70 miles in 3 years? That is the slowest dog ever.

And he had a lot of mooching to do, and new owners to try out enroute.

Only 4 years, huh?

You know, stopovers,
he'd make some new friends,
stopovers along the road without end.

What happened to the good old days when a dog would, of it's own volition and resources, find it's owners? Nothing special when they put a chip in it's back.

/dog was probably glad to be rid of the owners

FTFA

"You hear stories all the time of 'my dog's been missing and he found his way home after 3 years.''

This is literally the first 'dog found it's way home after 3 years' story I've ever heard.

/And I'm using literally quite literally

These people should not have that dog if they can't keep their eyes on it properly. I get the feeling Canyon will only be around until the next time those lazy assess let the dog outside and leave him there.

"You hear stories all the time of 'my dog's been missing and he found his way home after 3 years.' And you don't think it'll ever happen, and then it does and you just think there is a little help somewhere," say Lentner.

(The dog was found when animal control detected the identifying microchip implanted under his skin.)

Reason 87,345 why dogs are better then cats.

Your cat smells bad and isn't lovable. There I said it.

Had em 6 months and just let em out to do his business eh...

And surprised he didn't just come back on his own... Hmmm wonder where the dog is..

Good owners.. yeah.

The dogs back home, enjoy em till he wanders away on his next 'business trip'

s1ugg0: Reason 87,345 why dogs are better then cats.

Your cat smells bad and isn't lovable. There I said it.

I like dogs more than cats after owning both--but cats have merits. I think there is something to both, a dog is there to serve and love you, and a cat is there to be served and to be loved by you.

Ishkur: MayoSlather: 70 miles in 3 years? That is the slowest dog ever.

Well, you see, there's this voice, that kept on calling him. Down the road, that's where he'd always be. Every stop he made, he made a new friend. Couldn't stay for long, just turned around and was gone again.

Maybe tomorrow, he'll want to settle down.

Until tomorrow he'll just keep moving on.

I love you.

And The Littlest Hobo.

CSB time. I lost a puppy at a buddy's house first snow one year. Put him in the back yard he says... Damn split rail fence at the back of his yard I didn't know about, dog wandered off. Drove around for a day looking for the puppy. And it snowed hard. About a foot. Dog was gone, no tracks no trace. Put up flyers around the neighborhood and at most of the vet clinics, nothing. Gave up after a couple months.

Fall of the following year my mother shows up at my house with a full size dog, she lets him out of the car and he runs up the stairs barking and going crazy. I check the dog's markings, same flipping dog. She read a found lost dog ad in the paper and thought it was worth a try. Didn't really know for sure until she was within sight of the house and the dog started bouncing off the windows.

They found him running down the road about 6 months after we lost him. Moving in the right direction and about half way between where we lost him and where we lived. He lived to be 14 years old, died about 1998 I think. Hell of a dog. RIP Dillinger. Best dog ever.

Perhaps if they weren't so farking lazy and observed the local ordinance this likely would have been avoided. Instead the city got to pay an animal control officer to capture said animal, scan for a microchip, house and feed the animal, call the owner, and wait for their arrival.

From the Aledo, Illinois city website:

 Public Notice

ANIMALS RUNNING AT LARGE: This is pertaining to CATS, DOGS, or any animals possessed, or kept by any person.

No animal or dog shall be allowed to run at large in the city at any time by its owner, possessor, keeper or custodian. Any animal or dog shall be on a leash when off the owner's, possessor's, keeper's, or custodian's premises where any such animal or dog is kept. The duty of an owner, possessor, keeper, or custodian of an animal or dog to keep such animal from running at large or to have such animal or dog on a leash at all times when off the premises is an absolute obligation.

William Breeden, Mayor City of Aledo

Just 18 posts so far? You can tell this is a dog thread. A cat thread would have had about 100 by now.

/cat person
//glad the owners got their dog back. :)

s1ugg0: Reason 87,345 why dogs are better then cats.

Your cat smells bad and isn't lovable. There I said it.

The only time one of my cats ever smelled bad is when we switched his diet and he turned into a 4 legged fart machine. Dogs on the other hand smell like... well, a dog, 12 hours after you bathe them with even the girliest smelling shampoo. Dogs wreak. And people who live with dogs, often smell like their dogs.

TimonC346: I like dogs more than cats after owning both--but cats have merits. I think there is something to both, a dog is there to serve and love you, and a cat is there to be served and to be loved by you.

The following is my observation of my collective 12 years with dogs and 30 with cats:

Dogs are perpetual 2 year olds. They must have your attention and input at all times. It's not that they aren't appreciative, but they're endlessly needy and attention starved.

Every cat I've had greets me when I come home, is appreciative when fed/watered, (but not too much), sits on my lap when I'm on the couch, sits on the bookshelf when I'm in the office, and doesn't bother me, sleeps beside me at night if I open the door, and pulls the "adorable, playful kitten" maneuver every time I have a girl over.

