Maggie has a forever home

Maggie the extremely cute cocker/terrier mix was adopted yesterday. My next volunteer adventure with the Humane Society is going to be handing out pet safety information at the Bend Pet Parade on July 4th. Hope to see you there.

Buford

When you walk through the dog area you generally have to be in front of each kennel to see each dog, since the kennel sides are solid to about three feet off the floor giving the dogs privacy from each other. Buford is a very sweet and social four year old beagle and no three foot barrier is going to keep him from attempting to connect. As I glanced down the row of kennels, I saw these beagle ears flying as he jumped in his kennel. Even though I expected he might be a "puller"since he was so enthusiastic, he was just such a beautiful beagle I could not pass him by. As soon as I opened his door to collar him, I told him to sit and he did. I used an extended leash with him to give him the opportunity to do lots of expanded sniffing in an open weedy field near 27th street. Being a hound, he loved exploring with his nose, but about every five minutes he happily trotted back to me and wagged just to check in. He was very good on the leash, no pulling at all during our walk. When we returned and encountered other dogs near the shelter, he really wanted to visit. He was surrendered to the shelter from a multi -dog home and he just loves other dogs. I believe this is likely the reason for his jumping in his kennel, he just wants to see the other dogs. He is really a wonderful and beautiful dog.

Maggie

I intended to walk completely through the dog area to assess who had not yet had a walk by a volunteer, before selecting my walking buddy; I did not get past the first kennel. Maggie, sitting up and waving hello is "show stopper" cute. According to her profile she is a four year old cocker/terrier mix but she looks very much like an un-clipped miniature poodle and seems just as smart. After my scary adventure last week I decided stay out of the open desert however I figured the dogs would still like to rough it, so I found a large weedy area fairly close in for our walk. Maggie made it clear that she preferred mowed grass, sidewalks and quiet paved roads. We walked according to Maggie's agenda and had a great time. She is really a sweetie.

When I left the shelter, I met Al at the Bend Genealogy annual yard sale and while thinking of my long-ago family, I remembered I had a Great Aunt Maggie and Uncle Buford. Buford the beagle is cuter.

Haley has a forever home

Haley, the perfect leash puppy, was adopted Saturday.

Haley

It happens so often, but when you are at the shelter on busy noisy days you tend to notice the dogs who are being quiet. Haley was sitting at the back of her kennel watching everything going on around her; she was my first walking buddy of the day. Haley is a really cute Pomeranian/ Border collie mix, just about a year old and new to the shelter, this was just her fourth day. Being just a little beyond puppy hood, she was interested in everything , birds in the brush, holes, lizards, you name it. Unfortunately when we were at our furthest point out in the open desert, we came upon a fresh skeleton of a very large raccoon (tail intact). It was not until this time that I recalled Maryann's warning to be wary of cougars when doing my dog walking in Bend. I decided to continue walking and within about twenty yards, Haley just put her ears back and froze, this was enough for me. I don't know whether or not a cougar was lounging under one of the desert shrubs but we turned around and continued our walk much closer to the shelter. Haley gets my "Best Dog on a Leash" award; her first volunteer walk of the day and the leash remained slack throughout the walk!

Manny

I decided that walk buddy number two would be "the largest dog I could find"; if there was a cougar out there, we were NOT going to make it easy. Manny is a very sweet and very large seven year old pointer lab mix. As we left the shelter, I felt confidant that all was well and we would have a good walk. Manny had other plans. As usual, our first stop was the exercise yard; Manny went in, but sat at the gate and would not move. As we left the exercise area for the open desert, Manny made it clear that his preference was the parking lot. He wanted to be near everyone getting into a car and to sniff every car. He does obey, so he walked with me (tail dragging) several yards down the desert path, however I soon realized he was trying to tell me that he wanted to go for a ride, not a walk. As soon as he realized we were going to get in my car he perked up and jumped into the back seat. I had been to Costco so he was crowded between groceries but happy. He was very well behaved sitting up in the middle getting maximum AC in his face and not even sniffing the groceries. When we returned to the shelter, I realized I should have gotten permission before taking him for a ride - next time I'll know. Manny is such a sweetie.