A SLEEPING DOG GETS A BREAK BECAUSE A GUY NAMED ART HAS A HEART...

For this mid-November edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap we go to the streets of Houston.
Thanks to our longtime Houston tipster (and pretty good writer) Alexandra Kelsey, we learned about this dog — and, as it turns out, there is a photograph of the pup sleeping on the rescuer’s couch. Yep, the rescuer proudly was “letting a sleeping dog lie.” Appropriate for our weekend feature. And so is Alexandra's story of the hero in the story.
That dog’s name is — oh, we’ll get to that in a moment. But you can see that she picked a spot and isn’t taking up too much room on the couch and we can only assume, based on visual evidence, that she carefully placed the TV remote on the arm of the couch before nodding off.
Alexandra K began her part of this story with an oh-so-true statement: “Most people would have walked right on by.” Then she asked, “After a hard day at work, when it’s been storming outside, how many would even stop to notice a tired, wet stray dog?”
Then she introduced Art Palacios.
Not only did Art “notice” this dog, he also, Alexandra wrote, “kept an eye out for this dog in the coming days.  And when Art realized the dog was definitely a stray, he took her home with him. He cleaned her up.  He took her to a good vet.  And he hoped that there was a family looking for this dog.
“This precious girl has been a great houseguest for Art," Alexandra writes, "but even though she clearly has lived in a house, none of Art’s efforts have turned up her family.  And she has no chip. 
“Art cannot keep this dog, as much as he adores her.  He is a student who also works, and he is rarely home.”

That was the appeal to help Art place this polite dog. His attempts to find help with this placing the girl were not working out. 
Only a few hours after we saw the first appeal Alexandra on Thursday, we got this follow-up from her: “Freedom Street took this darling girl in, and the dog is headed to the vet.”
 [LARRY REMINDER: Keep reading -- we're going to tell you the dog's name in just a moment.]
Freedom Street Rescue’s website is HERE.  The “100% foster home-based” Freedom Street Rescue describes itself as “a small group of Texas-based dog lovers who pull from high-kill shelters in and around Houston. We adopt 99% of our dogs out of state and transport them to their new homes anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.”
Alexandra also sent this about Art: “If anyone is inclined to write his employer to send compliments, [here] is the contact link for Frenchy’s. Art Palacios works at the Scott Street location, and I am sure that any favorable emails would help him in his job! (THE LINK is https://frenchyschicken.com/contact-us.)
And Alexandra says, “Art is also interested in finding an internship in the legal or legal-related paralegal field, if anyone has resources for that.”

In his appeal, Art wrote that he is a student at the University of Houston and was at work at t Frenchy’s on Scott Street when he spotted the dog.
 She was, he wrote, “friendly and approached, but was very wet and cold from the storm that had been going on all day. I gave her a little bit of my leftover chicken from the day.” That was on November 3. He decided to leave her there — maybe she’d go back home. 
But on the 7th, there she was, roaming the area and he says he “decided I didn’t believe she should be out any more.”

He called the city animal control for help with her but no one responded. So, on he 7th, he says, “I had her tied up in shade with some water for the day near the restaurant until I got off work, then took her home, bathed her, fed her, etc. I wanted to reunited her with her owner as she is clearly a well-behaved indoor dog.”
He took her a vet clinic and she didn’t have a chip. So, he took her back home. 
“She is well-mannered in home, she does not cry, whimper, or bark, and knows to use the bathroom outside. She has not demonstrated any destructive behavior on furniture (only using a dryer ball as a chew toy, since I had none). I've set up cameras while I've been out to work and class, and found that all she really does is nap on my bed or couch while awaiting on me to return. She's not great with commands such as sit, come, etc., and is not great on a leash either, but in the home, she does outstandingly well. She's very cuddly, and loves belly rubs.”

And, reading that description of the dog’s demeanor from Art, you’ll understand why her name throughout this experience has been “Miss Manners.”

In his appeal for help, Art wrote, “As much as I adore her, I cannot keep her. As I work up to 8 hours a day and stay in a classroom for 4 or more hours, I sometimes spend extended periods of time away from home.”

You’ll recall our pal Alexandra Kelsey wrote at the beginning of this story, “After a hard day at work, when it’s been storming outside, how many would even stop to notice a tired, wet stray dog?”
And because student/restaurant worker/admirable heart Art Palacios stopped to help this dog, there is a wonderful opportunity for someone to audition with Freedom Street Rescue to be the person or family that gets to live with the wonderful Miss Manners and let the sleeping dog lie on their couch with their TV remote!
[DEAR READERS. REMEMBER, send photos of your sleeping dogs, napping cats or any other slumbering animals you know to [email protected] and include their bios — tell us what makes them special members of the household — or pasture — we featured a sleeping calf a couple of months ago. You’ll be helping people decide that they need one more loving resident in their homes. And you’ll be reminding insomniacs that they can get some sleep if they can just find the right spot and position on the sofa while having the remote within reach in case something keeps them awake.]
— Offer snoozetips or SFR (sympathy for insomniacs) by clicking on ‘comment’ or by emailing [email protected] and putting ‘JUST TURN OUT THE LIGHTS, YAWNFACE’ in the subject line. —-