Failed A Strange Dog Yesterday.

[Sabbath]

So everyone seems to have one (or a few) of these stories but mine ended up being somewhat disappointing.

Yesterday my partner and I headed off with our dog in the car down to Coolangatta from our place near Nerang. Just as we attempted to merge onto the M1 heading south the cars in front seemed to slow considerably. I large van was decidedly angled across one lane almost into the concrete barrier on the side of the road. As we attempted to slowly pass it we saw an American Bulldog on the road. It's an on ramp into a 100km/h zone. No one seemed to be out of their car so I pulled over in the safest area I could.

The dog was obviously frightened. I approached him slowly, with cars tearing by at 100+. I gave my friendliest welcome and he started to come to me. Then he second guessed the idea. He started to move toward the motorway! All I could hope to do was guide him away from the traffic. The merging lane on ramp had come to a standstill as I tried to round him up.

I looked around for someone, perhaps owners, that may be looking for him. No joy. Then he decided to make a run for it up the motorway. I was terrified for him. I gave a slow chase, trying to not scare him any further up the road. This is three lanes of traffic with no room on the side of the road. He got some speed up and as other cars tried blocking him so I could get him he just headed further up the road.

I gave up chasing at that point as it was getting very dangerous for all of us.

I ran back down to my car which was now maybe 150 meters away. As I neared my car I saw a couple looking through the grass/bushes another 100 or so metres back up the on ramp. I yelled out, 'Are you looking for your dog?' The guy signaled 'Yes!' I said, 'He's up there on the motorway!'. They both ran back around the corner out of my sight, I guess to get back in their car. I waited on the ramp waiting for the owners to come past so I could tell them what was going on.

So after a few minutes of waiting I didn't see them pass. I jumped back in my car. By this point the motorway was slowing to a crawl. I merged onto the motorway and slowly, eyes wide open, made my way.

The dog was now maybe a kilometer away down the road. I could see the same van that tried blocking him earlier was still following him. I eventually got close enough to pull over, by now at the next exit off the motorway. I jumped out of the car and approached him again, this time from in front of him.

He was even more scared now. Seeing as I had my dog in my car, the best I was going to be able to do was catch him and wait for the owners to drive past. Again, idiots continued to drive past way too fast. Nearing the dog I again tried to calm him. When I was within 2 or 3 meters he growled. Then he bared his teeth. I backed off a bit. I tried getting between him and the traffic. Then he lunged at me snapping, and frothing a lot. He made a couple of good attempts at biting my arms.

I eased off but he was too scared. Trying to bite every time I moved in his direction. Now once again the traffic (now the traffic trying to take the exit) had slowed. The van following him was now taking the exit, guiding the dog off too. I had parked past the exit and could no longer follow in my car. The guy driving the van said he was just going to keep guiding him off the motorway.

I ran back to my car. My partner had already called the council and police. As we tried to merge back on from the side of the road, one jerk asked my partner what was going on. She explained. His reaction? 'Maybe someone should run it over!' Geez some people really have no compassion.

I couldn't get back to the exit the dog and the van had taken so I had to drive on. I left feeling that despite my efforts I had effectively done nothing. I wasn't going to post about it but still feeling terrible today. Usually I read these kind of stories on here and feel admiration for those of you that save the day. But I didn't. I have no way of knowing what happened but hope it ended well. I never did see the owners after that initial contact. Ugh! Sorry this was so long, just had to get it out.

[teekay]

Sorry there was no happy ending Sabbath, this has been my experience most of the time with loose dogs. There really isn't much you can do if the dog will not approach you.

Hope the dog found his way home/back to his owners. I wonder where they went?

[Simply Grand]

I don't think you failed him at all! You tried hard at considerable risk to yourself to get the dog out of a dangerous situation. As much as we'd love to have all wandering dogs understand our intentions to help them, not hurt them, if they really don't want to be caught they won't be and there's not much we can do about that in a one off situation.

I've had a few situations where I haven't been able to catch a dog that's been running loose on a road or once when I did catch him but he slipped his collar when I got him out of the car at my house and ran off and I couldn't find him. I felt terrible in that instance and thought he probably would have been better off if I'd left him to wander home again, but I still overall think I'd rather at least try and help.

It does disappoint me how often people don't do anything to help when one or more people are abviously running around trying to do something, and as for the d*ckhead who suggested running him over, well

Edited March 29, 2014 by Simply Grand

[VizslaMomma]

No failure that I see.

You took time to try.

You made more than one effort.

Bottom line: you offered the wee dog a chance. That he was not responsive is not the point.

You, as a stranger, out on a dangerous road, TRIED.

Hold your head high.

[tdierikx]

No failure that I see.

You took time to try.

You made more than one effort.

Bottom line: you offered the wee dog a chance. That he was not responsive is not the point.

You, as a stranger, out on a dangerous road, TRIED.

Hold your head high.

