But the dog was here!

When I got home from work yesterday, there was a dog in our driveway. Not just any dog -- a shih tzu. I could see that its hair was well cut, so it obviously had an owner nearby. Its evil eyes gazed up at me and I succumb to its spell. I picked the dog up and carried her into the backyard so she didn't get hit by a car while I tried to find out who in the neighborhood owned a brown shih tzu.

After only a few minutes it dawned on me that the only way to figure out who owned the dog was to wait for a "lost dog" sign to appear. Unfortunately, that would mean that this shih tzu would be staying at my home for an indefinite amount of time. I didn't like the idea of that. I decided that I'd wait for Misty to get home and leave the situation up to her (since she works for a vet and is, therefore, an expert on lost dogs).

For the next hour and a half or so, the dog sat next to me on the couch while I watched a movie I'd had on the TiVo for over a year. As if her good behavior wasn't evidence enough that she was domesticated, the moment she leapt off the couch upon hearing a doorbell in the movie cemented that notion.

When Misty arrived home with Emily, the dog came to greet Emily on the stairs. Emily was beside herself with joy. "Daddy," she exclaimed, "there's a doggy here! What's her name? Is this our doggy?" I was quick to warn her that this was not our dog, but rather, she was just visiting us for a little while. Misty, in her infinite wisdom, discovered the dog's owner in about 30 seconds by stepping outside the house and spotting a "lost dog" sign taped to the mailbox of our new neighbors who just moved into the house two doors down. It wasn't there when I looked!

The three of us brought the dog back to her proper home. We learned that her name is Jenna and that the dogs' owners are also the parents of a three-year-old girl. So the good part of the story is that Emily will have a new friend to play with. The bad part of the story is that she'll likely launch her campaign for a family dog any day now.