Getting it done

After some rushed cleaning because we ended up being a little short handed it was on with the day. I guess since it is summertime and children are still out of school is the main reason for us still having a lot of traffic through the shelter during the weekdays. Whatever it is I like seeing it and I know the dogs are as well.

Of course early on though I had some free time after our morning meeting and making sure the laundry was started, the garbage taken out, and the dishes were soaked. Once all the chores had been done though it was time to go hang out with some dogs. I first hung out with Jack and Sweetie who are an older duo that have been in the shelter for some time now. It's always tough to get a bonded pair adopted together let alone one this is getting up in years so it is always nice to be able to give them some well deserved loving when anyone has any time.

Next I moved on to a dog I really hadn't spent any time with, it was with one of our second chance dogs named Beatrice. She is a Sheppard mix that really can intimidate you when she is barking in her kennel. The thing is though once you go in she settles down, lays on your lap and just wants to be loved on. I spent a good half an hour with her and whenever I stopped petting her she would lightly paw my arm and stick her head under my hand to not let up. She was even protective of me if a stranger came up she would run to the front of the kennel to check it out and once she knew everything was O.K. she would come back, lay down, and want to be petted more.

After all of the time with the dogs I got a call over the radio for a showing with Fergie, this little terrier that just became available today. I was actually surprised that no one else had wanted to see her up to this point. I went over the profile and everything seemed pretty good minus everyone not being her to meet her yet. I explained how the animal has some allergies and why she was originally relinqueshed to us the mother and daughter were ready to meet. After only a few minutes the dog warmed up and the family was in love. The showing couldn't have gone any better but the family wanted to put a hold on her until everyone else could come meet. I then informed that it was our policy not to hold any animals and we work on a first come first serve basis. They understood so the woman called her husband to leave work to come meet the animal. Thirty minutes later he was there and playing with Fergie as well. Now just the son had to meet but he was at baseball camp until later in the afternoon but we didn't think it would be a problem. The family ended up putting a 100 dollar adoption deposit that if it didn't work out the shelter could keep it as a donation. Luckily though when the son finally came he loved the dog as well. The adoption was a go but unfortuantely Fergie wasn't able to go home just yet, she was scheduled for a dental the next day so we all felt it best that she stayed at the shelter rather than bouncing around and getting more stressed out.

During the time that this extremely long adoption was going on I got word that White Lightning, our resident bad hair cut huskie was adopted as well. I didn't know but it had pretty much been sealed yesterday but we were just waiting on rental agreement which came in today. Two adoptions on a Tuesday makes for a pretty good day if you ask me.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful with a few more showings but nothing panning out. I did get to spend some time with a sweet terrier mix named Tiberius. He is the type that rolls over on his back the moment you try to pet him. The sad thing is the med staff did a biopsy on a large lump on his chest and found it to be a level one which isn't horrible but not benine either. They ended up having to remove the lump plus a few centemeters in all directions as well. He now has the nickname Frankenstein but he seems to be doing well and keeping his good spirits. Here is a picture of the sweet little guy.


You can always leave here with a smile on your face when you are able to not only spend quality time with the animals but more importantly find them new homes. In the end you can only hope that more and more people realize the amazing animals that can come from a shelter and those people turn to adoptions rather than online breeders or malls.