Two Socks

It was so busy and noisy at the shelter on a late Saturday morning that I almost walked right by his kennel. Two Socks, a five year old gray Shih Tzu -with two white socks -was standing (I think) quietly looking (I think) at me. He resembled a scraggly little gray mop, no eyes showing but an odd little grin with just his lower teeth apparent. He had not yet had a volunteer walk, so he would be my choice. As I went to his back door to get him, he was happy to get petted, but seemed confused about getting collared for a walk; he did not seem to know the routine.

As we were walking down the hall, Two Socks made these odd grunt/growl sounds as he bounced along, if you've ever heard piglets grunting around, that is how it sounded. The staff said they thought it was just inward sneezes. He seemed to do less of it out on the walk. Al's suggestion (from my description) was possibly post nasal drip.

Our first stop was the exercise yard, though Two Socks seemed to enjoy running around for balls, he still did not seem to know what to make of things. Unfortunately we were just about five minutes into our walk when I looked up to see a large privately owned dog barreling down on us. Two Socks, curious but not afraid, was still happy when I picked him up to safety. He was very comfortable being held, no squirming at all. As our walk continued he was very good on the leash doing the usual amount of sniffing but mostly wanting to be beside me. There was quite a bit of snow around and when we were about ten minutes from the shelter on our return, I noticed he had really slowed down. I looked down and saw that his paws were so packed with snow that he could no longer pick them up! We finished our walk with me carrying him, his heavy paws dangling.

Back at the shelter I finally read his profile and it explained a lot. This was his first full day at the shelter, this walk was his first walk by a volunteer and he is here because his owner recently passed away. Two Socks has had lots of adjustments to make very recently and, all things considered, he seems to be doing very well. Let's hope he finds his new person soon since he still seems a little confused but clearly is used to being close to someone.