We were out late on Sunday night taking our two out for their bedtime walk when we came across an old staffie with no collar just wandering up the road by himself - he made friends with our two & followed us - we walked up & down the same bit of road for a while to see if anyone was looking for him but eventually made our way home with him following - he quite happily came into our house had something to eat & drink & settled in front of the fire - he was a bit nervous but very very friendly and wouldn't leave my OH alone - we settled him in our spare cage overnight and phoned the dog warden in the morning.

The dog warden arrived in the morning checked to see if he was chipped (he was) took all our details asking if we minded our details being passed on if she managed to trace the owners, we told her we were happy for our details to be passed over and could she let us know if/when she traced the owners. A couple of hours later she phoned to inform us that she had reunited the dog with it's owners - so a happy ending.

Now the one thing that is slightly bugging me is the fact that the owners have not been in contact to say thank you - I know if it was me I would be straight on the phone to say thank you - what does everyone else think - should they have contacted us?

Well, it would have been polite of them!

But, why was it wandering around without a collar anyway, and was hungry. Maybe they didn't really care too much if it came back or they let it out on it's own a lot

Sadly, too many people are like this nowadays. I'd just try and feel happy you saved a dog from being stolen/run over/ etc.

Yes they should
Some people just got no manners at all

1)Maybe your details weren't passed on
2) They were embarrassed
3)They forgot, or keep meaning to do so
4)They are rude and ill-mannered

Good for you for taking care of the dog. Sadly there are all too many owners who don't care less about their pets.

An ex-colleague of mine had her old dog disappear one day and did absolutely nothing about it as she was fed up with it and sick of having to fork out for meds that it needed! To her (and the rest of her family) it was actually a relief that the dog had gone!

As well as this, we have a neighbour who had their dog run away and ended up in the next town. A few months later when the dog was found they said that the people who found him could keep him, as he had been with them for a while and had settled there! A few months later their replacement dog got caught as he was crossing the road and had to be taken to the vets. The vet advised that it would need an op to insert a plate because it had fractured its hip or leg or something. They didn't have insurance, but were grudgingly going to pay for the op. Then a few weeks later they brought the dog home without having the op. The vet had said that it should really have had the op, but could manage without it. Now the dog limps around because the owners don't care enough to give it the treatment that it needs.

he was such a lovely old boy, all he wanted to do when he was in our house was stick close to my OH and have loads of strokes and cuddles - he was really well behaved & trained - we would have been frantic if it had been our dog and we were really pleased that he has been re-united with his owners

I never liked my brother's puppy (yorkie) as he never stopped yapping and was generally rather annoying, but on a walk in the woods last week he got chased by a bigger dog and was missing for 3 hours. My brother was so desperate to get him back and I felt so sorry for him that I went out and searched in the rain and the mud for hours. We eventually found him sat in the river quivvering, and were both so relieved.

Point is, people helped us look and we were so appreciative, and when a guy said he'd seen Alfie in the water and tried to pull him out but he was scared and tried to bite him, so he was on his way to phone the dog warden, my brother was really touched and gave his two sons £20 each for a video game.

Considering you did more for that dog the least they could have done was called to thank you but then again, some people are just plain rude...

Well done you for looking after him. And yes if it was one of my dogs i would have been straight round (or soon as i could) to say thank you, with a bunch of flowers/box of chocolates etc to show my appreciation.

I have 4 dogs and if one of them was lost i would be frantic !

I hope they take better care of him and don't allow him to wander off again...he may not be so lucky next time...

My God if that were my dog and you had found him I'd be straight on the phone to thank you. I remember when my little dog got out the back gate years ago and I was so upset looking for him. Luckily he hadn't gone far.

You did a really nice thing taking him back to your place for the night. I wouldn''t like to think of the poor thing out all night. I am very surprised they haven't contacted you.

I would have thought they would have said thank you....if I had lost any pet and been reunited with them and they were safe I would be over the moon.

