Lost dog knocked at my door, please all advice welcome

Mountainsandh

A lost dog just knocked at my door an hour ago (litterally did, he must be a house dog). My heart is broken, he's thin, looks exhausted and ill, he has many sores on his body, and smells.

He looks like a dog that has been out at least several days on his own, quite possibly more.

I have him in a shed with blankets, I towelled dried him gently (he's battered poor thing), and he ate a bit. He looks shattered and heart broken.

Any help/advice welcome.

I have a little dog but only a year, and don't have a clue what to do with a sick dog. This dog was shaking, I'm guessing he might have a temperature (felt warm despite shakes), I put a towel and an old duvet on him for the night, and made a bed to keep him off the floor. The shed where he is is not heated, but it's my laundry shed and not cold at all tonight. He's curled up under the duvet, should I uncover him or leave him snuggled up ?

Maybe it's just the exhaustion, I just don't know.

I'm putting the kids to bed, but after that I'll be checking all the lost and found sites, in the meantime, here's a pic :

fits

Aww. I don't know what the websites are for lost and found pets these days.. but can you keep him until Monday and then get him checked for a microchip? Poor wee fella.

mnstlj

what area is he in

BBDBB

if he's lost/abandoned, and he seems to be, then he will be stressed as well as teh physical symptoms - hunger/ thirsty etc so the covering him up is probably the best thing you can do, if he gets hot he will move - so dont tuck him in too tight. Give him the sanctuary he seems to have asked you for. Good luck, Id appreciate knowing how you/he gets on

Rhys Essien

Lovely dog.Mans best friend indeed.The poor fecker was on his last legs so.Some instinct to bang on the door.

Mountainsandh

mnstlj wrote: »

what area is he in

I'm at the foot of the Knockmealdowns, co Waterford near Tipp border too.

We have lots of hunters around so he could very well be a hunter's dog, but we've had them hanging about after hunts before, and they were in way better shape than that, so you'd know they were stragglers, and usually they get collected the next day. This fellow seems friendlier than the usual hunting beagles we get.

This fellow must have been out a while. I can't bring him into my house, I've a cat and a dog, and I feel awful about it, but don't want to pass on anything to my two. I think he might have mange, he's got a lot of pink/bloodyish crusts a bit every where on his body, ears, paws, legs...

Anyone know what breed he is ? is that what people call a pointer ?
I'm going to upload more pics to my Flickr and post them, and post in Lost and Founds in a minute.

Emer911

You could stick that picture on Facebook / twitter too. Might help?

Mountainsandh

Rhys Essien wrote: »

Lovely dog.Mans best friend indeed.The poor fecker was on his last legs so.Some instinct to bang on the door.

Yes, I heard a few noises outside at first, didn't think anything of it, and then a distinct sound on the door, he must have just bumped it in desperation. I had a job even bringing him to the shed across, he just wanted to lie on the wet mat at the front door.

There's no way I can leave him out in the fog and rain again like that, he definitely asked for sanctuary, and I'm just doing what I hope someone would do if they found my cat or dog in that state.

Kukey

Well done for taking him in and looking after him.Just keep him warm and only feed small amounts,as if he hasnt eaten in a while too much food will make him sick.If you have any boiled chicken and rice or boiled mince with mashed potatoe handy as these are not too heavy on his stomach.He looks exhausted but content that someone is taking care of him.

Poor little man
No advice OP, but well done for taking him in.

Derinda

He's a Springer Spaniel, they are a hunting breed but have become very popular as pets. We used to have springers when I was younger - they are the best doggies ever.

BBDBB

Mountainsandh wrote: »

Yes, I heard a few noises outside at first, didn't think anything of it, and then a distinct sound on the door, he must have just bumped it in desperation. I had a job even bringing him to the shed across, he just wanted to lie on the wet mat at the front door.

There's no way I can leave him out in the fog and rain again like that, he definitely asked for sanctuary, and I'm just doing what I hope someone would do if they found my cat or dog in that state.

You are doing what you can, you are doing what you think is best
no one can ask any more of you

Im sure the dog lovers here are with you in only wanting the best for the dog

Rasheed

Fair play to you, he looks gorgeous, hopefully he'll be ok. Maybe a bowl of warm half milk/water for warmth, hydration and a bit of feeding with being too hard on his stomach. Bits of bread in that would be no harm to help his stomach to get used of food again.

He just looks worn out, the poor thing.

Mountainsandh

He's had a few pedigree nuts and I'm afraid I had to tempt him along to the shed with a bit of wet food left over from my dog

But he didn't have loads either, maybe a soup bowl full altogether. He just seems to want to rest now, more so than food. I'm going to leave him alone a while and check on him later. He does seem to appreciate the attention, and human contact.

He has a leather collar that goes wider on top of the neck, but it's all battered and I haven't managed to get it off, and from peeping, don't think there was anything written inside.


05-IMGP5678 by mountainsandheather, on Flickr



04-IMGP5677 by mountainsandheather, on Flickr


lost dog by mountainsandheather, on Flickr

Well done for taking him in, a great act of kindness. All you can do is provide bedding for him as you have done and give him a little food along with water, once he's sheltered he'll be grand ish, don't worry about not bringing him in.

The kindness you have shown him already will no doubt bring him on a little, as we all know dogs are very intelligent little dudes.

