Lost and Found

Annalisa is in the business of finding lost pets for their owners.  She has trained her dogs to follow the scent of the missing animal, even found a high-tailing tortoise once, several miles from home, who had made it out of its enclosure.  She has written a guide to finding lost cats, and gives consultations to pet owners over the phone to help them search.  She is so invested it has changed the way we all think in our family.  We all spay and neuter our pets;  we all microchip them.  And Cassy brought me my dog, Chester because he was a found dog and she was looking for the owner.  She did find the owner, but by that time we were so attached, we decided to keep him.  The original owner did not intend to take him with her to their apartment.  They were moving.
I digress.  Yesterday Cassy calls, "Mom, there's a cute dog running on the street.  What shall I do?"  She is on her way to work and can't stop for him.  "Bring him here," I say.  We all know the drill.  If everyone does a little, we will find the owner.  Annalisa can place notices in Craigslist "lost and found"; Cassy checks in the SPCA records; I feed and water the dog; Jim makes signs and puts them up at important intersections.  If we don't succeed, Annalisa knows some rescue groups that can find the dog a home depending on it's breed.

The dog is very gentle, a puppy, but quite large.  He reminds me of a small Marmaduke.    Cassy is worried it might be part Pit Bull, a breed that is banned in the city.  It is hard to tell, but since it is almost all black, I find it hard to think it is .  His Neck is very long, his legs and tail are long and thin, not thick and muscular like you think a Pit Bull would have.  Thinner than even a Boxer.  It is like a  boxer, but I have never seen a boxer with black and white coloring.  Think of the Boston Terrier colors on a dog as big as a Boxer with legs like a whippet.  I think the best thing to do is to take a photo, to make the signs.
This morning Weslee went to school with a green shirt, it was St. Patrick's Day.  He wanted to name the new dog "Smiley" since he had such a friendly disposition.  Brianna wanted to name it "Oreo" because of his coloring.  Cassy took the dog overnight, and I picked it up and took care of it so that he would not be alone to chew up belongings or get into trouble.  I first took him to one animal clinic, no microchip; they said he was part Great Dane, part Boxer, about 6 to 8 months old. 
The second clinic weighed him at 40 pounds, said he was thin, but cared for, about 4 to6 months old, a Pit Bull Boxer Mix for sure, and had a skin condition that might not be anything bad, but had to be treated. "What are your intentions?" the vet questioned me.  "I plan to look for the owners,"  I replied.   Around people he was marvelous, calm and well behaved.  I found a name for him: Lucky Patrick Finnigan.  I will call him Finn, or Lucky Pat Finn. 
At lunch Cassy and I tried to get Chester and Finn to get to know each other, but Chester barked like crazy and lunged to attack.  I walked him, and Cassy and Chester followed.  After a while we got them closer, and even had them nearer together without trouble.  Chester is so protective of me, it is hard for him to allow any other dog close.  We need to work on that.  Finn is very quiet and laid back, but Chester is the aggressor, and needs a lot of work.  It is actually a great opportunity  to work with Chester on his behavior while we have a visitor.  I also went to the PetMart and put a photo up as a found dog. I just hope his owners find him, he is such a sweet dog! 
Brianna was so happy to have another dog she took him on a super long walk, and then she fed him some kibbles.  She gets along very well with him.
Chester has been whining and anxious, so Weslee put on his roller blades and spent a half hour letting Chester pull him around the neighborhood.  Chester weighs about 14 pounds but has the energy of a horse.  He was panting when they came back, and flopped into his bed.  Then Weslee and I went to the Spring Concert at school where Weslee plays the trombone in the band.  It was a lot of fun seeing the 5th grade play.  Bravo!