We have been adopted by a stray, but in our case, the dog is an American Staffordshire Terrier, aka "pit bull." The last breed I'd ever have voluntarily gone looking for in a pet. I walked out the door on Saturday morning when I saw this dog in the driveway, and I called her. She timidly came over and accepted my pat on the head and kind words, and evidently decided that I will do as her alpha female. She stayed in the driveway all day, sleeping in the sun, then finding shade as it got warmer. By early evening, as I was still out working in the yard, she came along to nudge my shoulder to see what I was planting, and has decided that we're the family for her.

She has been stray for a while, and had a bad bite that has healed incompletely on one knee. I gave her a basic bath (Suave worked fine for what I had in mind) on Sunday when it was nice and warm out. She's still a bit doggy smelling, but looks and feels better. I didn't see any fleas, but I did remove three ticks. I took her to the vet yesterday to see if she had a chip, but none was present, and she has an appointment on Thursday for a full checkup. Meanwhile, an ad is running online in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram classifieds under "Lost and Found" (look for the one that says "Found--American Staffordshire Terrier").

On Saturday evening when I took my gardening stuff around to the back yard to put away, she went with me, and when she saw the cats through the sliding glass door she woofed happily in their direction then wagged and wiggled up to the glass. She can actually wag her tail in a complete circle.

I've told the kids that there can be any number of factors that mean she isn't a good candidate to adopt--primarily, her health. Heartworms and such, fully involved, can be deadly. At least she has been stray during the cool months with fewer mosquitoes. She has some injured teeth in front, where it looks like she was kicked or bit something that was burning, or perhaps an electrical cord or something. She's in my fenced in large back yard, with a newly-acquired plastic dog house, and she has figured out that it's warm sleeping in there. She wants to come in the house, but until she gets the all clear and a few problems are cleared up, she's an outside dog.

Then the fun begins. She's full grown, and doesn't have a clue about walking on a leash or doing any "tricks." We don't know if she'll be jumping on the furniture, or if she's a chewer. She doesn't spend much time barking. She's a blank slate, and the kids have been told that we'll work with her gently to teach her what we need her to know. I'm glad to see references listed above--I'll check those out.

SRS