Another abandoned dog

by **wawhitey** » 12 07, 2022 • [Post 1]

Anybody have experience getting a domestic dog in a cage trap? Any wisdom to share? This is a dog that appears to have been dumped off (not uncommon around here unfortunately) that im trying to help. Hes extremely skittish. Dangerous area for dogs to be dumped off (lions, wolves etc) and its wintertime to boot. Im feeding him but he wont let me get near him. Hes been sitting in the dnr gravel pit on the side of my road (seems to be waiting for his people, who aint coming back) for a few days at least, but runs off into the woods, tail between his legs, if approached. He seems comfortable watching me from 100 yards or so. If i get any closer, he moves to maintain the distance. Looks to be about a medium 50-60lb mutt. Im going to try to round up a cage trap that size, if i can. But the impression that i hqve is that dogs are much more wary of cage traps than cats are. And this dog is particularly skittish.

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 07, 2022 • [Post 2]

Good luck with the pup Dean. Would sure like to see you figure it out and help the four legged orphan. What I know about you, you’ll figure this mission out. Perhaps a full size dog crate rigged to close upon entry?

by **Lefty** » 12 07, 2022 • [Post 3]

Good luck on the capture,,,. Maybe an oversize feral hog-style trap ?

by **wawhitey** » 12 07, 2022 • [Post 4]

Trying to round up a big enough trap, but hopefully it wont come to that. Ill work on my trap acquisition the next 2 days. If i havent gained his trust by then, think ill likely set up camp right there. Tent, fire, scoobie snacks, all that. If he wants to eat and be warm, hell have to quit being such a chickenschiett. If all else fails, after this weekend, ill find a way to trap him. He wont survive there forever, no way, somethings gonna kill him. Gotta get him somewhere safe. Most likely meaning my house until other accomodations can be arranged

by **>>>---WW---->** » 12 08, 2022 • [Post 5]

If he gets hungry enough, he'll eventually go in a large enough wire box trap for food. Be patient and good luck. Anyone how dumps man's best friend should be shot! JMHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:

by **wawhitey** » 12 10, 2022 • [Post 6]

Hes still alive as of 1:00 this moning. Got another 8 inches or so of wet snow today, and still coming down hard. I rode my quad in there yesterday to hammer down a trail so hes not swimming through the snow. Put up a cam and food on the trail. Need to go try thatagain but dont know if my quad can do it. Its getting very deep. Still no luck finding a big enough trap.

by **7mmfan** » 12 10, 2022 • [Post 7]

Keep up the good fight man, you're trying to do a good thing. He'll come around, hopefully he gets the chance.

by **Jhg** » 12 10, 2022 • [Post 8]

If he ever bonds to you it will be a once in a lifetime experience.

My sister had a dog that had been chained to a post 24/7 first 3 yrs of its life. If they don't learn bonding stuff with people and other dogs they can be mentally effed up. Her dog tried to kill her. She didn't dare go to sleep with bedroom door open. Had to put the dog down. It was like living with a axe murderer. Nice one minute, a psycho out to get you the next.

by **wawhitey** » 12 10, 2022 • [Post 9]

Jhg wrote:If he ever bonds to you it will be a once in a lifetime experience.

My sister had a dog that had been chained to a post 24/7 first 3 yrs of its life. If they don't learn bonding stuff with people and other dogs they can be mentally effed up. Her dog tried to kill her. She didn't dare go to sleep with bedroom door open. Had to put the dog down. It was like living with a axe murderer. Nice one minute, a psycho out to get you the next.

Yeah, i know, he might be effed up. Might be a biter. But just no way to tell. All i know right now is he needs help, and if he turns out to be a screwed up dog, guess ill cross that bridge when i come to it.
In the meantime, he has a good warm dry shelter and plenty of food. Checked the cam again this afternoon. Moved it to face his shelter on video mode so i can be sure hes using it. Put more food out. Tracks were all around the shelter.
Had him on cam about noon today digging through the snow where i dumped food yesterday.
Trying to find a big enough trap but no luck yet. For now anyway, if hes using the shelter, he wont freeze or starve. Sure doesnt appear to be on deaths door, even after a week living in the woods around the gravel pit. Just gotta hope no lions etc grab him before i can.

by **wawhitey** » 12 11, 2022 • [Post 10]

Pup goes hungry tonight. Trap going out tomorrow. With a cell cam monitoring.

