Living in an unincorporated area has it's benefits and drawbacks; lower taxes but less services, larger lots and less restrictions. The only thing that bothers me is the number of loose pets. On any given day, I will have someone's dog or cat sitting on my front porch or front lawn just hanging out. Not that I don't like animals, but I really hate cleaning up after them when my pets are all indoor pets.

One of our neighbors down the block has a very sweet dog that, unfortunately, is loose most of the time. She comes right up to a front door and has startled us on more than one occasion when she crawls out from under one of our cars. She is harmless, although the doggie poop in the yard drives me crazy. Still, I feel sorry for her and wonder if she will end up being hit by a car or killed by the coyote we see nearby once in awhile.

When I spot her in my yard, all I have to do is call her by her name and say "Go home" and she does. I usually call the owner and let them know she's loose. She's actually in a fenced yard but she figured out how to get out. The owners don't seem concerned. I know that other neighbors are worried about her and I laughed when I saw how they've handled the situation.

One day when I saw the dog relieving itself on my next door neighbor's lawn I shouted "Go home". She sort of flinched but stayed there. I didn't realized my neighbor was out there, too, until she said "She's such a good dog" and proceeded to bring out what looked like a bowl of milk for the dog. I apologized to her and said I didn't realize it didn't bother her as it did me. My neighbor went on to talk about how much she liked that little dog.

Time went on and I noticed the dog spending more and more time at my neighbor's house. I started to see the little dog on the porch eating and drinking and just chilling out. This turned into a regular routine and now I even see the front door open a crack and the little dog go in and out.

It's funny how different people respond to a problem. I'd have never let the dog in because I have guinea pigs in my living room and who knows what would happen. But my neighbor, who by the way had dogs for many years but is now without any, looked at it differently.

Dog sharing? Looks like that little dog found a home away from home.