Brighten Your Day

This Dog Refused To Leave A Woman's Lawn. It Turns Out He Remembered Her

November 4, 2019

Sometimes fate steps in when you need a good dog encounter.

That's what happened to Kate Howard who was sitting outside one afternoon after a memorial service when a brown pittie sat down on the grass in front of her and refused to leave.

Winnie / @JournoKateH

"The dog was cute, a brown pitty girl with white markings," Howard wrote on Twitter. "All dogs are perfect but she was particular charming. Her owner was trying to get her rolling again but she was staying put. She called her. 'Winnie! Come on!' Her name was Winnie!"

"This immediately registered because last November, I fostered a dog for the first time over Thanksgiving. She was a soft wiggly baby puppy I named Winnie. I cried for three days after she was spayed and went up for adoption, worrying about whether she had found a good home."

Winnie as a puppy / @JournoKateH

"I asked the woman whether she adopted Winnie with that name. She said yes, as she didn’t want to change her name and confuse her. I asked when — she said last November. By then, I was practically leaping off the porch screaming. I FOSTERED THIS DOGGGGGG.

I told her I was so worried about whether she found a good home that I asked the shelter to put my name in her file in case she was ever brought back, an unfortunate but not uncommon outcome. 'Oh, no,' she said. 'I would NEVER bring her back!' She is a great, well-behaved pup.

It turns out Winnie's mom had recently lost a dog. When saw Winnie's precious face on the Animal Services web site, she got to the adoption site EARLY, intent on making sure she was first in line to adopt her when she became available.

Now, I just moved into this house a couple months ago. And it turns out this house is a block over from Winnie! I would have been at work, not on my porch, this afternoon if not for traveling from the memorial service of my friend Heidi, a tremendous lover of dogs.

It was beyond comforting for my first foster dog to turn up on my front lawn today, her fur still soft and her ear still crooked and her tail still wagging."