“What do I do with these friggin’ dogs,” had been the question on the forefront of my mind since Sunday afternoon, when two furry house guests showed up in front of my house unannounced.
For anyone who has found themselves in a similar situation, you know it’s no simple feat. I’ve written out the steps I took to find their owners in hopes that it’s helpful to anyone experiencing the same predicament. I acknowledge that these may not be feasible for everyone, as I’m fortunate enough to have more living space for storing random dogs than others may have.
Sunday, Feb. 18: Get them somewhere calm and safe
As I got home after running some errands, my mom came into the kitchen and told me there were two loose dogs in front of the house. Like myself, she’s an animal lover and was concerned about the little guys.
Stepping outside and heading towards the sidewalk, I see that the two dogs are a shaggy mutt of inscrutable origins and a tiny pug. The shaggy boy was afraid of me at first, but the pug wiggled his way right up to me. I made an executive decision based on how bonded the pair seemed to be, and unfortunately had to resort to taking the pug hostage in order to lure his friend into my backyard.
After I successfully managed to corral them both into the backyard and close the gate, I thought the hard part was done. What a fool I was.
Sunday, Feb. 18 through Monday, Feb. 19: Secure the perimeter
The miniscule pug, who I have given the moniker “Puggins” for now, has one sole desire in this life — to throw off the petty chains and rules the human world has foisted upon him, and unleash his uncurbed anarchy onto our streets. In a way, I admire and envy him. But if we all gave so little care to societal constraints, this world would burn.
After finagling both the dogs into the backyard, I left them there so I could fill up some bowls with water and some of my dog’s dry food. So imagine my surprise when, coming out of the kitchen and looking out the window, I notice the pug is in the front yard yet again.
After detaining him and returning him to the backyard and his crying companion, I looked around for his escape route. I determined he must have somehow pancaked his body underneath the impossibly small gap between the fence and the grass. I found various stepping stones and used them to block the space under the fence.
As soon as I was done, I watched this pug, who can’t possibly weigh more than 10 pounds, use the entirety of his minuscule body to move literal bricks out of his way. I had to grip the lower half of his torso to keep him from flattening himself to squeeze under the fence, in a move I can only liken to toothpaste being squeezed from the tube. I think it’s important to add that Puggins was keeping up a high-pitched battle cry the entire time he did this.
He escaped over 10 times, at times returning by himself to my front yard before I noticed he left, prancing up the walkway clearly proud of himself for foiling my efforts to contain him. I keep adding Macgyvered reinforcements to my backyard fence, but Puggins only takes them as a challenge. He’s moved bricks, toppled three earthenware vases, and finally just scratched a hole straight through the bottom of the wooden fence.
The shaggy, larger dog, who I’m calling “Shaggy Guy” for now, is the pug’s loyal follower, and as I ran after the pug during their latest escape, he found the hole in the fence and proceeded to make it large enough for him to also fit through.
I couldn’t bring them into my home because my dog and especially my cat were already on high-alert just after seeing them through the windows. But very fortunately, my family has a guest house that isn’t being used.
I figured it would be a relatively safe place to put them before the coming storm. And while I thought I had done a pretty good job of making sure all chemicals and wires were out of reach, they somehow got ahold of the wire for the fridge and chewed completely through it, turning the fridge into a useless 3-by-6-foot decorative art piece.
Sunday, Feb. 18: Contact Long Beach Animal Care Services
After the dogs were semi-settled into the guest house, I finally had time to call Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS). The Signal Tribune often gets incredibly depressing ads looking for homes for dogs at the shelter that are about to be put down.
I was already aware that the shelter is overflowing, which was confirmed when the actual voice mail for LBACS said I should keep the animals I found with me and try to find the owners. After following a long and winding phone tree, I got a human on the phone.
She told me to email their department photos of the dogs along with my address and phone number in order to enter them into their system. She also asked me to post them on Petco Love Lost, the Ring app, Nextdoor and to make digital fliers on lostmydoggie.com that will be automatically sent to all shelters in the area.
One of the most helpful pieces of information LBACS gave me was that any local vet should be willing to scan a stray dog or pet for microchips, or at least it would have been if either of the dogs were micro-chipped. Despite the kind and helpful demeanor of the staff at Bixby Knolls Animal Clinic, nothing came up when they waved the handheld scanner over the dogs backs, and I was no closer to getting them home.
Sunday, Feb 18: Post them on social media
When it came to posting the dogs on social media I was conflicted, dear readers. While I knew online photos would possibly help their owners find them faster, I also know pugs are an expensive breed, and I wouldn’t put it past people to lie in order to obtain a pricey pup.
I decided to split the difference to what results I’d get. I posted vague but helpful descriptions of them on Reddit without mentioning a specific breed and posted their photos on Nextdoor.
My fears were confirmed on Nextdoor when someone by the screenname “Phat Joe” simply commented “I’ll take da pug.” Going forward, if I find any expensive dogs I probably won’t reveal their breed online.
One man was genuinely looking for his lost pug. But after comparing a few photos we both came to the conclusion that the pug in my care was a different dog. Jorge from Nextdoor, I hope you find your dear boy soon.
Monday, Feb. 19: Make fliers
Along with the online flier on lostmydoggie.com, I created some simple fliers with their information on Canva. We still have some rain ahead of us, but once things clear up I’m going to go through the neighborhood to hang them up, and hope that there’s a family out there looking for them.
And to conclude, dear readers, I’d just like to add: PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO YOU KNOW THESE DOGS? COME GET THEM, THEY’RE DESTROYING MY HOME AND PROPERTY! SEND HELP.
Monday, Feb. 26:
I am grieved to report that all my best laid plans were no use against Puggins and Shaggy Guy. On the morning of Monday, Feb. 26, after eating a plate of eggs, steamed rice and chicken thighs, they disappeared into the unknown.
After combing through the neighborhood on foot and searching through social media posts on local community pages, I figured out that they likely traveled to Los Cerritos Park, where they eventually got into a vehicle with an unknown person. Please be kind to them, Unknown Person, they are good boys.
And please let me know they’re okay, despite everything I’m still more than willing to take them back.
And to conclude further, dear readers, I’d just like to add: PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO YOU KNOW WHERE THESE DOGS ARE? I’M VERY WORRIED.
