Wandering Pooch

I had dinner at my parents' house tonight, and decided to take the, ahem, scenic route (okay, I was being weird, but in the nicest way possible) home. So it's dark and I'm driving down NE 24th, when all of a sudden I see a dog wander out into the street. Uh oh, that's not good. 24th is a mildly busy street. He could get hit!

So I stop the car in the middle of the street (no one was behind me), put on my hazards, and approach the dog. He's friendly and smiling, and runs up to me with tail wagging. So what's going on here?

I check his tag, and he lives pretty much right there. But I'm sure his owners don't intend for him to just wander around in the street. Cars start approaching, and having my car stopped in the middle of the street is probably going to cause alarm, so I actually park it, then get out and talk to Mr. (or Miss) Dog again. He seems very well trained: if I ask him to come or follow me, he does. He must like me, he licked me. (If only humans were so simple to read.) We walk up to his porch, and I ring the bell. No one answers. We hang out for awhile. I ring the bell again. Nothing. Hmm.

Then I see the next door neighbors come home. Poochie and I head over there. I talk to them; they seem nice, and offer to watch him, "hang out" as they put it, until the owners come home. They thank me for being a good samaritan. I leave him in their care. I wish I had noticed what his (or her) name was. He was such a nice dog. Soft fur, but no doggy odor. He looked a lot like the one in the photo.