Variety is the Spice of Life

Lately, I've been volunteering at the animal shelter on Monday and Friday mornings. My schedule is really tight, but I tell myself that I can give up a few hours a week. Sometimes, it can be difficult to get there, but the variety of dogs I'm exposed to at the shelter keeps me going. No surprise, this tiny chi was adopted right away. Good thing because I was tempted to take this little flower bud home myself!

Juju is a 10-year old pug. Lucky that I don't know who her previous owner was because I wouldn't have been nice to him/her. Juju is about twice the size she should be, and her nails were so long that she had to walk on the sides of her paws. I'd like to meet Juju's previous owner alright--in the back of a dark alley! But a dog park friend of mine, already a pug owner, has taken Juju home as a foster--thank goodness for kind people like her! Juju has been bathed, her skin folds have been swabbed out, and her nails have been clipped. Going forward, she'll get the daily exercise she so badly needs and hopefully get down to a healthy weight.

The area around the shelter is very industrial and run down, not the prettiest scenery. But I've come to appreciate these big cement blockades--they make a great leash walking practice course. I like weaving back and forth through them, changing directions unexpectedly to keep the dogs' attention on me. Pictured is Bo, a 9-year old Gordon setter who is recovering from Lyme disease.

I'm always surprised by how scared dogs are of this car wash balloon guy. Big, tough pitbull Major was completely freaked out by the blowing advertisement. I could not get him to walk past it, so we ended up having to cross the street to get around it. Makes me realize how important guide dog puppy training was--I know Cabana could walk by it without a flinch.

This is 12-year old Chili. He walks on 3 legs but gets around well in spite of his handicap. The shelter is paying for surgery to correct his hind leg, and he'll need a 6-week recovery foster. I think it's awesome that they are willing to spend the money on a senior dog like Chili. He deserves to live the rest of his life in comfort and good health. Yep, volunteering is definitely worth any time I can give.

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Back at the Shelter

After a year of herculean effort, the friends that I used to volunteer with at the animal shelter were successful in their bid to turn the shelter into a non-profit organization. As of yesterday, they are now officially in charge! They have huge dreams for making the shelter a beautiful, streamlined organization, and I know they can do it. There's a lot of work to do, and I hope to be able to help in my small ways. My time is super limited these days, made evident by my lack of posting--but I love going there to work with the dogs. I have no say in the matter--the dogs just suck me in.

I walked into the volunteer room at the shelter this morning and was surprised by this...dog. I hesitate to call him a dog because he can fit in the palms of your hands. Is he a hairless chihuahua? I don't know--but I'm naming him Google because just look at those googly eyes. He's like a craft project gone awry!

I walked this terrier mix and fell in love with her. She looks like a granny with a mohawk, but she's the sweetest thing ever.

This beautiful German shepherd girl won't be at the shelter for long. She is gorgeous, loves getting wet in the baby pool (what?), and is calm for being in a shelter environment.

There were a number of pitbulls at the shelter, as is always the case. Cookie has been there much too long already, which is surprising because she's such a lovebug.

I may not have any self-control when it comes to volunteering at the shelter, but I've been very disciplined about not taking any of them home on a permanent basis. But in all honesty, that's because I have a husband with a strong voice of reason. And I am still much too much of a neatnick (sp?) to have more animals. Shallow though I may be, I'm just not ready to give up on having a clean(ish) house!

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Back to Rescue

I haven't been volunteering at the city shelter for a long time now, and honestly, I don't think I will be going back there anytime soon. There was a lot of ugliness happening, and I'm not ready for more drama. But this weekend, when my friend Sue asked me to help with some new shepherd mixes at Big Dog Rescue, I couldn't turn her down. I'm such a sucker for shepherd mixes.

We think these dogs are German shepherd/Anatolian mixes. These big girls, brought in together and possibly related, didn't know a thing, but they were as sweet as could be. I could not for the life of me get the short-haired one to sit. She simply would not be lured--but that just means I need to go back and work on it with her some more.

This fluffy one is named Mocha. That blonde long-haired coat--gorgeous!

We were told both girls were aggressive toward little dogs. Hard to say for sure with the fence in between, but Mocha didn't seem too bothered by little Maddy.

This gorgeous white shepherd mix was fearful, preferring the safety of her little house. But I heard she got adopted a couple days ago--hooray! She deserves a terrific home, and I know she will warm up to be a fabulous companion.

And this lucky dog is getting adopted by someone in Sue's family! That's one of the perks of helping at a dog rescue--you get first pick!

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Dog Rescue Heaven

Lately, with all the political mess going on at the city animal shelter, I have been disinclined to continue volunteering there. The training volunteers that I worked so closely with for the past several months have had to stop coming, due to verbal threats made by some of the shelter staff. While I feel badly for the other dogs there, Francie was the one that I had the most connection with, and now that she's out of the shelter system, I decided to check out another local rescue. Big Dog Rescue is not far from our house, so my husband and I went for a volunteer orientation there yesterday.

