If there weren’t witnesses, no one would ever believe this story.
On our drive home from South Padre Island this weekend, we stopped at a Dairy Queen in the middle of nowhere. I rolled down the window, placed our order, and started to pull forward to pay when I spotted a big, friendly looking mutt outside the front door of the restaurant. Being the dog lover that I am, I said hello to the pup who cocked his head and perked up. I thought he must be waiting for his owner inside, but no; he wasn’t on a leash so he jauntily ran towards my open window. He jumped up to say hello and was as sweet as pie so I gave him a scratch behind the ears. He circled my car and came back to the my window where I gave him some more love and looked around for his owner.
That’s when he proceeded to launch himself through my open window and onto my lap.

Not a lap dog. But a damn good cuddler.
By the time he made it through the window I was in panic mode, hoping he was friendly as I judged him to be, when he places a paw on each of my shoulders like he was giving me a giant hug.
(At this point, I feel like I shared a bit of a moment with the pooch, so I’d like to refer to him as Herbert from here on out. Herb for short.)
Herb wasn’t a small dog and I honestly don’t know how he fit through the window in the first place, but when he did, he knocked my car into reverse, got tangled in the seat belt, and honked the horn with his tail. I was able to open the door while my friend got out, ran to the other side, and coaxed Herb off of my lap.
Thankfully, he just wanted to give me a hug and not maul my face off. Unfortunately, none of us had the wherewithal to snap a photo until after I regained control of the vehicle. And rolled up my window.
But now I can’t stop thinking about Herb.
He looked well taken care of and was clearly used to someone loving on him, but his collar had no tags, otherwise I would have contacted the owner and waited for them to come pick him up. Hell, I would have given Herb a lift home. I told the restaurant manager what happened and she said that he had walked in and out of the restaurant a few minutes earlier and they were calling the animal shelter for help finding his owner. When we pulled away, he was laying safely in the shade in the patio area.
Thanks for the memories, Herb. I hope you found your way home. Your owners will never know what a day you had.
xoxo