(Strip Number 4190, Original Publication Date, 25 June 1982)
Panel 1: It's fairly late in the evening; having noticed that her children are upset by Farley's absence, Elly tells John that they cannot sleep and she doubts that she will.
Panel 2: Since John is a dick, he growls about how the miserable mutt has never run off like this before; this makes me wish to teleport into the room and tell the stupid piece of excrement that fences and leashes exist for a reason. (Also, Bob Barker didn't tell people to get pets spayed and neutered just to scare him into worrying about not being a man.)
Panel 3: He then makes an asinine comment about how he never thought that an animal would become part of the family.
Panel 4: This is when Phil shows up and asks if anyone's been talking about him.
Summary: The one thing the strip and the book agree upon is that Phil is the one who finds Farley; the details vary but his ability to understand the canine mind doesn't. This, of course, is probably owing to his being able to imagine things.