Even though the name is Big Dog Rescue, this sanctuary houses much more than just big dogs. There are little dogs, too, along with horses, emus, goats and birds.

Here are some of the resident dogs. It's not clear to me whether these dogs are for adoption or if they just live here permanently. There doesn't seem to be much distinction between the two. Among them were two Mexican hairless dogs. The brown one at the top of this rise is Elvis.

And appropriately, this one is Priscilla. I was curious about how it felt to pet them, and boy, do they feel strange! It feels like you're petting someone's knee...that's the best way I can think of to describe the texture.

Most of the adoptable dogs live in large pens with 2-3 other dogs, depending on their size and temperament. I got to walk this sight hound mix, Jag, who shares his pen with two other dogs and has plenty of room to run.

My husband walked lab/shepherd mix Lucas. Isn't he adorable? Cabana would love this little guy--he's the perfect size and so playful. But no, we're not shopping for dogs to bring home! Need to refocus and stay on task here....

After walking the trails for a while, we let the dogs run in this huge arena. The ground looks like it's covered in gravel, but it's actually made of recycled shredded rubber for shock absorption.

My husband reminds me of a taller version of the Dog Whisperer here.

We were blown away by the beauty of this place! Dogs must feel like they are already rescued and entered heaven here. But as the owner of this rescue says, beautiful grounds and lots of space are great, but they're not a substitute for a home and a family. Maybe not, but I can think of worse ways to spend a few months while waiting for the right person to come along.

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Male Bonding

Today, my wonderful and supportive husband went with me to volunteer at the shelter. Saturday isn't one of my normal volunteer days, but I was worried that with Easter tomorrow, a lot of the regular volunteers might not be able to make it. The training director and other volunteers were enthralled that I had brought my husband. There are woefully few male volunteers there for some reason. Perhaps it's the same reason why there are disproportionately few male puppy raisers? I figure it has to do with the nurturing instinct.

This is Salem. I've been told that when he first came to the shelter, no one could get near him. But after tons of rehabilitative efforts, he is a gentle giant. Sweet as can be and look at that happy grin!

Here he is in the Chuck-It run. See what I mean about how narrow it is? A few more tennis balls bit the dust over the fence today.

My husband had a German shepherd when he was growing up, so when I saw this shepherd mix come into the shelter, I hoped my husband would have a chance to meet him. I suspect this shepherd had a little to do with his decision to volunteer today...in addition to wanting to spend time with me, of course.

This dog and another male German shepherd were picked up together as strays two weeks ago. I was shocked that the owners hadn't come to claim them. A few days ago, the other shepherd got a new home.

And this one is probably going to get adopted lickity split. Here he gets a cuddle on my husband's lap. The shepherd looks like he's about 2-years old, was super mellow once we got him out of the kennel, and walked calmly on leash for my husband. Yes, we'd kind of like to keep him for ourselves, but we know he doesn't need us. He'll be adopted so quickly that the shelter isn't even bothering to give him a name.

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Our Own Dogtown

After watching every episode of every season of the show Dogtown on Netflix, I have been itching to help shelter dogs get adopted. Martha has been inspirational to me with her stories of volunteering at her local humane society. This past week, my husband came across a plea online for volunteer dog trainers at our local animal shelter, so I gladly signed up. Today was my first session with the shelter training director, who strongly believes that every dog in the shelter should have the opportunity to get basic obedience training (sit, down, wait, stay, leash walking). It will help them be more adoptable and help them transition more successfully to their new homes. She proudly told me that this shelter's annual euthanasia rate is 1.3%, which I thought was awesome.

The story of this chocolate lab was in our local papers, brought into the shelter because he had been found roaming the streets in a severely emaciated state. He weighed less than 40 pounds, about half what he should weigh, and his hind-end fur had been lost to urine burns.

Here's what he looks like today, on a walk with a volunteer. He has gained over 20 pounds and is doing great. The former owner was arrested and faces a felony dog cruelty charge.

Kelti is a sweet 3-year old yellow lab who has lived her whole life in a backyard without attention or direction.

I got to walk Kelti for a little while today, but she was just all over the place on the leash. She doesn't respond to her name (which, granted, may not have been her name for very long), so we're starting at ground zero. It's sad to think that no one took the time to teach her something as basic as "sit" for the past three years.

Like all shelters, our shelter is inundated with pit bulls. It seemed like almost half the dogs there were pits. This one is extremely sweet and totally adoptable to someone who can handle a high energy dog.


I'll get assigned to two dogs and spend 2-4 hours a week working with them. Hopefully, I'll get to see them progress and improve and go to great families and homes. Maybe they'll even get dog blogs of their own someday!

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