stray dog

Yesterday a loose dog turned up in our driveway, setting off a storm of barking from His Lordship. When we tried to approach her, she shied away and would have nothing to do with us. Today, I put some food out for her because her ribs are visible and clearly she's decided she likes our house, even if she's not too sure about US. All day she's been here off and on and I kept trying to coax her and she'd wag her tail but not let me pet her. Finally she approached His Lordship, who was cautious but not necessarily unwelcoming (though the barking storm kept up for a long while). Still she wouldn't let me come near. Not even for CHEESE.

Then, in the early evening, I was on the deck with George and she was in the drive and I spoke to her and called her "Gigi" (meaning it as "G.G." for Good Girl since we didn't know what to call her and thought if we kept telling her what a good girl she is she'd come to us) and suddenly she bounded up on the deck and came straight to me and it was Old Home Week. Wildly wagging tail, letting me pet her as much as I liked, leaning against me, sitting on my foot. I petted both her and His Lordship equally and told both what good poochies they are (don't want His Lordship getting jealous, you know) and she settled in as if to make herself at home. I came inside to do some stuff and left the back door open so I could keep an eye on them, and she and George started playing and roughhousing a bit, and when I thought they were getting too rough, I said "Play nice" and she obeyed instantly (even if His Lordship did not) and she even ventured into the kitchen a little ways a few times.

She seems to be at least part Weimeraner and isn't wearing a collar and the flies have simply FEASTED on her poor ears. She's far too thin and also dirty and the neighbors don't recognize her, either. I'm beginning to think she was dumped, poor baby. I'm no good at guessing dogs' ages, but there's no white around her muzzle at all and her teeth seem to be in good shape and still fairly white, so my admittedly uneducated guess is she's still young. If I can make friends with her and if she seems to get along with George and doesn't bully him, because he only comes to her armpits (and she seems to think it great fun to jump over him as if he were a hurdle in a race), we're going to take her in. I had to run an errand and there was no sign of her when I came back from that, but since I fed her I think she'll come back and is probably hanging around close by. We don't have a fenced yard or I'd have put her in it and kept her here. George always goes outside on a lead and has a very long one attached to the deck so he can romp around in between walks. I didn't want to put her inside with him unsupervised while I ran my errand so I had to leave her outside. I was afraid she'd freak or beat up George without me here to watch them together.

Dog experts, I don't have a photo yet, but let me describe her and see if anyone knows her breed. She's about the size of a Lab or retriever; reddish hair, very short and slick and shiny; her gums and the inner eyelids are the same color; her eyes are brown but a reddish brown; long tail but not bushy, it's as slick and shiny as the rest of her coat; and she's long-limbed and generally sort of sleek with shortish ears (not clipped, naturally). I looked at a web site and that's where I got the idea she's Weimeraner, but her eyes aren't gray or blue. Any ideas, anyone?