This is to give you my impressions of volunteering for the Central Oregon Humane Society by walking dogs. When I update the site, I'll just let you know with an email. If you need to be added to my list, let me know: sbraemer4@gmail.com. So far I'm finding that the Humane Society is a very cheerful place full of people who really care about the animals.
Right or wrong your tivia answer feeds a shelter dog
One look at this incredibly sweet 6 month old puppy and my first buddy of the day was a no brainer. Moses is a pit bull mix who loves everyone and this includes other dogs and cats! Once inside his kennel, hugs and cuddles were my preamble to getting him harnessed. Since he had been out for several walks already, I signed him out for obedience drills. The Shelter has an enrichment program for each dog to keep boredom low and adoptability high.
This wonderful puppy is excellent at fetch, come, sit and leash walking. We enjoyed ourselves in the exercise yard for about 30 minutes then called it a day. Let's hope some lucky family finds this wonderful dog soon.
I was going to be Patty's first volunteer, ever; I crossed my fingers and opened her back door. She is a pretty Shepherd mix and just about four years old. She was of course happy to be going out and was surprisingly quiet and easy to harness. I had been alerted by a staff member that she might pull on the leash, so I was ready. Both exercise yards were occupied so we began our walk. At the Shelter we use primarily Sens-ible No Pull harnesses on all the dogs; Patty did a little weaving back and forth but no pulling, she was easy to walk with this type of harness.
On our return the exercise yard was free and Patty was able to run. She has tremendous energy to burn, and began happily racing around stopping only when she spotted a staff person near the fence. She has been at the shelter just over a week and clearly bonded with several of the employees, I'm always happy seeing these bonding behaviors.
I think that once Patty gets into the routine of going out with volunteers and being trained on a daily basis she will improve but even though this was her first volunteer time out , she came when she was called and sat on command. Except for a little inappropriate jumping for joy, Patty did really well.
This dog was found by the Sunriver Police / Citizen's Patrol Saturday (2-15) near Circle 7. Al and Carolyn were on patrol and drove in the area for quite awhile attempting to see if anyone was looking for her or knew anything about her - no luck. She is now at the shelter listed as a stray where, hopefully, her owner can claim her. So....... if you know of anyone who was in Sunriver President's Weekend who might be able to find this dog's family please forward this information. According to Al, she is a young American Short Hair Pointer, very timid but otherwise OK. Thanks.
A busy noisy Saturday at the shelter, the first time I walked by Drew's kennel I thought it was empty, a second look revealed Drew quietly sleeping on his white bed. This is one calm dog. Drew is a beautiful Lhasa Apso, about two and from the overcrowded California shelter so nothing is known of his background. Drew had already been out on two walks so I opted for fun and obedience in the exercise yard.
Once in the yard Drew was pure energy, dashing everywhere, stopping only for back rubs - which he loves. When he slowed down for some sniffing I took the opportunity to do some obedience drills. He's good at come, pretty good at sit, but gets distracted when other dogs are within sight. Surprisingly he is close to being able to heel but, once again, other dogs distract him. I think he will be very easy to manage when he has his own family and training sessions can be free of distractions.
Back in his kennel, he quietly had a long cool drink of his water then hopped right back on to his bed. He is such a cute little guy, let's hope he finds his own family soon since he is very tuned into and distracted by the multitude of surrounding dogs.
It's amazing, when I started volunteering here about three years ago I believed all the negative urban myths about Pit Bulls. The Pit Bulls we volunteers encounter are nearly all like Fifi - total love bugs. A little history here, before unscrupulous people did some terrible things to this wonderful breed, they were referred to as Nanny Dogs because of their gentle and devoted behaviors around children. Fifi is about 8 months, her sweet expressive face says it all. I've noticed her for several weeks but this was my first chance to take her out. As soon as I entered her kennel she was beside me, snuggling and cuddling. Getting her harnessed was so easy. She had already been out for several walks so I opted for some obedience drills in the exercise yard. She was great at sit, come and heel, fetch is not her thing; considering she is still a puppy, very impressive. Now to the lack of a video...
After I returned Fifi to her kennel I went out to the car and thought I'd clear off some of the excess photos on my phone before continuing Bend errands. Major oops; I deleted all Fifi's videos, my heart sank! Pit Bulls need all the help they can get, to be adopted (adopters must prove home ownership) and Fifi had already been at the shelter for nearly a month. It was late in the day, I did not have time to get a new series of videos. I was feeling pretty glum going about my Bend errands when I spotted a Verizon store, maybe the videos were still on my phone - hiding. I told the Verizon rep the situation, he tried his best; he thought Fifi was adorable when he managed to recover one photo. Coincidentally, he had an equally lovable Pit Bull at home who is identical to her but a little older. As I left the store he asked which shelter was Fifi's current home. I would go back to the shelter the next day and get some cute videos of Fifi.
Next morning:
As I checked into the shelter, the staff told me that Fifi had just been adopted. No specifics of course since that is confidential but..... her new family includes an equally lovable Pit Bull who is identical to her but is a little older. Don't you just love fate!
You know me, I always seem to have positive experiences with each dog though none of them are perfect - till now! Meet Susie, she's as close as it gets ; you'll just have to read on and reach your own conclusion. She's somewhere between one and two, mostly miniature poodle but I'm guessing there is some Bedlington Terrier in her DNA since she looks a lot like a little lamb.
Susie was super friendly and bouncing excitedly but settled quickly as I got her harnessed and ready for her first volunteer outing of the day at about 1:30. The exercise yard came first for stretching, sniffing and general prancing around. For a bouncy young dog she quickly settled down once again as soon as I told her it was time to get her harness back on so we could begin our walk. Off we went.
She did the usual sniffing, that every dog does but as we continued I noticed that she was trotting along beside me (slack leash) and staying mentally connected by looking up at me every few seconds (video). Except for a few sniff stops, this is the way Susie walks on the leash with no prompting. I stopped a couple of times and she stood patiently, looking up for cues. At one stop, I sat on a bench and invited her up; she immediately hopped up, laid down beside me snuggling close and, once again, waited to see what I wanted her to do.
We had another stop in the exercise yard on our return for some basic obedience checks. She's very good at come, sit and shake (paw). She was again easily harnessed as I readied her to return to her kennel. She calmly laid down her bed as soon as she was back inside. One characteristic I find so appealing is her calm, solid demeanor, somewhat unusual for a young small dog in her current situation. She is one of the dogs from an over crowded shelter in California so nothing is known of her background. She is going to be some lucky person's most wonderful friend and soul mate, let's hope it is soon.