Im kinda worried that the dog was out late and just wandering around though.

Well done for taking care of him..they should have rung you to say thank you, but people dont always

A while ago I found a little black Staffie outside my house, I couldnt bring her in, because my little yorkie thinks he is a rottwieller and was trying to fight with her, so I put a lead on her and walked around asking people if they knew who she belonged too

I went into the local petshop, and they said they knew the dog, but refused to look after her, as they had done so before and never even got a thank you, they also told me that all the local vets had washed their hands of her

Eventually, I came accross a lovely lady who worked at the school where the little boy of the family attended. The headmistress, who was concerned about the dog being lose when all the children came out of school, phoned the boys mother, who said she couldnt come, but the boy (he was about 8) had a key and could take the dog home

The headmistress took the dog and the boy home, I left my contact number, but never got a thank you.

The a few months later, I opened my door, and the same dog was outside my house again, she's a lovely little thing, very placid and friendly.

She now had a name tag, so I called the number, but nobody was home, so I phoned the school, but the headmistress had left and the new one wanted nothing to do with it,..so I gave the dog a drink and some food and then walked around to where I had seen the headmistress take the boy and waited for hours.

Eventually, the little boy came along, obviously home from school for lunch and wanted to know why I had his dog again

I told him she was outside my house and he told me she loves going down my road and roaming about, and took her off me without a thank you of anything

Again I never heard anything from the parents, I just hope they take care of her, because she was a dear little dog

I *know* I'm generalising here .... no flaming for it please!

Staffies did become a bit of a fashion accessory for people who wanted to be seen to own a "hard" dog. Thats not simply my opinion, it's a fact. I see plenty neds wandering about with one up here.

Thats not to say that they don't look after them or anything, I'm sure the vast majority of them do.

But, maybe your stray just happened to belong to a ned. I can just picture the dog people turning up at their door, returning the dog some guy wearing a shell suit with zig-zags shaved into the side of his hair. The guy takes the dog back, says "Aye man .... cheers n'that.", shuts the door and thinks nothing more about it.

It's possible.

(PS ... I'm aware plenty non-neds will also own this breed of dog but you have to admit, your average ned is far more likely to own a Staff than a Poodle isn't he?)

How rude of them not to even thank you. I would have been delighted, that somebody had gone out of their way, to take my wandering cold dog in for the night and make sure he got back to his home safely. In fact it would have been a card, flowers or bottle of wine as a gesture from me. I mean you probably saved them from extra kennel expenses for that night. The owner would have got a fine for their dog wandering anyway.
Like someone else said earlier, at least you rescued the dog, who I am sure was grateful of a bite to eat and warm bed for the night. Well Done!

My dog went missing a few weeks ago and thankfully is at home safe and sound (eating me out of house and home). I was so grateful to get him back that I got the finders a bouqet of flowers and a voucher for a nice local restaurant. I'm baffled those people didn't thank you. Would it be possible your details were not passed on?

Well done for rescuing the dog though, especially on these cold nights.

Well we actually own a staffie ourselves & are definately not neds - the staffie we found was a proper old boy and you could tell it was a family pet, it didn't bother our other dogs or our cats and wanted to jump on the sofa and have cuddles

I know .... I did say plenty non-neds own Staff's as well. A friend of mine at school, his mum was in her 60's and replaced her doddery old Poodle with a Staff!

But, like I say, plenty neds do own them .... I was only saying, it's a possibility! (and just cos they're neds .... doesn't mean they haven't looked after him .... but a ned is a ned and will tend to behave like one)

How sad (not to mention rude and ungrateful of the owners) as it sounds like they don't care about the dog, and would not be bothered if it got out again and run over.

Do you regret not keeping it? Sounds like the little dog fancied setting up home with you.

If that were me, warning lights would have gone off after hearing what the vet said, if not after returning the dog the first time. I would have kept her without hesitation or found a better home for her. I hope she ends up outside your door again.