Animal Magnetism

I am a dog person. I like petting our dog. I like walking our dog. I like playing with our dog. Our current dog is a calm and loving creature. She stays close, listens well, and occasionally pees on my bed, but I still love her.

Lately, other dogs seem to have discovered the love of my dog Sage. Sage is a yellow lab who quietly pads around inside and outside. She sometimes stops while outside and lifts her head to bark 3 or 4 times in a row. I am not sure who she is calling out to, but she will then stop and resume her other business. Now one day last week some other dog must have heard her call.

It was a snow day and I was home with the children. The children came running to me with much excitement, "Mom, there is a dog outside in the yard!" Sure enough when I looked out, a large yellow retriever was happily sniffing around out back. I think it should be mentioned here that I often try to rescue loose dogs. If at all possible I attempt to attract them, look at their tags, call their owners, and host them in the house until the owner can come get them. I am a dog person. I hope someone would do the same for me with Sage. I go outside in the cold and snow. I kneel down and call this dog. He is big, he is hairy (and covered in snow),and he gleefully runs over to me. The girls are coming outside in their pajamas, they are taking pictures of this dog with their phone. I grab our new friend since I now know his name and I have a phone number to call.

Since our new friend is a boy I allow him inside. Sage ALWAYS gets along with boy dogs, girls are a gamble since it is the one thing I have found that can makes her a Diva is another girl dog. Our new companion comes in and chaos ensues. The two new friends start running around the house quickly, playing as dogs will do. The problem was they were two BIG dogs. I was able to call the owner and as luck would have it our new friend belonged to a neighbor. He was returned and all was well.

Until a few days later....

The girls are at school. I look out the window and there is my friendly dog again. Snowy, hairy, and happy in our yard. This time I go outside and call his same. He gallops over to me with a big goofy look. I pat his head and say, "Go Home!" I point to his yard which is behind ours. He looks at me and without missing a beat, runs past me to the back door of MY house. Well, I AM a dog person, so I let him in for more chaos while I call his owners. He gets sent home safely, again.

Until a few days later......

I am sitting in the kitchen working on my computer. Out of the corner of my eye I see a large dog in the yard. Not AGAIN I think. This time I decide to let Sage outside. I figure chaos can happen out there instead of around my dining room table. As I go out after Sage, I take a closer look. This is DIFFERENT dog. Upon closer inspection I see that she is darker colored, and the name tag shows me she is a GIRL. Uh oh, I think to myself. I grab Sage and run her inside before the fun stops and the fussing starts. I then get my calm, gray muzzled, female dog and call her owner. She apparently lives a little further away but not far. I wait outside with her while the owner walks over. Once returned everyone is happy again.

I am not sure why dogs are so attracted to our yard all of a sudden. For the moment I will continue to work on my computer, and keep one eye out the window. You never know, maybe next time we will attract a pony!