Tails from an Animal Shelter, My Adventure

It's been a few weeks and there has been a lot of changes

2010-07-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to sit down and share some of the new experiences I am having at the shelter but it has honestly been tough to sit down and focus myself for the time that it takes to collect my thoughts on the week. I'll do my best to catch up on some of the projects I have been working on here at a local humane society.

My main focus lately has been spreading the word about how unique and special our private little humane society is. I'm not taking the traditional approach but rather the grass roots one. Because we have been around our town for so long the best way to get people involved is to physically go out and talk to those people. In doing so I am learning their perspectives on things as well as new ways that their business or time might better serve our community and shelter at large.

Recently I have been working on a few local events to promote adoptions as well as educate people on what the mission of our shelter and many others around the county. I have learned that tying in like businesses is a great way to make a successful event as well as build the relationships that are necessary for our shelter to grow.

With all of this going on a lot of my time is still spent on our largest fundraiser of the year. We are currently working on sponsorships so my cold calling, pop ins, and sales skills are finally coming in handy again. This is kind of the bitter/sweet part of it all. I love helping the shelter and I am 110% confident in what we do but when it comes down to it I am still selling a product and unfortunately not getting as much time with the animals.

All in all I have to say that this new position is a great fit for me. It is allowing me to use my skills and knowledge of the shelter to help it grow and continue to be successful. I just hope that once I settle in I will get some time to go and hang with some animals because I really do miss that aspect of it all.

Hopefully it won't be to long before the next installment and I appreciate everyone reading. By the way, if any of you have any ideas for some sponsorships I would love to hear them. Keep up the great work everyone!

My last day as an adoption counselor

2010-07-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

When I first began this job I honestly didn't think that it was going to last as long as it has. There were so many things that I really had to adjust to when I first began over a year ago. I have to say it was more the pay than anything else that took the real adjusting, the poop and manual labor was pretty easy to get accustomed to.

It has been an amazing experience to work hands on in not only taking care of the animals but more importantly helping them find their forever homes. It has certainly been a roller coaster with a lot of tears shed and even more smiles smiled.

I have seen everything and every type of dog there is to see. I was amazed at how much I actually learned in the past year or so working in the kennels. I gained a better appreciation for the volunteers that spend their time with the animals and also for the kennel staff themselves and how much work actually goes into maintaining a working shelter.

There are a lot of things that I am going to miss moving into my new position. It's hard to actually name just a few because this job has to be one of the most rewarding there is. From hanging out with the animals and loving on them to making sure that they are healthy and feeling well. Selfish me of though is going to say that I will miss adoption out the dogs the most. The feeling that I got when one of these animals found their new home was a new high for me. It was amazing to know that I played a part in making sure that the rest of their life was going to be the best one that it could be.

With all of this came those down times too. The days where all you wanted to do was lock your self in a kennel and pet a dog all day long. Those days were few and far between but when they came they came with force.

Closing out, I have learned more at this job than almost anything else I have done professionally. I have grown as a person by leaps and bounds working with these amazing animals. You might ask why I am no longer going to do it and I have a pretty simple answer. I think that I can help more animals in a new position that would bring more awareness to our shelter as well as more funding. I know that there are going to be those days that I wish I could just go back to the kennels and hang out and maybe I will but my focus now is letting everyone in our community know how special our rescue is and how we have now been doing this for fifty years. I will try and continue to blog even though it's not as exciting as getting animals adopted but I have a feeling there are going to be some highs worth sharing. Thanks everyone for all of the comments and support that you have given me. I look forward to you comments and of course reading your stories about all of the good work that you do in your area. Oh yeah, the picture up top is some of our senior one eyed dogs that all love to play together, not to many places you get to see that in life!

There is always something new

2010-06-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been a little busy lately and I know that it is showing in my lack of blogs, but I still want to continue to share my experiences in the animal shelter world. This past week was pretty insane, just when you think you have seen it all something new pops in.

I want to briefly talk about the hectic Saturday that I had at the front desk this past week. First, I have never seen so many animals brought in either as strays or people trying to relinquish them. Before we even opened a young lady tried dropping off her two seven year old labs that she can no longer care for. I explained how our system works and took her information but unfortunately she had to get rid of them today. I understand that the majority of people do everything they can to keep their pets, but I wish that they would also prepare a little more for finding them a new home rather than waiting until the last minute.

Before the doors even opened we also had a stray visla come in. He was a beautiful dog but had no tags and of course no microchip. I checked on craigslist if anyone had reported him missing but got nothing. In this case, because we are private, we have to call county to come and pick him up. Luckily they were coming because we also got a baby bird that was found on the street along with the strangest stray I have ever seen, a twenty pound desert tortoise. Now, I don't want you all to think that they all just went to county, they actually ended up with Project Wildlife and a tortoise rescue. Pretty strange though how many animals came in missing their loved ones.

The oddest part of the day came when an older woman brought in her blind little dog. She initially said that she had adopted form us about eight years ago. It seemed like she was coming in to have the dog euthanized because his quality of life just wasn't there any more. I searched every computer record that we have for adoptions dating back a decade and found nothing on the "adopter". She said that she was 95% sure that she had gotten him from us. Sadly enough, the animal was suffering and there was nothing that we could do. I'll stop the story there but you get the idea, it was on bad experience that I would soon like to forget. It was just sad that this person didn't know what the right thing to do in her situation.

Moving on, there were some great adoptions. Two that really stood out to me were a couple of bonded cats. And when I say a couple, I mean two sets. It was great to learn that they had found homes together because one of the sets had been here for several months. With the adoptions means that we are bringing in more animals. I stumbled amongst one of the play groups of the new guys and found two one eyed dogs, a blind dog, another with eye issues, and one with just a couple of teeth left. We are so lucky that we are able to take these guys in and find them homes. When I hear someone say that they are too old, I can only reply it took them a long time to get this cute.

We also brought in another ten dogs from another shelter, our second chance animals. I have to say that this bunch might be the cutest I have seen in a long time. I know come Saturday when they all become available there is certain to be a long line out the gate. Thanks for reading everyone and I appreciate all that you guys do for the animals. The picture up top might be in my top five for cutest dogs at the shelter. Her name is Miss Priss and is a six month old boxer mix puppy. Believe it or not, her ears are always up like that!

Slacking on the blog posts

2010-06-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

It really is amazingly easy to sleep in and just skip writing this thing every once in a while. The down side is I don't get to share the ups and the downs of the life of a shelter worker. Even though I haven't been writing, there still has been some exciting things going on at the shelter.

I'll start with all of the puppies finding their forever homes. It was funny that all it took was once day for the remaining three to get adopted. Of course I still think pessimistically and will assume that at least one of them will be back due to their size and energy level. I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best but I also have to prepare myself for the worst.

Monday we ended up closing the shelter down and had all staff training. We began with CPR, the human kind, and worked our way into animal behavior and new adoption information. I have to say, the information was great and gave all of us a new way of looking at how the shelter works. The biggest part was the class on adopting to families with young children. There is to much information to put in this blog but if you have any questions about adopting to young families or families that are planning on having a family, shoot me a comment, I'd be more than happy to share because the information is that valuable to me and the shelter.

Moving on with the week we saw just about everything. Two of our long term dogs that had both been treated for heartworm here at the shelter both found their forever homes. It was sad to see them go because you really do grow so attached but of course it was better to see the smiles on their new families faces. With every adoption though a new face arrives as well. Sometimes it really does get to me. The analogy of mopping up after a waterfall comes to mind when I think about what we do. I have to step back and realize that yes, we can't help them all, but we can educate people and hopefully spread the word that there are many great animal out their waiting to be adopted.

Finally catching up in the week I had an adoption. It was a sweet little dog that had been returned once already due to fear biting. She never broke skin but was reevaluated when she came back to the shelter and was put back up for adoption, to that certain home that would be able to handle her issues. She ended up finding a sweet retired couple that had always rescued dogs and absolutely fell in love with her. Initially we wanted her to go home with another dog to make her feel confident but when this family came in we threw that aside. I know that they will not only give her a great home but she will be a loving pet as well.

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up, if you are still reading out there. I have taken a different position at the shelter that we feel might further the mission of what we are doing here. I will be working directly with the community to educate and spread the word of the great things that we are doing at the shelter. Hopefully I'll still get to hang out with the animals but eventually I think this position could end up not only creating more adoptions but also educating the public and all that we do. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments. Oh yeah, I had to add a few pictures of the adorable kittens that will be up for adoption soon.

A lot of showings

2010-06-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

I got to work a little early today to help out dishing out the meds. There was only one med staff today and when there are a lot of new dogs from another shelter it means that there is going to be a lot of time preparing and giving a few specific medicines. The ones that I helped out on where preparing the dewormer panacur as well as getting all of the doxy and cream cheese ready. The doxy is easy but the panacur has to be measured out according to the weight of the dog and then mixed with wet food. This all took a good half hour since there was a total of eight dogs being treated. Typically any dogs that are part of our second chance program (dogs we bring from another shelter) come in with ghiardia as well as kennel cough so we always treat them even if they don't show any signs of the illness, because typically they are all going to start showing them a few days after arriving.

Moving on with the day, once we were done cleaning and the doors opened for business the showings came rolling in. We knew that there could be quite a few because the eight dogs I previously talked about all became available for adoption today. It's funny when our intake specialist brings them in and you know what ones people are going to be waiting in line for. Today it was a little female one year old "affenpinchser" named Moonstruck. The first three showings of the day were all for her. Amazingly enough though all of the people were great homes but they all wanted to think about it before making their decision. Well, eventually a great couple came in and decided to adopt. We knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

There was two other dogs that got a lot of attention. One was a lab/shepherd puppy mix and a little beagle puppy. The beagle puppy ended up being the first adoption of the day but the puppy was still there as I was about to leave. I actually had a great showing with him and a potential adopter that had actually just recently lost a loved one. It was a pretty sad story but she was looking for a companion to keep her company and giver her that love only a loyal dog can. She wanted to bring her adult son to meet and make sure that Donny the dog was the right one. Of course, as I am leaving she comes back with her son. I checked the web just now and he still isn't adopted. I'll be curious to hear the story from the other adoption counselor about the showing.

That's about it for today, aside from the cleaning and what not. Overall it was a nice day. There can always be more adoptions but there is always tomorrow for that. Thanks for reading everyone and don't forget to thank all of those volunteers out there the donate there time so selflessly. Of course I had to add another picture of our puppies that just don't stop growing!

A whole lot of cleaning

2010-06-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days that I just put my head down and went to work. There was nothing wrong with me and my attitude was good, I just had the motivation to go around and clean. As usual, the morning started with taking all of the dogs down to their runs for their morning break. Once that was done it was time to get scrubbing. I focused my efforts on the South kennels and immediately started spraying everything down with disinfectant. Once everything was lathered up I got to scrubbing. I have to say, there should be an industrial use for bird poop, the amount of elbow grease that you have to put into getting it off of the windows is amazing.

Well, eventually, I got the kennels a little cleaner and began getting all of the breakfasts ready. There were a few special meals for some of our senior guys that recently had dental extractions. Nothing complicated, just wet food. After all of that was done it was time to start bringing the dogs back up. It was nice to see that over the weekend there were a few play groups made and all of the animals were out having fun while we cleaned.

After the morning cleaning I headed back to ISO to clear out the kennels that had recently been used. We actually had six dogs dropped off in front of the shelter in one crate while I was away and they had to be kept back in quarantine until county could come and pick them up. I really don't know what else to say on that topic other than at least the people didn't leave them in the middle of the freeway. Anyways, I digress, I ended up disinfecting the kennels that those dogs were in and soon moved on to the next dirty thing, (there seems to be a never ending supply at the shelter).

Luckily we had a solid staff on so I was able to knock out a few of the cleaning projects, with a lot of help. I noticed that the pet kitchen had already been taken care of today so I moved on to the dirty crates and litter boxes, not my favorite job. I pre soaked everything hoping that the cemented on kitten diarrhea might come off a little easier if I left it for a while. In the mean time I recruited another staff member to help me knock it all out. Amazingly enough, when you have two people who are actually working, some of the things that I usually think are tough become pretty quick and easy.

After all of the cleaning I got a call to help with an interaction. It was with one of our skittish little guys named Chili Willie. When he first came to us he wouldn't even come out of his crate let alone walk on leash. With a little work and patience from everyone at the shelter he has slowly come out of his shell. The interact was a little sketch at first with our little guy trying to act all tough, but after a little walking together both dogs seemed to bet a little more comfortable. We decided to move them into the yards and see how they interacted. It was really more just hanging out than anything else, but they weren't annoying each other either. It wasn't the perfect interact but the couple that was looking to adopt were very dog savvy and the questions and suggestions that they had put me at ease with the adoption. It turns out they absolutely loved the little guy and got to take him home today.

Overall the day goes by so fast when all you do is clean. It was nice to organize a few things and it was even nicer to send a dog home. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments. The pictures are a few of our new arrivals from our second chance program. The more I learn about them I will share with you.

Bouncing Around

2010-06-04T06:24:00.000-07:00

Typically Thursdays for me are spent at the front desk preparing files for recently altered dogs to go home. Today was a little different though because for some odd reason the front desk was pretty slow and everywhere is was incredibly busy.