My cats fricken wingman for me when I have people over. My dogs become jealous 15 year old girls who demand I ignore everyone but them.

Dogs are annoying.

s1ugg0: Reason 87,345 why dogs are better then cats.

Your cat smells bad and isn't lovable. There I said it.

My cat doesn't "wander away while doing his business." So there's that.

The dog is either too stupid to know how to get back to the house from the backyard, or ran away from home.

bradleycsimpson: FTFA

"You hear stories all the time of 'my dog's been missing and he found his way home after 3 years.'

This is literally the first 'dog found it's way home after 3 years' story I've ever heard.

/And I'm using literally quite literally

No, it isn't. RTFA again. This dog did not "find it's way home". This dog left home, and was found by some humans in a town 70 miles away.

s1ugg0: Reason 87,345 why dogs are better then cats.

Your cat smells bad and isn't lovable. There I said it.

So, reason #87,345 why dogs are better than cats is that they need to be microchipped so someone can find them when the run away from home? You may want to re-think that...

Also, your other comments are just silly. Cats don't smell at all, while most dogs smell, like dogs. Most cats I've seen are loveable, they just aren't constant attention whores like dogs are.

Don't get me wrong, either. I'm not a "cat person". I love dogs as much as I love cats, and dogs are certainly better in some respects (like if you want a companion animal who goes on hikes with you), but I really don't get the whole "one is better than the other" argument, unless it's solely about which fits your lifestyle.

Ishkur: TheDeathMerchant: The following is my observation of my collective 12 years with dogs and 30 with cats:

Your experience with dogs is grossly deficient if that's all you got from them. It seems more than likely that you got the wrong kind.

TheDeathMerchant: Dogs are perpetual 2 year olds. They must have your attention and input at all times. It's not that they aren't appreciative, but they're endlessly needy and attention starved.

The dog is an indispensable part of human civilization, more than cats and even more than marriage. It has been with us since the beginning. It chases vermin, assists the disabled, tracks game and criminals, provides therapy, pulls sleds, aids in rescues and searches, guards property, hunts, herds, and even fights in our wars. The dog has been used for transportation and weaponry. It has kept us alive in times of duress, and it has kept us company in those depressing times when we were most lonely. It can even smell cancer.

All the unpleasantries in life have been softened by the unconditional loyalty, support and companionship of the dog, who only asks for food, shelter, and a little compassion in return.

If you're in trouble, a dog will save your life. A cat will either stare at you or take off.


A dog will follow you into the gates of Hell. A cat will wait to see if you make it back.

NTTAWWT

Getting kind of dusty in here...

brigid_fitch:

Cool story, indeed. And a beautiful looking dog. Glad you got him back.

Thanks much. He will always signify something extremely special and not just because he was gone almost a year. I was one of those "troubled youths" and was a horrible person 30 odd years ago. He stayed with me until I became something resembling a responsible adult (as close as I'll ever get anyway) and then checked out. He was an amazing dog. Something calming about unconditional devotion.

On a happier note, my domestic partner (I like the term because it automatically frightens people so much more than "significant other") just adopted a Harlequin Dane so we are just starting to hear the saddle question and learning to live with a dog that can counter surf on all fours. I've told people my dog is a Laboratory Retriever, a Belchin Farthound and a registered Crotch Hound at various times.

mytdawg: CSB time.

What a great story indeed!

I have sort of a cool story. My beagle, Meeshko, got away from my mom's house while I was visiting. I had gone to Wal-mart down the road to grab some things, and it was about 8pm. I got back around 9 and she was gone. So I drove all around--she had a park literally at the end of her street that was a pretty good size. I went all around calling her, to no avail.

I drove back to my apartment, about 5 miles down a 4-lane road that is pretty busy (this is suburb south of Houston, Pasadena area) and was just running through my head who all I would call in the morning. I go upstairs to the apartment and open my door... and she is inside. I asked my roommate how she got there, and she said "I don't know, she just scratched at the door and I let her in."

I was amazed.

For a beagle, she never wandered far. I have taken her out in fields and such, and she'll go off but never out of eyesight, and generally comes back when I call her, although sometimes not very promptly.

She is excellent. And for those people in this thread that said you never leave a member of your family out--well she's a dog. I let her go sniff, but I know she'll come back. I don't let her out late at night though--there are coyotes in the area.

She's almost 12 now.

Damaged goods

Liese: mytdawg: CSB time.

What a great story indeed!

I have sort of a cool story. My beagle, Meeshko, got away from my mom's house while I was visiting. I had gone to Wal-mart down the road to grab some things, and it was about 8pm. I got back around 9 and she was gone. So I drove all around--she had a park literally at the end of her street that was a pretty good size. I went all around calling her, to no avail.

