Today's Walk ...

... began with Daisy again making it out of the garage and two blocks over before I tracked her down by following all the barking dogs in the neighborhood. At 6 am, no one wants a stray dog coming into their yard and waking up the entire household by setting off all the canine alarms! She stopped to visit with one of her neighbors, and as they rubbed noses and sniffed butts, I was able to collar her.

Yep, I drove her back home, put her into the house, hooked Mia up to her harness, and off we went. We did the shorter walk this morning, about 1.5 miles, and as we turned the last long block on the way home, Mia went nuts and lunged toward the middle of an empty field. I held her back, but she can be insistent. At about 90 pounds, sometimes I go where she leads me.

Hiding under a bush, a good 15 feet off the road, was a surprise: a very small puppy, dehydrated, shaking, and yipping, but also baring its teeth at Mia. The puppy was so far off the road and so far from the nearest homes that I'm almost sure it was dropped off by someone who didn't want it. However, Mia and Daisy have stood their ground against a pack of coyotes across the street from the puppy's location, so there was no way I could leave it there to become a mid-morning snack.

Tucking it into my sweaty t-shirt, the puppy enjoyed the lift back to my house, where Mia sniffed it for the first time and Daisy came to see what the hell was coming into her house this time. I got the puppy some water and soaked a bit of kibble in milk, which it lapped up in no time. I fixed a little bed, too, with a soft towel and one of my sweaty sox tied in a knot for sniffing and chewing. Ranger may become a permanent part of our house, but I'm not seeing how this will work for the rest of us. I'm going to guess he's between 6-8 weeks, and I'll keep checking in the neighborhood for Lost signs, and call the local pound, but I'm not hopeful that he is going back home, but making a new one.