RJ has a forever home

RJ has been adopted; I have no info as to whether he has gone to a person needing a dog with his skills but I know he will be a wonderful addition to any family. We are still back East till the end of the month.

RJ

The combination of the kids being back in school and me arriving at the shelter early (10:30), resulted in lots of walking buddies to choose from. I noticed a VERY large yellow lab who was standing patiently, wagging and shifting his considerable weight back and forth. I read the volunteer's comments posted on his kennel: "loves to be brushed, loves to be bathed, loves to be petted". RJ, a six year old lab just seems to love people and every kind of interaction. He would be my walking buddy today.

We started our walk at a pretty fast clip; I hoped the exercise yard would be vacant so I could wear him out a little - it wasn't. As we started into the open desert he improved on the leash so that I did not have to use a "no pull" wrap around. I had just gotten a new GPS so I thought I'd try it during our walk. RJ was clipping right along but the minute I stopped to get the GPS out of my pocket he stopped, came around to my side and stood there looking up at me. He did this completely on his own. Once I put the GPS back in my pocket and said "let's go", he started walking again. Ten minutes or so later, I got out the GPS and the same thing happened; not a word from me; RJ just stopped came around to my side, stood there and watched me until I told him we were ready to walk again. This occurred several times throughout our walk of about an hour.

As we returned, the exercise yard was vacant so that was our last stop. RJ just loves the water, his drink at the kiddie pool was a whole body immersion drink. Also he can sit and go down (for treats) which does not surprise me, since he is such a people oriented dog.

Like lots of the dogs at the shelter, he came in as a stray, so we will never know his background; but somewhere in his life he has learned to closely monitor people the way therapy dogs do. It would be wonderful if he found a home where the people need him as much as he needs them. He is really a special dog.

We will be back East till the end of the month, so Good Dog will be quiet till then. Bonnie will be cat sitting for Gus so he will be getting spoiled and having a vacation here at home.

Clementine has a forever home

Clementine was adopted yesterday. As always adoption information is confidential but I'm betting that it was someone who has taken the time to really know her, so her match up will be a solid one.

This summer I've seen lots of potential adopters looking at the dogs; puppies seem to get the most attention, followed by dogs who are very cute, waggy and fluffy. A Doberman/Rottweiler mix like Clementine is certainly not fluffy. Whoever has adopted Clementine knows what a special dog she is.

Prestly and Java have a forever home

Prestly and Java were adopted together yesterday. These two little guys are very bonded so it is wonderful that they have landed in a loving "Pug home". Let's hope their new family is fairly laid back.

Clementine

As you all know, I just go through the dog area and select my walking buddy based on who has not yet had a volunteer walk (all of the dogs get walked by the staff, mornings and late afternoons). I arrived at the same time as another volunteer who uses the same selection process so after going for the same dog, I wound up with Clementine. She is a five year old Doberman/Rottweiler mix; a fairly large dog and very strong. You may have guessed by now, I have a little prejudice against Rottweilers; no reason, but it is there. She looked sweet though and while all the other neighbor dogs were barking loudly, she was just waiting for me and wagging at her back door.

Maybe I was a little antsy, but as soon as I opened her back door she slipped by me. There I was collar in hand, Clementine excitedly running around and every other dog barking loudly. I held out the chain collar, told her to come, grabbed her little plastic collar, told her to sit and was happily surprised when, despite all the confusion and noise, she did exactly what I told her to do.

She pulled on the leash somewhat as we were leaving the shelter, she really needed to "find a shrub;" however, Clementine is such a strong dog that I could not tolerate her pulling on her leash. I used the "no-pull" leash wrap under and just behind her front legs for just a few yards; this does not hurt the dog but it quickly tells them that "pulling is not OK". Within just a few minutes she stopped pulling and we walked the rest of the way with just a plain choke collar. After our walk we stopped in the exercise yard and I was, by this time, not surprised that she could sit, go down, and shake hands (for a treat).

She was brought to the shelter as a stray just about two weeks ago and, when I described her to my "resident vet", she apparently has fairly recently been a mom. I guess none of us will know what Clementine has been through but she sure has impressed me.

Coco

Another busy summer day at the shelter, potential adopters all over the place and quite a few volunteers running around but somehow Coco had not yet had a volunteer walk. She is "mostly Kelpie", around 30 pounds and at just nine months, still a puppy. She is the second Kelpie I've walked so I was prepared to be impressed and I was not disappointed. We started in the exercise yard, she is able to fetch and return the ball about 90% of the time. After I figured she had burned off some energy, we started our walk. I let her do some sniffing and path side exploring but generally she stayed by my side, no pulling; or walked in front of me looking back at me every few minutes, taking responsibility for our connection. This eye contact trait is what good Kelpie cattle dogs do.

About 20 minutes into our walk she spotted a bench in the shade, crawled up on to it and laid down. She is very affectionate, so when I sat down she of course crawled on to my lap. Being a hot day, I told her she had to be content with sitting beside me. We must have looked so funny because she had to sit as close as possible, leaning on me and every few minutes giving me a puppy kiss. After about ten minutes she was rested and ready to continue our walk. I decided to see if she could sit on command (for treats). On the first attempt I had to give her a prompt with a push on her rump, but that was all it took; she sat on command quickly after that. On the way back to the shelter, we had another stop in the exercise yard; we did a little more of fetch but she mostly wanted to lay on the cool grass beside me and get petted. She is an amazing puppy; smart, affectionate and eager to please. I know her DNA will make her a terrific herd dog but her heart will make her an even better pet to some lucky owner.

Blizzard has a forever home

Blizzard, the calm and relaxed kitty from the county fair day has been adopted.