Black Dog Runs at Night (but I caught him)

That's either the title and/or key spoken verse from a song off of the Twin Peaks TV show sound track.  But last night, I met a black dog that runs a night.

I was out looking for Ella in the usual territory she's been spotted.  Walking up Buena Vista from McKinley park, I saw a dog doing his business.  I thought I saw a person with him at first, but as I got closer I saw that he was all alone.  It looked like he had a collar at one point, but didn't have one now.

He barked at me at first, and his bark was pretty big and scared me a bit.  He tried to run from me, but I called him and he came closer, but not too close.  I attribute it to the fact I smelled like wet dog food, as I'd just got done baiting one of the humane traps. 

I called the Alameda PD to see if they could help, as I knew Animal Control doesn't work during the nights (which, kind of doesn't make sense if the strays feel safer coming out at night, but that's another issue).  I was told, "yeah, we've tried to catch that dog a few times but he runs from us."  Well, great.

Not wanting to lose the dog's interest, I took Ella's favorite squeaky ball out of my bag and squeaked it.  He liked that.  At that point I decided I was close enough to the shelter to walk there with him, off leash, because he didn't seem to want to get that close.  At one point I got him to sit, using the vocal command with the same hand signal I learned with Ella in puppy training.  He responded, so I figured whoever he belongs to took him to puppy training class at some point.

So, we walked, with him sniffing a lot of stuff along the way.  With me squeaking the ball and running at times to get him to chase me, like it was a game, re-assuring him with a lot of "good boy"'s along the way.

We got to the shelter.  The dogs inside were barking up a storm and he seemed excited and happy by that.  All the night drop boxes were locked, so I called Alameda PD again, telling them where I was and they sent an officer over.

While we were waiting, I sat down and so did he.  He was letting me pet him, nuffling my hand, and let me slip Ella's leash around his neck. 

The officer got there and the dog didn't like him one bit, started barking, etc.  But, we got a box open, I emptied the water bottle that was there into the bowl, sacrificed my spoon still covered with some dog food into the box, and with a gentle shove he was in the box, safe and off the street.  I filled out a drop form, and hope to get a call shortly from them when they open today.  If they don't, I'll call - they know me well there by now!

I really hope he belongs to someone theis looking for him.  I doubt he's chipped, because he isn't neutered and usually the chipping happens when they go in for the fixing.  Yeah, the thought has crossed my mind that maybe I should keep this dog.  However, even if his owner doesn't claim him, Labs are sought after dogs for adoption in the Bay Area.  The dogs that seem hardest to place, and that there are the most of, are Pitt Bulls and Chihuahuas.

So, while I'm sad I haven't caught Ella yet, I've had two great days in a row - Thursday was the first sighting of her in more than a week, and yesterday I helped a dog in the way I hope she will soon be helped. :-)

Comments

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Not wanting to lose the dog's interest, I took Ella's favorite squeaky ball out of my bag and squeaked it. He liked that. At that point I decided I was close enough to the shelter to walk there with him, off leash, because he didn't seem to want to get that close. At one point I got him to sit, using the vocal command with the same hand signal I learned with Ella in puppy training. He responded, so I figured whoever he belongs to took him to puppy training class at some point.

[Got Dog Kennels]

Good job with that dog!