I drove back to my apartment, about 5 miles down a 4-lane road that is pretty busy (this is suburb south of Houston, Pasadena area) and was just running through my head who all I would call in the morning. I go upstairs to the apartment and open my door... and she is inside. I asked my roommate how she got there, and she said "I don't know, she just scratched at the door and I let her in."

I was amazed.

For a beagle, she never wandered far. I have taken her out in fields and such, and she'll go off but never out of eyesight, and generally comes back when I call her, although sometimes not very promptly.

She is excellent. And for those people in this thread that said you never leave a member of your family out--well she's a dog. I let her go sniff, but I know she'll come back. I don't let her out late at night though--there are coyotes in the area.

She's almost 12 now.

[lh5.googleusercontent.com image 108x144]

Wow, that's a trek with them short little legs. I live in the middle of town and the dog I have now just takes off at a trot when he's let off the leash. I have no idea where he's going so I don't let him off the leash unless he's enclosed. I don't think he knows where he's going, just following his nose. That's probably how he ended up in the shelter. Dufus.

Ishkur: CheekyMonkey: Also, your other comments are just silly. Cats don't smell at all, while most dogs smell, like dogs. Most cats I've seen are loveable, they just aren't constant attention whores like dogs are.

No, when a cat feels he's not getting the attention he deserves, he just leaves. Goes and finds someone elses house to live in.

Always remember: You cannot own a cat. Your cat owns you. It only stays with you so long as you provide it adequate living conditions. If you do not give it the care it feels it deserves, it will reject you outright.

Your dog might run away simply because it doesn't know any better. But if your cat runs away, that's personal -- it means you have failed as a pet owner.

Dogs may crave attention, but cats are farking divas.

Heh. My cats aren't divas. In fact, it's been remarked upon by more than one person that they behave very much like dogs in some ways.

The older one (13-ish) follows me around like a dog. Waits for me to come home at the door. Walks down to the bedroom with me while I change. If I go out to the garage to do some woodworking, she will sit in the kitchen, by the door to the garage, waiting for me to come back in.

The younger one (just over 2 yrs old) likes to play "chase" with me. He initiates by looking up at me, pausing, and then running away. I chase after him for a bit, then he hides, jumps out at me, and will chase me if I run. He will come when I call him (OK, only about half the time). He will walk up the driveway to get the mail with me, or come along if I walk out in the woods.

Also, he "saved my life" last summer. Instead of the usual sliding screen in the kitchen sliding glass door, we have a curtain screen so the cats can go in and out onto the deck by themselves, in nice weather. One night, I heard a ruckus in the kitchen, and got there just in time to see him chase out a raccoon twice his size. He "stood guard" for the next few days, as well.

Catfags need not reply in thread.

CSB1: My grandparents had a dog that they had lost near Virginia during a stop on a road trip while headed back home to Florida. It took a couple years, but the dog did manage to find his way back home!

CSB2: We had a cat that had kittens and too many to care for. With sadness in my heart I loaded all the kittens in the car to be sent off to the shelter. I doublechecked to make sure all of them were loaded in the car twice. Two days later, one of them somehow shows back up at the house. Needless to say, we kept her. Cats sometimes do come back. (Though surely it was because of her mother and not us.)

I can't help but wonder if there is another family that found this dog 3 years ago and kept it who is now missing their pet dog? He was in pretty good condition.

lazy reporting.

It's 70 miles if the dog took the Interstate, but "as the crow flies" it's closer to 45 miles.

I like dogs and cats. I prefer to live with cats.

Cats are very tied to location. If a cat gets out, the cat tends to stay in range and return home. Dogs are not tied to location. They're pack animals and are all about the pack. If they get distracted by something ("squirrel!") they can bound off and forget where home is.

It's a bad idea to let a dog out by him or herself. The dog can get loose and not come home.

It's a bad idea to let cats out. They eat birds or just annoy them to death.

Both will poop on other people's property, which is also a bad thing.

Two morals of the story:

1. Keep your pet properly and appropriately leashed and confined.
2. Microchip your pet and keep that information current.

brigid_fitch: sigh

What a good lookin' pup! :)

OBBN: JohnNS: Had em 6 months and just let em out to do his business eh...

And surprised he didn't just come back on his own... Hmmm wonder where the dog is..

Good owners.. yeah.

The dogs back home, enjoy em till he wanders away on his next 'business trip'

So much THIS.

I was tired as he'll at 4am this morning when Gunner the Great Dane had to do his business. Did I just open the door and let my 4 month old Deutsch Doggie do his thing? Nope, I got dressed and went with him while he sniffed everything in sight before leaving his steamy pile of good morning sunshine on the lawn. You don't leave a member of your family and hope they come home.

Well at 4 months you'll want to do some poop analysis as well.

Actually, there's only a handful of ways to diagnose a dog without going to the vet. The best is by far to just look at its crap.