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 11, 2022 • [Post 11]

Stay the course mister, I don’t that pup is viscous, just scared of what he’s come to know from man on his journey thus far. Poor bastard. He deserves a new lease on life and a happy, warm home to spend his time. I really hope your mission is successful.

by **Jhg** » 12 12, 2022 • [Post 12]

For sure. Well worth taking the chance.
I wish we could save all the dogs in a bad way. Including the dogs whose owners are idiots.

: 7C234F28-514C-4F69-A2D0-DB625DC8C742.jpeg (222.86 KiB) Viewed 2251 times

by **wawhitey** » 12 12, 2022 • [Post 13]

2 days ago pointed the camera at the shelter. Its a nice big crate full of straw and blankets, tarped etc. I put a little bit of food right in front of the crate, and a bowl of food about a foot inside the crate. He came and ate the food in front of the crate, sniffed at, looked at the crate which has been there for several days, but was unwilling to so much as stick his head inside the crate to get the food. That was 36 hours ago. He hast been back, the food in the crate is untouched. Im pretty certain he is a goner. If he is still alive, id suspect hed have been hungry enough to at least come sniffing around looking for more food sometime in the last 36 hours. And man, if he wont even stick his head in there to get food, i see zero hope of getting him to get inside a trap.

by **7mmfan** » 12 12, 2022 • [Post 14]

That's too bad. I sure he hope he comes back around.

by **Lefty** » 12 12, 2022 • [Post 15]

You're a good man WA!!

by **wawhitey** » 12 13, 2022 • [Post 16]

Well this morning i decided to walk down to the state land where the dogs been and go hunt lions / listen for scavenger birds. At the end of my driveway was dog prints, and piss where a dog had lifted his leg to pee on my snow berm. Wth. Then halfway to the gravel pit he comes running out of the wooods into the road. Still keeping a 100 yardish distance. Runs off. So i get to thinking, this dogs still alive despite not using the shelter, not hungry enough to stick his head in a large crate to eat, so im thinking i bet some hillbilly a mile away has just been letting their dog run wild, chasing deer etc. Anyway a couple hours ago i head to town, and coming the other way on my road is a ford pickup with a couple people in it, and riding shotgun is the dog! I stopped and honked and put my flashers on, etc, flipped around and followed them flashing my headlights, wanting to talk to them to see what the deal was and they wouldnt stop to talk. They were heading toward town via another road so i just followed them. Like 10 miles, before i needed to turn off to hit town.
So now the dog has a collar on, which it didnt before. Which leads me to believe theyd actually lost their dog and just got it back. The important thing is im done worrying about it.

by **7mmfan** » 12 13, 2022 • [Post 17]

wawhitey wrote:Well this morning i decided to walk down to the state land where the dogs been and go hunt lions / listen for scavenger birds. At the end of my driveway was dog prints, and piss where a dog had lifted his leg to pee on my snow berm. Wth. Then halfway to the gravel pit he comes running out of the wooods into the road. Still keeping a 100 yardish distance. Runs off. So i get to thinking, this dogs still alive despite not using the shelter, not hungry enough to stick his head in a large crate to eat, so im thinking i bet some hillbilly a mile away has just been letting their dog run wild, chasing deer etc. Anyway a couple hours ago i head to town, and coming the other way on my road is a ford pickup with a couple people in it, and riding shotgun is the dog! I stopped and honked and put my flashers on, etc, flipped around and followed them flashing my headlights, wanting to talk to them to see what the deal was and they wouldnt stop to talk. They were heading toward town via another road so i just followed them. Like 10 miles, before i needed to turn off to hit town.
So now the dog has a collar on, which it didnt before. Which leads me to believe theyd actually lost their dog and just got it back. The important thing is im done worrying about it.

Well I suppose that's a happy ending.