Ditto to this... between you and the van driver, you got him off the freeway by the sounds of things... and most likely out of the worst danger at least!

T.

[HazyWal]

You didn't fail at all you did a selfless and brave thing for that dog and you should feel proud that you did everything you could. There are constant posts on our local lost and found FB pages of dogs running loose on the F3 freeway here and people that do exactly what you did with no luck and ending in tears. There was a greyhound recently that must have come out of a dog trailer running up the middle of the 6 lane highway full of cars and trucks doing a minimum of 110k's and the girl that stopped to try and catch it had no hope impossible to run down a greyhound let alone a frightened one.

The not knowing would be upsetting but you did the best you could and that's all you can do

[Dame Aussie]

You didn't fail at all you did a selfless and brave thing for that dog and you should feel proud that you did everything you could. There are constant posts on our local lost and found FB pages of dogs running loose on the F3 freeway here and people that do exactly what you did with no luck and ending in tears. There was a greyhound recently that must have come out of a dog trailer running up the middle of the 6 lane highway full of cars and trucks doing a minimum of 110k's and the girl that stopped to try and catch it had no hope impossible to run down a greyhound let alone a frightened one.

The not knowing would be upsetting but you did the best you could and that's all you can do

Totally agree. You did a lot more than many others would.

[Little Gifts]

I had to leave a distressed and panting shar pei loose on an extremely hot day recently. No traffic but I couldn't get close enough to restrain him and even if I had tried to leave water down in one spot he would've run too far to see it. The more I tried to more upset he got so I had to just let him be. I posted on the lost dogs FB page and found out a week later that it wasn't the first time he's been loose. Given it was a small semi rural community I hope he found his way home and got some water before he collapsed.

You can try but you can't fix everything.

[Leema]

You did great! It would be nice to end up with the dog in hand, but alas, not always possible.

Thank-you for your efforts. I hope someone like you is around if any of my dogs ever manage to get out or get lost.

[louise6616]

Oh my goodness! You did NOT fail anyone!!!

Thank goodness you were there!!! The dog wouldn't have lasted a minute without you! I'll bet there was a happy ending, you just weren't able to see it.

Thank you so so much for putting yourself in danger to help the poor doggie.

[Sabbath]

Hey thanks guys. You've all made me feel much better about it. I guess I've read so many stories of DOL people helping out that I figured my attempt was lame. Tried explaining the story to non-dog people at work and got a really flat response. My partner was really supportive and she was a bit upset watching it unfold. I'm sure seeing a 100kg guy with hair down to his waist chasing a big dog up the motorway would've amused some drivers. I feel much better about it today. I was worried when I made the post that I'd read how I could have done better, tried harder or been smarter. Thanks again everyone.

[Queen Maeby]

It's only because you care so much that you feel that way.

You did all you could and that was more than enough :)

[Erny]

You didn't fail him. Whilst you don't know his final outcome (let's hope he is home, safe and well), you don't know that if you HADN'T stopped and did what you did he might already have made his way into traffic and been hit. Whichever way the event unfolded, you forestalled that event and potentially changed a fate for the better. Manoeuvring on a freeway is awkward at the best of times. You managed in a very unmanageable situation and you had to take safety for ALL into consideration. You tried and tried your best. No one could ask more. Nor should you.

[Flashsmum]

You did well as others have said. We can't always be the saviours, but the ones who try should be thanked and applauded, like you!

[NQAnimalRescue]

At least you tried! More than what anyone else did. Maybe your actions inspired others to do the same thing next time they see a loose dog.

[kelpiecuddles]

Sadly I've lost many that wouldn't come over to me. Something I've now taken to doing is leaving a little container of dry food and a spare leash under my car seat, that way I can throw out a handful of food and that sometimes gets an unsure one.

[Simply Grand]

Me too KC, I have a spare lead and treats on hand. Like you said though, it only works sometimes.

I guess we all tend to only tell the stories that have a good outcome on here so it must seem like wandering dogs can mostly be caught but thinking about it I'm probably 50/50 on getting hold of them and not. I had one the other day where a little fluffy was running around on a main-ish road, busy at peak times but not too bad during the day. I turned around and pulled over, the little dog wouldn't come near me, ran away but looked like he was heading home. I followed him into a cul de sac, he was hanging around one house that had pathetic fencing with gaps he could obviously fit through to get out, although he wouldn't go back in through them for some reason. I tried for a while to get hold of him but he wasn't having a bar of it, growling when I got close and running back towards the main road if I went the wrong way. He ended up getting under the neighbours gate, the neighbour came out and told me the little dog is always out and the owner's always saying he'll get around to fixing the fence. We chatted for a while and I said I could take him back to the shelter I work at so the owner would have to talk to us at least but the neighbour was clearly uncomfortable with that. He was nice and seemed concerned but he does have to live there I guess. I asked him to make clear that the dog was on the main road and it was only a matter of time til he got hit. I hope the owner does something about the fencing and it doesn't end horribly for the little dog