I started by helping out in the kennels and taking care of cleaning the rabbitat. I almost forgot how where the hay was it had been so long since I had cleaned them, I think around two months or so. It was good to see that there were a few new faces in there along with some familiar ones that I noticed were no longer there because they found their forever homes. Along with seeing who had gotten adopted I also remembered that some rabbits can be real turds. I got complacent after cleaning up after the first three and by the fourth just went straight for his litter box, how quickly I got pounced on. I felt bad for the little guy because I obviously startled him but boy did he get my heart racing when he went after me. Eventually I was able to calm him down and was even able to pet him on his nose. I do have to say, after not cleaning them for so long my allergies really kicked up again.

Once that was done I went back to medical to check on a few dog files for animals that would be going home today. When I went back though I realized that it was yet another surgery day and things were kind of hectic. Luckily the front desk was well covered with qualified people so I stayed back in back to help out as best as I could, I actually felt as though I was more in the way than anything else. I was able to do some data entry for a few dogs that got to go home and I did make up some meds as well. In addition to that I also dulled out a few medications as well, mostly just advantage but a few doses of droncit for some young kittens. Surprisingly easy to do with pill pockets and a syringe of water. While I was doing all of this the medical staff was busy doing some pretty gnarly dentals. If you read my blog a few days ago I talked about our old man Wylie getting adopted, well, he had to have a pretty intense dental done today and as you can see had all of his teeth pulled. I was really surprised at how easily they all came out. I knew his mouth was bad, but literally his teeth were just falling out. That is a picture of him up top.

After all of this I made it back up front in time to send one of the other staff members home early. Of course when I did that, it finally got busy up there. It was overall a pretty nice day even though at times there were certainly some stressful situations. I was glad to see so many great animals finally get to go home and of course it was nice for the day to go by so quickly. I am going to close with a picture of Sumo, who was our perfectly white Samoyed, looks like he had a fun time with his new playmate Candy! He actually got adopted today and has a beautiful new sister to go home to as well. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

Funny how it goes some times

2010-06-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

We had a few dogs become available for adoption today. There were brought in as relinquishments this past Saturday. There is a pit mix, a chow mix, a samoyed, and of course a lab type mix. All of the animals seem very socialized and of course loved but there are always those reasons that they are brought in. Recently it seems more and more that they are here because families are loosing their homes.

One story that stood out to me from the group of new arrivals was the lab mix named T.J. He is a sweet and skittish boy that physically reminds everyone at the shelter of a long termer named Arnie. As soon as you relate him to our buddy the immediate fear of having this poor guy at the shelter for six months sets in. A little history on our new friend. His original owner had him for two years and was moved from state to state until she was deployed overseas for the military. Luckily she had her brother take T.J. until she got back. Three years later she came back and was unable to find him a new home. The really sad part is, the last three years the brother really didn't want the dog, and because he had wood floors decided to keep T.J. outdoors 24 hours a day. Makes me tear up every time I think about that poor dog out there by himself, especially after being an INDOOR dog with the man's sister. Anyways, we got him here at the shelter and his first few days were tough. He was very fearful and every time you put a harness around him he would whine. Rather than be aggressive he was completely shutting down. Not sure if it was learned helplessness or what, but all we could do was wait to see if he came around. Because of all of his issues and his tough life it made us stress out even more that due to our previous experience with Arnie this poor guy would be here forever.

Right as we opened there was a call for a showing with our new friend. It was a woman that had been in several times this past week and had read T.J.'s profile on the computer but didn't get to see what he looked like because there was no picture. I spoke with her at length about T.J.'s history and how he has improved since first coming into the shelter but still needed a lot of work. I did the showing in his kennel to try not to overstimulate him with new people. The woman had recently lost her dog of 15 years and finally thought it was time for a new partner. She fell in love with T.J. and he fell in love with her. He was attached to her hip the entire showing and of course she felt the same way and wanted to adopt. Unfortunately he still needed his medical intake done which I had no idea about but it turns out he is good to go except for an ear infection. A great adoption and certainly put a smile on my face and a few tears in more than one person. T.J. will finally have a forever home that will take him everywhere his new mom goes.

The picture up top, as you can guess, is T.J., he will be going home tomorrow afternoon once all of his ear meds are taken care of. Thanks for reading everyone and I really hope some more stories like this occur sooner than later. I look forward to your comments and to all of the great hearts out there helping animals around the world, keep your heads up, you are appreciated more than you know.

A great adoption story and some new puppies to put a smile on your face

2010-06-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

I have to say, since I got back from my time off it has been a little tough both adjusting back to work and of course getting over the jet lag. Well, I think I have finally eased back in and can actually get up early enough in the morning to write my blog and not fall asleep on the keyboard.

There have been a few days since I last wrote but that doesn't mean that they didn't happen. The past week has been great with a few faces finding new homes. My main focus today is telling you about our old dachshund named Wylie. If you're not familiar with him, he is about a fourteen year old that came to us via a county shelter. Typically we do not take in dogs this old but his story was unique. He and his brother had been attacked by a coyote, unfortunately his brother didn't make it. But because Wylie had been through so much we decided it was worth the effort to try and find him a home.

Initially we found him a home rather quickly, sadly though it didn't work out. Apparently little Wylie was pretty stressed in his new surroundings and the adopter just didn't have the patience to let him settle in and they brought him back the next day. Once back at the shelter he became once again a staff favorite. Then of course his age started to show. It turns out that he needs quite a few dental extractions and then the worst part yet, he slipped a disc. The poor little guy is so long and so old that he was just playing and somehow it happened. The bigger problem is that this not only can happen again, it probably will, plus there really is not treatment that we can do except limit his mobility while he recovers. Luckily we have a wonderful foster that has kept him at home and allowed him to heal in a stress free environment.

Now on to the really good news. We were lucky enough to get a newspaper feature on our senior guy and soon the calls came pouring in. It was amazing to see how many people wanted to give this sweet dog a warm and loving home. The issue was though that it really had to be the perfect home because of Wylie's back issues. Well, the call did come. It was a young woman that has a senior rottweiller and dachshund already, and when I say senior, I mean senior. She not only has a one story house so her dogs can't hurt themselves going up stairs she also has baby gates everywhere to limit their movement in the house so she can constantly make sure that they are not getting into trouble.

She came into the shelter and absolutely fell in love with Wylie, as everyone that meets him does. We introduced him to her two dogs and it was like a match made in heaven. She still hasn't taken him home yet because he still needs his dental, but as soon as he gets it he can finally go to his forever home. I think whenever I have a tough time at the shelter I am going to read this story because this truly is one of the good ones that puts a smile on my face whenever I think about it.

After that wonderful adoption we got a call from a man trying to relinquish four puppies because his HOA was threatening to kick him out. He said that he didn't want his unaltered female and male dogs to mate, it just happened! I can only bite my tongue at that point. He initially tried giving them up to another shelter but they charged to much so he was trying us. The big concern for us is that apparently the dad of the pups is part wolf. Now in California it is illegal to adopt out first generation wolves but because these are third generation we though we might as well meet the little guys just in case. Well, it turns out they are all incredibly socialized and of course cuter than anything. We ended up taking all four of them in, now the issue is making sure that we find the right homes for these behemoths, they are already about thirty pounds at eleven weeks. We are going to treat any adoption the same way we would a pit adoption. The people must own their home and of course be savvy dog owners. I have no doubt they will find homes very quickly, because as you can see by the pictures they are absolutely adorable.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course thanks for doing all that you do for animals in your area. I love the comments and I look forward to getting some more from you all :)

Slowly getting back into the routine

2010-05-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I was lucky to travel to a place with not the best smelling bathrooms in the world. Usually you would think this would be a negative side to a honeymoon but at least it didn't take much for me to get used to the smell of the kennels again.

I began my day by first taking out the dogs for their morning break. This is still kind of tough for me because of the simple fact that there are so many new faces and I still have a tough time knowing where everyone goes and who can play with who. Thankfully the whole staff has been great and helps out whenever I ask.

Once all of the dogs were out doing their business, it was time to get scrubbing. I had almost forgotten that it was spring/summer time and there were a lot of new baby birds around until I started cleaning off bird poop from the kennels. There has to be some scientific use for this stuff because the amount of effort I had to put into just to make a dent in it wore me out for the rest of the day. Anyways, I was able to finish up cleaning the kennels and I am sure the bird poop will be back tomorrow, but at least it looks good today.

After I got all of the food down it was time to bring up the crew for their breakfast. It was to get some interaction with the dogs but at the same time it was good just to be able to pet them. I have to say though that one of the dogs, Nicky, did give me a weird vibe. Of course it turns out that I didn't read his kennel notes and he needs someone he knows to introduce them to him otherwise he can be a bit of a turd. Luckily he warmed up and now seems to be one of the sweeter dogs at the shelter.

The rest of the day seemed to be a lot of busy office work for me. I did learn of a great thing that will be taking place at the shelter in the coming year and it is an installation of a war dog memorial in our dog park. It's a great way to contribute to the amazing animals and their handlers that serve and have served this country so well.

In addition to this I learned a little bit more about our fiftieth anniversary gala that will be taking place in October. I sometimes have a tough time realizing that the shelter has been here for that long. It should be an amazing event that will really bring our shelter onto a bigger stage.

That's about it for the day. I want to thank everyone for the warm welcome back and of course for doing all that they can to help animals in their area. We are truly a lucky nation to be able to do what we do for them so keep it up and the rest of the world will follow.

I'm Back

2010-05-26T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well, after a three week sabbatical I am back and slowly getting used to the shelter again. Apparently this is the longest time anyone has ever taken off at our rescue so they were all pretty surprised to see me stagger in after thirty hours of travel and still incredibly jet lagged. I do have to say, after my travels I have gotten a better sense of not only how lucky we are in the U.S. as far as animal welfare goes but especially the shelter that I work at.

I have to say that no matter your job or career, taken this much time off makes it very difficult to get back into a routine quickly. I found myself asking in my head exactly what do I do in this situation throughout the day. Everything from cleaning to doing showings I felt like I needed a refresher course. I'm sure after a few weeks I will be able to get back into the routine, otherwise I might realize actually how difficult this job actually is.

Enough about my day, I want to catch everyone up on the what has been going on in the shelter that past month. I was a little sad to see a few of the same faces, Marco especially, still at the shelter but I did learn of some amazing adoptions. Just about all of the long termers, including cats all found homes while I was away. It was really amazing for me to learn about all of the stories and how good all of their new families were. Heck, even a fourteen year old cat with arthritis found the perfect home

After I finally got a little organized and caught up on all of the adoptions I was surprised to hear over the radio a number of showings. I ended up taking a total of three that were all great homes. The toughest part about the showings was actually having to learn about the dogs from other people. Typically I can go on my own experiences with the added knowledge of our staff and behavior specialist, but in this case I was only getting my info from the computer. I was surprised at how easy it was to assess the animals and which ones might be a good fit from all of the notes on their files, but I still like going into the showing with my own observations, that was the toughest part. Anyways, all of the showings went well, I just wanted all of the potential adopters to take their time with the big decision. Hopefully they will come back later in the week and take home a new addition.

Well, as you can see, I am going to have to gradually work my way back into not only writing this blog but also working at the shelter. I hope everyone has had a great month and I hope there are still a few of you left out there that are going to read this. I didn't take any pictures at the shelter today but I took a few while in Tibet that I thought I would attach. My doctor told me not to handle or pet any of the dogs but I just couldn't help myself.

A few more adoptions for the road

2010-04-29T06:42:00.000-07:00

When it's cold and rainy out I usually come into work early just so I can clean up cats in the comfort of our air conditioned cattery. That is exactly what happened today. I do feel a little bad for not sucking it up but what the heck, I really don't want to catch a cold before leaving for my wedding.

Once all of the cleaning was done I jumped into my first showing. I have to say, after reading the profile I was pretty sure that the family would be able to adopt just about any of our animals, that was of course until I actually spoke with them. It turns out that they really don't know what they want but I do know what they don't want. A dog that is too energetic, that barks, that might have an accident in the house, that might shed, and my favorite, one that is not too old. This was all coming from a woman in her eighties. She also wanted to make it clear to me that she "lives well" and her furniture is to good for an animal to mess it up. Anyways, at least they came into a shelter looking, that does garner some points with me. I just really wish they would have listened to what I had to say rather than speaking over me. In any case, they ended up switching from looking at dogs to looking at a declawed cat. It might have worked but I reiterated that they need to "shop" around and see all that is out there. Luckily the cat they were looking at was adopted the next hour because I honestly would not have felt right sending an animal home to this family.

My next showing was one that sent me home smiling. It was with a younger couple, a firefighter and his wife. They typically are only gone a few hours a day and were looking for the right dog that could go one runs and just lounge on the couch. They initially came in to see a dog by the name of Roxy but she ended up having surgery so they were unable to meet. Well, it ends up another dog chose them. It was our sweet little Mississippi girl Darla. We ended up sitting with her for a good hour and sure enough she turned out to be the "one". It was so nice not only to see her find such a great home but for the adopters to find such a great dog. The couple was so nice and so appreciative of what we do it really did send me home with a smile today.

Well, that's about it for me for a while. I am heading out early in the morning to go tie the not with the love of my life. I'll be back though and of course jumping right back into the blog as well as helping the animals. Thanks so much for reading and I look forward to your comments.

Oh yeah, the picture up top is Roxy after her surgery.

A staff favorite finally finds his home

2010-04-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

After all of the morning cleaning it seems that a lot of my time has been preparing all of the stuff that I would have done in the next three weeks since I am taking off. I have been doing everything from scheduling to scanning in pictures for our 50th anniversary. The big thing that I have had to do was collect all of the data, adoption numbers and what not, for the first quarter of this year to send to the county for their records. In any case, I have seemed to remain busy but want to make sure that I don't leave any one hanging while I am away.

