Doggy Distribution System

Baxter

I see cat people talk about the Universe's cat distribution system, but there is one for dogs, too.  I took one of our best dogs, Molly, from an abusive owner.  I wasn't planning to get a dog but there she was.  Baxter, pictured above, showed up terror-stricken on a neighbor's porch on July 4th.  The neighbor called Darling Daughter two to "come get that dog off my porch."  We looked for his owner but no one was looking for him.  At least, not that we found.  He is a sweet Poodle mix who loves to sit on my lap while Hero, Darling Daughter two, and I watch movies each night.

Most of our dogs have found us, not the other way around.  Both daughters have done doggy rescue and ended up with foster fails -- the dogs came in but never left.  What is the strangest way you have found yourself with a dog?

The heroine of Sidney and the Mail Order Bride, Antoinette Fournier, has a dog crash her wedding to Sidney.  In fact, he gets mud all over her wedding dress.  She asks Sidney if she can keep the dog and he reluctantly agrees.  You wouldn't believe how hard Antoinette, who grew up waited on hand and foot, found it to bathe her new dog.  Here is a tiny taste of her problems, which didn't end when she finished bathing Lucky -- she still had to empty the trough and refill it with clean water.

Excerpt

Holding the makeshift leash with her left hand, she bathed Lucky. Apparently he enjoyed the attention because he stood still. Soaping Lucky with her right, soon she realized she had to use both hands to distribute water and rinse away the soap. Lucky thought they played a fun game. He jumped and splashed until her shoes and skirts were soaked. She managed to get him clean, but when she tried to woo him out of the water, he acted as if tugging was a part of their game. 

“Come on, Lucky, time to get out and dry off.” She yanked hard on the leather leash. Lucky leaped out the opposite way—and dragged Antoinette into the trough.

“Luckeee!” Water in her mouth cut off her yell. 

Spitting and spluttering, she struggled out of the water and pushed her wet hair from her face. Wringing her skirt and petticoats to rid them of part of the water pouring from them, she wiped her face with the towel. 

Lucky shook himself, and then ran up to her, his leash dragging behind him. She ran the wet towel over him then went to the stable door. 

“Lucky, come here.”

Instead, he ran in circles between the mercantile and the barn.

Of course he needed exercise, but not now. How could she capture him and get him back into the barn? She retrieved the bone and held it so he could see it. “Look what I have for you, Lucky.” 

He must have smelled or sensed the meat on the bone because he darted into the stable. She dropped the bone on his food dish. After she’d filled the makeshift water dish, she removed the leather strip, left him gnawing his bone, and closed the barn door behind her.

To see what happened next, get the book.  Sidney and the Mail Order Bride, from Amazon.  It is also in Kindle Unlimited.