Witty and the Temporary Dog

Over the weekend, Andrew and I took a little house hunting jaunt. We didn't actually travel far from our current abode- we had found a house that was just around the corner from where we are currently living that we wanted to look at. So we arranged a viewing and took a little stroll through the neighborhood.

It was a lovely day- blue sky, bright sun, cool breeze- and we were enjoying ourselves. As we got nearer to the house we were going to see, Andrew and I began craning our necks to get a better look at the house. I was so absorbed in contemplating the brick and vinyl siding we were approaching, that when Andrew suddenly called out, "Witty! Look out!" and pointed in front of us, I was completely startled.

I followed the line of Andrew's arm to see what he was pointing at. There, bounding towards us in great enthusiastic leaps, was a dog- a big, black and white dog. I froze. I like dogs, but big leaping and bounding dogs scare me. I braced myself for an attack. Would the dog jump on me? Would it bite me? Would it pin me to the ground and slobber all over my face? I shuddered as these thoughts whipped through my mind. Yet, to my utter surprise, the dog did none of these things!

As soon as the dog got within the vicinity of my feet, it suddenly stopped, dropped and flopped at my feet! The dog gave us what could best be described as a doggie grin as she offered her belly to us for rubbing and scratching. Andrew and I looked at each other. "Well," I said. "I guess she's friendly." Then we took her up on her invitation and gave her a good belly rub.

When we finished lavishing her with attention, we continued on our walk, but quickly realized we were not on the walk alone anymore. Our new doggie friend followed us! We tried to shoo her away, urge her to go home, but she stubbornly stuck with us, grinning at us, her new found friends. We discovered that she was a really, really friendly dog. Whenever we passed by another person on our walk, she would run up to them, say hi, then run back to us. More worrisome, she liked to run up and say hi to passing cars.

While we really did like the dog, we were beginning to worry. Where was this friendly dog's home? Were her owners missing her? Since we couldn't get her home on her own, we decided that we would lead her home. We looked for a tag on her collar and discovered that her home was right next door to the very house we were going to look at! Serendipity!

We quickly steered the dog towards her house, and brought her up to her owners' front porch and rang the bell. And rang the bell. And rang the bell. And rang the bell. There was no answer. There were cars in the driveway, but no one answered the door. We looked at the dog. Maybe she would stay on her porch? We looked at her, "Stay!" we ordered, then we rushed next door to meet our realtor.

The dog followed us. Our realtor, a dog lover herself, was both amused and worried. The dog was very sweet and friendly, but really shouldn't have been roaming outside alone. As we all proceeded to look at the house, the dog once again began to follow us! She would keep sneaking in the open front door and we'd have to shoo her back out. Then she would run around to the back of the house and peek in through the patio doors, whining a little when she couldn't reach us. The entire time we were in the house, the dog stayed nearby.

By the time we were finished, we were really worried about the dog. Once more, we walked over to her home, rang the doorbell repeatedly, but received no answer. So we decided to see if we could put her in her backyard. We managed to open her yard's gate and shoo her in, but she popped right back out through a hole she had dug under the fence! So, at least we now knew how she got out the first time.

So, what do you do with a too friendly dog on a bright and warm summer's day? Well, we did the

only thing we could think of- we bid farewell to our realtor and took the dog home with us! She followed us willingly and eagerly all the way back to our house. We felt a bit like dog nappers, but what could we do? Images of this sweet dog being hit by a car kept running through our head. There was no way we could leave the dog behind- besides, she would have followed us anyway!

So, we took her home, and immediately set her up with a bowl of water and a dish of dog food (generously donated by a kind neighbor!). Then we called her owners and left what was probably the strangest message ever:

"Hello! We have your dog. She followed us home. We think she escaped your yard. We're happy to watch her until you get back. Give us a call!"

Then we sat and watched the dog. Since I had never had a dog before, I was fascinated by her. I found her to be extremely affectionate and great company! She loved to sit beside me with her head on my lap and be petted. She was quite the charmer.

Andrew and I contemplated where her owners could be. As we thought about this, it began to dawn on us that perhaps the friendly dog was home alone. Maybe her owners were on vacation, and she was being watched by a dog sitter. That dog sitter surely wouldn't check phone messages, would they? And what panic might set in when the sitter realized the dog was gone?

We realized that we should probably run back to the house and leave a note on the door.

So, we wrote up a quick note, and Andrew made a mad dash back to the house while I stayed with the dog. Despite my and Andrew's worry with the situation, the dog was just happy to be with people. It was like she had complete faith in us that we would see her home to her owners safely.

It was on Andrew's mad dash back to the dog owners' house that he actually ran into the dog's owners. They were quite surprised to see the tall, lanky man striding up to their house, paper clutched in his hand. I imagine it was a strange conversation as he explained that we had their dog. They were completely shocked that their dog was gone! Apparently, this was only the second time in the six years they had their dog that she had gotten out of the yard. They were extremely grateful that we took her in, because with her trusting and friendly nature, she could have all too easily gotten hurt.

So Andrew, together with the dog's owners, walked home once more. The dog, upon seeing her owners, trotted up to them like nothing was amiss, just that same sweet grin on her face. For the dog, it was just another fun filled, exciting day! Andrew and I said our goodbyes to the dog, and owners and dog went on their merry way, happy to be together.

Meanwhile, I now suddenly long for a dog of my own. Surely a dog could get a long with the Triumvirate of cats, right? Right?

Sigh....