On 3/11/11, my co-worker found a stray dog in downtown San Jose, running in traffic. She took him home to her condo, lured him into the bathroom with a bowl of dry food, locked him in and went to work.
Since he obviously couldn’t stay locked in her bathroom, I went to her place on my lunch break and took the dog to my place. I have a small backyard and a doggie door that goes into the garage.
My co-worker had been calling the dog “Cookie”, but it was clear that he was NOT a Cookie. David and I started calling him Pepper, which was still not the right name for this dog, but a big improvement over Cookie.
On Saturday, we took him to Silicon Valley Animal Control to be scanned for a microchip (none, and no tags either) and filed a found pet report. We did the same at San Jose Animal Care since he was technically found in San Jose.
On Sunday, we visited C.A.R.E. Pets adoption event in Campbell, to see if they would be able to provide a foster home for him or assistance in finding him a home, in the event we couldn’t find his owners. I have been considering volunteering and/or fostering for a while now (but for a small dog that can come in the house), and C.A.R.E. was at the top of my list. Until I met them. Granted they were busy. Granted they already have a lot of dogs to find homes for. BUT THAT’S WHAT THEY DO. We explained our story, how we got the dog, etc, what we were doing to find his owners (everything we’re supposed to and then some) and finally we were told “We can’t take him, you need to post him online and find his owners, bye”.
Umm…Gee, thanks for the help.
Over the course of the 10 days we had Pepper, we had some adventures.
We went on walks. We went on walks with Indy too. Pepper tried to herd us. Pepper tried to herd me and ended up biting my leg (ouch!). Pepper and I went running. Pepper loves to chase cars…not a good combination when you are trying to go for a run with a dog who is trying to chase cars, especially when they are going in the opposite direction. Pepper chewed through the wires for our brand new sprinklers for our grass. Pepper ate. And ate. And ate. I started feeding him at the low end of the recommended amount because he didn’t seem scrawny or skinny. I was soon feeding him double that (4 cups) and he was inhaling it all without really chewing. Only the last day or two did he actually seem to eat like a normal dog.
We even spent one evening in the garage with him, to see if he could calm down enough to be allowed into the living room. Nope.
After trying to contact any and all rescue organizations that I knew of or thought might be able to help us find a home, I finally got an answer from DPS (Doggie Protective Services). Unfortunately, their answer was that they didn’t have room for another large breed dog. I quickly thanked the woman for her reply and asked for any assistance they could offer (such as posting him on their website for adoption, etc).
And then… they wrote back on Tuesday and said one of their members had seen his pictures on Facebook and that if I brought him by on Sunday to their adoption event they would take a look and see if they could help him (and us).
So, we were very happy when we got there, and they agreed to take him! He’s available for adoption from their website, Doggie Protective Services. They are calling Memphis, so look for that name to find him.
After they took him, he got neutered, got all his puppy shots (turns out he’s only about 10 months old!), and has been having a great time romping with other dogs…. I know he’ll be happy in his new foster home and will have a forever home soon once the right people find out about him!
