I stopped the car right there, hopped out (praying that no one would hit me), and called him. Fortunately, Poodle was very friendly, and he came right over and jumped into the car. I snapped a leash on his collar, tied him to the handle on the Jeep's dashboard (to keep he and Emma apart), and I drove to a nearby parking lot to read his tags and call his owner.
According to the tag, the Poodle's name was Puffy and he had a local phone number (no address). I dialed the number ... and the automated phone woman informed me that the number was no longer in service.
Plan B. His rabies tag was from my vet's office, so I called them to find Puffy's owner. The receptionist told me that she didn't have a current phone number, but she gave me Puffy's address, and she said that Puffy is a repeat offender. She gets a call at least every other week from someone looking to return him to his owners.
By now, I had spent too much time on the phone, and I didn't have time to take Puffy home. If I did, we would be late for Emma's appointment, so Puffy had to come to Manassas with us.
He was a polite little car rider, tied to the dashboard like he was, and he alternated between watching cows or people or construction equipment, and lying on the seat with his head on my hand. His personality changed drastically, however, when I got to the vet's office and I took Emma out of the car ... he started barking and whining and carrying on something awful. I explained the situation to the receptionist, (and apologized for being late) ... just in case anyone came in to complain or to express concern about the poor, unhappy dog trapped in that car.
Fortunately, Puffy settled down fairly quickly, and he politely waited for us to return.
I returned him to his house on our way home. His parents weren't there at the time, but the man at the house next door agreed to take him for me. I wish I had the chance to get their phone number, to update his record at the vet for the next time someone called about him.
Puffy's trip to Manassas could have been avoided if his ID tag was kept up to date.
My dogs wear Boomerang Tags that have their name, our address, our home telephone number, and my cell phone number ... and they have microchips.
Do your dogs wear tags, and are they up to date?