Coming into work after a few days off I learned of some pretty interesting things. First our old man Wylie, the twelve year old dachshund got adopted on Saturday and returned on Monday. Apparently he was throwing up everywhere and the adopter didn't want to continually clean up after him. I won't mention that his diet was switched immediately and a half of a baby aspirin was given to him before all of this happened, but I won't mention that. Anyways, at least he got out of the shelter for a few nights, I just wish people would listen to us when we give suggestions about acclimating this animals to their new homes.

On with the day. Speaking of people that fail to listen to you, my first showing was a shining example of that. It was with an older lady and her son and daughter. She had never been to a shelter before but I gave her credit for coming in now. I explained how we operated and why we want to make sure that it's the perfect fit for everyone that we strive for. Well, she was more concerned about tearing up furniture, barking, and peeing on the floor because "she lived well" and didn't want her home destroyed. Now, these are all valid points, but if since I couldn't get a word in with them I just chose to walk around the shelter and see if any animals caught their eye. Of course none did so then she wanted to see a de-clawed cat. I think the only thing that got through to them was me saying to take their time because this is a very big decision and commitment. I am just glad that the cat she was looking at ended up getting adopted the next hour by the perfect family. Anyways, I know there is a perfect animal out there for just about everyone, but people need to take their time in finding it.

Closing out the day it was time for an amazing adoption. There was a family that had come into the shelter several times in the last week to visit one of our long term dogs. Initially there wasn't that great of a connection but the adoption counselor suggested that they come back so that our little man could get more comfortable with them. They did and Cooper the dog was playing and jumping right up in everyone's laps. There was just one thing that needed to happen now, Dad had to meet. Luckily today he came in and listened to what the counselor had to say about behavior and of course energy level. Before I knew it little Cooper was getting a bath and going home. This is one of those dogs that has been on the fence here at the shelter just because of his kennel presence and the slippery slope that is a shelter but it just goes to show you that there is a perfect home for every animal out there.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course a special thanks to all of the volunteers and trainers that made Cooper's stay here at the shelter as stress free as possible.

They keep on finding homes!

2010-04-23T06:38:00.001-07:00

Today is one of those days that I spend up at the front desk but actually ended up spending very little time up there because of an "adoption" meeting. When I first got into work my focus was on preparing for the day and making sure that we didn't have any situations arise from all of our puppies becoming available today.

Because we work on a first and best match for our animals it is typical that we have an influx of people coming in for puppies. In fact we actually created a binder for all of the applications that we have received over the past month or so. It was well organized though and the staff made sure that they took every precaution in making sure that not only did the animals find a great home but no one was going to get pissed off in the process. It turned out because it was weekday and pretty chilly out that there wasn't the rush of people that we had expected for the pups. Mind you, we would have liked to see them all adopted right when we opened but it was good that there wasn't a mad dash of people fighting over them.

Surprisingly enough there was another surprise adoption today when all we expected was puppy showings. It turns out that two young ladies that had been in yesterday looking at the puppies came back today to look at a sweet little spaniel mix named Tippie Canoe, don't ask me where the name came from. Tippie has been kind of a staff and volunteer favorite since she came back into our shelter after being adopted out. There was a lot of concern with adopting her to that perfect household with some pretty stringent guidelines. After she went on foster several times though we got to see a different side to her. Anyways, the two young ladies with their sweet little dachshund ended up adding her to their family. It was one of those adoptions again that you don't want to jinx but man did it put yet another smile on my face when I heard she had found a home.

The rest of the day remained busy with several more showings. In addition to that we had a level two dog training class that one of the front desk staff members was able to attend. I think that it was a great idea that she go because everyone in the shelter is gaining an appreciation of what everyone else does. In addition to that it makes everyone aware of why we take the steps that we do to make sure the animals remain adoptable no matter their length of stay at the shelter.

Well, hopefully tomorrow the trend continues and there are a few more of our senior animals adopted. I know that's asking a lot but the way things are going I figured why not hope for the best. Thanks for reading everyone and thanks for the wedding wishes. Keep up the good work fellow animal lovers!

A sweet long termer finds a home

2010-04-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

I love working outside, but there are some days that you wish you could be behind a computer again. Now those days are very rare but when it is raining and cold outside my longing for the desk job begins, but only for a very short while.

Once all of the dogs were taken care of it was time to jump right into the day. Not sure if it was just me or what but it seems that during the early part of the week we have had a few more showings lately. I grabbed my first one just after we opened today. It was with an older woman who had been in a few months ago to look at our little mange puppies. Of course the day she came back with her whole family to adopt the little guy had already found a home. She was still open minded though and said it just wasn't meant to be. She was still interested in finding that right fit though which was nice to hear. She ended up looking at our Cabo dog Alice, I tried to explain to her the extreme energy level she had but she still wanted to see her. The reason I tried to dissuade her was because she lived in a very quite home with her retired husband. Anyways, she did like Alice but I also showed her a new dog that won't be available until tomorrow. She is a little terrier mix that came from a sanctuary in Mississippi. Hopefully she will come back wither her husband and see if we can find the perfect fit.

My next showing was with a few dogs. I of course had to talk to our vet first to get some clarification on the skin issues that broke a few weeks back. Once I got all of my info I went to talk to the woman and learned that it was an ideal dog home. Someone was home all the time, the dog would go with them wherever they went, and of course they have adopted before so they know some of the issues that can come up with shelter dogs. I ended doing a showing with a sweet little spaniel named Tippie. She absolutely fell in love with her. Of course the rest of the family has to meet so I figured I might as well show her the dogs in ISO as well just so she can get a sense of their personality. She liked them but I think she had a thing for Tippie, hopefully I will see the whole crew in this week so we can find this sweet girl a new forever home.

While I was in my showings I learned that our dog Skipper that had been adopted out by us ten years ago and then returned because the family lost their house was getting adopted. I love to hear about animals finding new homes but to hear a twelve year old found his forever home was music to my ears. Peaks and valleys is what I say goes on here at the shelter. One minute you have all of these returns and the next they are all finding homes.

Closing out the day a construction worker brought in some stray neonate kittens that were certainly needing some looking after. Luckily we have an incredibly experienced staff member to care for them until we can get them out on foster. Here is a picture of the teeny crew, you can really see how small and delicate they are.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course thanks for the comments as well. I also just wanted to let you know that I will off for almost the whole month of May for my wedding but the blog will continue after that.

Some really good news...maybe

2010-04-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out that if I get to work early enough I can sign up for cats, as was the case this morning. Once I jotted my name down on the sign up sheet I went to work on a little side project. I kept myself busy most of the morning scanning in fifty year old photos of the shelter in to the computer to transfer them into digital format. Once I'm done with that I am going to attempt to make a mosaic of all the pictures over the years for our anniversary gala later in the year.

Once it was actually time to work I headed over to the cattery where I began to clean. I have to say it was really nice just to throw on my headphones and get down to business. It's also nice because I can actually get to know some of the new faces that we have in our cattery. I do have to say that there are a few that I wish I could forget already. In one of the rooms I was cleaning there were a total of about five kennels with covers on them which typically means that the animal is new and is still adjusting. Of course when I went in to clean after them they let me know that they were still "adjusting". Even when I wasn't in their kennels I could here some of them hissing over the music of my ipod. Nonetheless I was able to finish and at least learned a few of the new guys names.

I have to mention a pretty amazing cat story from last week that I was hesitant to right about just because it was a little odd and I didn't want to jinx it. It all began a few weeks ago when a woman and her daughter had come in to look at our girl Ella, a cat that has been at the shelter going on a year now. After a several visits and a lot of thinking the woman decided to adopt and take Ella home the next day so she could prepare her house for the new arrival. In the time frame between adopting the cat and us closing a new volunteer went in and ended up getting scratched by Ella's tooth. What that means is the cat now has to go on bite quarantine to make sure there are no health risks. We were all mortified that after all this time she finally gets adopted and something like this happens. It turns out the adopter still wanted her and decided that while she was on quarantine would still come and visit. It was great to know that a person was willing to wait even longer for her new pet. So, yay! Our longer termer, and I mean long termer gets to go home in just a few more days.

The remainder of my day was spent in a very long meeting discussing some future events and policies at the shelter. Of course when it was done I went back to work and had a great showing with a cute little second chance chihuahua. While I was doing that I learned that our girl Lady, the dog that has been here for who knows how long went into a showing. After about an hour of explaining her "issues" the potential adopters decided on taking her on a "trial run". Now this is not something we typically do but because of Lady's situation and behaviors we want to make sure that we take all necessary precautions in sending her home. I am keeping my fingers crossed and trying not to blink hard because I am so happy right now just thinking that there might be a possibility that she gets adopted.

Thanks so much for reading everyone and of course the wonderful comments, they really do let me know that there are so many people out there that care about animal welfare. Keep up the good work everyone!

Some interesting people today

2010-04-16T06:38:00.000-07:00

I started my day by of course checking all of the emails sent to the shelter along with the voicemail. There are always a few that surprise me. This morning the messages consisted of a few senior citizens asking about the silky terrier puppy named Peaches. Of course I returned the calls and let the women know that the little puppy was available for adoption but also had to explain her histiocytoma as well. That's always fun trying to explain why we didn't remove the tumor and what the implications could be on the future of the animal.

The big call I had to make this morning was to a recent adopter. It turns out after I left last night one of the longest term animals in the shelter had been adopted. Ella the cat has been here for over a year now and finally found the right family to take her home. The adopters ended up just putting down a deposit because they wanted to prepare their home for the new arrival. In the time that they adopted and the time the shelter closed though an elderly new volunteer went in to where Ella was housed. Ella gave her a love bite and broke skin. When this happens it is law that we put the animal on bite quarantine for ten days and out of public view. Now this is an animal that has been at the shelter almost as long as I have and now has to stay even longer. It was my job now to call the adopter and explain the situation. Because the woman had just spent time with the animal though she could still come and visit if she wanted to. She ended up being very understanding and really felt sorry for Ella more than everything. The one little bit of silver lining on the situation is the last day of Ella's quarantine is her due date for her yearly boosters, so at least it will save the adopter the trip to the vet. In the end it was a little odd but luckily our girl Ella found the absolutely perfect home.

Not surprising at all as soon as we opened the showings started coming in for Peaches. Within an hour she had been adopted. Once again I had to call a few potential adopters and let them know that she had found a home. I didn't want anyone else making the trip in just to find out she wasn't here. Surprisingly enough some people were upset with me because they didn't get her. I threw me back a bit because it was a little unexpected, maybe next time I will just let them waist their time coming in and let them find out on their own.

Closing out the day I wanted to reflect on the biggest thing that I don't like about the front desk. It's part of being in a shelter I understand but it can become very tough for me at times. What I am talking about is the daily barrage of calls from people who are trying to relinquish their animals. On any given day there are anywhere from five to twenty five people asking if we can take their animals in. Not only is it sometimes incredibly sad but it is frustrating as well. Some people can be so irresponsible and expect us to help them out of their situation. The other side of it is the tough part, you have the individuals that this truly is their last resort and all they want to do is find a home for their family member. Then of course there are the ones that you know we aren't going to take their animals do to health or behavioral issues and you have to explain to them why our shelter won't be able to put them up for adoption.

It can be a sad business at times but with that comes those moments when all you can do is walk tall and have an ear to ear smile. Thanks for reading everyone and of course a special thanks to all of the volunteers and rescue workers around the globe who are making all of the difference.

I finally had an adoption again

2010-04-15T06:43:00.000-07:00

Since my duties at the shelter have changed these past three months I have found it more and more difficult to get animals adopted due to my sparse time working in the kennels. Well, today was a little different. As usual it began by taking out the dogs and of course cleaning up the kennels. Once that was all done and the doors were open to the shelter it was go time.

I immediately started a showing with a sweet elderly couple who was looking at either a lab or golden mix. I began by talking about their needs and their living situation and found out that they would be a perfect home for just about any animal. I initially talked to them about Lady, our resident long termer but after talking to them for a bit it seems she might be a little to much for them, actually a lot to much. After ruling her out we moved outside to take a look at some of the new faces and see if one might be a good fit. It turns out they absolutely fell in love with a dog named Bali. Unfortunately she isn't available until Saturday but they should be back then. I really hope it works out because the family was incredibly sweet. I can't tell you how many times the man broke down in tears because of the loss of their last dog a few months back.

My next showing was with a young hispanic couple who initially I thought might not be a good fit because of the way they answered the questions on their profile. When I talked to them though I got a completely different feeling. This would be their first time owning a dog so they really didn't know how to answer the questions like where would the dog sleep. After discussing to them our dogs and where they come from they agreed that the animal could pretty much sleep wherever they would want to. I talked to them about being patient and waiting for the perfect fit because this is no small commitment. Thankfully the couple was very attentive and hopefully the rest of the family comes back on Saturday to find their new addition.

After all of that it was time to give our little five week old puppies a medicated bath. We think, of course, that they might have some skin issues that need to be dealt with. I have to say for them never having a bath before they did pretty well. Hopefully it helped because I certainly saw some hair loss. In any case, we will make sure that they are healthy and we are already taking applications for their adoptions which will take place in two or three weeks. The picture up top is one of the cuties that didn't like her bath so much.

