I have a new friend...

He’s tall, dark and handsome. He has big, soulful eyes. And he’s oh so lovable as he freely passes out big, wet kisses.

Want to know his name?

Well, so do I. Unfortunately he’s been hanging around my yard for a few days without a collar, so I don’t know what to call him, or who he belongs to.

Yes, my new friend is a dog. A beautiful black lab, to be specific – who showed up out of the blue and doesn’t seem to want to leave. And honestly, I’m okay with that.

He first showed up Sunday afternoon – wagging his tail with a big puppy-dog grin on his face. He played with Toby for awhile, then stood on his hind legs, with his front paws resting on my shoulders and proceeded to lick my face. I doubled over laughing, which only brought me down closer to his level – an open invitation for more puppy love.

A little while later, a little boy rode by on a bike with a yellow lab walking beside him, and my friend ran to join them. I assumed he belonged with them.

But when I went to get Toby from the yard last night, I was nearly knocked over as my new friend happily jumped up to greet me. He tried to follow us into the house, and I sadly told him he had to stay outside. Toby walked from the bedroom to the carport door whining for thirty minutes. He’d only pause long enough to look at me expectantly, as though I’d change my mind and let our new friend in.

He doesn’t look to be more than a year old, and he’s been neutered. As far as I can tell, he’s full-blooded lab, which means someone, somewhere has to be missing him.

When I took Toby out this morning, our friend walked lazily from my back yard, where he apparently spent the entire night. That’s when I noticed how hungry he looked. I began wondering if he’d been fed recently. So, of course I promptly went inside, fetched the biggest bowl I could find and filled it with Toby’s small-breed dog food. I wasn’t sure he’d like it, but he gobbled it up in a few, short minutes. I put some water out for him, too. When I left to come to work, my new friend curled up on the carport floor and watched me drive away. I have a feeling he’ll still be there when I get home.

I guess I need to start looking for his owner. He’s far too sweet and beautiful to not have a home. And if I can’t find his home… well, I have been wanting another dog. In fact, I’ve been wanting a lab. And this one just showed up on my doorstep.

In the meantime, any suggestions on how to handle the situation? I feel like I need to put him in my back yard and shut the gate so he doesn’t get hit by a car. We live near a fairly busy highway and I’d hate for something to happen to him. But I don’t want his owners to start looking for him, see him shut up in my yard and think I'm trying to steal him. They’d understand that I was trying to keep him safe, right?

I guess doggie dilemmas are going around these days, huh Diane?