Well, I think it was a good day! First thing I noticed was that both of my "black lab cross" buddies had been adopted! Dudley and Rudy were both adopted on Wednesday, yeah! Dudley is a Black lab/hound cross (the dude that ripped my shirt, lol) and Rudy was mostly lab, I think.
I almost got a guy talked into Cleo today, but he wants a young dog and at 5 years old and on pain meds, she didn't really fit the bill. The guy was a bit of a turd anyway...but he is thinking about volunteering, so he can't be that big of a tool! I tool Cleo out first this morning, she really looked like she needed to be out and about today! I figured she had recently had her pain meds and was feeling pretty darn good since she practically drug me to the field were we did a lap that consisted of half of the giant figure 8 they mow for us to walk in. We did the walk in about 20 minutes...this usually takes me at least half an hour, so we were really moving! I fell in love with this dog when I used her to learn the tricks at Shelter School earlier this month. Cleo knows "sit" extremely well and will eventually do a "leave it", but she'd rather not, lol. She really doesn't do "wait" but she does wait patiently anyway while you open a door for her, so she had that one down without needing the command, lol. When I sit down with her in the grass, he'll sniff around a bit and then lay right down either in front of or next to me. She is such a mellow dog! However, in the kennels is another story...if one starts barking...they all start barking and Cleo is usually the instigator! She has issues with the other dogs getting any sort of attention when she isn't! Said gentleman (see above) started a conversation as I was putting Raspberry back in her kennel in the back of the rows, Cleo had all the dogs barking until I managed to wander up to the front while talking to this guy. Once we were in front of Cleo's kennel, the whole place quieted back down to not a peep and I was able to have the conversation this guy wanted and show him some of the "tricks" we teach the dogs while they are at the shelter. He was really impressed that I could make her sit with just a word and a hand gesture (hot dog in hand, raise hand above her head, lol)!
Peeka is another dog who has been at the shelter for a while...she was adopted but got brought back, I have no idea why though. Probably because she has an issue with cats... Peeka is also pretty rowdy in the kennels, but does wonderfully outside on leash and just loves being off leash in the big play yards where she can sniff about and run through grass! I always forget to really read the paperwork while I'm there for her, I suspect though that she is part "cattle dog" and part Husky or some other thick-coated breed with a curly tail. The first photo of her was taken under a tree near the play yards, behind her, Nikki was running about in the first yard and Peeka was just enjoying the breeze, lol. I did go talk to Ruth, who was in the yard with Nikki for a little bit, Peeka did great and really didn't pay Nikki any attention for about 10 minutes before Nikki's running about just got to be too much for her.
Fancy is a new dog to me being in the kennels. She is obviously the Momma to the puppies that were there today, but she was spayed a few days ago and her milk has dried up...her "puppy fun bags" though, are still hanging pretty low! I don't think I have walked a dog yet that I can't say wasn't "Super sweet", this one was too! She was pretty uninterested in any treats or anything to do with me when we first got outside and into the play yard. Once she had given everything a good sniff though, she came over and does know "sit" when there's a bit of hot dog involved, lol. The look slightly to the left in almost all of the photos I took today is due to said "Hot dog in hand"....what better way to get them to sit pretty for a photo op?
Speaking of "new dogs"...Mystique is another dog that has been brought up to kennel 1 (there are two kennels, but the second one is for dogs that are not and may not be able to be placed up for adoption, so no "general public" allowed and if asked if the dogs in kennel one are all we have, the answer will always be "Yes". I generally stay out of kennel 2 because when you walk those dogs, you have to stay hidden in the back of the property and there really isn't any shade back there! I like taking them into the play yards and out front where there are trees to lay (I sit) under in the shade!
Back to Mystique though! She is a gorgeous big, cuddler of a dog! Part German Shepard and part Greyhound, she has an interesting "look" to her. Her body looks way too big for her head and I would wager a guess that a typical collar wouldn't be a great idea...a harness or the non chain collars that cinch like a chain collar would probably work better for her. Our slip leads work great, they cinch like a "choke" chain, but are a cloth-like nylon lead/collar combo. She is much bigger than Cleo as well, standing, she came to roughly my hip! This was another dog who just wanted to cuddle today...it is/was a "colder" day, mid-60's this morning, so maybe they were just looking for body heat as the wind picked up, lol. Her favorite place to lay under the tree with me was on top of my right foot and under my left leg, lol. She actually nuzzled her way under my leg to lay on my other foot! We tried the play yard so she could run some (I thought she might like to given her proclaimed breeds), but she was so intent on being where ever I was, that I gave up and we went out to the shady tree so someone else could use the run if they wanted to.
