Found German Shorthaired Pointer-need some advice....

[chicks4kids]

Last Thursday my hubby and I were out target shooting on our range and low and behold this GSH Pointer shows up. I have never seen a dog try and figure out what the heck we were shooting at so much in my entire life. Fearless this dog was. She stood just a foot under our targets and she was like "what are you hitting?" while we were shooting. Today, 4 days later she is still here and noone in a 100 mile radius has claimed her.

I have had hunting dogs in the past and have vowed to never have another. I lost a female beagle a year and a half ago and to this day it makes me cry. She was my baby girl (not a hunter) and it broke my heart the circumstance at which we had to put her down. Can't get into it. However, now this dog is here, a female, sweet as ever, and I find myself thinking that noone can give her a better home than me, but torn because I don't want to go through the heartache again, which I surely will because every day that we have had her, she has ran off and I'm left with that pit in my stomach. Some will know what that "Pit" is and some won't. Of course she comes back, but I can't put my heart into her knowing that she'll take off after the first winged thing that she sees!

I have contacted shelters in all surrounding counties as well as the turkey/deer check stations. No luck. This girl eats hardly anything. I can only get her to eat Milkbones or table food. Any advice?? Again, I cannot...no, will not keep her. I don't want to take her to my local shelter as it is a kill shelter. If I do, she will have 17 days to adopt out. But I'm still too torn over losing my Maddie. Any suggestions? Anything I've missed as far as finding the owner? She had no tags on her. She seems to have had a litter or two-she may have been used for breeding and tossed aside...idk....

Any suggestions??

 

[AquaEyes]

Contact the local vets in your area and ask if any of their clients match the description of the dog you found. If you come across one who says "yes", bring her in and the vet can scan for a possible implanted ID. Or perhaps a vet may recognize the dog by sight. If this fails, look for breed-specific rescues or clubs online. Perhaps the owner brought the dog to the area for a competition or hunting, but is living elsewhere. That might explain why you can't locate the owner in your area. If all attempts at locating the owner fail, a breed rescue could assist you in finding a new home for her. Good luck.

 

[chicks4kids]

Plu I've also contacted at GSH rescue and have had no reply....ugh....

She is NOT microchipped and my local vet did not recognize her...in fact she stated that dogs like that are few and far between and she didn't even think that they had a single GSH client.

 

[RHRanch]

Sometimes those rescues take a while to get back to you. Maybe you can hold onto her temporarily and try to find her a good home?

 

[shober]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet. Maybe place an ad on Craiglist to place her in a good home? Or your local vet? Could she be microchipped? I hope she finds a good home! I would take her, but I am too far away! Good luck!

 

[chicks4kids]

Thank you all...she is NOT microchipped. I have placed an ad on Craigslist and what I got was some guy trying to scam me out of her. He obviously knows her worth. She is a true bird dog and a water retrieval dog at that...I know it. I have no doubt. Pups of her breed and color run about $750 at the low end...she is trained. I can't imagine her value truly.

I live in an area where dogs play a huge impact on hunting. My beagle male used to be a hunting dog and I still pay for it dearly when someone forgets he's outside and he takes off for a 6 mile "hunt".

does anyone have one of these dogs? What can I do to make her lifestyle more like what she's used to? What is she used to? IDK...She weighs about 45 lbs., won't eat, but drinks like a fish out of water....it's like she's looking for the hunt, and we don't do that. I swear, if I shot a bird, she would eat it! IDK....

 

[java girl 2]

Thank you all...she is NOT microchipped. I have placed an ad on Craigslist and what I got was some guy trying to scam me out of her. He obviously knows her worth. She is a true bird dog and a water retrieval dog at that...I know it. I have no doubt. Pups of her breed and color run about $750 at the low end...she is trained. I can't imagine her value truly.

I live in an area where dogs play a huge impact on hunting. My beagle male used to be a hunting dog and I still pay for it dearly when someone forgets he's outside and he takes off for a 6 mile "hunt".

does anyone have one of these dogs? What can I do to make her lifestyle more like what she's used to? What is she used to? IDK...She weighs about 45 lbs., won't eat, but drinks like a fish out of water....it's like she's looking for the hunt, and we don't do that. I swear, if I shot a bird, she would eat it! IDK....

it sounds to me like who ever had her was feeding her a raw meat diet. you should go and post this on the other pets and livestock thread and you should get what you are looking for there!

 

[chicks4kids]

Thank you Javagirl, I went ahead and posted it there. A raw meat diet does raise an eyebrow. What do you (or anybody for that matter) sugest that I do for a raw meat diet?? I will try anything cuz there's no way this girl can live on what she's been eating. Thank you in advance, I appreciate all the help that you can give me. I hate to see her go hungry, but it's obvious that she has no desire to eat dog food. It's like she has no idea that it's food.

She weighs about 40-45 lbs. Any suggestions??

 

[java girl 2]

Thank you Javagirl, I went ahead and posted it there. A raw meat diet does raise an eyebrow. What do you (or anybody for that matter) sugest that I do for a raw meat diet?? I will try anything cuz there's no way this girl can live on what she's been eating. Thank you in advance, I appreciate all the help that you can give me. I hate to see her go hungry, but it's obvious that she has no desire to eat dog food. It's like she has no idea that it's food.

She weighs about 40-45 lbs. Any suggestions??

I just looked on the pets thread and I see someone has asked this Q that you are asking, so I say go back there and read it and you can also do a search on here for raw meat diets and it should pull something up for you as I have seen this before on here!

 

[chicks4kids]

What stinks for her is that I have chickens, ducks, turkeys and peafowl not more than 50 ft. from where she is-plus geese with brand new goslings in my pond, which she's already spotted and chased. This has to be an absolute torment to her! But I'm stuck here, I have no choice. I have a pen that is roughly a 4x6 house with a 4x4 kennel area to go to the bathroom in, but she hates it. It's like a box. And it's what I could do in "leftover" supplies and materials sitting around the chicken yard, roughing it trying to make my oldest daughter happy in such a short amount of time.

This GSH which my oldest daughter has named Lucy is loving her rinky dink dog house complete with food, water, and 50 ft. tie out where she has full run of a 100 foot circle...she's winning my heart every day, but it's killing me as well...because I know what's going to happen. The minute she's off the lead, she's gone...for an hour or two, and if I'm lucky, she'll make it "home". It's too heartbreaking.

I have never been able to leave a dog outside...and this is killing me. She would rather be in a crappy doghouse with 50 ft. radius than a nice, warm kids playhouse full of nice soft clothing and a 4x4 ground kennel. She loves the ability the "travel" so to speak, than be comfortable. I know that the dog house she sleeps in must be too small, but she loves it. I'm just torn. I want to keep her, but I don't want to go through what I went through before.

I know first hand that once you have a hunting dog that you cannot break it-no matter what. We've had our boy for 4 years now and every year, he takes off...inevitably at least twice...he will seize the opportunity (literally) and I go through heck and anguish hoping someone finds him and he's smart enough to break down where someone will take the time to check his collar rather than "shoo" him off. And I know I should have a fenced yard, but I have 10 acres....it's just not going to happen right now. I'm just torn...