Found/Rescued Mix Dog..Opinion?

I had a bit of an issue today... as you know I am searching for a lab pup.. well .. today while I parked to let my friend go in her house to grab some things so she could stay the night and I saw a dog in my rear view mirror. There was quit a few cars around.. and the dog was running between them etc, I told my boyfriend I would be back ... then more cars started to show up I was literally dodging cars myself trying to get to her. my boyfriend then joined the chase.. Once I got to her she was laying in front of a car like she was giving up.. She was very shy once I finally worked my way to her, She was crouched down like she thought I was going to hurt her, She also crawled to me instead of walked when I got her to come to me. Here is a pic of her. We call her Abby since we don't know her name.. she answers to it so it works.





We think she is a Beagle/Dachshund... We aren't sure though.. We know she is mix...We aren't sure about her age either..

We asked around if anyone knew who's she was.. no one had seen her before.. They said that it must be a stray or was dumpd. She had a collar on but it lookd really worn.. and was torn up..her nails were also painted.. When we got her home she was shy at first.. she didn't mess with the cat.. tho the cat didn't like her.. She was very timid.. she flinched when we moved to fast.. and at one point I moved wrong and she thought I was going to hit her and tucked her tail and laid flat on the ground. I have a feeling that she was abused, or something.. Please tell me your thoughts..

Poor love......

I hope you get to keep her.... she's obviously not been treated particularly well...

x

Awww she's lovely hope she's found her forever home this time.

xx

Well done for catching her before she got hurt

However a couple of things to be sure she is a stray etc., you do need to report finding her to local rescues and perhaps on Doglost and the police.
She could be timid due to fright of what happened,being lost,and being with strangers, it doesn't always mean she has been abused.
Dogs who have not been abused can act like that when in a strange house with stranger people/circumstances........if you caught our Skye I know she would behave the same as she would worry where we were.
However once your are sure that no-one has come forward then you can (if you want) offer a home to her.
Im not trying to dampen your thoughts Im just saying that you have to be clear you have done everything the right way

I once rescued a spaniel in similar circumstances, his paws were all cut and his nails worn, he too was hand shy.. I put signs up in all the local vets and contacted the polie and dog warden...

After enough time had passed he was signed over to me. I called him Tyler.

About 6 months later a man pulled up alongside me in a van. He started shouting at me that I had stolen his dog. He took off poor tylers collar, picked him up and threw him in the back of hisvan. He said he had strayed out from his farm after a bitch in heat. He didn't care for the dog he said but his wife and children were distraught... Then without a thank you or any further explanation. He drove away woth my dog in the back of his van.

I reported it to the police, but they would do nothing and I never found him, or saw my Tyler again.

Be really sure you have tried everything to find his home before you give him your heart.

very true

your main port of reporting stray dog in the UK is the council dog warden. its always worthwhile contacting those other agencies as well.

dont know the specifics of the stray rules in the USA though, might be good idea to ask a vet to scan for microchip
.

you and your boyfriend did a fantastic thing

Yes this is very true. A frightened dog can act very out of character You mentioned that her nails were painted Well that could indicate that she has a loving home somewhere?

I also don't want to dampen your spirits but you must do things correctly as there may be a distraught family out there.

Well done for taking care of her


I'm almost tempted to say that if her owner didn't bother to put an ID tag on her collar, then you should keep her...!

But -

The ID tag may have come off, and as others have said, there may possibly be an unhappy family out there somewhere.

Take all the right steps and if someone does come to claim her, ask for proof that she's theirs.

If they can't provide it and IF Abby seems scared of them, tell them you're keeping her!!!

Thats awful for you to have that experience, scary & upsetting.

I think as already has been said you need to do everything possible to see if this dog does have a loving owner out there.
As I was reading my first instinct was poor little love I hope you keep her as sounds like she is badly abused, but then I looked at my Kyiro who is very timid out in strange places or around strangers especially men and children and he would have acted just like she has done as he would have been terrified.
It would be awful if I lost my kyiro and someone found him and didn't report or advertise the fact, as he certainly is far from abused here and very confident and happy with me and my daughter.
There may be some very distraught caring owner out there, as I would be, desperatly searching for the little dog they love with all thier heart.
If thats not the case then I hope you get to keep her.