Bear is also new, or at least today was the first day I saw him! This little guy has a lot of energy! This play bow was meant as "get off your rump and come play with me!", I know this because he brought me a ball to play with too, lol. Not great with giving it back, but he let me pick it up again if he deemed it time to drop it somewhere for me to throw again, usually at the opposite end of the large play yard from where I was! I really like taking all of the breeds out on the days I'm there...I know there are people that concentrate on specific breeds or types of dogs (some only walk labs, some it's the pit bull terriers, others go for the smaller dogs, though we rarely have actual small dogs in there for long). We aren't looking for a new dog "yet", we still have Rosie, but she is getting up there in age and almost 10 (she'll be 10 years old September 12th) and I really don't want to be without a dog...I prefer life with a devoted companion that doesn't go off to work every day, lol. That being said...I'd love to get a dog that could "work" as a therapy dog in senior centers or hospitals, that would be awesome I think. Bear is one of those breeds that I enjoy walking at the shelter, but isn't one I would personally take home. Herding breeds are just too high energy for me on a day to day basis.
I did manage to sneak down to the end of the kennels to take Raspberry out for a walk today, but I stayed "late" to do it! I can normally get through more dogs, but today I was moving slower and in the cooler weather, I wasn't as worried about the dogs over-heating, so we stayed out a little longer today. I'm beginning to think the "not being interested in treats (hot dogs) until I sniff the whole place" thing is a pit bull terrier trait, lol. Raspberry actually took my "see I have the hot dogs" treat when we first got in the play yard, but spit it out onto the ground to go sniff everything! She did eventually sniff all she wanted to sniff and came over for pets and to see if I still had those yummy hot dogs, but refused to sit for a decent photo. I really love her coloring, it is one of my favorite color patterns! After this photo, she decided she wanted to climb up in my lap and play "lap dog" for a while (I was sitting on a wobbly bench)!
I actually took Charley out somewhere near the middle of the "pack", but since I had more to say about him and a video to link up...I figured I'd save him for last! He is such a happy boy! You can't really see it in the photo, but the end of his tail is actually about 4 inches beyond where his yellow fur stops, it just is doing a great job blending in with the dirt! He has a serious case of "happy tail" (raw and bloody) from being int the shelter and living on concrete for so long! For reasons unknown to me, he also didn't get walked by shelter volunteers for nearly 10 days beginning a little over 3 weeks ago! His tail looks gross...he chews on the end of it so it is always a bloody mess, but now, since he was left in the kennels for so long, he has sores on all 4 of his elbows! It is getting better and they don't look nearly as yucky now, but mid-week last week when I found he hadn't been out in over a week, he looked pretty bad. All it took to get more people walking him was to note on his walk chart that he absolutely
loves playing in the pools! He is to the point now (since he now gets out at least twice a day) that he drags whoever is hanging on to the other end of the lead straight to the play yards and the waiting kiddy pools full of cool water! There is no such thing as a photo of Charley dry, it just won't happen, lol. He also decided today was the day to let me in on his secret obsession with playing catch! Now, he isn't a young dog...so playing didn't last more than 10 minutes or so, but he ran at full speed and thought it was great when I could manage a long toss! I really could have used one of those plastic ball thrower thingies for Charley today, he would have loved that! He also alternated between the pool and the ball for a few more tosses before deciding he was done and we should head back in.
Pardon the squeaky girl talking over the video...just mute and enjoy, lol! If you do decide to listen...he chose to keep the ball when the camera was on, but had given it back on the first "drop it" every single time before that and after that as well!
The second video (again just mute it and ignore me...he wasn't listening to me either, lol) is Charley and his pool. I really don't know how he got the water that dirty that quickly! He was the first dog in the pool today...and the only one that I know of that took a dip past putting a paw in to reach the "good water in the middle"!
No comments:
Post a Comment