Closing out the day I had one more showing. It was with a grandmother and grandson that had been in yesterday to look at Petey the cat. When they came in today they wanted to see the dogs as well. After filling out yet another application I showed them our little chihuahua pomeranian mix named Teensie Marie. They absolutely fell in love with her but were still indecisive about getting a dog or cat. I explained that there was no rush and this was a huge decision. Well, they did take their time and came back to the shelter and decided on Teensie Marie. It was nice to see the smile on their faces and it was even nicer to see Teensie Marie strutting out of the parking lot with her new family.

Thanks for reading everyone and if you aren't already following my I would appreciate the support. I also had to include a picture of Wylie, the ten year old dachshund we took in on Saturday, you almost can't even tell that he has the worst teeth I have ever seen, but we'll fix that.

Finally learning some new cat names

2010-04-14T06:38:00.000-07:00

Since our hours at the shelter have changed to accommodate daylight savings I have strictly been cleaning up after dogs in the morning. What that means to mean is that I really haven't gotten a chance to work wit the cats in almost two months. Today though was different, we had three openers so I was able to make my way over to cattery.

It didn't surprise me when I almost didn't recognize any names on any of the kennels. Unfortunately I did recognize some at the same time, those special ones that have been at the shelter for way to long. While I was cleaning though it was nice to meet the new ones and get a sense of their personality in order to better explain them if there was a showing. Even though it all seems positive I noticed that one of our cats, Chester, seemed a bit under the weather. Luckily we noticed it because it turned out he had a fever of about 105. Another cat I learned about was Missy, a siamese mix that absolutely does not like me. Good to know that a cat will swat and hiss even if you merely look at it.

Anyways, once the cattery was done I helped bring up some of the dogs to their freshly cleaned kennels. We have a few new faces since our behavior specialist headed down to another shelter on Monday and picked up a group of ten. In addition to that there was a new ten year old dachshund named Wylie that came in as well. This special little guy had come into county as a stray with his brother who had been attacked by a coyote. Sadly his brother didn't make it but luckily Wylie made his way to us. Overall the new group looks really good, even the one eyed pomeranian mix. Hopefully when they become available on Saturday they will all find homes.

It's amazing the ups and downs that you experience at an animal shelter. Right now we have had some adoptions, of course not as many as we would like, but there are some dogs that have just been here way to long. I think that right now we have three or four dogs that are pushing four months and above which is to long for any animal to be in a shelter, no matter how good it is. Once the animal has been here that long it becomes even more difficult to get them adopted because they are acclimating themselves to well to the shelter life. Typically you will see them digress into fence fighting, start inhibiting anti social behaviors, and sometimes even becoming aggressive. We do our best along with a great group of volunteers to keep this from happening but then the double edge sword comes out. While we are focusing on one animal, another isn't getting the attention they need. It's one crazy cycle that I wish we could do a better job with.

The rest of my afternoon was spent bathing our ring worm pit bull, hanging out with our ring worm carrier, and of course throwing the ball for our ring worm beagle. Are you seeing a trend here. We do have a bit of a skin outbreak at the shelter but luckily our medical staff caught on very early. I hope staff and volunteers don't forget to spend time with these animals for the fear that they could catch it because that would mean the dogs would start going downhill faster without the interaction they need.

Closing out the day we didn't have any adoptions but some solid showings for a few of the new guys that will become available soon. Hopefully the week picks up because we have a full house now with some great animals just waiting for their perfect home. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments. Oh yeah, the picture up top is Chester, the poor tabby with a high fever.

Dealing with the people one on one

2010-04-09T06:32:00.001-07:00

Today was my day away from the animals and at the front desk dealing with the customers. I can never say enough how much of a change it is to jump from the kennels to the office and the complete variety of people that come into the shelter.

My morning began by checking the emails and voice messages. I returned one voicemail of a woman asking for help for a hurt dove that wasn't able to fly. I heard that the message was from about ten minutes ago and since the woman took the time to call us it was only right for us to return the call. I explained to her that we were a private shelter but I would certainly help her get to the right people that could help her out. Unfortunately by the time that I called she said she went back outside and there was nothing but a plume of feathers. I told her maybe it just had to try extra hard to fly and shook out some feathers, not that it was probably eaten. In any case I thanked her for caring enough to call us and she was happy she at least got her call returned.

The other message was from a rescue group that we had called earlier about picking up some donations. Because we have such a great relationship with our community we get in a lot of things including extra bedding and dog food. Because we only use one particular type of food though we find organizations in need and make sure that if we have it and they need it, we will get it to them.

It's finally opening time by this point and today we have three dogs heading home. They were just altered yesterday so they will have to take it easy for a while but I really do love the day that these animals get picked up. The smile on the new owner's faces is priceless, not to mention the gratitude that the adopters have as well.

With the dogs going home today and several showings the front office became a bit hectic at times today. We ended up having two adoptions, Haley and Abby, who both found great homes. It was nice to see two dogs at the shelter for such a short period of time before they found their forever homes. In addition to the two adoptions there was also a lot of showings which was great to see since adoptions seem to be down this month.

Closing out the day we did have a few new animals come in via relinquishment. We had two cats that the families ended up having allergies too. I understand how this could happen but I also have a tough time thinking about giving up my animals if I became allergic as well. I have said it before, that I am not a people hater, but if you truly love your pet there are other things that you can do. This is usually why I don't always trust the reasons why people relinquish their animals. Anyways, the other little guy that came into us was a tiny little silky terrier puppy. The dog was just to much for a the family which is understandable. Luckily the little puppy found its way here because she won't be here for very long.

My days at the front desk are always something new. I learned today that for those people that still use a phone book we are the only number listed in the entire county as a humane society. It's kind of funny because we are actually a private animal shelter and there are four county shelters all around us. What that means for us is the people that still actually use the yellow pages always call us to ask the most random questions and of course for us to get them the right number. Well, at least we actually answer the phone and not some recording, at least we have that going for us. Thanks for reading as always everyone and I look forward to your comments. And remember, there are so many ways that you can help these animals in your area, check out volunteering at your local shelter, it was one of the most rewarding times in my life.

Know what you are feeding your bottle babies!

2010-04-08T06:44:00.000-07:00

The morning started off with foster kittens being returned to the shelter because of horrible diarrhea. Now these aren't just any kittens, when they went out they were a mere five or six days old. What that means is they need constant attention, warmth, and of course hourly feedings. We have a great network of volunteers that are trained to get the animals weight up until we can alter them and put them up for adoption, but in those rare instances when something goes wrong they are brought back to the shelter to be looked after until they can get healthy again.

Well, after our experts did some research on the issue because a ten day old kitten that isn't eating and having running of the bowles is a pretty serious thing. It turns out that the KMR (kitten milk replacement) manufactured by PetAg has had a few issues. Apparently there have been several complaints that it has been killing animals. There was a few articles found that basically said that the powdered supplement was actually spoiled. The manufacturers excuse was that every can leaves the factory in good shape but suspects that some delivery trucks stayed out in the summer heat too long and the cans went bad. Not sure who's fault it is but there should certainly be a warning on the can, especially when the expiration date isn't until next year. In any case, if you have bottle babies, make sure you smell the powdered formula first, it should smell almost sweet, and not like chemicals. If if you do find a bad one, make sure you let the manufacturer know.

Well, then, my tirade is over and on with the day because the little kittens are now eating more and their poop is pretty normal. After cleaning it was more cleaning. I forget that the two days that I am in kennels are pretty slow as far as showings go so I try to focus on hanging out with the animals, deep cleaning, and trying to keep myself busy. I was able to almost catch up on the laundry when I got a call for a showing. It was unfortunate because they wanted to look at a dog that has to go home with another dog because of his separation anxiety. Aside from that everything seemed pretty good with the household. Hopefully they find what they are looking for because they seemed like a good family that just wants the right dog.

After more cleaning, scrubbing crates, and washing dishes it was time to take the dogs out for their afternoon break. As I was doing this a woman approached me and asked what kind of dog I had on leash. I explained he was a shepherd mix. Next time I cam down to the yards I asked her if she had any more questions and she then explained that her dog had just passed yesterday and she needed to be around them today. It's tough to come up with the right words to console people but I always try. She was an extremely nice woman who wants to get another dog but she just doesn't know what kind or when to do it. I talked to her for a little while and she held herself together well because I would have been balling my eyes out. Hopefully she continues to come back and we can find her a new addition to the family.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course your comments. All of you our there that read this have some attachment to animals and it is because of you that shelter's like the one I work at continue to be successful. And of course I had to add another picture of the puppies to put a smile on your face.

Smells like rotten eggs

2010-04-07T06:38:00.001-07:00

When we began taking dogs out this morning it was important that we focused on a particular order of how we handled the animals. The reasoning for this was cross contamination on some young ones and some sick ones. This becomes very important when you are dealing with five week old puppies. We typically don't take in animals so young but I have to say that their cuteness might have played a part in them being in the shelter.

Having the young animals you have to make sure that you always handle them first and of course wash up every time before you handle them. Once you take care of them then it is on to the rest of the population. Then of course our sickies, which seems like a few right now. It turns out that we have a ring worm issues with several dogs. If your not familiar with the fungus I suggest reading up on it because it can get pretty nasty. And now we have three with the potential of a fourth popping positive.

The treatment isn't to crazy but it does take a while for this fungal infection to clear up. First comes a topical medicine applied twice daily to the affected area. The other form of treatment is medicated baths. I didn't think the baths were that bad because I had actually never used the right stuff to wash them in. Usually I would use a maleseb shampoo that soothes the skin but today was a little different. We ended up using a prescription sulphur bath. You heard correctly, a bath that literally smells like rotten eggs. Even worse, where we wash the animals is a whopping four by six room without the best ventilation. There was a point that I had to leave otherwise my lunch was about to come back up. Luckily this is only a weekly thing because not only was it tough on us but the poor little dogs actually had to have this stuff dry on them. Hopefully it helps because if it doesn't I feel bad that we all had to go through it.

The rest of the day was pretty routine. It was nice though to learn of the adoptions that had taken place over the weekend. Our girl Rikki, who has been here for a while and was starting to get a little nutty found the perfect home. A woman saw her online and new from that moment that she was the dog for her. A few of the new arrivals also got adopted which was nice to see. Of course they can't go home until Thursday when they start their recovery from their surgeries.

Like I mentioned before, in addition to the adoptions we have a whole lot of new arrivals that were taken in by our behavior specialist. There was everything from five young puppies, to boston terrier and bichon siblings, and even a solid white puggle (maybe). It's nice to see some adoptions and some new faces come in. Now I just want to get all of the other long termers out of here so we can get in a few more newbies. It really is tough to see great animals stay in the shelter for so long, no matter how good of a place we have, it is still a shelter and still extremely stressful.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course thanks to all of the volunteers out there that make saving animals possible.

The loudest dog EVER!

2010-04-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

My one day a week in medical is always something that I look forward to. The main reason is because pretty much every day that I am back there I not only get to learn something but typically it is a completely different day back there every week.

The day began as usual by dulling out the morning meds. Today it was the typical anti-biotics and pain killers but there was the added miconosol. This is because we have had a dog break with ring worm. Sounds like fun huh. This is one of those times that I take extra precaution not because I don't trust the dog I just don't want to contract this stuff. The amazing part was we might have another dog with a similar issue. We noticed some hair loss on another dog named Kissy and the vet said it could potentially be ring worm or a transferrable form of mange. I haven't ever worked in a place where I could bring home so many crazy things before, hopefully the tests will come back with some good news but for not we are treating Kissy with all of the above and taking every precaution that it doesn't spread like wild fire into the shelter.

Once all of the meds were done it was time to do some intakes on three little terrier pup mixes. I was surprised at the weight of the little guys with an average of about five pounds and they are already almost six months old. You want to talk about tough to draw blood from. When we got to doing the final intake we started to shave the little pups leg and got the loudest screech I have ever heard come out of a dog. There wasn't anything different that we did, I think that the poor little girl is just so under-socialized and has had such little human contact that any little touch through her for a loop. We finally got everything done and once the ringing in our ears stopped we realized that the blood snap test that we were supposed to use was useless because we missed the snap time. What that meant was that we had to do it all over again and put the poor little puppy through another blood draw. I felt horrible listening to her cry but we had to do it. At least now I know I will never ever miss another snap test after that experience.

The rest of the day was occupied by data entry and making sure all of the new dog's files were updated in our computer system. We basically make sure that all of the vaccinations, tests, treatments, and medications are entered so that when an adoption takes place the new owner knows exactly what their new family member will be due for in the future.

Closing out the day we decided to wash our eighty pound pit bull with ring worm. We gave him a medicated malaseb bath that actually took two people to do. I don't think the poor little guy has ever had a bath from the way he took it. Once the ten minutes of letting the soap sit and rinsing him off was done though he seemed like a new man. Hopefully his skin condition won't spread and we can get him out of here sooner than later.

That's it for today, as always, thanks everyone for reading and sharing my ups, downs, and new experiences with me.

Front desk kind of busy

2010-04-02T06:12:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I absolutely love my quiet time in the mornings up at the front desk. I get to relax, drink my coffee and prepare for the day. My early morning work consisted of changing up the pre recorded on hold messages for the shelter, which is unfortunately in my voice, and of course preparing some monthly reports.

