I am an animal lover — a fact evidenced by the numerous pets that have passed through my life — and dogs, in particular, seem to respond to me and me to them.

A week ago, I had the chance to help a couple of pups in what seemed to be an oddly coincidental series of events.

First, I traveled to the Columbus area with my brother, Larry Compston, to attend a birthday party for his twin granddaughters, Ellie and Grace, who turned 1 year old last weekend. We arrived to find a house brimming with happy people, including six children.

As we greeted everyone and started to enjoy a nice brunch, I felt like something was missing. It took me a few minutes to figure out what, but then I asked my nephew Zach, “Where’s Belle?”

Belle is his family’s Boston terrier, and she is quite a bit older than his children.

Zach quickly realized he did not know and that Belle must have run out the door as guests were coming in. He was right, but fortunately a quick sweep of the neighborhood resulted in Belle being found and returned home.

Fast forward a few hours and Larry and I were back home. As I climbed into my pickup truck to run some errands, I glanced up in the rearview mirror and saw my neighbor’s dog on the opposite side of the road. Before I could react, he was off and running down the hill toward the highway.

I started the truck and drove straight up the hill to the neighbor’s house. I yelled to her as she was coming out that the dog was in the road at the foot of the hill, then I took off to try and catch up with him as she ran for her car keys.

Thank goodness an approaching Jeep saw the dog and stopped. But, that got him running again, and he headed up an alley and along a nearby creek bank.

I turned into the alley, rolled down my window and began to call to him. I don’t even know his name, but being a friendly pup, he responded. By the time my neighbor arrived, I had him licking my hand.

I guess I had some doggone good timing that day, and I am glad I was able to help.