Jake the Adventure Dog might have to spend some time in the pen, but at least he's out of the shelter.

Don Butler of rural Denton said Jake, the yellow Lab left Tuesday in a ballfield at Denton Community Park, belongs to him.

Butler said he picked up Jake on Wednesday at the Capital Humane Society in Lincoln.

Jake is allowed to run free on the Butler place near Denton. Sometimes he runs a little too free.

"Every once in awhile he decides he needs to go to Denton," Butler said Thursday.

The dog has been returned to his home by kind Dentonites before, Butler said, and he thanked the man who left Jake at the park Tuesday.

Gary Steer, a self-described animal lover, said he was on his way to Lincoln on Tuesday morning when he saw Jake standing in the middle of 98th Street. After swerving to miss him, he said, he slowed down and the dog followed him into Denton.

Steer said the dog was wet with dew but was wearing a leather collar and appeared healthy.

"My hypothesis is somebody let their dog out in the morning to do its business and it started to chase a rabbit and took off," he said Thursday.

When Steer put down the tailgate of his truck, the dog jumped in. He said he would have let it sit in the cab with him, but he was on his way to a meeting and was wearing a suit and tie.

Still, he said, he stopped by a couple of houses and a convenience store in Denton, but nobody knew who owned the dog.

He was going to take the Lab to the city impound lot, he said, but it wasn't open yet. So he decided to leave it in the enclosed baseball diamond at the park. Steer, who coaches baseball in Denton, said he knew the dog would be safe there.

Meanwhile, a woman called the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office after reportedly seeing a man get out of a white pickup in the park, toss a ball for a dog, then drive away.

"There was never a ball involved," Steer said Thursday.

He said he has an especially soft spot in his heart for Labs - two of his three "spoiled rotten" dogs are chocolate hunting Labs.

"If I hadn't been pressed for time, I would have taken him to my kennel, waited a few days and taken him to the Humane Society myself," Steer said.

For now, Butler said, he plans to put Jake in a timeout and hopes that will keep his name out of the paper.

"He's just a farm dog," Butler said. "He's gonna be in the pen for a little while."

Reach Cory Matteson at 473-7438 or cmatteson@journalstar.com. Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@journalstar.com.