I just saw a dog on the loose. I stopped my car and read its tag. Then

[applegrove]

the owner, about 60 yards away in the dark, called him. I said "is this your dog, sorry I thought it was lost" and let the dog go. And the owner said "yes". And that was it. No thank you. Nothing.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear applegrove...

I imagine the owner was a bit embarrassed. Or else surprised...

Good move on your part.

[pacalo]

2. A true miracle happened for me, thanks to an angel like you.

Seven years ago, we lost our dog in a neighboring town. I searched for him every waking hour for a week, from the Sunday afternoon he disappeared until the following Friday.

It turned out that he had been picked up during a rain storm on the interstate on the Tuesday after we lost him by a young woman who lived 40 miles away. Incredibly, she said she never took the route she did that day. She said my rainsoaked dog was terrified the day she stopped on the side of the road to pick him up; he even bit her during the process.

She kept him for four days before she put an ad in the major newspaper. Her mother noticed from his behavior that he must belong to someone, so she encouraged her daughter to place the ad. The wrong breed was indicated, but it was close enough that I just knew it had to be my dog. During my daily searches for him, I had heard several times by different people that he had been seen near the interstate.

Though she didn't want to take it, I gave her $100. I also bought some Victoria Secret hand lotion for three of the people who were helpful to me during my daily searches.

So don't give up caring about lost animals. You might find yourself doing an angel's work for those whose pets are desperately in need of help.

:hi:

[proteus_lives]

3. Same thing happened to me.

When I was working with the Census. Found a dog, walked him six blocks home and the kid who took him back said nothing.

[Arugula Latte]

4. More than once I've returned dogs and gotten little thanks

I might have saved their dog from getting hit by a car or something and they're like: "Eh, she gets out all the time" or something similar.

[kimi]

5. I'm glad that you did the right thing

My mom taught me early on, and I try to remember it these days, although I ALWAYS express gratitude when I receive any kind of favor.

Virtue truly IS it's own reward. Honestly, it is. Kudos for what you did. :)

Edit for typo

[old mark]

6. You did right, don't worry about the reaction - some people are naturally jerks. nt

[SwissTony]

7. I had a very positive experience

One morning, while waiting for the bus, I saw a large Great-Dane type dog on the loose and looking lost. i had to go to work and couldn't investigate. The next night, I saw the same dog limping down my street, I took him in and checked for ID. None.

I gave him him what little meat I had (two wiener schnitzels) which he gulped like he hadn't eaten for 48 hours (which he hadn't). I then went to the supermarket and bought some bowls and dog food. he was very grateful and loving, but obviously wanted to go home.

The next day, I rang up the local council to register the dog as being lost. I was immediately transferred to another guy who was the owner of the dog. He immediately came round to collect him. I was glad for them but, despite his short stay, I was going to miss him.

Owner and I shared a single beer and talked about dogs. He then left. About an hour later, he returned with a "block" (30 cans, worth about $50) of beer of the same type we had drunk. "Got a present for ya", he said. We shook hands and he left. Thank yous on both sides.

[applegrove]

9. Sweet story.

[driver8]

18. Very sweet story...n/t

[meow2u3]

8. That's the owner's problem

If the owner is a freakin' ingrate, it'll come back to bite him/her--in more ways than one! You did the right thing.

[Book Lover]

10. Well, the dog wasn't lost, was she?

Perhaps a meaningless chanted "Thank you" would have satisfied some social noise requirement, but from your description of the event, I don't see where you actually did anyone a favor. Sorry if that sounds harsh.

[applegrove]

12. Okay then.

[Skittles]

13. I would have thanked the person

for being concerned about my pet

[alarimer]

11. I hate people who let their dogs run loose.

They can get hit by cars for one thing. Bad for the dogs, bad all around.

[hendo]

14. drinking tallboys and driving tonight? NT

[applegrove]

15. LOL! Tallboy not tallboys.

[hendo]

16. and you canadians only get 14.5 Oz tall boys

not a proper 24oz American tall boy ;)

[applegrove]

17. It is 472 ml. I don't know how to translate that into oz.

[hendo]

19. google did that for me :)

[ThomCat]

20. Better that you check and be there to help,

just in case, than not. :hug:

It was a bit rude of him to not say anything or offer any thanks for being there to help look after his dog. But there might have been a reason for not saying much, I guess.


hell, just off the top of my head I can think of lots of hypothetical reasons:

I often don't talk so that I don't reveal that I stutter when my pain levels get to high.

He might have been upset about something, or angry, distracted, whatever, and didn't want to take out whatever he was thinking or feeling on you. Better to just be quiet.

He might be dealing with something that interfere with relating to people. From as simple as depression or as complex as Aspergers.

He might have been drinking, and some people get quiet when they drink.

He might have been worried that you were interested in taking his dog, and didn't know for sure what to say.

Or, he might just be a rude person.

Even a simple encounter has a whole lot of possibilities behind it. Geez, Now I've made it sort of sounds like a intro to an exercise for a creative writing assignment. "Imagine this scenario, and write the rest of this scene..." :P

[jobycom]

21. Be proud of your actions, don't wait for others to be.

Who knows what the owner was thinking. Maybe he was worried you were going to steal the dog, maybe he had a sick kid on his mind. Maybe he was annoyed for no reason you could know.

You did good. Know that, and don't expect thanks from others. Whether they give them or not is more about them than you.

Funny story, though. We had a neighbor who almost daily would email our neighborhood list that he'd found a lost dog. Always something like "Found another lost dog. (description). I will hold the dog for one day then call the city." Now and then someone would respond with something like "Yes, that's my dog, as you know since it's the same dog you grabbed last time. I was the owner standing across the street saying "Hey, Ron, that's my dog" when you grabbed her." Dude was nearly psychotic, I always thought. He was like a 30 year old "Get off my lawn!" dude.

You never know the dynamics of a neighborhood or what someone is thinking about. You did a good thing. By proud.