‘The vet told me an old lady had picked my dog up FIVE MONTHS ago. She has been taking him in for regular check-ups.’: Dog’s pawrents shocked by Texan senior who found and kept their dog without searching for them, and demands reimbursement for costs

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Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Dec 3, 2025 1:00 PM EST

Dogs go missing for a myriad of reasons, but often, thanks to social media, good chipping practices and diligent rescuers who care enough for the canines they find. A missing doggo will soon enough be returned to their owners. But in certain cases, with extenuating circumstances we might add, all those measures used to ensure a doggo finds their way home fail. And the story which we have lined up for you today most certainly follows that thread.

For today, we jump into the tale of the doggo who escaped his Grandpawrent's home in rural Texas to end up being doted upon by a local senior citizen who had little in her life to love. And when she met her new pupper pal, she was so overcome by love and light that the thought of any kind of other owner simply did not cross her mind. She was so blissfully blinded by love.

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  • 01
    5 months ago my husband and I were moving into a new apartment. We took my dog to stay with my grandpa for a week or two while we moved so that my dog didn't get in the way. He's a
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    pitbull/ chocolate lab mix and has a lot of energy. My grandpa has a huge plot of land and I thought my dog would enjoy that as a little vacation while we moved. A day after my dog
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    had been at my grandpa's, my dog got out. We think he pushed open the back door. My grandpa felt awful and we called every vet office nearby and even let the police station know and gave them a picture. They said
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    they'd keep an eye out for him. This is a SMALL town in Texas. I don't even know if the population is more than 200 people. Fast forward 5 months. I thought my dog got ran over
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  • 05
    by a car and that's why no one had turned him into any shelters. He had tags on him and is microchipped so I figured that if someone had picked him up, we would know. My phone number and name is
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  • Oh goodness this is heartbreaking. To spend that many months still holding out hope, yet preparing yourself for the worst is simply tragic. Even more so when you consider the intimate size of the town, and that if there were something to report, you would imagine it would have made the rounds.

  • 06
    on his tag, even. Yesterday I received a call from a vet office in this town. They told me an old lady had picked my dog up FIVE MONTHS ago. She has been taking him in for regular check- ups and even got
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    P
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    him his shots. Yesterday when she brought my dog into the vet, they felt the microchip on his neck and decided to scan it. They found my information on it and called me. Well, this morning I spoke with the lady.
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    Let's just say her Iname is Tina. She is old, probably in her 70's. I let her know that I was happy she had my dog and that he was not dd or had been run over. She was not happy to speak with me. I asked her
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    if I could come pick him up and the first thing she says is, "I just spent $165 on his shots!". I let her know that I was sorry, I know she had formed a relationship with him, but he was my dog. I adopted him
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    when he was a disgusting looking pit bull at the pound that no one wanted. He was malnourished and I formed a bond with him getting his health back. She then started telling me that her mother
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  • Oh lordy, this is one of those truly sticky situations. When a dog theft happens by accident and with the best of intentions and people end up getting attached, it starts to get real messy. After all, we are talking about a doggo, you know, one of the most lovable creatures in the world…

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    had just and and she had no one else in the world. I, again, apologized about her mother and thanked her for taking care of him. She gave me her address and said I could pick him up but also said she
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    needs me to pay for all the food for these past 5 months. I'm a little upset she found a dog and didn't call the number on his caller or have him checked for a microchip in the event that he somehow lost his collar.
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    My dog got out, someone found him and never turned him in. It's been five months and I was finally contacted. She wants money for his bills and food before giving him to me. Should I pay her back? I don't think this old lady is trying
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    to scam me. But my husband says that something seems odd. I also am not sure if she can keep my dog from me until I pay her.
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    Update: Hey all. Here is my original post. I got some requests for an update since I went and picked up my pup today. Words can't even describe what it was like to see him after 5 months.
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    When my grandfather and I got there, my pup and the old lady were sitting on the porch together. She was crying as I came up. She told me a little about herself. She lives on $600 a
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  • 18
    month out in the country by herself and her mom passed away 4 weeks ago. I let her know how sorry I was. I told her that I would still be taking my dog, but I wrote her for a check for $200. That will cover the shots she paid
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    for. If the vet can fax me the other bills tomorrow I will pay her for those as well. I would have had to get them next month anyways, so not really a loss and I know the money helped her.
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  • 20
    I asked her about the day that she found him and he was still on my grandfather's property when he was found. He had crawled through barbed wire, probably to go exploring. She said he had some wire
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    stuck to him and had scratches on him. She took him to the vet and told them she found him- so it sounds like they never did the microchip check like the should have at first. But all is well. We
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    also made a deal that I'm going to drive her to a shelter so she can have a sweet dog "just like mine". I let her know I could help her train one, or come over whenever she needs. She's welcome to visit my dog if she ever needs to. She
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    said we can come over and use her yard anytime and that if I ever need a dogsitter I can drop him off. So thanks reddit! I'm glad it went down like this.
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searching months demands cost dogs found senior reddit story old lady pawrents shocked dog story texas
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