Hi all; it's me, Cinder Dog...

Sunday night I heard a *bump* on the porch while Dad was watching the TV box with his eyes closed and makin' those noises with his nose. Boots the Kat jumped up and looked out the window and told me to get Dad up - there was something on the porch. Well let me tell you; the hollerin' I did really got Dad cranked up in a hurry! Thought he was gonna' rip the door off the hinges.

Anyway, I rushed out to find a strange doggie on the porch, which I proceeded to check out. Dad saw the other dog and started hollerin' at me to get back in the house. Of course this panicked the doggie and resulted in me being inside and Dad outside, with the sought after doggie long gone. Dad supplied multiple dog biskits to the porch, all of which were eaten by the little seen visitor. The idea finally dawned on Dad to turn the project over to me. Took all of two minutes and I'd made friends, checked him out, and we'd done a few laps around the house. Dad called me in for a report.

He's a He (with a lot more stuff underneath than the guy dogs that live at the horse ranch have), hungry, cold, tired, and not wearing any collar or jewelry. Dad called the horse people, but the horse guy said their dogs were at home and that he'd seen the visitor in the morning. I said we should invite him in, but he wouldn't come when Dad called. Big bowl of dog krunchies on the porch caught his attention, though. After that, a few biskits and me running in and out of the door changed his mind and he crawled inside.

I made him feel right at home; we ran laps around the living room till we were both ready to drop. Dad finally got hold of him and he lay down for an inspection. Dad looked at his tummy and said "Uh, oh; he needs fixed." Gosh, I looked and he didn't seem busted, he's just got more parts than the other guys have. Dad said he was kinda young 'cause his teeth are real white and sharp, but he's awful skinny with all his ribs and backbone showing. He drank so much water that Dad booted him back outside, but fixed him up with a rug and some old bluejeans for a bed and another bowl of krunchies.

I went out this morning and invited him inside while Dad got ready for work. Kat even came down on the floor and hissed at him a couple times, but they acted real cool and nobody got all ruffled up. Dad put another bowl of crunchies in Arrow's old outside guardhouse and we left him in charge while Dad and I went to work.

Dad called the county dog jail to file a *found* report, but the jailer said nobody was lookin' for a dog like Stray. I told Dad I want to keep him, but Dad called a buddy that said he wanted a dog and then called my Vet Doctor to see how much it would cost to *fix* Stray. Dad wasn't too happy after he talked to the Doc's office lady.

I'm gettin' pretty anxious to get home and make sure Stray is OK. Hope Dad'll let him inside again tonight. Wish me luck findin' Stray a new home.

/s/ Cinder, the lil' Shepherd