The other day on my way to work I saw a dog in the middle of Quintard. There was traffic all around and he was just running back and forth across the lanes. Had he not been near a traffic light that happened to be red I'm sure he would've been hit. Anyway, I couldn't just leave him there... so I pulled over and called him to me. He looked scared, but he came anyway. I petted him and got him to follow me back to the car. Then I hoisted him in and took him to work with me. Good thing I work at a pet store.
Well, we arrived at work and I left him in the car while I got a lead for him. (He had no collar so I couldn't just hook a leash to him). I persuaded him to walk as far as the doors, but then he wouldn't come in. We finally lured him just inside the doors with treats (he seemed so hungry that he probably would've done anything for something to eat). But then he still wouldn't walk with me - he was too scared. 😟 He wasn't a tiny dog by any means, but I managed to carry him back to the grooming salon. Our manager donated a small bag of food to him so I set him up in a large kennel with some food and water. Poor thing... he ate and drank so much. 😓 A bit later I gave him a bath. He acted like that was a first... he was SO freaked out. But he did need a good cleaning up.
All day I tried to figure out what I was going to do with him. He had no ID on him... I even had him scanned for a microchip. No luck. 😑 No one else could take him home so he ended up spending the night with us much to Nick's dismay.
The next day he went to work with me again. Before we even made it in the doors good a man came up and commented on what a beautiful dog he was. I told him thanks, but that he wasn't mine and explained the situation. He said that he wished he could take him, but that he didn't think he could. We talked for quite a while and then I ended up giving him my contact information just in case he found anyone who might want him. It wasn't even a half hour later that he called me at work and said that he'd talked to his wife and it was ok with her if he took him home.
Though I very much liked Chocolate Dog I knew that I couldn't keep him. After talking to Jim (the kind man who wanted him), I really felt like that was the best place for him. He said that he had two kids and another dog at home, and two cats, also. Chocolate Dog looked like a lab or lab mix and a vet tech told me that he couldn't have been more than 8 or 10 months old. He was always very excited when anyone came into the salon... he would bounce and bounce like he was saying, "Oh you, please play with me! Come on, I'm ready!" So between the kids and the dog he would have plenty of playmates. Jim also said that he had a fenced back yard, though Chocolate Dog would be living inside. No more wandering in the road for him, thank goodness. 😌
Later that day Jim called to let me know how things were going (which made my freakin' day). 😁 So far Chocolate Dog had made friends with Jim's other dog and they'd been playing and playing. 😀 His kids weren't home from school yet, but he was sure they'd be excited about having a new puppy. He was going to let them pick out some names seeing as how "Chocolate Dog" was just one of many nicknames I'd given him (along with "Lost Boy", "Fella" and "Brownie"). He said that he'd be going to the vet this coming week and also that he'd bring him in to the salon to see me from time to time. 😄 So needless to say I'm very pleased that Chocolate Dog lucked up on such a happy ending. He was such a sweet boy and deserved so much better than wandering hungry in the streets. I can't wait to see him again. 😊