This could be a good thread to provide a lesson learned
We rescued an abandoned Ridgeback... he was mulling outside the house on a -5 day... son tracked him down.. he was a mess... close to dead... pneumonia, infections etc... grossly underweight.. so we took him in.. went to vet and got him healthy...We named him Brutus.. he put on 30 pounds in about 6 weeks... meanwhile we posted an ad...
here comes lesson learned.. if you place a lost and found post
a breeder came by and gave us invaluable counsel... told us dog fighting in NE Ohio is much bigger than folks imagine... that dog fighter owners will be very aggressive trying to claim large dogs to use as bait/victims for their pit bulls... said to ask questions like.. what color is the dog collar.. we said he didn't have one... she said 'exactly'; what special markings does 'she' have on her right front leg.. we said .. it's a HE and there are no markings... she said 'exactly'
Sure enough the calls came in... and numerous guys were screaming in the phone.. "she's my dog.. that's my dog".. yet got none of the trick questions right
Eventually we had to find him a home... great dog.. but we already had a house full of critters... and the alpha male position was already filled
fella came over to see the dog which was sitting at my wife's feet on a step... dog stood up... Ridgeback line down his spine stood at attention... and he was all business... nasty growl... we thought "we're in trouble.. ain't nobody gonna adopt him".. he had already adopted us... no one was getting to my wife... we apologized but the guy said.. no, no.. I like that... couple more visits to the house and he ended up taking the dog.. he was so giddy he stopped at a pet store and loaded up.. bed, collar, treats, etc... We half-expected Brutus to be returned... which would have been OK.. we were attached too especially oldest son...
New owner called a week later.. ecstatic.. said he introduced the dog to his family... Brutus slept with the daughter first night... and every night thereafter...
We wanted to go visit him but vet said we'd confuse him... had to give him much more time...
We rescued him at an emaciated 35 lbs.. got him up to a skinny 65.. and year later dude was at least 90... still remembered my wife and son...