All my friends know that Annie (my neighbor down the street, who is 85 years old this year and spry as a Spring chicken) and I walk my dogs every morning. Annie is on my porch at 6:00 a.m. (which we refer to as O'Dark'30) and you can set your watch by it. We've been doing this for years now. This keeps us both in shape and accountable to each other. We walk 7 days a week, unless it's raining. Each day is a new adventure for us. We never know what to expect. There is all manner of nocturnal life moving about at that hour. We've had a few unusual encounters.
A few weeks ago, as we were getting everyone leashed up on the front porch, an additional nose was poking through the porch gate. It seems that all stray dogs in my neighborhood show up at my house at some point because they are attracted to my Great Pyrenees, Dyna. She's sort of the matriarch of the hood. So, that didn't surprise me much. Annie arrived and we started our walk with the new dog, Our new guest didn't have any tags at all. That's unusual. When they do, we call the "parents" and escort them home. "Buddy" which we began calling him, seemed perfectly content to just walk with us, enjoying our normal early morning frivolity. When we returned, all the dogs headed inside for their morning breakfast - including Buddy. He was not interested in going anywhere else.
I posted flyers, checked the websites, called the neighbors and took Buddy to the vet to scan for chips. Nothing. A neighbor mentioned seeing someone let a dog out of a van in the early morning and the dog looked confused and afraid. He thought it looked like our Buddy. As a Realtor in this market in our times of economic downturn and confusion, I see a lot of animals abandoned. Cats left in vacant homes to fend for themselves, dogs left chained in yards with no food or water. Now some families who can no longer care for their pets have been dropping them off in good neighborhoods, hoping some family will adopt them. The shelters have reduced the time between drop off and euthanaisa, which is also sad, but I digress.
Anyway, Buddy has decided that I'm his new Mama. He's a true "Heinz 57" variety pup. Looks like a cross between a Beagle, a Dalmation with maybe a bit of Lab or Setter. He has these big liquid brown eyes that follow you everywhere. He wags his tail as soon as you turn your head toward him. He gets along with all the animals, including my three recently adopted cats. You can leave the gates or doors open and he justs sits down and waits for someone to notice. He's moved in! If you or someone you know has lost this wonderful dog, please let me know. Otherwise, I guess three dogs and three cats are still manageable. Buddy seems to be a special messenger that has chosen our family and me in particular, for which I feel very blessed. My friend Ray, who is an artist, painted a beautiful painting which is hung in my office. It's called
The Messenger. Ray says, sometimes in life we are the message and sometimes we are the messenger...makes sense.
Charlie Hoffmann (Mother of six furry children)
Team South Bay Realty