The two reports that I compile every month are very similar but serve two separate purposes. The first is what is called an asilomar report. It basically is a break down of all the animals that pass through the shelter from adoptable to euthanasia by request and then exactly where all of the animals come from. It is then put with other local shelters to compile a county wide number. The other report I send to our fund developer (money getter). The excel sheet I send to that person is basically all of the adopter's information so we can send out cards asking for donations. Since we are completely private, this is where a lot of our backing comes from.

Once that was all done it was time to mop up the floor where the roof had leaked last night. It's amazing when I see pictures of the shelter from fifty years ago and see how much the facility has changed. I really do feel proud to be part of something that has not only been around for a very long time, but has been doing the right things that entire time as well.

Finally the rush of people started arriving at the shelter. There was a constant flow of showings and we had two solid cat adoptions which was great to see. A sweet cat by the name of Maui who was previously adopted and then returned hopefully found her true "forever" home. Another great cat adoption was with a sweet guy that initially had some health issues when first coming into the shelter and still had a heart murmur found his perfect family. His name is Louie and he had been at the shelter going on four months. It was great to see him go but also the smile on the adopter's face when she walked out the door.

Everything else was pretty normal for the day. We did have a crazy drunk guy come in and yell at a few dogs but eventually he left and we all got a laugh out of it. Other than that it was a whole lot of answering phones and dealing with people that are trying to relinquish their animals. I am always amazed at why people give up their animals. I still have to tell myself that I am not a people hater.

Thanks for reading everyone and I had to add that picture of top of our medical director's dog with a new cat. Gotta love it when a boxer and a kitten fall in love!

Almost an adoption, but not quite

2010-04-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

Once all of the cleaning was done this morning and the busy work was out of the way it was time to move on with the day. It seems more and more that things are slowing down before the real storm of business arrives during the summer. I expected to have more adoptions and showings this week though for the simple fact that so many kids are on spring break I thought it my pick things up, well, I was wrong up to this point.

I found myself most of the day helping out at the front desk where we were a little short handed. I also, luckily, got to spend a lot of time with some great animals. I first hung out with Billy who is one cool cat that does things on his own terms, more so than most of the felines I have come across. When I visited him yesterday he wouldn't even come out of his bed but today when I sat down he came right out. He rolled over on his back and even made bread while I petted him for a good fifteen minutes. He did give on little love bite but from the Billy of the past that I knew it is an amazing transformation to see how well this animal has adjusted to the shelter.

On to my one and only showing of the day. It was with a middle aged man that hadn't had a dog since he was a kid but was thinking it was about time to get one because his apartment complex now allows them. He asked a lot of good questions and seemed to really want to do the right thing and of course get the right dog that fits his needs. After he filled out his adoption application and I spoke with him at length we figured a relinquished dog that we have a history on might be a better fit since he is away for a good eight hours a day and a dog that is used to that might be best. We also narrowed down the size and temperament to fit his needs. The good and bad news of it all was that we might have a fit but he is pushing eleven years old. Unfortunately as well we couldn't show our little Skipper because he had just gotten a dental and was pretty doped up. Hopefully the potential adopter will be back in on Saturday at least to get an idea of what kind of dogs are out there, and maybe to adopt our sweet senior.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. We did finally have one of our fosters that has been at the shelter for a long time get picked up by their owner. It was nice to see the smile on the kids face's when their dog jumped into their arms. As good as that is, when one goes out one comes in. We had another return, a sweet older cattle dog mix that was adopted out from us several years ago and sadly enough the owner passed away. Because we always take our animals back Dusty is now at the shelter up for adoption. Here is a picture of the overweight little man that everyone has already fallen in love with.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course for playing all the many roles of helping out animals in your community.

Lots of new faces

2010-03-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

I have certainly slacked this past week but for good reasons. In the last week there have been a few depressing things that in all honesty I just needed to forget. A positive outlook and attitude can go only so far. So needless to say, I took a few days off from the job and the blog, but now I am back and at least a little refreshed.

My day began as usual, taking all of the dogs out for their morning breaks. While I was doing this I noticed a few new guys that had come in while I was off. The group came from a "quasi" rescue a few hours away but seemed to be highly adoptable animals. I was actually kind of surprised at the mixture our behavior specialist came back with. There was everything from a boxer/lab mix, little poodley looking things, and even some of the cutest terrier puppies. They all seemed very sociable but of course they hate to walk on leash.

Once all of the dogs were out we all got to cleaning. For some reason today everyone just seemed to be dragging and before I knew it the garbage hadn't yet been taken out and the doors to the shelter were open. It was nice to see a few people coming in to take a look at the animals on a Tuesday but of course there could always be more.

There weren't any early showings today but there was something that put a smile on my face. I looked at the adoption board and learned about some great animals finding themselves a new home. All but two of the eleven second chance dogs had gotten adopted in a matter of four days. Two of them actually got adopted out together which was quite fitting since their names were Bugs and Bunny. The big adoption that I really noticed was a little guy by the name of Lucky. When he first came into the shelter you thought his name was an oxymoron because of all the things that he had to go through. His first day he actually stepped on a bee and we noticed some blood in his urine. We took him to the emergency vet's office and they were able to take care of the bee sting but we were the ones that took care of his bladder stone and special diet. Well, thankfully his name came true and a perfect woman came in to adopt him.

The rest of the day was pretty slow with everyone finding little projects to keep themselves busy. I personally handled the laundry. I know, sounds thrilling, but at least we were able to catch completely up and actually have two empty bins where the dirty stuff usually is. Other staff members did everything from clean to organize. I guess it really is spring time.

Unfortunately today I didn't get any showings myself but there were at least a few that came through the door. I really think I need to do an adoption soon because the roller coaster that is this job seems to be in a bit of a lull. I know it will pick up soon and hopefully it won't take too long. Thanks for reading everyone and of course thanks to all of you out there that volunteer your time to helping the animals. The pictures above are some of the new arrivals...enjoy!

Finally some adoptions

2010-03-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

Being up at the front desk you get a totally different perspective of what the shelter is. I still have all of the baggage that goes along with animals being returned and customers that can be a little bent out of shape but I also get to see all of the smiles on people's faces as they come to pick up their new family members.

The main reason I work at the front desk today is because the day after surgery a lot of animals get adopted and it is the best time to have the extra help up there. Not sure if I actually help or get in the way but It is nice to see this side of how the operation works.

Typically we get all of the medical files from our med director of the animals that are going home today with times written in the corner for pick up. Once we get the files we put together a generic adoption folder since most of these have already been adoption deposits. We deposits when the animal is awaiting spaying and neutering. Then fill out microchip information, check for rabies registration, and of course put all of the animals meds together. I was lucky enough today to have a staff member take care of all of this while I took care of the morning busy work responding to emails and answering voicemail.

There were several good parts to today. We were lucky enough to send four animals home that had just had surgery. It was so nice to see how excited the adopters were when their new pet came around the corner. The funny dog voices the people had and of course all of the kisses that were given. It was really a sigh of relief to be reminded of all of the good things that go on this shelter. On top of this there were actually two great adoptions of a couple of little men that have been at the shelter for some time now.

Both dogs, Mako and Sniffer, got to go home not only with a new family but older brothers and sisters that they can run around the yard with. One of the dogs was actually the second to last remaining "mange" puppies that have been at the shelter since November getting treatment. In reality he actually became one of my favorite little dogs and in turn will be someone else's now.

Of course I try to be positive throughout this blog but we did get a call of a potential return. Nothing to sad but a little bit disheartening. Apparently an adopter passed away and the dog's groomer ended up taking ownership of him. Unfortunately they didn't have the profile we had on the dog and didn't realize that the dog had cat aggression. In any case we should be getting the dog back within a week. Thankfully that is his only issue and should be highly adoptable.

Thanks for reading everyone and thanks again for the wonderful and heartwarming comments. There are so many people out there that care so much for these animals needing homes I am just glad I am lucky enough to be one of them.

Staying busy

2010-03-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

After reading the comments posted on the blog yesterday I have to say that they truly did put a smile on my face. There are so many people out there that have devoted so much of themselves to helping animals that it gives me a sense that I am truly not alone. I want to start by saying thank you to all of the people out there that are making a difference in so many people's and animal's lives, thank you so much.

After picking my head up today and of course picking up a whole lot of poop it was time to really get down to business. We have been staggering the schedule a bit lately so we have an opening crew and a closing one. What that means is that you have to make sure that you are helping each other out in order to get everything done. It's a little tough sometimes as far as time is concerned but we weren't to far behind today.

One thing that did make a little extra work today was having a dog test positive for coxidia, a form of parasite. The trouble was that we have so many play groups now we didn't know who's poop we were actually testing. What that means is that we have to treat all of the dogs that have come in to contact on a regular basis, about five of them. It also means that when you clean you have to do a very thorough job and replace all of the bedding in the kennels. Just when we thought laundry had been caught up the blankets get piled up again. Luckily it's a pretty simple treatment and after a few days of this and dosing out their medicine they should be fine.

Later in the afternoon I finally had a showing again. It was with a dog that I had originally adopted out some time ago but got returned because the family just had no time for her. The potential adopters seemed like they might be a good fit but they brought in their in-laws dog to meet because they would potentially spending a lot of time together. Unfortunately our dog is a little bit of a social reject and immediately tried attacking their dog. I really don't know what type of family our girl is going to need but it is a pretty specific one. Hopefully soon we can get her out of here because the overwhelming stress of the kennels is getting to her.

On a better note we got word from the rescue that took our basset that just got off of bite quarantine. He seems to be doing great! They did rename him but said that they were so grateful that we took care of him during this stressful time in his life. It was one of those moments that really lifts your head up and puts a smile on your face to hear.

Closing out the day I wanted to include a picture of a few more kittens that came in recently. Luckily our staff members have a lot of experience with them and those long sleepless nights of meowing every hour for food. The have been able to keep the kitties fed and the both seem to be doing very well. Here is a picture of one getting fed, you can really see how small they are. Hopefully they continue to eat and we can get them in a long term foster home so we can get their weight up and get them adopted.

Thanks for reading everyone and I truly do appreciate the comments, especially the long ones.

Sometimes it can be down right depressing

2010-03-24T06:43:00.001-07:00

I know that there are many of you out there that work in the "rescue industry" and deal with the stress on a regular basis but this is still something fairly new to me. In the past I have seen it and been a part of stressful times but recently it seems that the flood gates have opened for the "tough times". If you don't want to read about the experiences I had this past week I suggest skipping this blog, it's still a little tough for me to even write it.

It has been about a week since I last wrote and for me that was tough in itself. The reasoning behind it all though was just so I could gather myself and work out the stress and lack of sleep that I have had lately. Don't get me wrong, as always there have been the highlights but for some reason when it rains it pours.

As you know we had a few returns in recent weeks with one including a bite. Well, good news on all of them because they have either been adopted out or sent to breed rescue. We did however have to put one down because he was deemed unsafe to adopt out. This was understandable but incredibly difficult for me because I was the one that initially adopted the animal out. Because of this I did want to be there when it happened. I was able to treat him with a six dollar burger and I have to say for what it was, it was one of the best ones I have been a part of. I know that sounds horrible but there are those instances when you know an animal was ready to go. This has to be the most difficult part of this job, I am actually getting teary eyed as I speak and the flood gates were opened when it actually happened.

This was tough in itself. Then, the next day while I was working the front desk a sweet little neophyte kitten was brought in by some teenage kids that had found him in the middle of the street. Typically if there is no mother there is a reason. You see that sometimes if the mother cat feels that an offspring might be sick or has a less chance of survival than the rest she will leave that animal behind. Very sad I know, but sometimes the mother has to devote her energy to the healthy ones. Well, who knows if this one was sick or not, we took it in anyhow. One of the staff members cared for it all day and kept it warm until some fosters could come and pick him up. Well, when they left to get supplies the kitten passed. I tried CPR and giving it mouth to mouth but nothing worked. I have to think that he came in sick but it doesn't make it any easier.

Trying to close on a good note. All but a few of the new second chance dogs got adopted this past week. It was nice to see them find homes so quickly. We did have a few dogs come in through our emergency boarding program but hopefully their family will be in to visit for their extended stay at the shelter.

I hope I haven't depressed you all with this blog but it helps me to discuss it and put it down on paper to help me deal with it. Thanks for reading and things will be looking up soon.

Trying to keep busy

2010-03-19T06:42:00.000-07:00

My day at customer service is typically spent finalizing adoptions and sending animals home, today, not so much. Since a good number of animals aren't yet available the amount that had surgery this past week was very limited meaning that only one dog would be going home today.

What that means for me is that I can get all of the busy work of the front desk done but it also makes for a very long day.

Believe it or not the first thing I did at the front desk today was liquid sand the cabinets. I know it sounds a little odd but I figured since I had time and it needed to get done I might as well knock it out. Since we had already painted everything else I was glad to get it out of the way. I have to say though, if you ever decided to do this make sure there is some good ventilation.

Moving on with the day it was a whole lot of answering phones. It never seises to amaze me how many people call for the most random things you could ever think of. I had one call today where a man began explaining that his neighbors, in a duplex, had just moved out and had been dealing with mice quite frequently. Since I couldn't get a word in I just let him continue, he said that since they moved out the mice are now starting to make their way to his home. Today he actually caught one fairly easily because the rodent was very lethargic. He wanted to know why the animal was like that. Rather than listen to me tell him to call pest control I finally said that the animal might have gotten into some poison left behind from his neighbors. The caller than said, "what about the plague?". I honestly had to use all of my self control not to laugh. Once I composed myself I reiterated that he should call pest control. Not sure why people think that we could help with that situation but at least it wasn't a phone call of a person trying to get rid of their twenty two rabbits.

