Returned the Wrong Dog - Page 2 - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans

Reality · #31 April 15th, 2008, 10:16 AM

Thank you for that connection rainbow. I hope to beable to keep tabs on this story so anyone finding any new news please post it for us all to view.

rainbow · #32 April 15th, 2008, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kristin7

Reading that second piece, it sounded like the dog Dixie may be Callie, it wasn't clear from the story if the family had actually gotten a chance to see that other dog. A meeting was arranged, but the other owner was late... does that mean she never showed? And then the family spotted the dog they had returned and thought she was theirs. I do find it hard to understand that people don't recognize the dog is not theirs immediately, like even before they brought her home. But, maybe they were in a hurry and thought the dog was just tired or something...

Mine usually is after boarding, or even a day of daycare. He is just more mellow and tired after that, however, I doubt I'd ever bring home the wrong dog, in spite of the fact a couple other dogs at the daycare do look very much like him. Or, maybe all the others really do have the right dog. The kennel could have lost their dog and replaced her with a dead ringer. I'm not saying they did, but there always possibilities.

I also wondered about whether the arranged meeting happened?

rainbow · #33 April 15th, 2008, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reality

Thank you for that connection rainbow. I hope to beable to keep tabs on this story so anyone finding any new news please post it for us all to view.

I second that.....I hope we can get updates on this story.

lucyferlucille · #34 April 15th, 2008, 11:04 PM

I sure hope this is resolved!

Back in the 70's when I went to pick out my 1st 6 week old Black Lab pup they all looked the same to me! There was a litter of 8. The breeder already knew I wanted a field trial prospect, hunting dog and guided me on how to choose the pup. One week later I went back to get "my pup" and do you think I could see him amongst the 8? The only reason I know that I got the right puppy was because they had already been ear tattooed the day before I picked him originally.

I grew up with Dalmatians and German Shepherd's and I never had any trouble telling them apart!

I spent a considerable amount of time learning field training from the Lab breeders and we became friends. I could walk through their kennel of 20 to 40 dogs and tell them apart. The black dogs were no longer "just black" but individuals with different physical features. I went to field trials, dog shows, obedience trials and training sessions and other Lab kennels. The more Labradors I saw, the more they looked "different" and unique. And yes as a teenager, I thought all Asian people looked the same, all Black people looked the same etc. I now have friends of several races (colours) and ethnic backgrounds. I sure would recognize them in a group of their peers!

So I can see how a tired person could pick up the wrong pet and assume their pet was not "itself" because it was left at a kennel!

All boarding kennels, veterinarians and doggy day cares I know, keep ID collars on for control of the dog and emergency situations. Buckle collars with ID tags are a necessity IMHO. What if a dog was to escape or the premises had to be evacuated due to fire or earthquake?

I would microchip my pet as soon as possible!

I hope all the people involved will take procedures to prevent this from happening and also others reading this sad story will learn!

LL1 · #35 April 17th, 2008, 03:47 PM

Dog owners get black labs back after mixup at Dundee kennel

12:33 PM PDT on Thursday, April 17, 2008

By AP and kgw.com Staff

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. -- Ken Griggs finally brought the right dog home.

Two families reunited with their Labs

Families get their dogs back

Griggs realize it's not their dog.

More than two weeks after the Lake Oswego man claimed a boarding kennel returned the wrong dog after spring break, he and his family were reunited with their black Labrador named Callie.

The case finally resolved itself when a KGW viewer saw the story on TV and the kennel owner got a phone call from an acquaintance of the Sherwood woman, who had told her that "Dixie was not Dixie."

Allison Best visited the woman's house Tuesday and examined the dog. After realizing it was Callie, she told the woman she needed to meet with Griggs. Best owns the Dundee kennel, Tail Wag Inn, where the mixup occurred.

Background: More on dog mixup

The real Callie finally returned home Wednesday, and spent the evening playing with Griggs' four younger children. And the real Dixie is now home, too.

Mixup was almost solved last March

During the break in late March, Callie shared a kennel with a lookalike named Dixie. When Griggs went to retrieve Callie on March 30, he somehow ended up with Dixie.

Griggs knew something wasn't right when Callie wouldn't heel and the family cat -- normally pals with Callie -- hissed at the dog.

Griggs returned the dog to the kennel and Best examined whether Callie might have gotten mixed-up with any of the other black Labradors staying there that week and contacted the owners.

The Sherwood woman who owns Dixie told Best her dog seemed to have undergone a personality change. But the woman was insistent that she had the correct dog. Still, Best arranged for the owners and their dogs to meet March 31.

Griggs arrived at the Dundee kennel before the Sherwood woman and a black Lab got excited when he and his children approached. The kids declared it was Callie, and everyone went back home to Lake Oswego.

But it turned out to be the same dog Griggs had just returned.

Griggs had vet check out dog

Still thinking there might be a Callie impostor roaming his house, Griggs took the dog to his regular veterinarian. She confirmed through X-rays that the dog lacked Callie's surgical marks.

"I'm happy and relieved and just want things to get back to normal," Griggs said after the exchange.

"We tried to do everything we could, and it's really unfortunate we had two customers who couldn't identify their dogs," Biggs said.

jealma · #36 April 17th, 2008, 06:28 PM

wow, So the owner of Dixie had Callie all along and was sure she had the right dog. Funny all this time that she had someone elses dog and didn't know it. Seemed a lot of people were wondering how he could have picked up the wrong dog, but he realized it within a short period. This other person had the wrong dog and even though there was a change noticed they didn't bother ... Thing that gets me is when the kennel called the other owners,, you'd think they would have been doing a double take at their own dogs.