Lots and lots of dogs

Being the early shift I have learned that taking dogs out for their morning break can be a little tougher than originally thought. The task of trying to fit 40 dogs into about 25 runs can be a bit of a puzzle at times. Especially when you are dealing with certain animals that are ether on quarantine or recently spayed/neutered and are on restricted activity. Eventually though we get it done and some how find a way for everyone to get along with each other and have a nice morning break out in the grass (or fake grass for those on restrictions). One note I have to mention is that while I was taking out one of the new dogs she was jumping all over me and scratching my arms. When I went back up to the kennels I noticed a little blood on my arm but realized it wasn't mine. It turns out the dog was bleeding a little and just so happened to get it on me right where she was scratching me. I made sure that she was OK and passed along the information to our med staff to take a look at her when she goes through intake.

I started on the East side kennels (healthy dogs) and once that was done I headed over to the West where all of the second chance dogs are being housed. I was pretty surprised to see that it was rather clean in comparison to groups in the past. Even though it was clean there were two dogs that were still very timid and I decided just to leave them in their kennel rather than add more stress on them by dragging them out when you could tell they wouldn't have come peacefully.

When I finished the sickies I was about to go and start bringing them back up when I noticed that they were getting their photos taken for the website. They were also getting their first bath and heading into the med room for their intakes which consists of weighing, vaccinating, checking for some behavioral issues, and an overall physical exam. Hey, I wasn't complaining, it meant that the ten new arrivals would be brought up for me, or rather eight since two were still hanging out in their kennel. Here is a picture of one of the boxer mixes that I'm sure I will grow attached to, as I do with all of the dogs in the shelter.

Of course I couldn't forget about the rabbits. Once I finished all of the dogs it was my responsibility to care for the rabbits since the other staff member is extremely allergic to them. I was able to knock them out pretty quickly but had some difficulty with a new bonded pair that was brought in this weekend. I'm not sure of their names but they should be Ali and Frasier. These little guys wouldn't bite but they sure would swat the hell out of my hands. Luckily I was able to get their hay box out and change the blanket without too much damage to my hands but I can honestly say I would not want to do that again. Hopefully they adjust soon because as they are now they will be a tough pair to adopt out.

Today same as yesterday there were a huge number of dishes piled up and the laundry was overflowing since we were still out of propane and didn't have any hot water. I usually am happy when I don't have to do laundry but when you finally get caught up with it there is a problem and the whole cycle of falling behind happens. Now we are so short on towels that we are having to pull them from the cattery to wash dogs. Hopefully the company will fill it up soon because washing dishes all the way in the cattery is a little annoying.

Not too many showings today. In fact the only ones that I did seemed to be babysitters or nanny's that were bringing in children to visit with kittens. I was a little perturbed at the notion that our shelter was being treated like a petting zoo but what can you do, if the profile is alright you have to show them the animals. I just get annoyed because they are taking time away from the other animals that need attention and caring for.

After a busy day of cleaning and taking care of the old refrigerator it was time to bring the dogs out for the evening break. I have to say it was pretty funny when I was taking out a pair of schnauzers that seemed to play peeing leap frog. While I was walking them one would lift his leg until his brother would pull him and interrupt him. Then the other brother would start to pee and the same thing would happen all the way down to the dog runs. I thought it was worth mentioning because it really did put a grin on my face. I did feel bad for the guys but at least they were exercising their kidneys.

There weren't any adoptions today but a few adopters that were waiting on their animals to be altered came in and visited. We also got an update on Mohawk and his new life, it was great to see one of our animals that had been in the shelter so long playing tug of war with his new older sister. Definitely the reward for doing the job that we do. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that one of the strays that we had taken in last week and transferred to county became available to the public and since our med staff fell in love with her we decided to bring her back to our shelter to give her a better chance of getting adopted. The named her Cinderella and here is a picture of the cutie French Bulldog mix.