Towards the afternoon it was finally time to send the one adopted dog home. His owner came in and you could tell how excited she was. It was so nice to see the smile that this dog brought to her face. Even thought today was pretty boring, which isn't a bad thing, it was nice to see one of our guys find their forever home.

Recapping the day there wasn't anything to crazy that took place, and after this week, I am content with that. I was able to make a schedule for April and of course answer some always interesting phone calls. I do wish that there had been more showings and of course a few more adoptions but at least no animals came back. Thanks for reading everyone and hopefully my day in medical with be a little more exciting than liquid sand paper!

Fringe benefits of the job

2010-03-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

I'm going to bypass the monotony of the clean today and jump right in to the rest of my day. One thing really had my attention, my dog that I had to bring in for a few procedures. This is a huge advantage to have while working at the shelter, discounted veterinary care. Well, today it really came in handy.

My dog, aka son, started getting these little red bumps on his chest. I initially brought him in a few weeks ago for our Vet to take a look at them. The fact that my little man sun bathes so much really had me worried when these raised lumps appeared and grew rather rapidly. I was told to bring him in today for the vet to look at him again, that's when they decided to remove them all. My poor little guy not only had FOUR lumpectomies he also had a dental as well. My little guy looks like a frankenstein on his chest. Hopefully they don't pop up again because it's tough putting my little man through that. In any case, the staff took amazing care of them and I am incredibly grateful for the job they do.

Of course there were other things that needed my attention as well, for instance the person still trying to get rid of their twenty or so rabbits. Apparently I am the only person who would give them the time of day and at least lend them an ear because it seems they call every single day with a new way to get rid of their animals. Today's suggestion was to give all of the rabbits to a rescue along with all of their cages and the rabbits can just live outside. Well, unfortunately it just doesn't work that way. I reiterated again that the only option was county, which isn't a bad thing I have to add. In any case, I understand her concern but there are only so many options you have at the point when you are getting evicted for having to many animals along with an open investigation from animal control. I really do feel sorry for them but there comes a time when all of your options have been exhausted.

Today there were a few dogs that needed care for as well, I almost forgot that that is why I am here. We actually had to move one little guy back to ISO for the simple fact that he can pretty much escape any kennel we put him in. The plan now is to put him in one of the show yards where at least he will be in public view and doesn't have as much of a risk of jumping out and hurting himself.

Aside from all of this the day actually seemed a little slow. I was able to clean quite a bit and also spend some quality time sitting down with the animals, including mine. The day ended by taking out all of the dogs for their afternoon break, running down two because they door dashed, and also pairing up another two for a little play date. As you can see from the picture above they really seemed to enjoy themselves. This was awesome because both of these dogs can be little devils when it comes to other animals.

Closing out I just want to say I truly do appreciate the kind words that you post in my comment section. It really does put a smile on my face even on those tough days. I also want to say thanks to all of the volunteers out there that make rescues happen.

Hoping for the best

2010-03-17T06:41:00.001-07:00

Coming in to work today I have to acknowledge that my attitude wasn't exactly the best one I could have had. After las week and the events that took place all I was hoping for today was a day that I could keep my head down busy with work.

The day started as such, busy cleaning because of our new eleven arrivals that came in as part of our second chance program. Surprise surprise, they are all little guys with big vocal chords. It was nice to see some new faces though and they all seemed very loving and outgoing. In fact, two of them were a little too outgoing with cries louder than I have heard in a while.

After my initial negative attitude it was time for my 180. I learned that one of the returns that had happened last Friday had already been adopted out. It seemed like a great fit. It was a young couple that typically were home most of the day and could give Banana the energy and time that she needed. Hopefully this works out better than her last home and she will be a happier dog along with her new family that came to visit today and couldn't wait to take her home.

Another thing that really made my day was learning about the dog that was returned because of a bite. Now I don't know the whole story because I wasn't there when it happened and I'm not going to speculate but the fact that this animal bit pretty much trumps any other behavior. Because of the severity of the bite it wasn't looking good for this animal and that was another one of the reasons I came in with my head held low today. Just when I thought the worst though I learned that this animal was making his way to the basset hound rescue. My whole outlook on the day changed. It really did make me happy that this droopy eared guy was going to get the attention that he needed.

Moving on, the afternoon was full of all sorts of busy work. I was happy to see all of the laundry though completely caught up but amazingly enough it continued to grow throughout the day. I did get some time to spend with my favorite cat Billy when I saw the opportunity but before I knew it I got a call for a showing. I can't tell you how long it's been since I did a showing. The man ended up wanted to see Lady Bird, a dog that needs to find a home soon but is still a pretty special case and can't go home with just anybody. Unfortunately when I read the profile the family has three cats and because of our girl's prey drive it just wouldn't be the right fit. I did show them Arnie and he really seemed to like him. Now all that needs to happen is the rest of the family come in and feel the same way, keeping my fingers crossed.

Closing out the day I was able to speak to my "bunny lady" and explain to her that I wasn't able to find any one to take in her huge number of animals. It was very sad listening to her because you could tell that she really did care for all of her animals and things just got out of hand as far as the numbers go. I explained to her that the only option was county and I gave her the numbers. I really do feel bad for her and I wish we could do more, it's tough though when we as a pretty well off shelter couldn't take in any of her animals.

Well, a better day than I was expecting today. Just goes to show that things can always turn out differently than what you prepare for. Thanks for reading as always and I look forward to your comments. The pictures above are of our girl Lady Bird hanging out comfortable at the front desk and of course a few of our new arrivals.

Not a day to remember

2010-03-13T07:18:00.000-08:00

Typically my Friday's are spent doing animal intakes and data entry back in the medical suite of the shelter, well, some of that happened. I started the day off by trying to square away the situation that arose late yesterday afternoon about a person who was trying to unload twenty two rabbits. Well, I got the whole low down from other rescue organizations and I learned that the woman takes very good care of the animals, but she just has too many. I was able to talk to animal services in her area and they were going to see what they could do because the person was in such dire need to get rid of the animals. When I hear more I will certainly pass it along.

Initially it seemed like my day in medical would be a slow one with four intakes and some data entry. When I went up to the front desk I learned that the person relinquishing their cats had no shown up, but there were a few other people there. An adopter that had taken home an animal just last week was returning his dog because of separation anxiety. It was a feasible reason but I still wish people would try a little longer than six days. While this was happening another older man came in, slapped some papers on the counter and said "I want to return this dog" like we were Wal Mart. I was completely stunned and asked the man if he had called first. He went into his spiel about how the dog was just too much for him and his wife. He said if he had known the history of the dog it might have been better. This was one of those moments that I truly have to bite my tongue and try not to actually speak my mind. Anyways, we always take back our animals and we will make sure that this sweet animal;s next home will be her forever home.

Later in the day we finally did a few cat intakes. The first one was a sweet little girl that was easily a yes as far as adoptability. The other two cats were a little bit different though. They seemed fine early on but once the actual intake began we found out very quickly that these cats were feisty. In any case, rather than four cat intakes it ended up being just the one.

Of course all of the craziness wasn't over yet. We got a call that yet another animal was being returned. This time is was for another bite. I couldn't believe the day today. There really couldn't have been anything else that could have happened. Of course though I never mentioned that there was just one person at the front desk this entire time while I was in medical so I was bouncing back and forth trying to deal with the returns. Anyways, the new return has to go on bite quarantine for ten days and then be reassessed.

Closing out this crazy and crappy day we had to do re-intakes on the three dogs that got returned. Luckily it was pretty easy but after today I just want to go home. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to you comments. Hopefully tomorrow will have a few more smiles than tears.

Something new every day

2010-03-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

Today is my front desk day and I am finding out more and more that there are many types of people in this world. To begin the day I walked in and realized that the front office had gotten painted the night before. It looked great but there was one problem, everything was off the walls and the desk and computer were five feet away from where it usually is. I'm just glad I got there early to start to put it back together. Of course I had to wait for the rest of the staff to get there because I honestly had no idea where everything went.

After the office got put back together is was business as usual. There of course were lots of phone calls today asking every sort of question. I still think that it's funny we get calls from forty miles away asking if we can come pick up a stray dog, especially when we are a privately funded shelter with no animal control. I did have one very interesting call today, one that I have never experienced before, it was an individual with a problem, actually twenty two problems. The person began by saying they had some animals she wanted to relinquish. Well, it turns out it was a lot of animal they were looking to relinquish, so many that it's a pretty large issue. Apparently the person's neighbor complained and now they have just four days to solve this issue or be evicted.

I explained to the individual that we just don't have room for that many animals but I would contact a few places that might be able to help. In reality though I really just wanted to get all of her contact information in order to find out the real story and if there was any history from this woman. Once I got off the phone with her I was able to learn that she initially had double the number of animals and county had already stepped in once to help out along with a few other rescue groups. I still am not sure if they took all of the animals and she acquired twenty two more or if they left her with that number. There is a big difference because if she obtained the animals since county already stepped in this might be a true hoarding case. My next step is to call county in the area the individual is located and see if I can get a better story.

Well, the was the majority of the craziness today. I will end on a woman and her mother coming into the shelter asking if we had any other cats that weren't in the cattery. I explained that we had a lot of adoptions this past week and more were on their way. I did walk with her back into the cattery to show her our indoor outdoor room where there are an additional four cats with free access in and out. I suggested to her that she meet with an adoption counselor to get a full story on all of our feline friends to see if there was a perfect fit. She ended up doing that and adopting our our little kitten Jaime. I remember she initially said she didn't want a kitten but ended up with one anyhow, it's funny how that happens.

I want to thank everyone for reading and I look forward to your comments. Hopefully I can give you an update on the unfolding story that I am sure is not yet finished.

One late showing

2010-03-11T06:40:00.000-08:00

I decided to focus on the cats this morning and try to spend at least some time getting to know their personalities. For me the routine when I an in the kennels is one day with the dogs and one with the cats, got to keep it all balanced you know. I have to say that cleaning up after my feline friends was pretty easy today with so many adoptions this past week.

Once all of the cats had been cleaned up after I headed over to dog iso to take care of the stray and our little man still on bit quarantine. I have to say that he seems to be doing a lot better without all of the usual fence fighting that gets him all riled up. As far as the stray is concerned we were unable to contact his owner because their telephone number listed on the tag would not except incoming calls. In any case, county came and picked him up while I was cleaning.

After the garbage, dishes, and laundry were done I found out about an "issue" we were having with our microchips and registration. We are actually lucky enough to have a wonderful volunteer that comes in every week to enter all of the forms into the computer to make sure the proper contact information is updated. The problem came up though that there were a few times that the system booted us out and we were unable to update in time. What that means basically is that about twenty animals over the past year never got registered. Luckily our volunteer made it very easy for me to find out which ones needed to be reentered. It still took me a while though to enter all twenty of them. I was actually surprised that this issue hadn't come up before but I guess the adopters really don't pay any attention when we tell them they will be receiving conformation for the chip registration within a couple of weeks, not years.

For a good portion of the day today I actually got to spend some more time with the animals. Typically I find something to keep me busy but because yesterday was so slow and we got so much accomplished, as far as cleaning is concerned, I decided to hang with my boy Billy again. Ever since we moved him to a larger, more private room, he has really started to come out of his shell. I went in, sat down, and he immediately came out and rolled on his back for belly rubs. This cat is really growing on me and if I would have never thought that he would turn out to be one of my favorites. Here is a picture of him hanging out in his "house" before he came out.

Closing out the day I headed back to the cattery to make sure everything was in order. That's when I saw a woman with two young daughters. They asked if they could pet Lassie our ten year old sweetheart but because it was getting close to closing I didn't think we would have time. Well, it turns out they already had an application in so it was as simple as pulling their file and starting the showing. The woman had been in several times in the past but the right fit just wasn't there. I really think she liked Lassie and her demeanor and will be back tomorrow to adopt, I hope.

A slow day to say the least but hopefully one adoption will come out of it. I want to thank everyone for reading and of course to all of the volunteers out there that really do make all of the difference. The rest of the pictures today were of surgery dogs, I just couldn't help myself, they all looked so cute. I still have a tough time recognizing the dog below, can you believe that he was one of our mange puppies from December?!

Bonded Pair Weekend

2010-03-10T06:39:00.000-08:00

I love coming into work knowing that every single bonded pair got adopted this past weekend. Having one of these loving pairs adopted out is one thing, but a total of three was unheard of. It was quite the way to start my day. There were a total of two bonded cat pairs and a brother and sister dog pair that all got to go home on Saturday.

After the big smiles it was time to get to work. Of course we had to take all of the dogs out first for their morning break. The first little guy I grabbed was Mahi, one of the sweet mange puppies that is still here. He seemed so happy to see me, I kneeled down to leash him up when he jumped in my lap and peed on my thigh. At first I had no idea why my leg was getting so warm, then of course the light goes on and realized what had happened. Who would have thought that this was something that I would ever be laughing about in my life? I guess I have gotten dirty enough at this job that it just doesn't seem to phase me any more.

Once all of the cleaning was done it was time for more cleaning. We had our new staff member today training again so we had plenty of hands to make sure that everything was caught up at the shelter. With that being said, there was only so much we could all do. It almost seemed like a mad dash to see who could get to the laundry first. Well, at least all the busy work was getting done today, the bad part was, the day was dragging because there just weren't any showings.

