Just a few minutes ago I was at the kitchen sink and I glanced out the window there behind the sink. That view is of our front yard and the road in front of the house. I noticed an unfamiliar car stopped in the middle of the road, right in front of our house. I said to my husband, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, "Do you know who that is?" He walked to the door and said, "No" and headed out.

About that time the woman driving the car got out and headed up the little hill toward our house, leaving her car in the middle of the road. She had a blue bag in her hand but I couldn't see what it was. Well, it turns out she is the neighbor who lives kind of behind our house. She told DH, "I have dog food with me to give to Blackie." and handed him the blue bag of Kibbles and Bits. He was about to ask who Blackie was when Wee Black Doggie, our chow/shepherd mix ran to stand by DH. The woman put her hand out to pet him and he backed up a bit then relaxed and allowed her to pet him. The woman said, "Hi there, Blackie!" and explained to DH that Wee spends time at her house and she feeds him Kibbles and Bits. Huh? He does run around a bit but I've never known him to go behind our property. The lady asked if we were the ones with the shepherd and told DH that "Blackie" and the shepherd ran around together a lot but the other dog hasn't been around in awhile. Neither of us remembers ever seeing a shepherd out here but he just smiled and went along with her. She then asked if we were the ones who had the pig. Uhhh no, no pig here. But there is a hog pen on the property and we were told when we bought the place that the previous owner had a pig that got out.

So at any rate, this stranger dropped off a bag of Kibbles and Bits (which contained a $1 coupon and $2 coupon for K&B, by the way) and talked to DH about what a great dog he's been to her and how she hadn't seen him in a few days so she wanted to try to find him and make sure he's okay.

We're both a bit puzzled that Wee Black Doggie would be hanging out at another house without our knowledge and that this woman seemed pretty familiar with him and he seemed familar with her. And he used to run around with a shepherd? When? Where? We've had him since he was a tiny pup and we've lived in this house since 1998. Wee Black Doggie appears to have another "family" in the neighborhood. Stranger things have happened, though..

It just goes to show you, don't think you know everything your dog does when you're not looking. You probably don't.