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 13, 2022 • [Post 18]

The ending to this story coulda been much worse. You’re a good man mister for playing this thing out till the end. Who woulda thunk the pup belonged to the Clampetts back up in the holler

by **Tigger** » 12 14, 2022 • [Post 19]

My mental picture of Whitey and his neighborhood just keeps expanding! :shock:

by **wawhitey** » 12 14, 2022 • [Post 20]

Seems i made a mistake. Sure looked like that dog in the truck, with a collar on. But hes still there in the woods, no collar. He finally got hungry enough to work up the nerve to stick his head into the crate to reach a little food. After coming back several times rooting through the snow for any piece of kibble he could find.

by **Jhg** » 12 14, 2022 • [Post 21]

Hope you can catch him

by **wawhitey** » 12 14, 2022 • [Post 22]

Got a supposed dog catching wizard heading up from tri cities in a couple days. Long way to travel. Pretty crazy. Hes going to set up a big panel pen, alarm, drone deal. Lure the dog in with a rotisseree chicken. He said no more food, pooch needs to be very hungry. Sounds like a guy down the road is going to use his tractor to plow out a spot for the guy from tri cities to pull off the road at the pit. Then im going to be here friday to help him get the pen packed in to the timberline and set up. This dog better not be a jerk. Lot of people worried about him and trying to help him. Already have a spot waiting for him at a local no kill shelter, to find him a home. I could only babysit him for maybe 2 weeks myself before i have to leave town. Mutts been a source of constant anxiety for a while now. I just hope this dog trapper is all hes cracked up to be.

by **wawhitey** » 12 16, 2022 • [Post 23]

The dog finally got desperate enough to overcome his reluctance to go in his shelter this morning. Maybe yesterday too, took my camera down when i thought he was gone, but he was definitely in there this morning. The 6°f temps im sure had something to do with that. Trapper should be here in a couple hours. Now that hes using his shelter, i no longer have any doubt that this dog is homeless. Was starting to wonder, after hes survived so long, if he wasnt just a dog that was allowed to run wild, but had a home nearby. Ive been cruising the area, paying close attention to the porches of the hillbilly looking places. At least the ones visible from the road, hoping to spot the dog. But him sleeping in the shelter now, its pretty obvious this dog doesnt have a warm safe haven anywhere.

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 16, 2022 • [Post 24]

Damn it, I hope this canine trapper is successful. Poor pup. You've been like his guardian angel mister, thanks for giving homeless Fido a partner assist.

by **wawhitey** » 12 16, 2022 • [Post 25]

Went walking down the road to meet the trapper that was en route, and the pup went slinking out of his shelter into the trees. The guy showed up and we started setting the trap up and i looked over and the dog was just sitting in the timber about 150 yards away on a little hill watching us the whole time. Waiting to see where the food was im sure.

by **wawhitey** » 12 18, 2022 • [Post 26]

Got him! I enticed him into the pen with some bear meat this morning and the trapper closed the door on him.

by **wawhitey** » 12 18, 2022 • [Post 27]

Rj, you could use another dog i bet.

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 18, 2022 • [Post 28]

Ha, that would make 5 (6 if you count the neighbor terrier who spends half her time at our place) :shock:

. Great job! All your work and persistence is giving that pup a new lease in life.

by **Jhg** » 12 18, 2022 • [Post 29]

Partner for life right there.

by **wawhitey** » 12 18, 2022 • [Post 30]

WapitiTalk1 wrote:Ha, that would make 5 (6 if you count the neighbor terrier who spends half her time at our place) . Great job! All your work and persistence is giving that pup a new lease in life.

But just look at him. Those sad eyes. One more potato in the pot aint gonna break you. Maybe 7mm? Your kids would love him.

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 18, 2022 • [Post 31]

Ya, he’s a fine looking pup.

by **7mmfan** » 12 18, 2022 • [Post 32]

He's a very good looking dog. My old lab wouldn't tolerate him here unfortunately. I sure hope you can find a good home for him. How has his temperament been so far?

by **>>>---WW---->** » 12 19, 2022 • [Post 33]

He doesn't look none the worse for wear. You must have been feeding him pretty good. Thanks for your efforts and giving him a new lease on life. Sure hope someone gives him a good home

by **wawhitey** » 12 19, 2022 • [Post 34]

7mmfan wrote: How has his temperament been so far?

Excellent. Hes quite mellow and very affectionate. He just flat wants to be held. Pet him and he just tries to melt into you. Very sweet pup. Should have no trouble finding a home. Im asking around everybody i know in the area.

by **wawhitey** » 12 19, 2022 • [Post 35]

>>>---WW----> wrote:He doesn't look none the worse for wear. You must have been feeding him pretty good.