I think after the weekend there were so many adoptions that now we have so many empty kennels there just aren't that many showings. I did have the one and only today though. It was with a sweet older lady and her daughter. She had just lost her dog of fourteen years and she was looking for a new companion. Initially she wanted to see a lab mix named Sedona. The only problem is this dog had just been adopted out to an older retired woman and brought back a day later because Sedona was tearing up the house, with her new mom there! Once I explained this to the potential adopter she understood that it wasn't the perfect fit. She said exactly what I like to hear in a showing, "I am in no rush, I want to make sure it is the perfect dog". That's kind of the unofficial motto I have here because so many people come in, see a "cute" dog and have to have that one not realizing that they are looking at a 12 year commitment without realizing the personality clashes that might come about.

The rest of the day was more cleaning and laundry. It was nice to see the pile go down a little. I did get to spend some time with the animals today which was nice. I hung out with a cool cat named Billy who has a whole room to himself. I also hung out with our bite quarantine dog Cooper who just loves to fall asleep on your lap. I also spent a little time with a new kitty that came in over the weekend as well. That is a picture of her and her neighbor up top.

Closing out the day we got in a stray. Because we are a private shelter we basically hold the animal in our isolation unit until county animal services can come pick them up. We do make every effort to find their owners but it doesn't always work out that way. The stray that came in wasn't microchipped but did have a tag in his collar with a telephone number. The only problem, when you call the number it said the subscriber does not accept incoming calls. Not sure the point of that cellular plan is but if he had a phone that worked or a correct number on his dog's tag this animal wouldn't be heading to county. Just goes to show that microchipping your animal, no matter how secure you think they are is a smart move.

Thanks for reading everyone and I love getting your comments, keep them coming!

My shortest day yet!

2010-03-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

I love what I do, don't get me wrong, but it is certainly nice to leave work early because everything that you needed to get done got done.

The day started with dishing out the meds to all of the sick animals. Everything was going fine until I had one little guy just not want to eat anything I was giving him. Because of this we took his temp, everything was within normal limits but you could tell he just wasn't feeling good. We ended up cooking him a chicken breast and he had no problems with that. Once that was done it was time to get a fecal and clean some ears on our husky/shepherd mix Patrick. You think this would be easy but there was nothing easy about it. It turns out he is a big wimp when ever you touch his ears and he goes belly up and all squirmy. This probably wouldn't be an issue except the yard he was in was about six by four so needless to say we were both trying not to get any poop on us.

Next we were on to a few cat intakes. I was surprised at how easy both of these went. The sweet little felines had no issues with us giving them shots, weighing them, or even drawing blood. I know they were a little older, five and eight, but both of these cats seem like they will get adopted very quickly on personality alone.

Later was my least favorite part of the day. It was time to help treat a cat with the worst yeast infection I have ever seen. It would have been a lot easier with oral meds but this is the only cat I have ever come across that will not take them and will not let us give them. What all of that means is we have to use a cream and ten minute baths to the infected area. Let me just tell you there was nothing fun about making sure this cat gets healthy. Anyways, we got her all cleaned up and it does seem to be helping, I just really wish she would take her oral medication.

The rest of my short day was focusing on making sure that all of the medications, med sheets, and directions were all squared away for the weekend when the med staff is off. Luckily though they had worked extremely efficiently this week and pretty much had everything done. There were only a few new things to add for the weekend.

Aside from the normal health checks and finding out one of our little guys has conjunctivitis the day was coming to an end. It was a nice break in the week especially after yesterday. There were no adoptions that I know of but at least there wasn't anything bad either. I want to thank everyone for reading and I truly do look forward to your comments and I'll work on some more positive things. Up top is a picture of one of our second chance dogs right after surgery, I always feel so bad for these little men, must be a guy thing!

I'm surprised I am even writing today

2010-03-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

My days at the front desk are usually occupied by a whole bunch of paper work and a lot of answering phones, today was a little different. It turned out that only one animal was getting picked up today so that meant it was going to be a slow one.

The day began with me answering a few emails, mopping the floor, and recording the "on hold" messages for the remainder of the year. Once that was done I found myself trying to find things to do. It was so slow in fact that we ended up sending the other two staff member homes for the day. Of course when that happens you know you are going to get busy.

The first craziness hit around 1:00 when we learned that a volunteer had gotten bit on the hand by our little man Cooper. This is the guy we had down in a yard yesterday that we thought was doing so well. It turns out he got tangled with another dog and when the two volunteers tried straightening it out one got bit by the little guy when he was going after the other dog. In any case, it is something to be taken very seriously. Even if it was an accident the animal still broke skin and is now on bit quarantine for ten days while we asses him. Hopefully everything works out in our favor and his alone time will actually be good because he is so dog reactive. I do know that we will have to spend a lot of time with him these next days to make sure he isn't going crazy in ISO.

The next thing that was out of the ordinary was that the entire kennel staff had a training session on how to work with the overly stressed animals in the shelter. What this meant to me was that we had to postpone all showings during this time. Luckily though the one that did come in I was able to handle. The biggest issue with the showing was the fact that they had adopted from us before and stated in a call back that they had a tough time with vet bills. After saying that and coming in for another dog there were some concerns. Luckily I was able to talk to them at length and learn that it was merely a miscommunication. Unfortunately the dog that they wanted to see still has kennel cough though and they were unable to introduce him to their pet. Hopefully they are going to be patient and wait for the perfect fit.

Moving on to the worst part of my day. Once I was the only one left at the front desk for the day you can be surprisingly busy by answering phones and directing people where to go in the shelter. While all of this was happening I got a call from a previous adopter that had taken one of our dogs home last year. It was a special case with a special dog that had needed consistent work on behavior issues. Well, it turns out she ended up biting a man on the face and it was no nip. The even scarier part is the adopters have a young child at home. The decision was made to bring in the animal to be euthanized. I want everyone to know that this decision is never taken lightly and this was one of those times that everyone in the shelter was crying. We had worked on this animal for months getting her to the "adoptable" level and were very patient sending her home to the perfect family. It's just how things go sometimes.

I try not to dwell on days like today. It does help my by putting it down on paper, sort of. I know that this isn't an every day occurrence but it is incredibly hard to deal with these sort of things. My best line of defense is moving on to tomorrow and hoping for some great adoptions. This line of work is truly an emotional roller coaster and that was one hell of a drop today.

A few seniors finding their way home

2010-03-04T06:32:00.001-08:00

I'll skip the spiel about cleaning today and get right to it. Once all the morning chores were done it was time to do a little weekly cleaning in certain areas of the shelter. I started by heading over to the cattery to wash the windows. Now this might seem like a meaningless task but you would be amazed at how many nose prints can accumulate on glass. Once that was done I headed back to the laundry room to get caught up on some dirty bedding.

Unfortunately for some odd reason the radio I had today was not receiving calls. What this meant was that every time there was a showing I didn't hear the call. This was good and bad at the same time. For one thing I was unable to take party in any adoptions but on the other hand I did get to spend a lot of time with the animals.

The first guy I spent some time with was Cooper, our Italian greyhound/schnauzer mix. He can be a little bit of a terd but all we had to do was bring in a dog just like him and it was a match made in heaven. We slowly introduced the two male dogs and learned quickly that all they wanted to do was play. It was a huge surprise because typically Cooper can be very leash aggressive. Once down in a yard though the fun began, or rather taking turns humping. After they got all of that out of their systems they really had a good time. It was so nice to see that our little man Cooper can be a normal dog and not the usual freak that we see whenever he comes across another dog. Here is a picture of the two "soul mates" in action.

While we were playing matchmaker with the dogs I learned of two unbelievable cat adoptions. The reason it was such a surprise was due to the cats age. It turns out that not only did our fourteen year old second chance cat get adopted but so did our sixteen year old as well. You are probably wondering how this happened but it turns out that two of our staff members ended up taking them home. It was such a nice surprise to learn that both these animals not only went to great homes, we all know that they will live out the rest of their lives well taken care of.

On a sad note, my boy Higgins got returned. It was one of those unfortunate that you wish didn't happen but it did. It turns out the other dog just wasn't the right fit, I have to admit I was a little angry but at least we got to see how Higgins did in a home. That's all I can say for now on the topic, but as I learn more I will certainly pass it along. I just hope by the time I learn about the situation he will already be in his forever home.

Closing out the day I had to have a few pictures of a sweet bonded pair of cats. These two are probably my favorite right now but you can see they can do just fine without me. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

A busy and long day

2010-03-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a few days since my last blog and I apologize, it's been pretty busy shuffling schedules making sure there is enough staff on duty. That also means that I have to cover shifts and because I can be lazy at times the blog has certainly suffered.

Anyways, on with today. I began my morning by taking out all of the dogs to their runs for their first potty break. Once that was done I tackled the kennels on the South side of the shelter and got to scrubbing. I am always surprised at the amount of bird poop that can accumulate on certain ledges in the kennels. Even with our handy dandy owl statue to scare them away, the birds still come for a free meal of dog food. Once that was done it was time for a special morning meeting, the topic, rabbits.

This class about rabbits has been a long time coming. Every time there is a rabbit showing it seems everyone asks everyone the same questions and never really get a straight forward answer. That was all about to change when we had a rabbit "specialist" come in to talk to the staff and a few volunteers. I have to say, this was one of the most informative classes that I have had at the shelter and that's saying a lot. We learned everything about how to handle rabbits differently from every other animal because they are "prey" animals and don't react to people the same way as dogs and cats. We also learned how to distinguish breeds, which are better for kids, and the big one of why they are so much happier as a bonded pair than alone. It was truly an informative class and it certainly gave me the confidence to take on any rabbit showing. If you have any questions about rabbits don't hesitate to ask in the comments section, I feel now that I am better prepared to answer.

Once the class was over it was right into the slow part of my day, which lasted until five. The reason I say it was the slow part was because myself and another staff member had interviews with potential new hires pretty much all day long. I have to say that I am quite amazed at the job pool that companies now get to pick from. We had over forty five applicants the first twelve hours the ad was posted. From those applicants there was everything from engineers, retired military, masters degree holders, and much much more. Just about every walk of life I guess wants to help animals.

The interviews went well but me being me had to be very truthful about what the job entails. I really didn't sugar coat anything. In fact I might have been a little too truthful. I discussed everything from cleaning to handling DB's to becoming certified as a EBR tech (which by the way I am not). We were able to week through the candidates and narrow it down to a few solid candidates. We ended up offering the job to an animal sciences degree holder who was truly enthusiastic about what we at the shelter do. I think she will be a good addition to the shelter and to our team of staff.

Thanks for reading everyone, hopefully tomorrow I can talk about some adoptions rather than the hiring process of the shelter. Remember, if you aren't following on google or facebook I would really appreciate it and of course I look forward to your comments.

Front desk time

2010-02-26T06:35:00.000-08:00

I began my day by first making some tasty coffee, it's nice to be able to sit for a day and enjoy a cup ever once in a while. After I got all settled in it was time to check the emails and messages. Nothing too exciting but one message did get my attention. It was with a woman that was having some problems with an adoption process. I looked up her name in our system but found no information. I finally called her and learned that it was a rescue group that the woman was having issues with. Her main questions was if there was some sort of adoption board that she could talk to in order to clear up a few issues she was having. After the twenty minute conversation she had with me I finally suggested that she talk to her lawyer friend because in the end she did sign a contract. I do hope it all works out and I'll know next time that our 411 number is the same as our front desk number.

After all of the morning necessities were done the doors were open. I was surprised to see that no dogs were actually going home which is unusual for Thursdays, typically all of the animals that got altered the day before are picked up but apparently everyone is waiting for the weekend this time. What this meant for me was that the day could potentially drag on. That's when the phone rang and a young woman wanted to find out a little info on Chica, aka Millie. I answered as best as I could and tried to discuss a few of her issues before she made the trip in. She still seemed interested and said she would be down within the hour.

Well, a little later in the afternoon the woman came in. She filled out a profile and was excited to see Millie. I have to say I was pretty pessimistic just because Millie has been here upwards of six months but to my surprise about fifteen minutes into the showing the potential adopter became an adopter. Woo Hoo! Everyone was so excited for one of our long termers to go home. Just goes to show that there is the perfect home for all of these animals some where out there.

The rest of the day was pretty quite, we did have an EBR (euthanasia by request) come in which is always a little sad. There is really nothing you can say except I'm sorry for your loss. Well, enough of that, back to positive stuff.

Our front desk dog of the day was Lady Bird, a sweet lab that has been at the shelter for quite some time but doesn't necessarily have the best kennel presence. But as you can see from the picture she does quite well in a more calming environment. Hopefully she will get a little more exposure up here when she is calm so the right home can finally take her home.

Aside from being Mr. Information on the phone, we are one of the few places that picks up with a live person rather than an automated service, there was another adoption. I didn't take part because I was helping out another area of the shelter but from what I hear it was a great fit. Our boy Hamilton finally found the right home where he will be taken care of. The poor guy got returned just two days after going home originally because of allergies. Oh well, at least it wasn't too long before he got to leave for good this time.

Thanks for reading everyone and as always thanks to the volunteers and shelter workers out there that sometimes go unappreciated, you are making a difference.

Keeping myself busy

2010-02-25T06:40:00.001-08:00

As far as weeks go, you could certainly say that this one was a slow one. But when you think about cleaning, you could say it was a busy one. The way it works is that we are completely full to capacity as far as dogs are concerned yet we can do showings with a good number of them. What that means is a whole lot of cleaning with only a select number of animals that we can do showings with.

