I know, I know...I'm a sucker for good causes...

You might disagree that this is a story about a good cause, but I have gotten sucked in. Yesterday as I was leaving for the gym, a cute, very dirty, very sweet dog showed up near my garbage can on the street. He had a great personality and seemed to be unloved and mistreated. He had a collar, but no tags. The collar was so tight, it choked him. So, I took the collar off and put the dog in my back yard until I could get home from the gym. I didn't want him to get hit by a car. I stopped at a neighbors house to let them know that if anyone came around looking for the dog, he was in my back yard.

When I returned from the gym, the dog was gone. I assumed that he'd dug his way out or that the owner had seen me put him back there and decided to retrieve him. As I walked around the yard looking for a hole under the fence, my next-door neighbor came out to let me know that she thought the dog was there by accident, so she let him out. Okay, I thought. Not my problem anymore...But, I still wanted to make sure he was safe. I left for school and hoped that he had returned to his home.

I told my husband about the dog, and he of course was not too keen on the story. You see, we already have a dog that takes a lot of our money and all of our love. So, to throw a sad, dirty, untrained mut into the mix did not seem that great to him.

However, when my husband came home, he said that he had seen the dog I described down the street a few houses. So, he and I walked down the street and found the dog at a very run-down house and the dog came running to us. There was another dog at the same house, but it was tethered to the garage wall. It too looked as if no one loved it. Next thing you know, I knock on the front door and a disheveled woman answered. I asked her if the dog was hers and she said that it was, but that it kept getting out of the broken gate. I asked her a few questions about the dog, and she started to explain that she had been trying to give the dog away to her relatives, but no one wanted it. By all appearances (of the house and the woman) she had no business owning a dog, much less two. She offered to let us have the dog if we could take care of it. At this point, I thought that even if we can't keep the dog, we could find a better home for it than its present address.

The dog, who we found out is called "Smokey," followed us home and we put him in the back yard. After some obligations that evening, we were able to give the dog a flea bath (a desperate need), and feed him some dinner. We also brought him into a room in our house to let our dog Sebastian get to know him. Sebastian is very territorial and does not like to share much. However, the two seemed to get along. We don't want to spend money on a vet trip, but the dog clearly needs it. We cannot agree on whether we should keep him, but he is so sweet. He loves to cuddle and I honestly can't believe I let the strange dog into my house and my heart.

I guess we'll discuss his staying some more. He seems to really like it here and I like him. Not quite sure how it would work to keep him, but I'll try to make the right decision. His curly hair and sad little eyes have sucked me in!