Precious

My friend Julie recently reunited two lost dogs with their owner, and it made me think about the ugly little dog who showed up at our house one time. We live in the country and one day a very peculiar-looking mutt appeared at mealtime, with Bells, Daisy and Buster. The poor thing was homely, to put it kindly. He hung around for a while and I eventually decided to put a found ad in the paper (I worked there, so why not?) When I went to place the ad, I couldn't think of how to describe the dog; I wanted to say "Ugly little dog with very long body and extremely short legs," but that didn't seem right. In the end I described him as a small dog with an orange collar, and gave the nearest road. Really, the orange collar was the nicest thing I could say about him. Low and behold, we received a phone call one night shortly thereafter. I could hear Steve talking to the woman on the other end, describing the dog. He, too, struggled for the right words, but eventually said, yes, he thought that might be her lost dog. Maybe.

Now, the whole time the dog was here, I was obsessed with his name. It just bothered me not to know it, and I couldn't imagine what it could be. Fred or something along those lines, surely. And, I also can't stand the thought of changing a dog's name. I mean, how would you like it if, after a lifetime of being "Sandy," people were suddenly calling you "Molly"? I figure if that happens the dog will always be looking around for "Sandy" and never come when called "Molly"! Plus, she will know how dumb you are, calling her by some other name! Really, life is hard enough without man-made identity crises.  

Anyway, after a few minutes of conversation, Steve told the lady on the phone to hang on, and he went to the door to call the dog. I couldn't wait; finally, I was going to learn the dog's name. "What's his name, what's his name??" I asked. Ignoring me, Steve opened the door and yelled out..."Precious!''  

I couldn't believe it. PRECIOUS??!! You must be kidding me! That fugly dog was named PRECIOUS?? Well, in spite of my disbelief, that little sucker perked right up and acted like he sure was "Precious". Steve returned to the phone and told the lady that he thought maybe it was her dog. A little while later, a car pulled into the driveway, and the door opened. "Precious," a voice called out, and ole Precious went running, right to the car! He hopped in, we waved, they waved, and they were gone.  

Yet one more reminder to never judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, a long-bodied mutt with really short legs. He was precious, you know.



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