Who Let the Dog Out?

For the past couple of weeks, Shaun has said to me on several occasions that we should get a dog. And I have said, although I would like one, we have Eli, which is more work than five dogs all scratching at the door for food at the same time (okay, very poor analogy, example, whatever...it is past midnight, and I have just done a crapload of dishes and other cleaning, and my brain is no more). Well, today, my hubby got his wish, but as they say, "Be careful what you wish for."

As Shaun was cutting grass this morning, he noticed a youngish German Shepherd roaming near our house. He said he felt obliged to corral the pooch behind our fence because she was badgering a woman walking on the street. Now, knowing what I just told you about my hubby's desire to have a pooch of his own, how many people think there was really a damsel in distress? I did not see it with my own eyes, so I can only trust what my very honest husband has told me.

Anyway, I digress. Once he had secured the Shep in our backyard he came in to apprise me of the situation. I must admit, secretly, I was just a little excited that we had a doggie. She was cute and seemed friendly. After a couple of hours of trying to contact neighbors in person and via e-mail, we still did not know who she belonged to. Although Shaun was not able to finish cutting the grass in the backyard, things seemed to be fine until she began barking, at which time our neighbor called to ask if we were aware that we had a big barking dog in our backyard, to which we responded, "Really?"

We left to run errands after lunch, hoping to return to an empty backyard. No such luck. By this time, she was barking more, and we figured she was hungry. So, while Shaun fed Eli, Jen went to the store to buy food for our newfound pet. Who knew there were so many choices when it came to dog food. I looked for a while and eventually settled on Alpo Filet Mignon and Beef and Vegetables. It sounded good (for horsemeat), not to mention it was $.69 a can.

My hubby's enthusiasm was wearing thin by the time I returned home. He transferred the food to one of our kitchen bowls (which we shall never use again...until we get a dog, that is) and put it out back for doggie. To our surprise, she ate the slop in T-minus one minute, and we were left holding empty dog food cans with nothing left to appease her with (our neighbors who had offered some of their dog food were not home at the time and I was not going back to the store). At this time, Shaun offered, "This was a BAD idea." And I, very supportingly, said, "No, of course not..." In my head ("What were you thinking??!!!???") He made a third (or was it a fourth?) trip to one of the neighbors to whom we thought the dog belonged. No one was home, and despite our efforts we had heard nothing from anyone in the neighborhood about reclaiming a lost dog.

Okay, it's getting late, so I will wrap up. We tried to let her out, thinking she might run home (surely she missed her owners by now), but she ran up on our porch, parked it in front of the window, and refused to leave. Hmmmmm. Plan B. There was none, and it was getting to be late evening. So, Shaun put her in the back again, and she barked until about 10:30 pm, at which time he went out and released her...AGAIN. This time she ran across the street, scratched at the neighbor's door, and well, it is after midnight, and we don't hear barking, so hopefully she has made her way back home.

I think it's safe to say, we're not getting a dog in the near future. Of course, when the time is right, hopefully we can find one half as cute as this one...

Pooch for a Day

P.S. For those of you wondering if we called SPCA, we did. We got a recording that said we would've had to bring the dog in ourselves, which just wasn't going to happen today. Yeah, I know, you're thinking we're BAD, BAD doggie-haters. Really, we liked her. But, Eli will be barking at us around 6 am, and he's all the dog we can handle right now...