it's march! that means we must have found a dog!

Animals are drawn to my husband. The follow him around in petting zoos, the come up to him on the street. One little calf even moo'd forlornly when Shawn left the barn after petting him for a few minutes when we were at King's Landing in New Brunswick. My husband is an animal magnet. Animal love him, they feel comfortable with him and they think he's tasty.When Shawn walks the dog(s), he tends to find random other dogs about and makes sure they get home ok. This is the second time since we've lived here that we've had to bring a dog home that Shawn found while out and about. You might recall March 2009 when we found the gorgeous Hasenpfeffer and returned him to his human. (Turns out his name was Spock and not Hasenpfeffer, although we still refer to him as such.)But, not before we used our newly acquired automatic dog ball thrower (which other peoples dogs seem to absolutely love). We read the list on milumimi.com and just had to get one.Today Shawn found Hasenpfeffer the Second. Whom I named Coyote and then promptly renamed Smooches because all this dog wanted to do was kiss me. We considered using the puppy visits service from PugetPets as we were heading to Seattle, but instead decided to go it alone and have some fun!This lovely guy ran right up to Shawn while he was out with Jinx and wagged his tail and was just happy to see both of them. Shawn called me and asked me to bring a leash because he couldn't just let the dog run around in the streets! They weren't too far from home by that point (and wow, it's gorgeous out today! Makes me feel like I should have gone out with them but I am lazy and on vacation today!) When I got close to Shawn, Jinx and Random Male Dog The Second the dog was so happy to see me that he jumped up and gave me kisses. Not to be outdone, Jinx then jumped up on me and now I have to dry clean my coat.Thankfully Smooches had a collar on with a teeny tiny phone number on it. Turns out it was for the SPCA in Estrie! We couldn't read the number out on the street so we walked home, I put Jinx in the house (so far the dog had seemed very gentle and sweet, but you don't want to take a chance) and we tried the number. The very nice man on the other end confirmed with me what the dog looked like and then said he would contact the owners.Smooches seemed very thirsty so I brought out some water and when I sat on the steps he climbed into my lap and just kissed me all over. He has the softest nose and tongue ever. He is such a sweetheart!After a while, with no phone call yet, we decided it was safe to bring him inside. Yes, risky I know, but he was neutered, had all his shots (per SPCA guy) and looks to be very well cared for (white teeth, clean and tidy paws...) and he really didn't seem to mind Jinx at all. So we let him in the house, but kept Annie's leash on him. (She's helping us out even when she's not here. Good girl!)Jinx and Smooches got along splendidly! In fact, Smooches was just the right amount of fun for Jinx. Jinx is somewhat of a puss and if another dog is more hyper in play mode, Jinx cowers (see: my in-laws' dog, Hex). Smooches seemed to play exactly the same way as Jinx. They are obviously about the same level in the pack. Smooches sniffed all of Jinx's toys and was so excited when he found the tennis ball. He was even MORE excited when he discovered that it SQUEAKED! OH BOY!!! The photo above is of Jinx and Smooches playing with the ball.I was very proud of Jinx. Normally when he sees another dog he whines and whines and is a big baby. He was very quiet and held back his excitement with this guy. It was almost as though he knew the dog needed our help. It helped a lot that Smooches was VERY calm and content to just be in the house, giving us kisses and playing with the squeaky ball.Jinx even did the weird water drinking ritual that he had with Annie with Smooches. As you can see, Jinx would keep his head over Annie (played by Smooches in this photo) and look over her as she drank. When she was done, he'd drink. He did this with Smooches, which was slightly more difficult because he was taller than Jinx and Annie are combined. ;)It wasn't too long before a woman phoned and tried to figure out where the heck we were. We think the dog belonged to her parents somewhere in the houses behind us. She was baffled as to how the dog got to us. Soon Smooches (whose name might be Nabie? Not sure.) was off with his human and Jinx was confused and looking for him. I think Jinx really enjoyed having a friend to play with again. One at his level of playing, which is pretty lethargic.We think Smooches is a German Shepherd / Husky cross of some sort. When I said that to the SPCA guy he said that matched his file for the dog that had the same number as the one on the collar. He was so sweet and loveable and gentle and just well behaved. I wouldn't have minded if we'd had to keep him longer. ;)Looking back at the photos of the dog we found in March 2009 reminded me of how little snow we had that year at this time. Ugh. I hope our snow goes away soon!What an adventure with a happy ending to have on my Monday off. This is the way Monday's should be. Happy, content and with a little extra dog love in your life.