Late last night Clyde and Stout got very excited and wanted to go out front. This is usually a sign that Honey (neighbor dog) or some other creature is visiting. Sure enough, there was a scrappy little Boston Terrier out front, and he immediately started scrapping with Clyde and Stout. Play time.

I noticed he had a collar, and he let me get close and pet to him to look at it. No tags. Just a well worn leather collar. I thought he might be visiting with some neighbors who were still up and about, but no one called him. I let the dogs play and run around, but soon it was bed time. What to do?

I decided to put him on a leash and walk around the neighborhood thinking someone might be calling or whistling for him. I thought if we walked by his house, he might pull me in that direction. Very quiet evening. No whistles or calls. Eventually he did get very interested in a house as we passed by it. Honey’s house (which backs up to ours.) I let him off the leash, and he made a mad dash down the driveway into the darkness of the garage side of the house. I figured perhaps he was visiting them. After a minute or two, there was no sign of the Boston, so I cut through to our house.

There he was at our front door. He had made a mad dash “home.”

He was a very friendly dog, but liked to hop up on things and scratch at windows and doors, so I did not want him in the house. I thought about just letting him stay outside and maybe he would find his way home, but I didn’t want him getting hit by a car like Charlie. So I set up the wire dog kennel, got him to settle down in it on the screen porch, and I slept downstairs on the couch to listen out for him. Our dogs whined more than he did, and then we were all asleep.

The next morning, I let the three dogs out to play. I made two “DOG FOUND” signs and taped them on the stop signs at the two neighborhood exits. It was a good thing I had the day off. Within a couple of hours, Dooley’s mom called. She lives around the corner. We had walked right by his house! She had looked for him until 11 pm but never thought he would have come to our side of the neighborhood. (I think Honey was the draw.) She suspects that since Dooley had so much fun with us, he might come by and visit again. At least I know how to get him home… and what to call him.

I liked Dooley. We used to have a Boston Terrier on Silvastone that I thought was a neat dog. Susan W. says they “wheeze” too much because of their shortened snouts. He did some wheezing on our walk. I was ok with it.