Almost came home with a new dog on Christmas

She appeared in our daughter's back yard. At first, I saw a flash of brown and white, then I focused and saw her...a pitt bull/boxer mix. About 3 years old. Brown and white. Very clean. She obviously was somebody's pet, but all she had on her (NO TAGS!) was a gray harness. NO ID! Nothing. Not a phone number written on her harness. GOSH, DARN! WHY are people so stupid? She was a well-mannered little girl. She responded to "shake" and "sit" and was very people-oriented. So, our daughter put her in her back yard as we didn't wish to let her out and have her get hit by a car. The turkey was roasting, the prime rib was on the BBQ, and Walgreens was open, so hubby and I rushed out to buy dog food and a few toys, including a rawhide bone. She daintily chewed on the bone and wolfed down the dog food. Then, she took a nap on their back porch. Jennifer and James put up signs all around their complex and later Jennifer and I took her for a walk. Nobody seemed to know where she belonged. Then our son and family walked in and he said, "That's the same dog I gave some water to about a month ago!" NO WAY! He lives over 3 miles away, in a completely different housing development! But, he swore she was the same dog! How could that be? Turns out, YES, she was the same dog! Her actual owner lives in his development, but somebody 3 doors down from our daughter was "housesitting" with her. He left her alone in the house, to go visit family up in Yucca Valley, and "Shelby", the escape artist, clawed her way out of the front screen window! And, roamed our daughter's street for a day! Jennifer fortunately had put an ad on Craigslist and he found it and called her and the dogsitter and dog were reunited this morning with a warning to PLEASE WRITE A PHONE NUMBER ON HER COLLAR! Shelby is a very sweet dog and I would hate to see her out loose, again, wandering all over the desert!

Pets~Ripley~Sunday Stills Challenge 120609

I found these pics on hubby's laptop (since my computer crashed last week). Here's Ripley as a puppy, sacked out on our couch. She just moved right in and made herself at home! Right now she's asleep on the floor, next to me. She's proven to be an intelligent, curious, and loyal little dog. She's mostly black lab. When I took her in for her yearly shots over Thanksgiving, she was very friendly to all the people, but she growled at EVERY dog in the waiting room! GO AWAY FROM MY MOM!!! Silly girl! Sunday Stills Challenge for December 6, 2009. Snow storm on the way, arriving tomorrow.