I Have Got To Stop Finding Things, And That Includes Dogs!

Basically, I'm a bit rattled by this.  More that it ended up that I wasn't really able to do much about the situation other than move the problem to a safer spot.

I'm usually up well before most of my neighbors.  I go out and walk around the city.  I have my circuit that I do with the dog.  

So I see things.  I've found oddball items before.  Wallets I will drop off at City Hall if there is no ID in them.  More pens and pencils than I can count.  People have lost their eyeglasses, which surprise me more than most items. 

Don't you need that to find your way home?

Walking through the parking lot past the bars, I made it to the Chic Optique.  There was nobody in any of the shops, save Michael who was setting up Java Boys for the morning caffeine rush.

My faithful sidekick, Rack, stayed close.  At this point he simply sat down.  He does that when he doesn't know what to do about something. 

He's sitting there dusting the floor with his tail and I hear dog tags.

Yes, you guessed it, I found a dog.  At least temporarily that is.

This was a tan or fawn colored Jack Russell Mix.  Seemed like a nice enough dog.  He came over to Rack with good manners, even when Rack started doing the play stance and thumping around.

A 45 pound McNab Dog's paws make the most interesting thump on the pavement when they slap it in play.

I reached down to say hello and the stranger backed off.

Hey, what's up little guy?

At least the dog wasn't aggressive.   He simply stepped back away from my hand and out of reach.

I stood there looking confused for someone, anyone to claim this dog.   If he was a stray, he was a new one.  Still looking clean and cared for, he could have just stepped out of the yard for a quick sniff around to the neighbors and kept going.

Rack was still hoping for Play! but needed to poo instead.

After cleaning up, Stranger Dog got in a good long sniff.  He did fall in line.  

Stranger paid attention to me when I said "Lets Go Home".  Unfortunately he really didn't go in any one direction.  More intent to follow us around town than lead us somewhere, he fell in with the pack.

I thought that the best thing I could do was to get this stray off of Wilton Drive.   It may be posted at a 30MPH speed limit, but nobody ever does drive that there.   That includes the Fort Lauderdale Police who I have seen speeding through town just to stop off at the local diner (true) or the Dunkin Donuts (Stereotype but true).

If I had been able to catch the dog, there was a Wilton Manors police cruiser directly across the street from me.  I could have walked him across the five traffic lanes and gave the officer something else to do toward the end of their shift. 

Hey, Officer, wanna dog?

"Come here, boy?"  Nope, this dog simply wanted nothing to do with being caught, at least by me.

When I am out with Rack, I don't tend to walk fast.  I'm being towed around the neighborhood, but I am slowing him down more than him speeding me up.

Me, Rack, and the Stranger walked off the drive and past the park.  He stayed near to us.  Never right on top of us, but near enough to where we are.   Every time he realized that he had been too far away, Stranger turned around and looked at us and waited for us to catch up.

When a car came by, Stranger cleared off the street and back toward us. 

But we did walk further on and eventually ended up at my house.

When I turned off the street and onto my driveway, Stranger was less than two feet away.

I turned around to see where he was and Stranger was trotting East on my street. 

"Come here, boy!" I tried again, to no avail.

This all ended with me being confused, Rack getting his feet washed, and Stranger walking through the puddles of the yellow street lights and out of my life.

I wasn't able to help at all unless you consider getting a stray dog off of Wilton Drive and into the neighborhood helpful.

Not much else has happened.  I have been watching my security cameras to see if Stranger shows back up.   If I see him, I'll try to get him indoors.  While we don't need a second dog, I certainly wouldn't fight a foster until the owners could be found.

It's just so (exasperated sigh!) frustrating!  Can't help, don't know what to do.  I'm sure someone was missing the little guy, I just hope he's safe.