I don’t know what it is about our yard, but I’m beginning to think that the lost dogs of America (Local Union # K9) talk to each other,  I can hear it now – two lost dogs are walking through the woods when one of them stops cold and says to the other one, “There it is!  It’s the house where those people live.  “What people?” the other dog says.  “You know, the people who give food, water, and treats to those of us who have wandered outside our boundary lines.”  Our what?  We’re lost. If we hang around their yard, they will call and find our parents.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK06Y3wLaDI

Well, maybe lost dogs don’t have that much of an extended conversation, but a bunch of them (a technical term) find their way to our house, more than a dozen in the last few years.  Boxers Terriers, Bulldogs, Poodles, Ridgebacks, Border Collies, and just this week, Dachshunds, two of them.  Pretty smart dogs, so I figure they saw the Golden Corral sign out back.

But none of that is the point of the story.  I learned something new about Lewis from these two Dachshunds.  When their family showed up to collect them, we had to walk through the house to find them. They are very small dogs and can hide anywhere.  Not so with Lewis….

You can’t lose Lewis.

Even if he could somehow hide that svelte 140-pound body of his, all you would have to do is follow the trail of sticks, fur, nasty tennis balls, and slobber.  And that doesn’t even count the likelihood that the white rascal will come around the corner, freeze those light brown eyes on you, and stare at you as if to say, “I’m about to chase you down like a….like a….well, like a dog!  Of course, the easiest way to flush him out is with food.  Let the refrigerator light come on, and he is drawn to it like a bug to the light.  Trying to sneak food around him adds another dimension to the concept of “You can’t lose Lewis…even though you’d like to occasionally!”

All of the dogs that have found their way to our house were eventually returned to their homes.  A couple of the dogs we called to report had owners who were at that moment driving frantically around the neighborhood trying to find them. I suppose all pet owners have lost a pet at some time or the other.  It’s a sick feeling, helpless, hopeless, and all the other bad adjectives you could attach to that phrase.

You can’t lose Lewis around the house, but I always hope and pray he never becomes a lost dog.  He’s served his time in that world.  That’s why at our house we go out of the way to make sure animals find their way home.  No pet should experience that fear.

You can’t lose Lewis is not only a punchline….it’s also a prayer.