Lost and found

Barely a half-mile into an easy run last week, a large, black dog came bounding out of the woods onto the path I was running along.  He stopped for a quick pee and then looked over in my direction.  I knew the moment he made eye contact with my moving legs that the morning's exercise was about to be permanently interrupted.

Sure enough, the dog came charging after me, tail wagging in anticipation of a chase.  Any sane person would have probably started sprinting in the OPPOSITE direction, but I quit running and turned around to greet the big beast.  As he jumped and licked at me, I noticed that he was still attached to a walking leash.  So while I continued petting him, I picked up the leash and looked around for an owner.

There was no one in sight; not a single person anywhere!  How odd.

I checked the dog’s collar, but didn’t find any tags.  So I stood there, trying to control this hyperactive bundle of puppy energy, and wondered what the hell one is supposed to do in this circumstance.  I didn’t want to let go of him (I couldn’t bear the thought of him not finding a safe way home), yet I wasn’t too keen on spending the rest of my day keeping Mr. Excitement from charging every single car that passed by.  (Which he was very intent on doing.)

After five or ten minutes of waiting for someone to appear (and untangling my new companion from his leash several times), I decided to head back to the apartment and make some phone calls.  I tried the number for animal control (not open), the direct line to the police department (busy with other calls) and my parent’s place (had no other ideas).  Then Shane suggested we take a trip around the block, to see if anyone in the neighborhood would recognize the pup.

Fortunately for us, his owner was circling the area in a minivan at the same time.  About ten minutes after we began our walk (at least 40 minutes since I found the dog), she spotted us and pulled over to claim her pet.  Apparently, he had taken off after a rabbit earlier that morning and never came back.

This story obviously has a happy ending, and I’m glad that it did.  But I’m still baffled by my initial question.  What is a person supposed to do when finding a lost dog?  Is there standard protocol for dealing with this type of situation?  (Perhaps one that doesn't involve my patio plants getting chewed on?)