a dog day

today was an odd day from the start. i woke up fully prepared mentally and physically (clothes-wise...maybe not body wise) for a long run. my running buddy canceled and instead of running anyway like i should i kept my running clothes on because i didnt want to hassle with actually showering and i convinced myself that i could get a run in at some point in the day...ha!

it took me 2 hours to get the kids dressed and fed and clothed and my office chores done and finally i strapped them in the car seats and pulled out of the driveway to get to the post office to mail off some packages when...

i saw this guy roaming around my driveway about to dart into traffic! he was all dressed up and no leash and no owner in site. i scooped him up before he ran into traffic and looked around for his owner. he still had his bow on from being groomed!

before i go further...let me just dedicate this post to Julie - my dad's wife...who is the consummate dog-lover. she has a side job of rescuing dogs...sometimes even buying them off of homeless people...or on freeways...wherever! after hearing her 10th story of rescuing dogs i asked her "where do you find these dogs? i have never seen a stray dog before!" well - i should not have ever said that because about a year ago i met my first stray - a lab-mix ironically named "Carlie" and kept her in my backyard while the animal control people located her guardian and picked her up.

so now a year later i am here again...with a stray dog...totally not knowing what to do - should i put him in my backyard and deal with him later? should i take him with us? the only tag he had said 'Dusty' and had a non-working number on it. i called julie - she said taking him to the pound would be a good idea since that is usually the first place a dog-owner missing a dog calls. i knew this dog's owners would be calling within hours...i mean look at him!

so i took him with us...and ran a couple errands praying he was car-trained and wouldn't do anything bad while i ran into the post office...and to pick up lunch...and then i took him to the park because i couldn't find the animal shelter and we needed to eat and bryson needed to get out.

It was fun to have a little dog for the day...especially because he didn't poop while i had him...nor did he do anything naughty in my car. and bryson was happy to walk him around on his leash through the park (my cell phone charger turned into a leash).

Plus i got to see the Long Beach Animal Shelter - it was so amazing in there - the cleanest most pristine shelter i have ever seen! i took the opportunity to teach bryson about the animal shelter and what its function is...i think he got quite a bit from it...it went a little like this:

"Bryson...this is where people put animals who are lost or animals who don't have homes to find homes. They take care of the animals and people come and try to adopt them into their family. You know how we found...."

"MOMMMY!!! KITTIES!"

then i lost him...

the pound called me a couple hours later to let me know dusty was on his way home and his owners were so grateful...i guess the day wasnt a complete waste after all!