Who'd Have Thought . . .

I fell in love!

With a DOG!!!

I know, who'd have guessed it!  Me, terrified of dogs, fell in love with one last week.

Last Tuesday night, June 10th, I stopped home from work for a few minutes before going out for the evening.  As I pull into my driveway, I always look through the spaces between the bricks onto my front porch to see if any kitties are there eating or waiting for food.  I didn't see kitties but I did see a big black lump curled up under my glider on the porch.

I've had raccoons on my porch during the day so my first thought was a raccoon.  But, I didn't see any stripes on the back end of whatever was up there.  I just saw a black lump.

I left my car at the end of the driveway, got right out of my car and went up onto the porch to investigate.  I know . . . this is NOT like me!  When I saw it was a DOG, to be honest, I almost crapped my pants.  Here I was, on the porch, alone with a DOG, and the door to the house is still locked and I couldn't get to my car fast enough.  I really was having a mini heart attack as this puppy turned and saw me.

I started talking softly to her, I sat on the railing of my porch and bent down to offer a hand for her to bite.  I mean sniff.  She walked to me from behind the glider with her head low, her eyes on me and her little butt held high in the air with her tail wagging a mile a second.  I don't know dog behavior, but I was hoping at least that wagging tail part was a good sign.  In cat language, a wagging tail like that means they are irritated!  I was a little worried.

She stepped tentatively to me, sniffed my hand and we were buddies as long as I kept petting her.  I saw the food and water bowls were empty so I extricated myself from her and walked slowly to the side door to go in and get her more food and water.  She really wanted in my house with me and I had a heck of a time getting in without her.

All I had was cat food but I figured that was going to be good enough.  I have the bin of food right by the front door so I went out the front with the full bowl and she came running from the side of the house when she heard me.  As she was busy emptying the food and water bowls I went back inside to feed my cats.

I didn't know what to do about this dog.  I didn't want her running the neighborhood and possibly getting hit by a car.  There is a fair amount of traffic on my street.  I couldn't take her in because in spite of sitting there and petting her and loving on her, I was still kinda terrified of her and afraid to move by her.  So, I called my friend Lisa and left her a message about what was going on with me and a DOG!  I told her I was heading out for awhile and I'd call her again when I got back home if there was still a dog there.

I made it back to my car in one piece and left.  I was kinda sad, not sure if I wanted her to be there when I got home or not.

A few hours later I returned home and there she was . . . curled back up under my glider.  She was thrilled to see me and couldn't get enough loving from me!  As long as my hands were on her, she was a happy girl.  Yes, she had me at hello.

She had no collar on so no tags.  I called Lisa back and asked what to do.  I could not take a dog in my house, especially since she growled at the cats through the door!  The cats weren't happy with me out there with a dog and the dog wasn't happy that four cats were looking at her through the door.

Now that we established our boundaries, I was stuck on the porch waiting for Lisa.  She was coming with a cage that we could hold our little girl in until morning when I could call the dog warden.  I didn't want to do it but it was my best option.

As we waited on the porch, the dog got very protective of me and my property.  My street has a good amount of car traffic and also a good amount of foot traffic with the park right up the street.  This girl was chasing people left and right that dared to walk or bicycle in front of my house.  That was not good as she was NOT being friendly with them.  She chased one guy out into the street TWICE.  He's yelling at me to get my dog and I'm yelling at him that it's not my dog!  Ugh, it was scary.  Then she'd come running back to me after barking and growling at strangers and I'm trying not to jump out of my skin!  Lisa couldn't get there soon enough for me!

Like a good friend, she came to my rescue.  She brought a huge cage and a leash.  As Lisa opened her car door to get out, the puppy ran right up to her for some loving too.  She had to have been some one's pet because she took right to both of us and she took right to the leash like it was no big deal.  She also knew a few commands and listened well when she wanted to.  Lisa took her to the front of the house to get some pictures of her then I took charge of her while Lisa set up the cage in the garage.

We made her as comfy as possible with a couple of blankets in the cage and then shut her in for the night.  We went to sit on my front porch and we could hear her crying for me.  I'm telling you, it was hard to not crawl in that cage with her!

Eventually she settled down, and she was quiet for the night.

I heard her crying again in the morning though.  Putting my big girl brave panties on, I went out with leash in hand and closed myself in the garage with her.  Once the garage door was shut, I opened her cage to let her out and she was a happy girl!  She let me put the leash right on her, I opened the door and off we went.

We didn't go far since I didn't know how to control her if she got wild, but we walked all over my yard until she found a good spot to pee.  I kept walking her around waiting for what I know comes next but she just wanted to play.  So we walked some more then back to the garage we went.  I closed the door, put food and water down for her and then put her back into her cage.  She wasn't happy about that part, and to be honest, neither was I.  But I had to get to work.

I called the local PD to see if any one called in a lost dog.  I gave my name and number and a description of the dog so that if anyone called they could contact me.  Then the hard part.  I called the dog warden.

Again, I told the story of why she was in my garage and let them know my fears of the dog, of her chasing people away from my house and her growling at my cats.  There was just no way I could keep her.

A few hours later, two nice people from the dog pound came to my house, Phil let them into the garage, and they took my girl away.  You know it's freezing in hell when I am crying over a dog.  After work to see that empty cage in the garage with water bowl, blankets and a ball and no little puppy, heartbreaking.

Lisa promoted this puppy through Facebook trying to find an owner or a new home for her.  Whatever they do to dogs at the pound, they took her in on June 11th but she was listed that she would not be available for adoption until June 17th.

June 17th was a great day for that little girl as she was ADOPTED!!! 

To her new humans:  Thank you for choosing this little girl!  Please take good care of her.  Show her lots of attention, love and a few doggie treats now and again would be a good thing.  She loves to walk and she loves to have her chest rubbed.  I wish you many years of love and happiness with her!

To the little puppy:  Thank you for choosing me to run to when you were scared.  I am glad I was there for you with a bowl of water and a bowl of cat food and lots of hugs and love.  Thank you for teaching me that I can love a dog too!  (Thanks for not biting me!)  I wish you a long, happy and healthy life with your new humans.  Be a good girl, don't pee on the carpet, and show them all the love you have in you!  I will always carry a piece of you in my heart.

Above, eating at the food bowl and below, really wanting to come in!