Updated: Writes Eli’s dad in comments: “Eli is back home! We had some guests who didn’t shut the door firmly on their way out and he made a break for it. He turned back up on his own shortly after we got home. Thanks, Caitlin!”
Caitlin sent us this photo of a dog she found running near 27th Ave & NW 67th.
“He has no collar but I gave him some water and he is hanging out at my front porch. He seems very confused,” she writes. She tried to keep him at her house but he kept barking. “I was scared to bring him inside cause I’m alone right now and he is a huge dog! :( He headed east toward 24th.”
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
He is lovely! I hope he finds his owners.
Call animal control at 206-386-7387.
It is probably best that this animal get to a shelter if someone does not come forward soon. His owners will be most likely to check there and he is at risk for getting injured just running around on the street.
Boyfriend is going to go take a look & pick him up so he doesn't get hit. Any new sightings so we know where to look first?
Eli is back home! We had some guests who didn't shut the door firmly on their way out and he made a break for it. He turned back up on his own shortly after we got home. Thanks, Caitlin!
Great news!
He probably thought this all was good fun. He's a very handsome dog, who had a bit of an afternoon adventure.
Glad to see this story ended well!
Yay! Im so glad he was found! Thanks for letting us know Eli's dad :)
Yay for Eli…a handsome fellow indeed! (and now safe too). ;-)
This story ended well. Eli's Dad: Please keep the collar and tags on your dog, okay? That will make it easier next time he gets out.
I had to take TWO tagless dogs to the animal shelter yesterday. Eli's dad gets no praise from me – no collar or tag? Ridiculous. I felt bad taking the two roaming dogs (who had separate owners) to the shelter yesterday because I feel like I'm rewarding bad owner behavior. My feelings were validated by the animal shelter clerk who told me one of the two had just been in there. Assholes.
I get your general flow — it is a burden on shared resources and dangerous for your animals not to have tags on them — but might we keep it just a little more civil? Thank you, good day sir.
I said good day sir.
I think we should build a time machine and take Eli’s Dad back to when he was 5 years old and abandon him in a mall (preferably South Center) and let him roam around unclaimed for 1 hour then turn him over to CPS and have him put down. It’s the only we people like that will learn.
tags? might want to make the investment. it's the law btw.
someone might not be quite as nice next time now that we have a mugshot.
People, just relax. Dogs get out. Dogs come home. When one's dog is “lost” ice-cold fear strikes the owner. Eli's dad should not be chastised at all. Everyone makes mistakes. There was no harm from this mistake. Let's rejoice that Eli is home. P.S. glass houses, ever heard of them.
Consider this before you criticize: My dog chews on his tags and we are afraid that he will hurt himself. So we remove his collar when he is in the house. If he were to escape from the house, he would not have his collar or tags on. But he is chipped. Perhaps this is the case with Eli.
Also, most collars are designed to break-away if snagged so the dog doesn't strangle itself.
Program that number into your cell phone. You'll thank me later.
Yep. Just call animal control. 386-PETS
They'll come and pick him up and when the owner gets home from work to find a hole in their fence, they'll call animal control. There isn't any fine or fee AFAIK, and unless a dog has been truly abandoned they'll be reunited the fastest via animal control.
or 386-pets.
and how do we know this is the first time? once is a mistake. more than that is irresponsible.
it's irresponsible to assume it happened before.
Better than tags is getting your dog chipped. Tags can be removed, chips can't. Just make sure you get the correct chip for where you live.
A dog got loose and got returned, which is a good thing and also a scare for his owner. Sure tags are a good idea but there's no need for threats.
I have tags for my dog but often take his collar off at home…he likes to be naked as much as the next critter.
Kim, you sound angry and bitter.
nope. irresponsible dog owners give the rest of us a bad name.
great advice seaspider.
mine is just a comment. that's your mistake.
You are an ass. It's not irresponsible of the owner for someone else to let your dog out. Plus your veiled threats towards the dog and sarcasm and assumptions you are making about the family speak volumes about what kind of person you are.
I know Eli and his family. Eli is a wonderful dog and his family love him very much. If I ever catch anyone being “not quite as nice” to that dog in my neighborhood they will regret it. How's that?
Yeah! Wow, Eli's Dad, I bet you had no idea that this escape would generate such controvery on the MyBallard blog.
Um, I think you're thinking of cat collars. None of the dog collars I've seen do that, it would make it impossible to use to connect a leash to, or they'd just be able to break-away from it. Cats, who don't go on leashed walks and climb trees and the like, need a collar like that though.
I don't have a collar on my dog any more, though he's chipped. He scratches at them constantly, they wear the fur off under them, and since he sleeps with us, when he stands up and shakes in the middle of the night, it makes a god awful racket that wakes us all up. He's also not a “bolt out the door” dog either. As long as they're chipped, and people take them to the shelter like they should when lost what's the problem?
Your “holier than thou” attitidue gives you a bad name. C'mon, could you be more judgmental? Or bitter?
I'm glad the dog and owner have been reunited.
Bitter.
Know it all.
Word.