I've had a very scary day!

[Dahlia]

Yesterday when I came home from town I let Sophie out while I carried stuff in and put the baby to bed. When I called for her she didn't come. She is used to going out for a few minutes at a time and she will play with the neighbor kids and dogs, etc... But she always comes home when I call for her. So dh and I looked all over for her last night, and I walked around asking neighbors if they'd seen her. The last time anyone saw her was just a couple minutes after I had let her out.

This morning, still no sign of her so I called the pound, put a Lost ad in the paper, and put flyers up all over town. Everytime I got a free minute between taking care of the baby I went out looking for her.

So this evening my neighbor came over and said she knew where she was. She was driving through the "not so nice" part of town and saw her. She stopped and called for her but there were some people out there and they said she was theirs and they got her at the pound. Well, we know that's not true. Anyway, they said she had to show them some papers to prove she was hers if she wanted her.

I took my brother-in-law and drove over there and they tried to tell us the same thing. We got out of the van and a girl picked her up and started walking away. My BIL walked over and took the dog out of her arms and we got in the van and left. The girl was saying something about wanting her money back. Whatever. So now I have to keep her in my sight at ALL times. I told my other neighbors too, since pretty much everyone here lets their dogs out in the evenings and they all play together. They don't leave our subdivision, unless someone STEALS them, that is.

I knew when she didn't come in before dark last night that someone had taken her. I am just SOOO glad I have her back. She is happy to be back, too. I swear she actually hugged her stuffed animals when we got in! Right now she and the baby are playing with her squeaky dinosaur.

[maddoxies]

How horrible for you, so glad to hear that your baby is home with you again.

Microchipping sounds like a good idea in your neighbourhood - absolute proof of ownership (if you are lucky enough to find your furbaby)

[Dahlia]

here they are playing together

[levimh]

Glad you found her! What a cutey!

What kind of dog is she?

[Dahlia]

and here's another one

[Dahlia]

Sophie with her duck-monkey :love:

[Dahlia]

She's a beagle. I am getting her microchipped, but I was waiting until I get her fixed. She's only 4 mos old so she has about another month and a half to go. The vet prefers to do both procedures at once and they give a discount if you do it that way. I am not letting her out of my sight again!

[Beaglemom]

I'm so glad you got Sophie back! I would definitely get her microchipped and always keep her within sight.

[2Cats&AGolden]

Originally Posted by Dahlia

They don't leave our subdivision, unless someone STEALS them, that is.

Ummm, not to be picky, but ...how do you know the loose dogs don't leave the subdivision? They are dogs, and dogs wander if unsupervised. To prevent this from happening again I'd suggest you don't let your dog run loose without you watching him. Aside from getting stolen, she could get hurt by another dog or child, worse yet SHE could hurt another dog or child...or god forbid accidentally hit by a car.

Glad you got her back though! My gal got out of our fenced yard once and I was hysterical until we found her. Very scary....

[Dahlia]

They are not loose all the time, they just get let out in the evenings when we're all out working in our yards and then we bring them back in when we come in. I normally take her out on a leash but she loves to run and play with the 2 dogs in the neighborhood so I let her once a day. But now I will have to be extra vigilant durning their play sessions. Sophie is the friendliest of the 3 so she's the easy target. The dog across the street is a boxer (a very sweet, well behaved one) and people are probably scared of him, and the other neighbor has a shih-tsu but he barks and growls at strangers, so they wouldn't be as likely to take him. Sophie is your typical beagle, so she loves everybody. All the neighbors are in love with her.

[kandy]

Our newf Hazel is microchipped. The breeder had it done before we ever picked her up. Parker is tattoed and so was Lacey (RIP :sad: ) I am glad that she is microchipped, but as goldengirl said, it only helps if you actually find your dog. Someone tried to steal my mom's rotti once (they owned a bar and the dog was there all the time, so everyone knew what a sweetie she was). They got a lead on who took her and called the cops. A few hours later, a guy brought her back to the bar and said that he had seen her walking outside and was just bringing her back - soo... it took him 3 hours to get to the bar??? Yeah right. I think he found out that the cops were looking for her.

Anyway, I am sooo glad that you got him back! Close call!

[Joey.E.CockersMommy]

Can't believe someone would try and steal someones pet thats horrible.

She is very cute I have never seen a black and white beagle before.

[Dahlia]

I know, there is a dog pound less than a mile from where those people live. If they wanted a dog they could have gone there.

Sophie's dad was a reddish color (liver?) and white, and her mom is a tri-color. She had some siblings that were liver and white, some tri, one black and white with brown spots above the eyes, and she was the only all black and white. I had a black and white beagle/bassett mix once, too.

[Prin]

ok.. Maybe I'm out of line here but isn't this dog really young? I don't know how you can trust that a dog so young would come back. I wouldn't leave a dog that young outside alone either... Once they wander out of the range where they can still hear you, they're pretty much gone. I don't know how you can risk that with such a little doggy.

I'm glad you got her back, but I really hope this opens your eyes and makes you change your habits a bit...

[Dahlia]

Ok, I always took her out on her leash until I started babysitting those god-awful kids I was watching. Then I couldn't go outside and leave them unattended and they were 20 month old twins and if I tried to get their shoes and everything on and take them out with me Sophie would have an accident before I could get her outside. So I started letting her out and watching her out the back door when they were here. Then she discovered the neighbors' dogs and they all love to play together. I know I shouldn't leave her outside by herself but sometimes I just can't go out there and wait around for her to decide to go to the bathroom. When you have kids, especially a baby, it's near impossible to drop everything and walk the dog when she needs to go out.

But I will no longer be letting her run loose out there at all. For the times when I can't go out with her on the leash I bought a tie-out cable so I can put her on it and let her stay in the back yard for a few minutes. It's fenced, so no one can get back there to try to take her.

[Prin]

I'm glad you didn't take offense... I know with kids it's harder (even though I don't have any, I sympathize) but I think Sophie would be better off out for a shorter bit than a longer bit and having the chance of running off and bumping into possibly a really bad human... I would hate to see all that potty training go to waste. And I wouldn't want to stop seeing pics of the only black and white beagle I have ever seen...

[Dahlia]

See, that's the thing, she wasn't out for a long time at all. It just doesn't take but a few minutes for the wrong person to come by and grab her. But since we got her back I have been taking her out on the leash or putting her on her tie-out for a few minutes. She is not going out loose anymore unless I'm right there with her.

[Princesss04]

That is awful! I am so glad that you got her back! Alot of people are not that lucky and there are alot of mean people out there! I love to see pictures of her as well and I would hate to know that anything happened to her. I know it is hard but hang in there soon she will be able to hold it a little longer. It gets better I promise.

[Dahlia]

Thanks, Princess, I have been very careful lately about making sure she doesn't get out when the kids go out, etc... Last night dh and I went grocery shopping and my BIL stayed here with the kids. When we got back I was looking all over for Sophie and dh was even looking for her. I was walking up and down the street calling for her and everything. I told dh that I bet his nephew let her out because he doesn't pay any attention to what he's doing, ever. Then I walked in the bedroom and there she was - in her crate, lol. Dh had put her in there before we left and forgot about it. She was snoozing the whole time!