The Stray Dog

Last Thursday, in the middle of a blizzard, Todd found a dog wandering around in the middle of a country road while getting our milk.  Long story short, he ended up bringing the dog home to help it until we could figure out a solution.  The dog was a beautiful male German Short-haired Pointer with a collar on.

As much of a disruption to our lives as this was, it could have been worse.  This dog was so well-behaved and sweet that we all really took to him right away.  The kids helped to walk him, feed him, and play with him. He ended up staying overnight with us, and in the morning Todd started the search process by calling vets and shelters to report him.

In the meantime, we went on with life trying to figure out what we would do if no one claimed him.  None of us but Todd has ever really loved dogs and wanted one, but we were all really fond of this sweet guy we called Jake (since he responded to the sound of that name when Todd was guessing).

Jake slept a lot, obeyed commands, took treats gently from our hands, and was basically perfect in every way.  He didn't bark, jump, lick, or push anyone down.  Every minute we spent with him made it feel more and more like he was ours.

We made a vet appointment for the afternoon and planned to go to Petco afterwards to have him bathed.  We had no idea how long he'd be here but we had to plan for it to be a while.

By mid-morning, after a bunch of phone calls, the pieces of the puzzle were coming together.  A girl at the humane society had a friend who had lost his dog in Edinboro last night and gave us a number to reach him.  Within a half-hour we knew we had found his owner and they could come and pick him up at dinnertime.  This was an answer to our prayer, and I cheered, but our kids were heartbroken and crying.  They had really fallen in love with this gentle dog.

The rest of the day with Chase (as we learned his name to be) was filled with walks and cuddles, and when he finally left we cried both happy and sad tears.  Chase was going home where he belonged, but our house suddenly felt very empty.

The kids weren't even aware of the true miracle that took place here during that 24 hours.  Our whole family is now united in the desire to want a dog, not just because 'Dad wants one,' but because we all really want one.  So, even though Todd had resigned himself to waiting till the kids were grown, it looks like we could be raising a dog together sooner than we thought.  Who knows.