One day my daughter came home from school and came into the house and said Mom there is a brown dog growling at me
in the field next to the house. We went out to see the dog. He was a medium size dog with a big block head…he appeared
to be growling but there was no sound. So I cautiously tried to pet him and he was so friendly. We had two other dogs
at the time and wanted no more. So I reluctantly called the local shelter to come get this dog. They were swamped as usual so
it was going to be a day or so. As time went on we noticed this dog seemed to be growling but no sound…hum..then we realized
he was smiling…always when he was happy or when we arrived home. I told my husband what I thought and sure enough he noticed
as well. The dog warden came to get this dog after a few days and by then I was sad to see him go. After much thought I realized he was smiling and he seemed to be a special dog. So I called the shelter to see if they would let me have him back. They were kind of mad I suppose because I wasted their time having the warden come get the dog and all then changed my mind so quickly..They said well we have to keep him a few more days and if no owner shows up then you can come get him. So no one claimed him and I went to pick him up. We realized he was smiling when happy and or when we arrived home. We decided to call him Hambone..and he today is 15 going on 16. He has outlived our other two dogs and we have two new ones and our kids have grown up. We love our smiling Hambone who we thought was vicious at first..but only smiling!! Little does he know his smile got him a home and maybe saved his life.