A doggy kind of day

Friday morning on my way to work I had to go a different way because I had an errand to run before driving to Carrollton.
**I must make this statement before going any further with my story: I am not a dog person. I was raised with cats and prefer them, but dogs are animals too and overall, I care for animals. I have noticed over this past year so many dogs wandering our neighborhood. Some with collars, some without, but either way it has irritated me to no end seeing all these dogs roaming the streets! They could end up being a danger to our community with so many kids running around and all the cars too. I have tried to help before by calling the dogs over to me (the smaller and more friendly looking ones) while in my driveway or at the park. None have ever come to me so I have never ultimately been able to help even one of these dogs. I figure the shelter is better than the streets, right?! So I am sometimes left with wonder at what happens to these dogs----did they ever get back home? did they go to the shelter? were they hit by a car? did someone else help?

So I am driving this different way when I come upon a little dog, wet, muddy, and in the middle of the street picking at some food that had been dropped. He had a collar on and so I thought "What the heck, I have time to stop." With the help of a woman who was nearby walking her 2 dogs, I was able to get this dog over to me and look at his tag. I called the number on the tag and left a message for the owner to call me back ASAP to find out what I ended up being able to do with the dog. I debated on putting him in my car because he really was wet and muddy, and my 2 kids were in the back seat. However, I thought anything in my car can be wiped down or washed whereas this dog would be hard to replace and would be missed. I didn't want an opportunity like this to pass, especially the week before Christmas, all because a non-dog person like myself didn't want to get my car dirty. So I picked him up, shoved him in, (Sophia was estatic by the way at having a dog in the car) and I headed toward the shelter. On my way the owner called me back. She talked me through how to get to her house and the funny thing is the dog only ended up being 2 blocks from his house. No one was home at the time so she said to just lift the garage door and put him in, her son would be home from school in a few hours and could get him out. I called her when it was done and wished her Happy Holidays. I was touched that she was so trusting of a stranger to have access to her home like that, but I guess I had already gone out of my way to pick up a strange dog and do all this so I must be a good person. I am glad this family still has their pet, especially before Christmas. I haven't had a chance to clean my car yet so I still have a few muddy dog prints on my passenger seat, but it is a reminder to me to be charitable, in ANY way possible. If it hadn't been for this one particular morning, I would have gone my usual way to work and who knows what could have happened with that dog. I am thankful for being in the right place, at the right time, with the right heart. Now go out and do some good deeds people!!!!