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Be careful who you entrust your pets to

My downstairs neighbor took off on vacation for the holidays, presumably to spend time with family, and had to leave his dog in the care of a sitter. I've pet this dog plenty of times and it always comes up to greet me whenever we're both out. He's a very good boy.

I come home from work 2 days ago and start seeing hand-made missing dog flyers detailing his physical description and contact information for if he's found. I didn't know at the time whose dog it could be, but the physical description sounded a lot like this dog.

I do a little digging online and unfortunately my suspicions were correct. Reading more into the story via posts and comments, it turns out that this dog was left with a sitter in a neighboring city using a service called Rover. The dog managed to escape from her house and bolted away, presumably looking for his owner, in a city he's unfamiliar with whose only familiar face is a woman he barely knows.

It's been 2 days now and as of just a few minutes ago, there is no update on his whereabouts. His owner is 3 time zones away and can only do so much remotely. I would have loved to join in on the search for him, but by the time I was able to read the online posts, it was well into the night and he had already been missing for 7 hours. He could be anywhere. It would be hard to know even where to look.

He's not a very big dog and it's been rather cold the last two nights. A part of you fears the worst. As the owner of 2 dogs myself, this would be a nightmare for me. I can only imagine the gut-wrenching agony my neighbor must be going through.

I have to remind myself that, statistically speaking, the overwhelming majority of dogs that go missing do end up being found alive. I just read a story about a dog that got separated from his family had managed to survive in the woods for the last 7 years before being reunited. He's a pretty smart dog, so my hopes would be that he's still hanging in there.

The dog himself must be terrified. My best bet would be that he's found some bushes to hide in, especially considering that there hasn't been any updates to the lost & found pet sites and most shelters are closed for the holidays. At this point all that can feasibly be done is keep hoping and following up on any leads. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for reported sightings so I can make the drive over if needed.

I guess the lesson here is to be very careful when it comes to your pets. One of my dogs belongs to me solely because he was entrusted to the wrong person. His original owner left him with her mother, and the mother didn't want anything to do with him. After he ran away she didn't bother to look for him and wouldn't take him back after I found him. Luckily for all of us, I figured my place would be a better home than an animal shelter
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Queendragonfly · 31-35, F
This happened to me when I dog sat my neighbours dog too. I grew up with dogs and I've dog sat a hundred times before with other dogs, but even a well experienced owner can't 100% guarantee how a dog will react to you as a complete stranger especially if something happen that scares the dog.

I have pet her dog several times when we met on walks, and I visited her and hanged out with her and the dog to make sure he feels safe with me before we head out. I was just gonna help her walk him as she had problems in her knees and it hurt for her to be outside in the cold.

It was an adult collie male.


So. I went on a walk to the nearby forest track in the dawn. And as it got darker I asked my partner go meet us up with a flashlight (my phone flashlight was not helping much in a dark Forrest covered of snow and I wanted to be sure we didn't walk lost) So we waited at the central camp spot in the forest.

As my partner arrived, the dog saw the flashlights, he got scared, and slipped out of the collar. Collies have super-thin necks so if they wanna escape, they will.

And he ran off.

I felt like the worst sitter in the world but had to swallow my pride and call the owner and tell her what happened. She told me he ran home. She was the one explaining to me that Collies have little to no neck so they are impossible to keep leached unless they let you.

He got home safe, no visible injuries.
He was a bit anxious a few days after when she walked him. Understandable. It was a terrifying experience for him.

But everytime he saw me on walks he squeeked and wanted me to come pet him. He didn't see me as the threat. Or blamed me. Only the flash light. But the owner gave me the cold shoulder ever since. Which I completely understand, I terrified her too.

What I learned is collies are not great for dog sitting unless you have a yard or a harness that is secured around the belly and not just the neck.
LordShadowfire · 46-50, M
@Queendragonfly Yeah, collies are good at that. We have one who hates all grooming, even a quick comb through, and she slips out of that collar so fast...
Queendragonfly · 31-35, F
@LordShadowfire I wish I knew this before. Maybe the owner could have warned me. But it's impossible to know everything and to remember to inform everything.
LordShadowfire · 46-50, M
@Queendragonfly We live and we learn.