[johannabr]

Hi guys. I am very confused right now and am not sure what to do.

My Yorkie, Mambo, ran away and got lost last Saturday 3/1. We did an extensive search throughout the neighborhood posting flyers all over the area parks, vets, even pet shops, not to mention the door knocking to pass out flyers.

Well, Sunday night my prayers were answered when I received a call from a girl and her father claiming that they had found a Yorkie in their backyard that same day and after knocking on some doors, someone pointed them to the flyers posted at the park. We went to see him and at first sight I said to myself "This is not Mambo", probably because he looked different. His hair was cut a different way and he looked slightly heavier, like he had gained some weight, but slightly. We called out his name and he didn't respond, which made me worry, but after checking the microchip location (Mambo's had moved by itself slightly to the side), the hair color pattern, his size, the eyes, the wee wee (not neutered). We became pretty sure it was him and chucked it up to probably being very scared after all that ordeal and just needed time to adjust. I figured whoever picked him up decided to adopt him and then he just ran away again from this new family.

Well, we took him home. As soon as we got home, he sniffed everything and it then looked like he was right at home. Sat on the couch, licked me and the kids and generally acted happy. I noticed some differences that same night such as the way he is urinating (before = squatted, now = lift up his leg), he seems to be more active (jumping around, more athletic). He also was crying that night when I put him in the crate and I had to end up sleeping in the couch so that he could sleep next to me, or rather, on top of me.

Because I had that seed of doubt, I took him to get his microchip scanned. I have the microchip number that was given to me by the pet shop where he was bought. To my dismay, the microchip numbers DID NOT MATCH.

I called AVID, the microchip company, and they tell me that this new number is not registered, that it could be a mistake (the original chip number I have) on the part of the pet shop, but that in any case, I could transfer the registration from the old number to this new number.

I am freaking out and don't know what to do!

In one part of my brain I'm thinking that this is my boy and he must be acting a little strange because he was away for a week. He is now responding normally to the name "Mambo" and is acting his same sweet self with the family. I am thinking that I am just paranoid and should just let it be. Not to mention how bad I feel that I am having doubts about knowing my own dog and what a horrible owner I must be because of that.

The other part of my brain is saying that if this is not him, I don't want to be the one to keep a dog from reuniting from his family. I keep looking around the area he was found to see if I see any other "lost dog" flyers besides my own but I see nothing. He was also given to me without a tag.

I guess I just want to hear your opinions. I feel like I want to transfer the chip number and register him, but feel so bad about the doubt I have. I feel like if this is not him, I would be "replacing" Mambo with a look-alike, but then again it could very well be him and just feeling traumatized and learned some new tricks (like lifting up his leg).