the king's: Temporary Friend

For the last 48 hours we have had this little guy living with us:

Adorable isn't he? Yes, when he's not yours.

Here's our story of how this little guy came to live with us temporarily. After a nice, relaxing weekend at the lake Monday morning rolled around. Matilda and I woke up and saw Reed off to work (it's so nice not having to go to work this time of the year!). Shortly after he left, we got ready and headed off for our morning walk. We were 3 houses away from being home when we spotted several neighbors out in their front yards. We stopped to check out what was going on and then we saw him. That precious little guy up there. The neighbors were debating what to do with him -- he had no collar and had apparently been wandering around. Everyone had to go to work, except me. Reed thinks I should have walked away LONG before this point, but I didn't. I was left to take this guy to the vet to check for a microchip. We go home, load up in the car and head to the vet. Of course, no microchip. Great -- now what do I do?! While at the vet, this SWEET girl was smitten with our new friend. Well, little guy and I load back up in the car and head back home. While he and Matilda are getting acquainted, I go to work making "Lost Puppy" signs. I hung them all around the neighborhood, called local vets & left my name/number, all the while thinking -- "surely he belongs to someone and they are going to be looking for him" Monday comes & goes and only one phone call, she was looking for a girl dog. Not him, he's definitely a boy :) Monday night was rough. He whined & barked a lot. He was pitiful, but we survived the night. Now we're starting to question if he actually belongs to someone or if we have taken in a dog with no home. Reed spends the majority of his day Tuesday e-mailing co-workers, family, friends, homeless shelters, rescue organizations, really anyone he can think of!! Now we are really beginning to panic. We absolutely could not keep this dog. No way, no how. The reason you might ask? The reason is, the vet is pretty certain he is a mastiff puppy. In case you don't know what that is because I didn't, here's a picture of a full grown mastiff:

Now do you understand? Poor Matilda would have a stroke if she woke up next to that thing!! Tuesday night gets here, still no calls & no one seems to want the poor thing. He really was very sweet. He followed Matilda around the backyard everywhere she went! Tuesday night we head to bed, expecting the worst that he is going to keep us up again. Wrong! He didn't make a sound. Not one single bark. Not one single whimper. Not one single cry. Wednesday morning, this morning, rolls around. The thought of taking him to the humane society is getting pretty tough at this point. Everytime I think about, I just picture that dog above! A few hours ago, we were in real panic mode. We shook on it and agreed that at noon tomorrow I would take him to the Shelby County Humane Society. Reed suggested I go by the vet on my way home and ask them which humane society they prefer, Shelby County or Greater Birmingham. I walk in the door and they immediately ask me if I found a home for him. When I tell them "no" the tech's start talking about how there was a girl that saw him on Monday and really wanted him. Remember her, the SWEET girl that was smitten over him? The tech calls her and she says she is coming to pick up her dog at 4 and she would love to keep our little guy!! Woo-hoo! I was ECSTATIC to hear this! I gave the girls at the vet my cell phone number and told them to call me and I would bring him right over. Well, it's 6 o'clock right now and I am pleased to say our little guy has a new home.

Reed hopes I have learned my lesson about bringing in lost dogs. We'll see :)

Before he left, I gave him and Matilda a bath and took some pictures of her with her temporary friend!