In Cork there's a crowd called <snip> who are a volunteer organisation / charity that do their best to look after and rehome little dudes like himself, dunno is there any similar crowd in your area but these folk............ <snip>

So maybe they could advise, worst case scenario if you get him into the Waterford Pound perhaps he'll end up with them?

He might need a vet asap though so maybe the <snip> could advise you on what's the best thing to do for the little dude.

Fair play to you again for taking him in, great thing to do.

strandroad

Poor fellow, he looks exhausted. You're so good for taking him in. The collar may very well mean that he has an owner; perhaps he was chipped too, fingers crossed. Dogs get stolen and dumped all the time.

BBDBB

looks a young dog

although it may just be exhaustion that has dampened his spirit

my advice, would be to let him tell you what he needs

if he's resting, thats what he needs, when he gets hungry and a bit of bread and milk isnt enough, he'll let you know

Stheno

Fair play for taking him in.

Wonder is it possible he got lost out hunting?

Derinda

BBDBB wrote: »

looks a young dog

although it may just be exhaustion that has dampened his spirit

my advice, would be to let him tell you what he needs

if he's resting, thats what he needs, when he gets hungry and a bit of bread and milk isnt enough, he'll let you know

Yep, I agree with BBDBB - leave him to rest and leave a bowl of milk soaked bread and a bowl of water.

Myrddin

He looks exhausted, hopefully he perks up after some rest/food/water. Def bring him to a vets maybe they can scan him for a microchip. And well done for taking him in, definitely the right thing to do

Pumpkinseeds

Ah Jesus, the poor little thing looks exhausted, well done for taking him in at least he's safe and snug. I hope he has a happy ending. I'm not familliar with a lot of the lost and found sites. The only one I know of is Munster lost and found pets. You could google animal rescues in your area, maybe one of them would have someone willing to foster him for the time being if you can't take him into the house.

DBB

Mod note: folks, whilst I know you're trying to help, please remember that it's against the forum charter to name or link to rescues.
If you want to recommend individual rescues, please do so by pm.
Thanks,
DBB

MeMeJK1

There is a page on Facebook that you could contact as well. They are called Lost & Found Pets Ireland. Not sure if I'm allowed to post the link here but I can pass it on to you if you can't find them. The poor thing. Thank you for being such a good person and looking after him.

squink

Well done Mountainsandh. Would it be possible for you to have a Vet visit
the dog? Pershaps we could contribute a bit of money towards the cost.

percy212

Fair play OP. Sounds like this lucky lost boy is in good hands. As others have said, best thing to do is bring him to your vet for a microchip scan. Vet should be able to advise on local methods for locating owners/pets. I would be reluctant to let him go myself if he came knocking

Da Shins Kelly

Ah, jeez. The poor guy. He looks exhausted. Well done on taking him in, definitely the right thing to do. Just give him the food and warmth and shelter that he needs for now. I think he's probably just very, very tired and hungry and cold. Maybe when he gets a bit more strength, you could bring him into the vet and see what the story is. Make sure there's nothing physically the matter with him and see if there's a microchip. I'd say check out your local animal rescues in case anyone's looking for a lost dog, or if no one claims him and you can't take him on, they may be able to adopt him out.

percy212

squink wrote: »

Well done Mountainsandh. Would it be possible for you to have a Vet visit
the dog? Pershaps we could contribute a bit of money towards the cost.

Good idea. A home visit. Might even call out tomorrow seeing how there appears to be some injuries.

Wibbs

Just to add to the fair plays M. Poor little mite. At least he's out of the cold and has had kindness from you. They pick up on that and that can do a helluva lot. Yea fair play.









I had a cat come to me in a similar state years back and I brought her in. Usually cats positively hate me on sight(horses too, god knows why), but just that kind touch can do so much and she responded and all ended well.

phelo2121

I would bring him to vet if possible he looks like he has a lot of facial swelling he may have been in a accident. usually the vets would fix up an injured dog and send to local pound with no charge to you but would call first to check .good luck and fair play for looking after him

DBB

OP,
Good for you. This dog looks emaciated and utterly shattered. The sore skin, it's hard to know what has caused that. I thought he was a Springer at first, but he's very smooth-coated for a Spaniel, and I wonder is he perhaps a Pointer x Springer? Not that it matters a hoot, this little dog needs help. He may well be lost after a day's hunting, but I'd suggest that day's hunting was weeks ago. For starters, he's not fit to work, and for seconders, the game shooting season is over since Jan 31st.
Please don't give him milk or bread. I know others were trying to help by suggesting these, but they'll do him no good, indeed they may make him sick. So, stick with steeped nuts (or preferably chicken n spuds), in tiny but regular portions.
A trip to the vet is needed asap.
www.lostandfound.ie is a super resource for hooking up lost dogs with their owners... This dog has been lost for some time I think, so there could be a genuinely distraught owner looking for him, they may even have given up by now.
Good luck OP, the poor wee man must feel safer now than he has done for some time!

DBB

Actually, on reflection, hunting folk rarely leave a collar on a dog whilst hunting, and that's an unusual collar he has on, more typical of greyhounds and other sighthounds. So, I'm cancelling out the idea that he got lost out hunting! Hmmm. I'm beginning to wonder who's company he'd been in before he ended up out and about on his own. He may indeed have had a lucky escape, but it'd be interesting to see has he a chip. He may, just may have been stolen some time ago.