I love this DOGGY that I found, I want to keep him!

[IamDepp]

Okay, so here's the scoop! This dog ran into my parents self-employed workplace today... he wandered in then left, then wandered back and chilled there, seemed to have been abused cuz there were some bruises on him... my parents fell in love w/ him and after they brought him home, I fell in love w/ him too!

I dunno if it's illegal not to take it to the pound or something... but I really wanna keep this dog (as I've probably hinted at earlier)....

My question is... is there anyway for me to register him? And do anything in that regards to make him "officially" mine?? Or is there no way around this??

 

[amnesiac]

take him to the vet, get him patched up and get his shots done, then they can help you register him legally

 

[IamDepp]

The only thing I'm scared of is they go, "This dog doesn't belong to you, there's somebody looking for him" etc, etc...

=( Seems kind of a bad thing that I'm doing...

 

[Killbat]

Well, you said he's a little beat up.
He have tags? No? Then he's much better off with you.

 

[Calundronius]

We got our dog in the same basic way...she was starving, had a few broken ribs, so we took her in. Turned into the smartest and most loyal dog I've ever met.

 

[GermyBoy]

Originally posted by: Calundronius
We got our dog in the same basic way...she was starving, had a few broken ribs, so we took her in. Turned into the smartest and most loyal dog I've ever met.

The abused dogs usually are. We got both of our dogs (German Shrepherds) from abused families, and for a while they were scared of us, not sure if we were like the other families. We weren't. They are house dogs, get treats all the time, have a huge yard to run and play around in and get to go on walks with us several times a week. They love us so, and eventually they wouldn't let anyone near us because they didn't want us to get hurt, as we were the best things to happen to them. Our dogs love us.

 

[IamDepp]

Sounds good, so I simply take him into a VET and ask for REGISTRATION??

 

[dman]

Just be careful. In my experience -- you can do something normal that will trigger a flashback and scare the dog. The dog suddenly views whatever you did as a threat. Odds are you wouldn't get attacked--the dog would get into a defensive mode and maybe growl with teeth showing, but, you don't know what might happen and should be aware/prepared.

Maybe you were coming in to pet it and it flashbacked to getting hit by the previous abuser and snaps at you. Often times the dog will immediately realize the mistake and become, well, embarassed. Other dogs take some time to recognize you as a non-threat after a flashback and you just have to give them time. This is not to discourage you from taking the dog in. Just to encourage you to be extra patient and careful. You can give it love and a good home and it will likely be very loyal in return... and still it might someday have a relapse that would scare you.

Children can (and often do) trigger these responses with their overly aggresive playing and/or sudden movements that would frighten the dog. So, be extra careful if you have kids or neighbors w/ kids that might want to play with your new pet. And if the dog has been resting/sleeping, or it's dark out be extra careful in approaching it.

Of course the above could happen with any dog, not just abused ones. However, I believe the risk is higher with animals that have been abused--they do have memories and like humans, certain things trigger those responses.

I'm sure there are other methods to minimize the risk here, and talking to a vet would be a good start. Good Luck!!!

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: IamDepp
Okay, so here's the scoop! This dog ran into my parents self-employed workplace today... he wandered in then left, then wandered back and chilled there, seemed to have been abused cuz there were some bruises on him... my parents fell in love w/ him and after they brought him home, I fell in love w/ him too!

I dunno if it's illegal not to take it to the pound or something... but I really wanna keep this dog (as I've probably hinted at earlier)....

My question is... is there anyway for me to register him? And do anything in that regards to make him "officially" mine?? Or is there no way around this??

If he was your dog and lost would you want someone to keep him? You need to empathize with the situtation at hand. You should take the dog to the pound and tell them it's a stray and you want to adopt it. They will hold it for 7 days to see if anyone is looking for it, then they will give it it's shots, spay/neuter it, and depending on where you live will probably microchip it to identify it as your dog and charge you an adoption fee that probably ranges from $60-90 (which is a LOT cheaper than you will pay a vet to have that stuff done).

Consider how you would feel if it was your dog that was lost and do the right thing.