A New Neighbor

Kenny e-mailed me yesterday to let me know we had a new neighbor. It was quite a surprise to him. He had gone out into the backyard to mulch some of the branches he had cut down and came across quite an unexpected sight:



I wasn't as surprised as Kenny because I could hear a dog barking upstairs the night before around 11:30. The poor little guy was tied up to our grill (our grill, girls - not yours to tie puppies too, thanks) with hardly a bit of shade in sight. His little water dish was metal, so the water was probably hot. And that was anything but a long leash.

I saw him too when I came home yesterday evening, and what a friendly little guy he is! He was so excited to see someone and gave me kisses on my chin. I felt bad having to walk away and leave him by himself, especially when he barked so frantically. I can't believe those girls.

When I came home today, there he was again, in the same spot, with no shade. Yesterday it was 95 degrees out and this evening when I got home it was 89. I quickly untied him from our grill and moved him to a shady spot that had to be at least 15 degrees cooler. He's got such a thick coat - he was probably miserable out there. I scooted his food and water over to him and scratched his tummy and petted his head for a bit. He put his little paws up over his eyes and just grinned in happiness. (I swear dogs really can look like they're smiling!) Then I left a message on the landlords' voicemail expressing my concern for the little puppy tied up out there in the summer heat. I hope they do something about it.

Here he is again:



And here he is with me petting him to give you a better idea of how big he is:



While we're out here, check out what an awesome job Kenny did on the yard! Dad pitched in on Monday and they really cleaned up the yard debris out there. I was amazed when I came home and Kenny gave me the grand tour: