I'm beginning to believe that all the strays in the area talk to one another because we seem to get more than our share of animals who wander up and stay with us.
Night before last during the below zero weather and snow showers, I was outside in the dark putting out straw, food, and water for this guy . . .

He's been hanging around off and on for several weeks, but then it got really cold. How was I supposed to resist big, sad doggie eyes?
He makes the third dog who's adopted us in the 8 years we've lived here. We've had a pit bull, a mastiff, and now a saint bernard.
Just so happens that MIL has decided to get a dog now that she's living alone on a 13 acre farm. Tried to get her to take the new dog . . . currently named Jethro . . . but she doesn't think that she could afford to feed him.
So . . . does anyone need a nice BIG dog?
We're going with MIL on Saturday to see about getting her dog. She knows nothing about dogs, so she's letting us pick one for her. We're supposed to go get this guy.

DH and I have both had shepherd mixes that looked a lot like this guy, so when we saw him, we had to have him.