above

[ReaperKK]

So Murphy is at his new home. I dropped him off with my gf yesterday. He has a massive yard with a 9ft fence to run around in. I feel comfortable giving him away as she trains dogs for a living and runs a doggy day care part time.

That said it didn't make it any easier to say goodbye to him, it was impossible to hold back the tears saying goodbye to him. After a month or so we'll make a visit and see him.

Finally if it is too much for her then we'll take him back and make it work in our house.

[Samsara]

So Murphy is at his new home. I dropped him off with my gf yesterday. He has a massive yard with a 9ft fence to run around in. I feel comfortable giving him away as she trains dogs for a living and runs a doggy day care part time.

That said it didn't make it any easier to say goodbye to him, it was impossible to hold back the tears saying goodbye to him. After a month or so we'll make a visit and see him.

Finally if it is too much for her then we'll take him back and make it work in our house.

You did the right thing. Again, much respect for you stopping and taking care of him to begin with. 

[Architeuthis]

That's a great story!  Thanks to you that dog has a chance to have a good life again in a loving home. If animal control picked him up, he may have ended up in the pound with a terrile outcome, or may have been hit by a car or truck have you not stopped to help him. You did a wonderful thing.. 

[ReaperKK]

One last twist to this story:

My girlfriend just got a text from her friend saying that she doesn't want Murphy any longer. He hasn't been bad or anything, he just lays in bed all day but she honestly was expecting a different dog so we are bringing him home tomorrow.

This time he is staying with us, permanently.

We are going to give the garage to him until we fence in our yard, our garage is heated and that will be where he hangs out when he is alone or sleeping.

I'll be working some days from home so we'll have time together and we also have a dog walker for the days that I do have to go to work.

[Kotowboy]

[millahh]

 

[pogoowner]

That makes me happy. You guys sounded like you really wanted him from the start.

[Samsara]

That makes me happy. You guys sounded like you really wanted him from the start.

This. Congrats. Enjoy your new pup!