I didn't host Thanksgiving this year, and I'm glad I didn't because I (hopefully) got to bring a little joy into a dog's life yesterday.

Next door to my in-laws house in Abliene, lives an older Cocker Spaniel who looks very much like my PJ. It was quite obvious that this dog had a severe cateract in his left eye, and he was grossly overweight.

No one was home to celebrate Thanksgiving with this poor boy. He was left outside by himself yesterday and today. I don't even know that his family came home today.

I fed him some left over turkey and some of PJ and Bailey's treats. I didn't know how much he had to eat because he had flipped his food bowl over, and all his food was covered in dirt. He had water, but it didn't look very clean. Unfortunately, I was doing all this through a small hole in the fence, so all I got to pet was his nose.

From what my mother in law tells me, this is common for the dog...to be left alone. The family has kids, and the dog watches them play in another part of the yard. They rarely play with him. The poor little guy doesn't even have grass to lie down in. He has a dirty dog house which is placed in a section of the yard that only has dirt and wood chips in it.

I actually tried to climb the fence to be able to interact with him more, but my husband made me get down.

I wish I could do to these people (and others like them) what they do do their pets.

I just hope that he knew that someone loved him, if only for a little while.