Lovely Rita

We've got a new dog. She came to us. It's weird... I'll try to explain... 

The other day as I was heading off to work, I had to drive down our road to turn the car around in order to head in the right direction down the dirt road that leads from our house. I noticed a stray dog in the distance. I stopped the car and watched as it slowly approached. It was limping. It would take a few steps, then stop to rest. Sometimes it would sit down for a bit and then it would get back up and proceed, ever so slowly, down the dusty road. It walked with a purpose. I just sat in the car and watched, mesmerized. 

I said out loud 'That dog is coming to us. It's coming to our house.' And sure enough, as it reached our gate it stopped and laid down. At the same moment Yusef opened the gate and walked over to the dog and bent over to look at it. He stood up and called out 'Take the side road.' - There are two roads leading to our house that run parallel to each other. I slowly drove down the side away from Yusef and the dog. I looked in the rear view mirror and by the time I reached the end of the road Yusef had brought the dog into the safety of our garden and closed the gate. I let out a sigh. We have a new dog. 

Later Yusef called to ask me to bring home anti-biotic cream and eye ointment. The poor dog's paw was injured as well as one of it's eyes. She's a lovely little dog, not a puppy but still quite young, with smooth soft black fur and a cheerful disposition. She has taken up residence, sitting directly in front of the door to the house where she guards us as though she has been our dog all her life. We took her to the vet and he put her on anti-biotics and gave her a tetanus shot. Her eye is already clearing up but it will take a while for her paw to heal. Ibrahim named her Rita. I'm not sure where he found this name - but it suits her.