Does anyone pick up and try to help stray or lost dogs they see walking down the road? I know there is risk involved, but when I see a lost dog I really want to help. My own dog was found by a friend of mine, walking loose down the street and he's turned into a great pet. The few times I've tried to approach stray dogs usually resluts in them giving me a curious look and then running away.

What's the best way to go about this? The worst is when the dog is on a busy street or approaching a busy intersection.

I picked up a stray a couple of years ago. He was appx. a year old. It cost of over $400 in vet bills to get him a clean bill of health, and to me it was worth it. He's a really good boy. My son lives "out in the sticks" and I've seen many dogs left on the side of the road. It tears my heart out to have to ride past them. But, I had a hard lesson. I risked the health of the other dogs I had at my house. They all caught "kennel cough", which luckily was the only bad thing for them. As much as it hurts, I think it is best to get animal control to handle the dog. Adopt from an animal shelter, where the dog has been checked out and tested for temperment. I don't think I'll ever take the chance I took again.

It only happened to me once in the last couple of years. Before that, my kids were pretty much always with me in the car so I would never bring a stray dog into the car with them.

But, I did try to pick up the one I just saw. I was alone in the car and the dog was on a busy county road (40 mph) that runs the length of my town. It was a golden retriever and was no doubt going to get hit by a car so I turned around, pulled over ahead of him, and got out with a leash in my hand and a treat I had from my own dog. My dog was not with me.

The stray did exactly as you described; barked and ran. Luckily he ran into a yard and not the street. I looked for him for about 5 more minutes and determined that he probably ran into his own yard. The road he was on is lined with homes and I never see stray dogs in this town.

I would do it all again if I saw another stray.

I found my parents dobie we once had she ended up dying at the age ('I'm guessing) 10 years of age.When I found her , i was horse back riding, I could leave from my parents house(where we kept our horse) and ride all over the desert.I was a teen at the time.I got pretty far from home, and in the desert you can find all kinds of weird stuff being dumped.I passed an old bread box(the ones made of metal) and I heard a wimper as I rode by it.I stopped and thought to go and look inside.I was so scared to open it ,I remember my horse was looking spooked cause it was making noize but I could not make out the noise.I opened it and there it was a little dobie puppy, skinny and so trusty.This was in June and Vegas in June is hot even in the early morning.But I had to walk all the way back home with this puppy in my arms cause my horse would not allow me to get back on cause it was afraid of the puppy I had in my arms but we had this female for a very long time.She was always afraid of everything, my parents have a poster size picture of her framed in their home still today.She died 12 years ago.

I pick them up as much as I can. I always have a crate and leash in the car so it's pretty convenient. If there is any question on aggression, I don't mess with it. I know I can't save them all.

A few weeks ago, we picked up a very old, one-eyed dog with bloody ears, extremely long nails, and seemed to have arthritis-could barely walk. No ID on her and we wouldn't want her to get back to the owner anyway. We couldn't keep her. My husband and I drove her to the shelter in the car with padded bed, hot dogs, and A/C (it was hot). He said "this is probably the best day of her life". So sad what happens to some dogs.

Thanks to everyone out there who makes that extra effort.

Angelique,
Wow what a story. What are the chances of finding that dobe in the desert!? Lucky dog!

Angelique, what a story. You're a heroine! And I can't end this post without saying I hope the bast*rd that put her in the bread box died a slow, painful death .

Yea, first thing I look for is a tag, no tag then AC gets a call. Your AC officer would apprieciat if you don't feed them, maybe water, dog will yak in the back of the truck. I'd like to do more but I really can't, my county restricts you to three dogs and I have four, I rotate them in and out of the house

Hello to all - I've been reading these discussion forums for a couple of months but just joined this week. Had to tell of our experience adopting a stray dog - it was actually the middle of January in 1998 - a dog had been running loose in the parking lot of one of the big hotel/casinos here in Las Vegas where my husband and I worked. The valet parking attendants managed to lure the dog into their valet booth and kept him there all day, hoping that the owner would be looking for him. (He was dirty, no collar, sore feet, etc.). To make a long story short, we took him home with us (he was a pitbull - probably about a year old at the time). We ran an ad in the paper with not one single call. Vet said he did not have a micro-chip. We were going to turn him into the local animal shelter, but when we called to see what their hours were, got a recording that they were closed for Martin Luther King Birthday. So after having him for those first few days, decided he was a keeper. He was a wonderful companion for us (would visit assisted living home where my mom was, good with the grandkids, loved everybody!). We had to have him put down two months ago - he had hemangiosarcoma that had spread to internal organs etc. Now we have a new puppy (half pitbull and half bullmastiff - 17 weeks old and 27 lbs. We have so much to learn from this board - have two of the DVDs to start with.

I used to pick up strays all the time when I lived in WA state. Here in SD we are in a very rural area and surrounded by Indian Reservations, both Pine Ridge and Rosebud. Unfortunately animal care is not a big priority unless it is cattle or horses and sometimes that can be "iffy" also. There are SO many that it breaks my heart and the fact that they are half wild and run in packs make it worse. The hardest thing for me to do is not do anything.
When I was young though, between 6 and 8 we had just lost our dog to old age. I wanted another dog so bad and Dad said he wanted to wait. So I remember walking home from school everyday for about a week or so and I would "steal" the neighbors dog and hide his collar and take him home as a lost dog. Little did I know that the neighbor though this was cute talked to my parents (who knew it was the same dog over and over) and she would watch out the window everyday while I stole her dog, put the collar under a bush and trek the block home. Then the neighbor would come over every evening and ask if we had seen her dog and I would reluctantly bring him out of my room and hand him over.
Never dawned on me that she knew where his collar was and that it was back on him every time I went to get him. That dog and I were good buddies I remember. Finally dad had to relent and let me get a dog....