Little guy might go 40lbs but he eats like a damn horse

by **wawhitey** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 36]

Hes got himself a home now. I guess somebody that was paying attention to all the stuff about him on some sort of lost animals facebook page over the last couple weeks is taking him. Done deal.

by **7mmfan** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 37]

Fantastic, glad to hear that.

by **wawhitey** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 38]

Went to the shelter to say hi to him today and heard the news he was adopted that fast. He doesnt even know it yet but man he was such a happy boy today. Burying his face into me and trying to crawl into my coat, it was ridiculous. Aweek and a half from now hell be out of the shelter and into a loving home. His whole world is changing right now. I didnt break the news to him that his balls are getting cut off in a week. Just couldnt bring myself to give him the bad news. But hey, its better than getting ripped apart by wolves, right?

by **Jhg** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 39]

wawhitey wrote:... I didnt break the news to him that his balls are getting cut off in a week. Just couldnt bring myself to give him the bad news. But hey, its better than getting ripped apart by wolves, right?

Probably not.

by **wawhitey** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 40]

Jhg wrote:
wawhitey wrote:... I didnt break the news to him that his balls are getting cut off in a week. Just couldnt bring myself to give him the bad news. But hey, its better than getting ripped apart by wolves, right?

Probably not.

Maybe well just have to disagree, but if im given the choice to be ripped apart by a pack of wolves and eaten alive, or have my balls surgically removed, bye bye balls. Maybe its just me , maybe im crazy.

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 41]

wawhitey wrote:Went to the shelter to say hi to him today and heard the news he was adopted that fast. He doesnt even know it yet but man he was such a happy boy today. Burying his face into me and trying to crawl into my coat, it was ridiculous. Aweek and a half from now hell be out of the shelter and into a loving home. His whole world is changing right now. I didnt break the news to him that his balls are getting cut off in a week. Just couldnt bring myself to give him the bad news. But hey, its better than getting ripped apart by wolves, right?

You’re a good man mister, no trout about it. Thank you for giving that hound a new lease on life. I’m really glad I didn’t have to drive across the snowy wasteland to assist with a foster home mission over my way :lol:

Mrs Wapiti was on this one like a bear on honey if you had any difficulties. Nicely done buddy

by **wawhitey** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 42]

WapitiTalk1 wrote:
wawhitey wrote:Went to the shelter to say hi to him today and heard the news he was adopted that fast. He doesnt even know it yet but man he was such a happy boy today. Burying his face into me and trying to crawl into my coat, it was ridiculous. Aweek and a half from now hell be out of the shelter and into a loving home. His whole world is changing right now. I didnt break the news to him that his balls are getting cut off in a week. Just couldnt bring myself to give him the bad news. But hey, its better than getting ripped apart by wolves, right?

You’re a good man mister, no trout about it. Thank you for giving that hound a new lease on life. I’m really glad I didn’t have to drive across the snowy wasteland to assist with a foster home mission over my way Mrs Wapiti was on this one like a bear on honey if you had any difficulties. Nicely done buddy

Its always the mrs that have the final say iin these scenarios isnt it?

by **WapitiTalk1** » 12 20, 2022 • [Post 43]

wawhitey wrote:
WapitiTalk1 wrote:
wawhitey wrote:Went to the shelter to say hi to him today and heard the news he was adopted that fast. He doesnt even know it yet but man he was such a happy boy today. Burying his face into me and trying to crawl into my coat, it was ridiculous. Aweek and a half from now hell be out of the shelter and into a loving home. His whole world is changing right now. I didnt break the news to him that his balls are getting cut off in a week. Just couldnt bring myself to give him the bad news. But hey, its better than getting ripped apart by wolves, right?

You’re a good man mister, no trout about it. Thank you for giving that hound a new lease on life. I’m really glad I didn’t have to drive across the snowy wasteland to assist with a foster home mission over my way Mrs Wapiti was on this one like a bear on honey if you had any difficulties. Nicely done buddy

Its always the mrs that have the final say iin these scenarios isnt it?

Ya, it seems that way sometimes

by **Tigger** » 12 21, 2022 • [Post 44]

If that adoption falls through, RJ has ya covered!