Recovering after being lost

[Dinta]

Hello all,

The past few days have been very hard for me. My babies were lost for two days (two 10 months old rotties -a boy and a girl). My heart sank when I heard the news from my husband (and didn't stop crying until I got them back). I knew I loved them, but to what extent was unknown until now.

[The story on how I found them and got them back is another post on its own! ]

Anyway, as soon as they got back home they started to eat the grass from our lawn like cattle. Just munching and munching, plus drinking lots of water. I understand the reason behind drinking so much water, but eating grass? After 30 - 60 minutes they would throw up. Afterwards they would wait a few minutes drink lots of water, eat grass again and throw up. Could anyone give me a clue? What is going on? I didn't try to stop them thinking that they were acting out on instinct, was I right to do so?

I am worried about them, if anything would ever happen to them again I don't think I can forgive myself. :o

Now they won't leave our side. They want to be with us 24/7, I can't help spoiling them a bit more than usual. How can I rebuild their confidence?

I have so many issues and questions from this terrible incident...

__________________
Liz

[n2rotts]

I'm not sure I'd be so worried about how to build up their confidence. They probably had a great time running about on their own.

What I WOULD be worried about is how to prevent this happening again.

You are very lucky to get them back all in one piece, both of them, but I'm sure you know that!;)

How did they end up escaping? And glad they are back with you and Ok!

[shybird]

Thank goodness you got them back. You must have been frantic. My best suggestion is to call your vet. I know it's late on a Sat. but they probably have an emergency number or check their messages. They might have gotten into something bad. Watch them closely and if they get worse go to the emergency hospital. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Judi W]

The grass eating is very likely a stress reliever for them. Bring them inside so they can rest in a secure place until their anxiety settles down. A bit of grass eating is not dangerous in itself assuming that you do not spray your lawn nor have toxic fertilizer added to it, however, they can't over eat the grass if they are not outside.

[Dinta]

Frantic exactly how we felt!

The first thing we did was to get them to the vet ASAP, even before bringing them back home. I had to make sure they were alright. After their physical, the vet said that all was good except that they were a little bit dehydrated (which is being taken care of), and the vet gave them a preventive worm/parasite medication (who knows what feast they had on their own).

We are not sure how this happened... All we know is that we woke up in the morning and they weren't there. I sure hope I never have that feeling again! :(

We have a two theories though:

Theory #1: They jumped over the wall fence.
How they got the courage, I don't know. This fence is 7.5 feet from tall on the outside, but from inside the house perimeters it's about 4 feet tall (the lawn slopes upward, hard to describe).

Theory #2: The gate door was open or opened by some one and they let themselves out. The door was closed when we woke up, but not locked (we are lucky nothing worse happened).

Solution for this: They will be confined within the house until we add 3 feet of metal fence to that portion of the wall. And, we will double check all doors before we go to bed!

__________________
Liz

[moondog]

I'm glad they're back safe and sound :) ! I'd be frantic, too, if my dog came up missing....my heart would drop into my shoes. If they went over the fence, they got a big surprise on the landing side with a 7-1/2 foot drop! In addition to raising the height of the fence from the yard side, if you padlock the gate doors that will eliminate the worry over someone letting them out or them being able to paw the gates open.

How did you find them?

[rottmommie]

i would like to hear the story of how they were found too.
I would suspect that they had a feast of garbage at the side of the road cafe, which has upset their tummy.
I never leave my dogs outside unattended, call me weird, but they are indoor dogs unless I can watch them, out to potty, out for walks, out with momma and daddy, but never out alone unless someone can view from the window.
Too many people in this area are willing to steal anything that can get them a crack rock, including a dog.......

[pride-and-joy]

I'm happy you found your Rott'n kids. Your are one of the lucky ones.

I guess I'm part of the "paranoid club" with Rottmommie (and I'm sure there are others.)

I never leave my guys in the yard when I'm not home.

If they don't escape because of their own creativity and boredom....Rottweilers often become victims of theft by unscrupulous humans because of their "tough guy" physique and reputation.

Left alone in the yard they are vulnerable to escape, theft, teasing, and accidental or intentional poisioning.

This may sound extreme, but I personally choose to err on the side of caution. When safely confined to a crate, baby gated in a small room, or (if trustworthy) loose in the house....I can return home knowing I'll be greeted with happy wiggle butts and kisses.

Food for thought since you've just been through a near miss. Good luck!

[Hudson's Alpha]

Yes, I agree with the others; my dogs have never been left "home alone" in the fenced-in yard. Even the "Man Stopper" wasn't left outside if I wasn't home. Even though he would never have let a stranger on the property, I've always had this (irrational??) paranoia of some *JERK* kid throwing rat bait over the fence and poisoning my dog.

