Bringing home the wrong dog?

http://www.wsoctv.com/family/15847789/detail.html

Family Says Kennel Gave Them Wrong Dog

April 10, 2008

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — A black Labrador happily wagged its tail at Ken Griggs’ home Wednesday night, but there’s just one problem.

The family told Portland television station KPTV that the dog, recently picked up at a local kennel, doesn’t belong to them.

The Griggs family said the Tail Wag Inn in Dundee gave them the wrong dog when they picked it up after spring break.

“I’ve got five kids,” Griggs said. “She’s like the sixth kid, and everybody wants the dog back.”

Griggs took Callie, his pet of seven years, to the kennel for boarding. When he returned the next day, his family didn’t get Callie back.

“You don’t think that somebody’s going to give you the wrong dog,” Griggs said.

At first, Griggs thought the dog belonged to his family — it looked the same as Callie. But he said the dog wasn’t enthusiastic to see the family and its habits and mannerisms were also different.

Griggs called the kennel to return the dog.

“I was very concerned when that happened,” said Allison Best, the kennel owner. “I’ve been in business 10 years and I’ve never heard of anything like this happening.”

Best said the kennel had eight black labs over spring break and they all played together in the yard every day.

The Griggs are certain the kennel made a mistake. Callie had her dew claws clipped off as a puppy, but the dog returned to them still had its dew claws. X-rays also showed no surgery on the dog’s elbow as theirs had.

But Best said she’s done all she can.

“I have called all of the female black lab owners that were here,” she said. “They’re all confident they have their dogs.”

The mix-up may have been prevented by the use of a collar, but the kennel does not allow collars because it considers them dangerous. Best said she’ll review the rule to see if there’s another way to identify pets in their care.

Griggs has spoken with an attorney. He said if no one recognizes the dog at his home, he’s not sure where he’ll turn next.

I can’t imagine how thoughtless someone would be to let EIGHT black labs play together without some sort of identification. Unless you know all of them really well, it would be hard to distinguish them from one another. I mean, when our rescue was boarding multiple black labs at the vet’s office, we were in charge of taking them out for potty and play breaks. They ALWAYS had some sort of identification despite the fact that we worked with them on a daily basis.

Second of all, what kind of owner are you to not step forward admitting the dog the Griggs family was given by mistake is really YOUR dog? I also have to wonder what type of interaction this family had with their real dog and the interaction they now have with Callie, a dog that isn’t even theirs. Perhaps, they are one of those families who prefer to have a yard ornament and leave the dog outside. Outside dogs rarely have the quality interaction like their indoor counterparts.

When my dogs are boarded, I leave their collars, so that even if they are not allowed to wear them while inside, they will at least have their collars when they are outside for potty and play times.

If the owner of this Oregon boarding kennel will not allow dogs to wear collars inside, I hope that she changes her policies and requires collars or some other form of identification to be worn while they are in the yard playing with multiple dogs. This incident could have easily been prevented, and the kennel should be held accountable. I hope that Callie is located and returned to her family very soon. And if the family who has her now honestly has not realized by now that they have the wrong dog, then perhaps, they need to evaluate how well they know their dog.

*The only exception I can currently think of to this would be if the family very recently adopted their dog and had not had enough time to get to know her, but somehow, I find this to be highly unlikely.

Good luck to the Griggs family in their plight to get their beloved Callie back!