Petrie has a forever home

The ultimate "people dog", Petrie, has found his own person; he was adopted yesterday. I hope to get back to regular dog walking next week. This past week our Monday and Tuesday was cataract removal and followup day for Al. He is doing great!

Annie

Walking Annie is a pleasure, she's a "Stop and smell the roses" kind of dog and very good on the leash. Yes, she is a few pounds overweight and should get more exercise, most of us can relate. Annie is an eight year old Lab/Chow mix and very sweet; according to her background, she has been an easy going family dog. Let's hope she finds a family with young children again who can give her daily workouts.

Petrie

The Humane Society was unusually quiet today. As I was walking by each kennel to see who needed a walk; there was Petrie, huge chihuahua eyes and a pleading whimper that convinced me he would be my first buddy today. When I'm doing doggy walks, I let the dog the set the agenda. I figure that they do not yet have their own person, so I try to give them whatever they want for a walk. Petrie made his agenda known. Though he was wildly excited to begin his walk, as soon as we got outside he made it clear that he wanted to be picked up and carried for a little while, standing up on his hind feet then contentedly settling into my arms for a few minutes. I saw that the exercise area was vacant so I took him in there to play and burn off some energy before our WALK actually got started. Petrie just loved it, racing around chasing balls and toys. He is supposedly a chihuahua miniature pinscher mix but he sure seems to have some greyhound in him; he is fast. Suddenly he came to a stop and ran to the gate, he had spotted some of the Humane Society staff having a break outside and he wanted to go see them.

After a short visit, we continued our walk interrupted only by his desire to connect with the few people we encountered. Backing up a bit, once he burned off some of his almost boundless energy chasing balls, he was actually quite good on the leash. When we got back to the shelter, he was surprisingly eager to go in the front door; he wanted to visit the staff at the front desk. In the nearly six weeks I've been volunteering, this is the most "people oriented" dog I've encountered. He just loves people, especially the Humane Society staff.

Drake has a forever home

Drake has been adopted. With his winning personality, let's hope there are lot's of dog park visits in his future!

Blue has a forever home

Blue was adopted yesterday (Thursday). As you know, adoption information is confidential but I know he is making some family a truly wonderful pet.

If any of you would ever like to come along on a doggy walk; I'm usually there on Tuesday afternoons and sometimes Saturdays. I would love your company.

Blue

I went into the dog area to select my walking buddy and, as usual, lots of barking. It's funny but sometimes you tend to notice the quiet kennels more than the others; that was how I selected Blue. Blue is a seven year old Chow and so fuzzy that unless you really really look at him you cannot see his face. As soon as he saw me put the walk tag on his kennel he came to his back exit door to meet me. I got my first close up look at his cute squashed-in and happy Chow face. It was my first experience of this breed so I did not know what to expect. I think he was a little insecure about leaving the building because for about fifteen minutes, he was reluctant to go more than about 50 yards from the front door of the Humane Society. On reading his background, he was mostly an indoor dog, so I guess this makes sense. Once he got a bit more comfortable with our walk, he was really impressive, prancing as though he was in a show ring and just excellent on the leash. Of course lots of wagging every time I said his name or petted him. Once our walk ended, I figured he was going to be relieved to get back to the familiarity of the shelter but he actually wanted to linger longer. He is really a sweet and intelligent dog.

Just a note, I hope this comes out right; I know that you care about animals but if my little ruminations here at Good Dog, give you concerns and sad feelings and you would like to be removed from my updates; I completely understand. Just let me know. You can still check in whenever you want, you know how to find it. If you were not so sweet and caring, I would not consider you friends!

Drake

Drake is a two year old German Wire Haired Pointer, who absolutely loves other dogs. The Humane Society is busy on Saturdays so just getting him down the hall and out the door to start our walk was challenging, since he does need more leash training and he insists on meeting and greeting every single dog he sees. He is also very strong. I was able to get some background information on him and his former life included other dogs, cats and young children; unfortunately his family had to move and could not take him along. I think he is likely just very lonely. After our walk, it was really a struggle to get him to go back into his kennel - HE IS NOT A LONER. I did not think of it until just now, but when the shelter opens again tomorrow, I'm going to give them a call and see if they might consider getting him a kennel mate. He is a real sweetie.