The padlock is a very good idea. I always padlock my gate and keep the key "hidden" right nearby so I don't have to always run in the house to get it.

THANK GOD you got your dogs back....especially with Rotties, God knows what would have become of them if gotten in the wrong hands. PHEW!!!

[Dinta]

I guess we were too trusting... That has changed!

Apparently an older couple found both dogs and locked them up. A person called us to get information on the reward (we didn't say there was a reward to avoid prank calls) and tried to strike a deal with couple who had our babies, letting them know that these dogs are being looked for and he wanted to split the reward money. Although he said he was going to call back right away he didn't. The following day he told us that the reason he didn't call back was because the people who had them weren't planning on returning our Rotties! He was so upset with them that he called us back the following day and told us he wasn't interested in the reward anymore and wanted us to have our dogs back. He gave us the address where they could be found. We immediately dropped everything and went to the rescue.

Well the lady was demanding 4 times the reward amount to give us OUR dogs back!
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't hesitate to empty out my savings for them, but for someone to try to take advantage of us under these circumstances?!? How could she?
My husband took our babies and put them in the car and told her that we appreciated the fact that she took care of them and offered her half of the reward money (the other half goes to the person who called in, although at first he was a bit shady, we couldn't have done it without him). Basically told her: "Take it or leave it", besides we were not buying them from her (especially when she wasn't planning on giving them back). She even tried to bully and intimidate us by saying she was a lawyer (it is because of people like her lawyers have a bad rep). She took the money and we went on our way to the vet.

Whenever I read in the paper a classified ad for a missing dog, I immediately look at every dog I see just in case I find him/her. I would never accept any reward money, because I know our family members are priceless. I'm not saying that asking for the money is wrong, if a reward is being offered you have a right to take it (personally, I wouldn't accept it). But to demand more money (without justifications: like vet bills) feels like some sort of extorsion or blackmail.

Anyway, the important thing is they are back home, well and happy. And so are we. :D

That's the story. Sorry I rambled on, but I couldn't help it. :o

[Hudson's Alpha]

OMG!!!!

I really meant the last sentence in my post.....but it's kind of eery how close to the truth that sentence almost was. <shiver>

You are a very lucky couple to have your pups back.....I bet you HAVE changed the way you do things.....what a wild story!

[Barbara Surplus]

My friend's Vizsla was kidnapped during a walk in the middle of Gorky Park in Moscow - the dog got a little bit ahead of my friend and simply disappeared from sight. Trying to recover the dog became a comedy of errors but the people who kidnapped her were so desperate for money, they thought it would be a great opportunity to earn some cash from a *wealthy* North American (they had seen my friend many times in the park and knew a little bit about her background). (Sad thing to say but they are back in Canada now and honestly I wish they hadn't paid the ransom money. She's a dreadful animal - not her fault of course. Lack of training...you know the story.)

Anyway, kidnapped dogs are not as rare as you would think. I'm so glad you got your dogs back relatively unscathed.
Barbara

[Dinta]

We feel blessed to have them back. :D
As we go around the neighborhood and surrounding areas to remove the poster and flyers we made, everyone reminds us of how lucky we are (we definitely are.)

We have been in a natural high ever since they're back. They're back for good. :)

Remembering back a little, one of the things the "lawyer" told us was that she knew they were expensive dogs. I cannot believe she could be so heartless.

[Judy Chrusch]

I'm so glad you have them back safe and sound. One of our members here wasen't so lucky so you are truly blessed. I can't believe that woman wanted money to give them back, what's wrong with people. I can't tell you how many dogs I ended up with in my yard from the surrounding neighborhoods and I always gladly gave them back and would NEVER consider taking ANY money for their safe return. People are so greedy these days . I found my one gate open one time for some unknown reason but was lucky enough to catch it before I left Czar out. Please, ALWAYS check and double check before leaving them out and never leave them unattended. You are just so lucky this time. Keep an eye on them and if you see any unusual behavior you may want to get them checked out by your own vet. Keep an eye on their eating habits and their stools for awhile.

Judy

[shybird]

Ok, I've been thinking. This lady is not a lawyer!!! She is guilty of theft, extortion and unethical practices. I dont know where you are from but I think a call to the Bar Assoc. would be inorder if she really was a lawyer... Getting her called on the carpet, so to speak, might keep her from oing something ike this again. The stupid, uncaring, britch!!!! yes, I spelled it wrong on purpose!!! Just had to vent some of my hostility for her.