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Featured breed: Wire fox terrier

I had an interesting morning chasing a stray. A large, ribs-visible-skinny brown dog has been wandering our neighborhood lately. It's very skittish and won't let anyone approach. It wouldn't even approach me when I was walking my three.

Well, today I decided to try to find its owners. I brought out a bowl of food and water and left it on the sidewalk. The dog seemed to have a bubble of about 50 feet. When I got further away than that, it went up to the bowl and absolutely demolished the kibble.

Then I tried breaking down the bubble. I tossed some treats her way, and she eventually started taking the ones about 20 feet away. I sat on the sidewalk tossing treats intermittently for about 15 minutes. Finally I got her to take some right in front of me. Then, when I was looking away from her, she'd take them out of my hand.

Still couldn't manage to grab her collar and look at the tags, so we went for a walk to the park. She really seemed to accept me and was having a good time running alongside me, occasionally taking another treat. I finally managed to see her collar and discovered she's owned by a neighbor almost directly across the street from me.

She followed me over there, and I knocked. No answer. I called the number on the collar and got a man. He said he was at work and couldn't get away, and could I put her on a long line in their garage. It didn't look like a very safe long line. Lots of stuff to get tangled in, but I tried. She wanted nothing to do with it, or me.

I eventually gave up, and she seemed content to wait in the garage.

When I left for work an hour later, I noticed someone was home there. I decided to drive around the block to make sure the dog wasn't still wandering. Sure enough, she was in the park, harassing a guy who was walking his husky on a leash. Ugh.

I hopped out and called her name, Rocsi, but once again she wanted nothing to do with me. I'd changed my coat since I'd spent time with her, so maybe that threw her off. Her bubble was back to about 50 feet.

I tossed a few more treats her way, hoping to lure her home. She wouldn't budge from the park, and I was woefully late for work. I finally drove to the house where she lived, knocked on the door and told a man who answered where she was. He thanked me. I only hope he brought her home. I'm afraid if I keep seeing her wandering, I'm going to have to let them know I'm going to call animal control next time.

Made me sad. Rocsi is a beautiful dog, but terrified of the world. The fact that she lived there so long without me seeing her shows she's not getting much exercise or socialization. I just hope she gets some more food.