THE FACE OF A SLEEPER--FREE DOG PAYOFF

This is the face of a wander-up dog. 
Yep, she was free. A suggestion: Open the front door at your home every now and then -- you never know who is waiting on the porch and is too short to ring the doorbell.
Porche Noel showed up one Christmas. The reason she’s the spotlight critter for this weekend’s Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap is this: She looks like someone who has been enjoying a lot of cookies.
She is a dog with several “looks” -- I don’t know how she does it, but sometimes she has a face as wide as cow’s and sometimes she’s got a fox-like look.

Of course, to me she always looks like an angel. Even when she’s pulling the covers or dog-elbowing me off the bed. If I’m on the couch, she might just stretch out on top of me. I’m fluffy, apparently. (Here's the Household Earhound in Martha's recliner -- the right photo is this week, the left photo was in February. The dog knows comfort year-round. What breed produced this dog? North American Mutt -- they're rare. Usually one of a kind.)

 I’m not sure where Porche Noel went to college -- never seen her in either a burnt orange or red jersey. Which reminds me, this is a big weekend at the State Fair of Texas -- what? Texas-OU? Yeah, but that's not the BIG contest! This is the weekend of the important contest: the Creative Arts Division’s Cookie Baking Contest.
 My GoodTastespouse Martha and I have again been invited by the State Fair Creative Arts Division to help judge the cookies. In 2016, our category’s winner, competing against all the other types of cookies, won Best of Show. It was a pistachio, orange sandwich cookie. (Traditionally, the winner’s recipe is included in the State Fair Cookbook -- available at the Fair and online HERE.)  FYI: Second-place was no slouch -- a raspberry sandwich cookie that exploded with flavor.
Yes, I dream of cookies. You can get the Creative Arts contest schedule at bigtex.com. That’s a snapshot of just a few of the dozens and dozens of cookies seeking a State Fair Blue Ribbon last year. “Not a calorie in ‘em,” typed an excited fat man.
Porche and I frequently share dreams of cookies. I’m pretty sure that’s what makes both of us look like we’re running in our sleep. We’re fetching cookies in our dreams! Oh, my.
 FYI: I love this dog for many, many reasons, but especially for being the survivor she is.
I’ve told the story before: She showed up starving, walking with a limp and frantic at mealtime. Now, she’s sedate, calm, relaxed, sleeps anywhere she feels like and brings a wonderful personality to the household. And she'll bark through the window at our letter carrier as if he or she is bringing cookies to the house. Porche tips the scales at 44 pounds but when you lift her, it’s like picking up a trunk of bricks -- 44 of the heaviest pounds on the planet.
Find yourself a Porche Noel. You need never dine alone again.
[SEND PHOTOS AND INFO about your slumbering critters to [email protected]. We love posting them for the world to see. Cats napping, dogs sleeping, lizards lizarding -- whatever you've got. Remember: These sleeping and napping animals inspire insomniacs to believe that they, too, can get some sleep if they can just figure out how to hold their ears.]
--- To comment, grip your MuttMouse and click below. ---