This adorable goofball follows me most mornings while walking my dog. The following me is not the issue, he is a mischievous jerk. There are a number of homes on our walk that have multiple unsecured dogs. They want to fight with him and he tries to play. He also walks in the road crossing whenever he feels like it.

But the worst issue is last week we saw there were chickens in a yard, and he went after them. I do not think he killed one, but I saw feathers flying for sure.

Tl;dr he has no owner, but lives near my neighborhood. Animal control has been unable to catch him, so they stopped trying and ignore calls regarding him.

The last couple days I have tried to put a harness on him, he ran from that. Then I almost got a leash on him lasso style, again he ran.

I have tried squirting him with a water bottle, shooing him.

I am worried someone is going to assume he is mine and retaliate against me and my dog. Or he is going to hurt another animal, or he himself get hurt.

My dog on our walk. She is recovering from knee surgery.

My tactic in this scenario is to throw a bunch of food on the ground in the direction of the dog. But that may not work long term for you since the dog may see you and think 'food!'

The road that is the problem is a several mile long completely straight, and flat road. So it may hold him up temporarily he can see us and Will catch up. Also there is a neighborhood before we turn onto this road. He goes into it many mornings, then catches up to us 10-15 minutes or so later.

I think the food Will just reinforce following. However over time it may help me get him leashed.

Basically everyone is betting people will just put up with this dog - instead of putting in the work ( class A issue). You don't want to ruin everyone's fun, but If you had to choose between him and your pet... you want the tools to make a quick and clean choice. Maybe someone can be paid to capture him, or you could put him in a situation where a good Samaritan would be forced to help him. I'm being vague on purpose as not to draw too much ire. A dog is a wonderful pet, but a dog without an owner can be dangerous and unpredictable. You mention animal control is asleep at the wheel, get documentation of that, quotes from neighbors, pictures, put everything in writing. Then when you have to make a choice, your ass will be covered. Someone failed the dog, and the mistake needs to be rectified, it's not the dogs fault. You can probably deal with him without hurting him, but it's all about how much work you're willing to clean up with miss- it doesn't sound like anyone else is going too. Best wishes to you, your dogs, and this stray.

Maybe the food might make him trust you more and then you can leash him?

If you want him to stop following you. Your best bet is to ignore him. The more you interact with him the more he's going to assume you're playing with him.
If you're worried that people might make wrong assumptions about you being the owner, start wearing headphones during your walk, body language in general can be quite helpful.

If you're trying to leash him, a pole snare for dog catching would be a good investment. Might need some practice and you might need someone else to help too.

There are also sedatives that are relatively safe that you can use to lace his food with although you'd have to be careful that the wrong animal doesn't eat it and I doubt you'd be able to get a vet to prescribe you any of those drugs without first having examined the animal.

Honestly, I'm more surprised that animal control hasn't been able to catch him because really this isn't your responsibility.

This is how you end up adopting a strange dog by accident, but yes. Feed him a few times and you'll become his friend.

If I were in your position, I'd first try and find a no kill shelter that could take him in if caught. Then I would use treats to lure him in and gain his trust. It doesn't sound like he's aggressive towards people, so I would personally roll the dice and try to trick him into getting into my vehicle or setup a kennel in advance and lure him there. I would then get him to the previously mentioned shelter. All easier said than done for sure.

If he's chipped, then I'd prove the previous owner's neglect and have someone go after them.

Yeah, the last thing I need to do is adopt this big goofball. Plus we have a house full of cats.

Your only option is to keep making it the correct person's problem until it gets solved.

Call animal control, get other people to call animal control, contact animal control's supervisor, contact that person's supervisor.

Keep working your way up the chain - go to council meetings if you have to.

People are lazy. Every single one of them. Make it harder to ignore the problem than to deal with it. That's the only way to make this stop. The dog has to be caught before it gets hurt, or it causes someone or something else to get hurt.

The person who's chickens were injured would also likely help. The person who's dogs are getting harassed, or anyone else that gets followed. The more people that keep calling, the better.

It’s wild to me that there are just dogs living outside. Can you just bring them home?

Lmao "shoot the dog" is crazy as fuck. You weren't vague enough. You're a cretin.

Answer this, would you stand idly by while a stranger dog tore yours apart? You would? That's crazier I think.

Home to my house? Absolutely not, I already have 2 rescue dogs, and far too many rescue cats.

sounds like you can try to lasso him at the start of each walk and he will not follow you.

After trying to leash or harness him he ran away a bit, then continued to follow... from a distance. Eventually he was walking with me again.

I perhaps should've written "one" rather than "you." I didn't mean you specifically, but like in general.

There are no stray dogs where I live. The times I've seen a dog loose out in the wild the owner is usually running after screaming and apologising profusely for not being able to control them.

Maybe try to do it again and again. He might decide your not trustworthy. Probably not is sounds. Does he sniff at your dog in the wagon. Mine 100% would.

*whose

Oh, goddamnit

If he follows you as reliably as you say, you could setup a sting operation with Animal Control wherein you lead him into a (nonviolent) ambush by them.

Where is this? If you don't mind sharing?

I'd take him if he's close

New Mexico, outside of Albuquerque.

Wish I was closer, I could help. I hope you're able to find someone to take him before he gets himself or any more unfortunate cats killed.

If you could get him to come with you, you most certainly could take him home. I have heard people have taken him home but he runs off and comes back to his old home.

He's so cute. I think I'm glad I live in a country that doesn't have stray dogs. I'd really struggle to not just bring home all of them. Gods, all the fleas I'd have.