A True Shaggy Dog Story

A weird thing happened to me two weeks ago. I was sitting out back enjoying a beverage and a tired-looking dog wandered into our yard through the side gate. He wore a nice collar but had no tags. He was clean and clearly well-fed, so I knew he must have home.

He acted friendly and came up to me so I gave him a few pats on the head. Then before I realized what he was doing he ambled into the open door of our house, calmly walked to the corner of the family room, curled up and fell asleep. I thought, “okay?”

a real shaggy dog storyHe seemed harmless so I let him sleep. About an hour later he woke up, went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in the yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the corner and again slept for about an hour. This has continued off and on for the past two weeks.

Yeah, I know, but I love dogs. I tried to follow him, but never saw where he went. Curious, I pinned a note to his collar, “I would like to find out who the owner of this sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to our house for a nap?”

The next day he arrived for his nap he had a different note pinned to his collar. I took it off and it read, “He lives in a home with three kids under five years old. I think he’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?”

Any of you ever feel this way?

Note: I’ve searched for the source of this “shaggy dog story” and found it’s been circulating in some form for years. I edited, but did conceive the story. If someone knows who did, please do let me know so I may provide them the opportunity to apologize for this waste of your time. 😉 Oh, and “true” in the title refers to the shaggy dog, not the story.

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  1. This is a hilarious story and came at a perfect time for me.

    I’m exhausted…to the bone. I would love to come and take a nap with that poor dog everyday. Would love it.

    1. I’m happy you enjoyed it, Melissa. 🙂 As for coming over for a nap, our corners are booking up fast. LOL.

  2. This is truly an adorable story! Thanks for the smile!

    1. You are welcome, Ivy. Glad it made you smile. My next post will be written entirely by me and will be rather serious, so be forewarned.

  3. Funny story.

    It is not my story… but one summer night when I had my door open to let in a breeze I had a dog come in my room and climb into my bed. Thinking it was my dog I reached over to pet it and sat up shocked… I woke my husband up and we took the dog outside and put him in the yard… the next day he was gone.
    I also woke up one morning while living in Mexico to find a stray dog sitting on my kitchen table. I have no idea how he got into the house… but there he was.

    1. Wow… I guess my story’s not so far fetched (pun intended) as I thought. 😉

    • Mama to Baby J and Bean on at
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    What a sweet story! My two dogs are always looking for a quiet place to nap far, far away from the little dudes? Can they come to your house? The dogs, that is. Or the kids. Either would be fine with me 😉

    1. Our dog is so sweet and patient with our 2½ year old. She’s always climbing all over him. She does love him so. Fortunately he’s built like tank and just lets her climb, while looking at me with his big brown doggie eyes that say, “See… see what I put up with for you?”

  4. Awe, what an absolutely sweet story. Being dog lovers over here, I’m sure you are familiar with the story of us taking home the little pup we found at the river. We would totally let the little fellow in our house for a nap, though I’m not sure how much our big girls would appreciate that. Precious!

    1. I grew up with dogs and cats, and you’ve probably seen the sweet photos of my little girl with our current puppy. He’s really 7 years old and weighs more than 70lbs, but to me his still my puppy. I guess it sort of like they way my daughter will always be my little girl, even when she’s accepting the Noble Prize for something.

  5. Ps. Why am I a little green figure?

    1. I don’t see the little green figure, but whenever someone’s avatar doesn’t show up on a blog, they can be almost certain gravatar.com has the wrong email and/or avatar on file. I’ll blog about that sometime, as so many don’t seem to know about that.

  6. That is such a great story and I can definitely relate to that poor dog!

    When I was in college we once had a raccoon stroll in through our open apartment door. It was pretty terrifying at the time. Luckily it stood and stared at us for several minutes and finally turned around and left. Now I realize it was probably a mommy raccoon trying to find a place to sneak a nap. I guess she realized all our napping spots were taken!

    1. LOL. I faced down a raccoon one dark night while camping, Rachael. It wasn’t scared of me at all. 😉 My mom had a cotton-mouth water-moccasin crawl in the kitchen door of our old ranch house. It crawled under an antique dry-sink and my mom had to stand watch until my dad got home to fish it out, lest it crawl off someplace else in the house. Yikes.

    • JDaniel4's Mom on at
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    After the upside down day I just had with one child, I need to find a corner to snooze in too.

    1. I totally know the feeling, Deidre. Last night’s storms here in Dallas kept our 2 year old up, and I was up with her until about 2:30 AM. [yawn]

  7. Awww.. that was cute….

    I feel like that all the time…

    Thanks for sharing!

    1. Hey, Alex. Thanks for stopping by. Yeah, I figured most parents can identify. Hope it sent a smile! 🙂

  8. Cute story! I remember when my son was born, I was so exhausted. My daughter was almost 10-months old at the time and my husband was deployed to Iraq. Phew! I wished I had somewhere to go nap! That year is very hazy to me, even now. Thank goodness there are pictures to remind me what cuties they were.

    1. OMG! I can’t imagine handling all that totally alone. Hope daddy’s back from Iraq now? I’m the newest follower of your blog, “Anchor Baby EStories “, btw. Have a great afternoon!

  9. Oh how funny. Thanks.

    1. I did say it was a “shaggy dog story”, but it made me smile, too. Have a great weekend, Terri!

  10. Very cute! I thought it really happened at first, and then when you got to the return note, I thought, “REALLY?” You are right–many of us can empathize with this dog!

    1. I’m glad I “got” you for a bit. I edited a story someone had shared with me to try to make it sound more plausible at first. Yes, we parents probably all can identify with the poor dog. 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by, Jenny!

    • Crystle's Dog Boarding on at
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    Awww… that’s so adorable! I can’t really relate because I’m not a mum, but I’m a full-time dogsitter and a “mummy” to two dogs who sometimes wishes the dogs would take an afternoon nap so I could sneak one in too! Dogs are absolutely lovely though. I’d spend my entire life taking care of them if I could 🙂

    1. Thanks, Crystle. Well, in a way you are a mum. Dogs count in my book. They are great aren’t they? I love all animals, really. But I love my crazy little monkey daughter the most. To be clear, she’s not really a monkey, just hangs on me (which I love) like one a lot.

  11. that is just too funny thanks for the laugh and making me seem like some weird guy who just busted out in laughter on set. lol so much for quiet on the set!

    1. I’m happy to have made you laugh on the set. It’s good for them. Keeps ’em wondering. 😉

  12. Now I wish I had a Shaggy dog that could lead me to some place to take a nap. Do you suppose people would object if I just wore a shaggy coat and popped into their back yard…

    1. My wife and I would totally understand. Feel free to pick any unoccupied corner and make yourself at home, Nadya. 🙂

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