Timing

Today I had that experience of oddly "favorable" timing.
As I was driving home I passed a dead squirrel on the other side of the road. I didn't remember seeing it earlier as I'd passed so I figured it hadn't been dead that long. At first I drove past it but very quickly decided to turn around and move it off the road. It was still warm and its little body very pliable so it was indeed, very newly deceased. I moved it and petted on it a little bit then went on my way. A short distance away was a live dog in the middle of the road (and I had to wonder if I'd not stopped for that squirrel at all or conversely had I not stayed with it for the exact amount of time I had would I have still come across the dog?...I can never know) It was an approx. 75lb. male malamute....a very handsome guy but also scared. He would bark, wag his tail then come a wee bit closer and repeat the process. He wanted to connect but his fear was getting the better of him. He got close enough to give me sniffs on my hands but then would back off. After a few minutes a guy in a pick-up truck stopped to help. He was a sturdy lookin' fella who was willing to share his lunch with our four legged buddy. That won him some big points and the ability to put the leash that I carry in my car for just such occasions on him. Once the leash was on, the guy left and I started walking the dog to the first closest house. It was clearly not the dog's house. So, I walked him back to my car and got out some dog snacks which I covered in ETS Plus for animals. Mr. Malamute soon started to relax and let me scruffle his furs without appearing nervous. We stood there for a few minutes while I plied him with the medicine and treats. At some seemingly random moment I decided I was going to walk Mr. M to another house to see if it was his. We'd gotten only a few feet away from the car when a truck coming from the other direction stopped. It had those kind of windows you can't see in which always make me nervous. Anyways, this dude rolled it down and said in a very dead pan way: "that's my dog." A woman came around from the passenger side and I said to her: "he doesn't have any tags." She launched into some story about Mr. M's lost tag and how he escapes...blah, blah, blah.
It all happened so fast. She thanked me as did the man. Then the window went up and they were off. And I was glad that Mr. M got to have some essences so he could know how it felt to not be quite as scared.
And I also reflected on the timing again. Had Mr. M and I still been beside my car, the "owners" wouldn't have been able to see us and the story would have ended quite differently. In some ways I wish it had as I didn't like giving him back to those people. But, it forced me to trust the outcome despite what I think might be best...