Hi,

Hoping someone here can help me - this isn't a question about formal dog adoption from a shelter, but hopefully the people here are knowledgeable enough to help.

There is a family up the road from me who have at least 2 dogs in their house at the moment - a Staffy and a Border Terrier pup. The dogs aren't trained, never get walked and spend most of their time tied up in the back garden. The staffy never looks starved, but is in pretty poor condition for a young dog - all ribs and a dull coat.

Tonight I came home and found it in my garden barking through the window at my dog. A neighbour (helpfully) came out to tell me that the dog had been there for at least 30 minutes, and that noone seemed to be looking for it.

When I took it back to its house, after knocking the door for 10 minutes, the owner opened the door and looked distinctly unimpressed to see it back, and booted it back into the house. I've done a bit of asking around, and it seems that she's been talking about being sick of the dog for a while, so as it was also collar-less, I'm 90% sure she'd tried to kick it out onto the street.

I've been stewing on it ever since, and have decided that if/when I see the dog free again, I'm going to ask her if I can take it in. But, she's a pretty scary person, and I'm pretty sure that once I had it trained and in good condition she'd be round at my door demanding it back. So my question is - does anyone have an ownership contract or could point me towards something similar I could use in the event that things get to the point where the dog needs rehomed? It would break my heart to take it in and then perhaps face a fight for owner. Or would having it microchipped be enough to prove ownership?

(I know I should call the SSPCA about strays, but the pounds round here are full of Staffys and the poor things had a miserable life so far, so I'd really like to take it in if it does need rehomed.)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.