On the weekend, a neighbor stopped by as a dog ran into LaDawn's yard and the neighbor said,"Oh, he's yours?" LaDawn said that no, it wasn't, but she'd keep track of him and put signs up at the grain store and 7-11 in town, which she did on Saturday. In a town as small as this, those are the places you go to look for lost and found items.

On Tuesday, her husband told her to either find the dog a home or put it at the shelter by Wednesday because he did not get along with her 4 dogs at all. I met the dog and fell madly in love with him. He kind of looked like the shag dog in Beauty and the Beast. Only this dog, while friendly as heck, wonderful with kids, with an unstoppable licker, was dirty with heavily matted fur, that no one had bothered to take the time or money to care for.

Ladawn and I took him to get groomed (read: heavily shaved to remove the matting that was down to his skin). He looked like a different dog and I swear he was wiggling all over like a giddy puppy, though everyone estimates his true age is around 2. The groomer felt so bad for him that she tossed in a free medicated bath for the animal to remove any mites or fleas and at the end tied a little bandana around his neck.

He was three shades lighter, though we still call him Sandy because he responds to the "ee" sound. He's a beautiful buff colored terrier mix and he's the best foot warmer I've ever had. He loves jumping in the van and going with me. When Genny's not in the car, he jumps in her car seat and looks out the window.

So, here we are 6 days later -- and LaDawn receives a phone call from some guy claiming that the dog is his. And she gives him my number, but not before telling him that she doubts I'll give the dog up because I've already spent a fortune getting it groomed, dipped, and am getting it its shots, and that clearly, no one had done that before for the animal. He's got a small scab on his side where he scratched at this enormous mat til he bled.

I fully expect that I'm going to get another call on the other line, as I'm talking to her, from someone asking about the dog because he's a sweetheart animal. Only, I don't. I check caller ID later, and no one ever did call regarding him.

It makes me sad to think that such a sweet animal is so disposable and so easily dismissed. I'm glad we found each other and I hope I never get the call because I would have a hard time biting my tongue about how neglected the poor animal looked.

For the dog to be so sweet, someone had to have loved him. But they didn't miss him and they didn't track him down right away and they didn't brush him or walk him because he doesn't know how to walk with a lead and matting like that doesn't just show up.

Ladawns says she doubts I'll ever hear anything.

I sure hope she's right. Sandy is one sweet pooch.