As usual we began by taking all of the dogs out to their runs. I tackled the cats after that and continued on to disinfecting dog ISO when that was finished. For some reason everyone today just had the motivation to get things done which was nice, because once that was done we headed over to the dreaded poop buckets. I thought I had gotten out of these forever by not working on Mondays anymore but because of a large tree removal it got postponed until today. I have to say this is one part of the job I do not miss.

The showings today seemed limited. I can only think of two in fact that anyone even did. One was with a cat that turned out not to be a good fit because the potential adopters were looking at an indoor cat but wanted an indoor/outdoor cat. The other showing was with one of my favorite dogs Millie, aka Chica. She is a long termer that is really a staff favorite but has had a tough time getting adopted because of her socialization issues. Good news is though the showing went well, bad news is we still have to introduce her to a small poodle that is already part of the household.

The highlight of the day, since there were no adoptions, had to be the sizable donation that was received. Now I didn't get the details about it but I do know that the individual has donated before but this amount was double of the last. I was shocked to see it and completely astonished at how much it can do for the shelter. So, to the donor out there, thank you.

That's it for today, as always, I want to thank all of the volunteers and donors out there for their continued dedication to the animal cause. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.

A full house

2010-02-24T06:37:00.000-08:00

Ah, my Monday. It's tough some days to come back to the overpowering smell of poop but after ten or so minutes of it you remember why you are here. Today this rang true. When I first started taking dogs out all my mind could think about was how bad everything smelled. Not sure if it was the new dogs or the fact that they all had giardia but man did it stink. Of course, once I actually started cleaning I realized how many new faces were at the shelter and how many more animals we were helping this week.

I learned quickly that our behavior specialist had ventured out to a far away shelter and given another ten dogs a "second chance". I was expecting her to do this but it is still always a nice surprise to see all of our kennels full. I was surprised though at how full we actually are. I think that this might be the most dogs in house that we have had since we have been here. Not sure of the total number but in addition to all of the kennels being full, several of them are doubled up.

Anyways, once all of the cleaning, special feedings, and bringing the dogs back up were taken care of I headed over to take the garbage out. Not the highlight of my day but at least I get to get some sort of a workout lifting the kitty litter bags into the dumpster.

Moving on with the day I learned of some great cat adoptions while I was off. In fact I think there was a total of five! They included the sweetest bonded pair that had both been in separate car accidents before making their way to us. Another special adoption was a cat named Gertie, a fourteen year old one eared cat that one of our staff members decided to take home and make comfortable for her remaining time. Now I see where she is coming from but boy could that turn very tough in no time flat.

With all of the good though comes the unfortunate, in addition to all of the adoptions I learned of two more returns. A cat that had been adopted out this weekend had already come back because the adopter said that their apartment was too small. Not sure how big of an apartment a cat needs but I will continue to tell myself that I am not a people hater. Another animal that came back was also adopted out this weekend, a sweet older dog that apparently gave the adopter some severe allergies. Understandable none the less, but I would think that a person in their fifties would know what they are allergic to. Dang it, do you see what I am doing? I need to not be so negative and just get over it! We will find these animals the right home and just because it didn't work out this time doesn't mean that it won't the next time.

Today was a good start to the week, even with getting used to the smell again and learning of some returns. When you are in this industry you have to realize that sometimes it doesn't work out, but at least the people tried. It takes a lot for a person to go down to any shelter to even consider taking these animals home so I will continue to tell myself that even when these animals are returned at least now we know how they are in a home. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments. And the picture up top is a new second chance dog named Porky Pig, apparently he is an albino chihuahua mix...I can see where his name comes from.

A lot of medicine

2010-02-20T08:01:00.001-08:00

Today was my weekly day in medical. It began as usual by preparing all of the morning meds. This includes everything from antibiotics, allergy medicine, de-wormers, pain killers, steroids, and of course the dreaded wipes. Everything was fine until I got to those. Not sure exactly what is wrong with the cat that needs them but I think this it is basically a horrible yeast infection. I felt a little uncomfortable wiping her down but I guess it had to be done. The really tough part was trying to pill her afterwards, talk about impossible.

After the morning meds it was on with the day and some data entry. I began by entering a few animals into our system so they could be adoptable this weekend. It's pretty simple stuff but if you screw up one date it can end up causing a lot of problems. I do tend to rush through these so it's good that there are a few others here able to double check my work.

Once that was done it was time for the vet due treatments. This usually takes up a good amount of time but today there was only one dog that needed anything done, a simple monthly flea treatment. After this I figured today might be a day that goes by pretty fast.

Moving on I began preparing all of the meds for the weekend. I was amazed at how many there were. I can't imagine only one person doing this job, I really do have to give the medical staff credit for everything that they do. Just getting the bottles ready for the medicine took me a better part of the day.

Closing out the day we did an intake on a dog named Lucky who had been relinquished earlier in the week and was sent immediately out to our vet's office. It turns out the little guy was peeing blood right when he came into the shelter. Luckily though they found it was bladder stone and not something more serious. They actually also found that the poor little guy had been stung by a bee, lucky for him they caught it early. Hopefully his surgery to remove his stone goes smoothly and we an find him a home quickly.

Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

All I can say is WOW!

2010-02-19T06:38:00.000-08:00

My typical Thursdays usually consist of the recently altered animals getting picked up by their new adopters. Today was a little different. It began like any other day up at the front desk, me making some coffee and checking the emails and voicemail. Once that was done the money was counted and I began to prepare the files for the animals that were getting picked up today, a total of six. This was a little high but nothing out of the ordinary.

The doors opened at eleven and already the people were flowing in. The first group was actually a film crew interviewing our president. All I have to say is they picked a good day to do it, I haven't been a part of a busier Thursday since starting here. After they met with our president and headed off to another building the adopters started flowing in like clockwork. Luckily our med staff staggers the pickup times so it makes it a little easier on us. Before I knew it though pickups started overlapping with new showings and adoptions as well as new relinquished animals and even EBR's (euthanasia by request).

The became a blur from the moment we opened to the moment we closed. There were so many adoptions and animals relinquished it all seemed to blend together. Now I am not complaining by any means, I'm just trying to paint a picture of how busy it was. The only problem that I had with today was the fact that we were so busy I wasn't sure if everyone was getting the attention they needed and deserved. Hopefully everything got taken care of and nothing got overlooked.

Now on to the adopted animals. Believe it or not there were a total of six adoptions with one being our long term dog Bobbie and another two being a bonded pair that were pushing eight in age. It was so nice to see these animals find their forever homes and especially see the smiles on the adopters faces when they got to call them their own.

I honestly can't remember to much more because it really was to busy to think about it. I do remember our behavior specialist taking in an animal at one point and her just handing the poor guy off to me, before I knew it though I got the whale eye, put him down, and the scared little guy going into bark mode. We took in a total of three new dogs and sent out six new ones. It was a great day for adoptions and an even greater day for the animals. I think we sent out a total of 13, a record for me.

If every day was like today there would be a lot less animals looking for their forever homes. I want to thank everyone for reading as always and apologize for no pictures, a little to much going one to take them. I look forward to your comments.

A little of this and a little of that

2010-02-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

Quick re cap of the morning, lots of scrubbing and lots of poo, nuff said. After all of the cleaning I headed up to the front desk to see if we do figure a few things out. A new concern that has come up is having animals that are already adopted, and on foster, head in to showings with new adopters not know that the animals have a home already. Now this is a rare occurrence, but it does happen, and when it does, it can be a pain in the but.

The problem really originates when there is a break down of communication. However much you try to avoid it, it is still bound to happen. We do have a proper routine in place that if followed the issue doesn't arise but let's say no one puts an adopted sign on a kennel. Then a customer fills out an adoption application to see that animal, then the counselor wasn't there the day the animal got adopted, and let's say the animal went home on foster because it was still waiting an operation the computer says available for adoption, then you have a problem. One thing we were trying to figure out at the front desk was how we could change the status of the animal in the computer to "on hold" because we can't technically adopt them until everything is good to go, like being spayed or neutered. Anyways, that was the beginning of my day, hopefully it won't be too difficult of a problem to fix.

Moving on it was a lot of laundry and trying to get all of our linen and beds somewhat consolidated. Luckily everyone had kept up on keeping the washer and dryer running so the big issue was just taking care of all of the recent linen donations that have poured in the past couple of weeks. Now there was a quick and easy solution if I ever saw one, we simply took all of the donations that were filling up an empty kennel and loaded them into our large van. Our behaviorist who will be making a trip to a few less fortunate shelters will take the donations to them where they will get some good use out of them. Two birds with one stone there.

I did have one good showing today, it was with a woman that I had met last August and had introduced their dog to Wendy, a long timer here at the shelter. It seemed to be a good fit back then but she had some issues with the energy level our dog had. Long story short, she was back to see our lab named Higgins. Now this guy is truly one of my favorites, he is a sweet and lovable loaf. He will go belly up over pretty much anything but has been gaining some confidence since first arriving at the shelter. The interact went well with the woman's dog pretty much just assessing the area. After a while though our little guy started running and trying to instigate play with no luck. I suggested that the woman come back when her dog is a little more comfortable and we'll see how things go. Hopefully she'll be back because as you can see from the picture below they really could be brothers.

There were a few more showings the rest of the day and luckily a couple of adoptions as well. A sweet cat that can be a bit fickle found a new home as well as one of our second chance dogs. In addition to this a gentleman came back in for the umpteenth time to visit with our long term girl Bobbie. Hopefully it went well and in the coming days I can say she was adopted. The last showing I saw was with a couple that already had two dogs. Unfortunately their little male was un altered and we were unable to adopt. Now I of all people understand that it seems rough to "take away the guys manhood" but believe me it really does help the bigger issue of pet population. We tried explaining this to the guy but it was like talking to a brick wall. Maybe his wife can talk some sense in to him and in the future they can adopt from us.

That's it for now, as always thanks for reading and of course your wonderful comments. I always do appreciate them and all of the people out there that are doing their own part to help all the great animals in need around the world. Oh yeah, I couldn't forget to add a picture of the little Italian greyhound we have here that just got her dental.

Some good numbers this weekend

2010-02-17T06:39:00.000-08:00

I love coming back to this place after a few days off to learn who got to go home. Of course there are those days that no one does but on the other end of the spectrum are days like today where I learned of about ten different adoptions. There weren't to many cat adoptions, mostly dogs, but there was a bonded pair of bunnies that have been at the shelter for quite some time that finally found their forever home.

A few of the adopted animal were still at the shelter when I arrived today. They basically are waiting on some sort of procedure before they can go home. Most of the time it's either a spay or neuter, but we also have a few dentals and a check up on on a sweet little dog who may have a heart murmur. It never seizes to amaze me the medical attention that our animals receive.

On with the day. I began as usual by helping take out all of the dogs to their runs. I have to say, the smell always takes some getting used to in the morning. Once that was done it was time to head over to the cattery. It was nice to see some empty kennels because this last month has really gone to the cats as far as adoption numbers go. There were a few new faces though but everyone in there seemed to be well adjusted. Maybe it's the fact that the majority of them have at least two interconnecting kennels to stretch their legs in. While I was cleaning I was lucky enough to have a volunteer not only offer their help, but more importantly just spend some quality time with the cats while I took care of tidying up the place.

The next portion of my day was dedicated to a meeting going over some future events as well as the normal stuff. We discussed everything from a large volunteer project to our anticipated anniversary gala event. It's always good to see how many people are involved in the shelter and more importantly how people are so passionate about what we do here. I won't bore you with to many details but I will say that we are planning another adoption event and we did get some nice bagels to munch on.

Before I knew it the day was already winding down. I was able to do a few loads of laundry and even got the dogs fed once I went back to the kennels. I didn't hear of any adoptions but at least there were a few showings. The rest of the afternoon was spent bringing out all of the dogs, making sure their kennels were ready for the night, and of course cleaning.

Closing out the day I did my time cards, yes I said time cards, something I haven't ever experienced before this place. I got out my calculator and started working. Luckily it only takes about five minutes, but if you forget you can get in some trouble.

I hope tomorrow I will see a few adoptions but in the mean time here is a picture of our girl Lady. Now typically she is a wild and crazy sort of dog but when you get her some quite time she becomes part of the family, or floor for that matter (see picture above). Thanks for reading everyone and I really do appreciate all of your comments and all that you do out there helping those that can't help themselves.

Best just to jump back in

2010-02-13T07:36:00.001-08:00

My day in medical was a fast one. Immediately when I got to work it was time to dish out the meds and get on with the day. It was good because I think I needed some busy time to not have to think about anything else.

Once all of the medications were given it was time to dive right into the day. Typically on these days I have been helping set up meds and doing a lot of data entry for the animal's files but today was a little different. Today I helped do a total of eight cat intakes. An intake consists of drawing blood for 'snap' tests to determine if the cat can come into the shelter. We also make sure that all vaccines are up to date and if not administer them. We also look at the teeth, coat, tail, ears and basically the overall well being of the animal. We listen to the heart as well to make sure there are no abnormalities.

The eight cats that we brought in to the shelter all seemed healthy except for one. It turns out my one eared friend who was originally aged at five plus is really around 14 plus. Apparently you can actually tell by simply looking at the eyes. If they have crocodile eyes it means that they are pretty old. Other than being old though the cat seems in pretty good health, a little feisty too. We did decide to run a full blood panel just to cover all of our bases to make sure that this animal is adoptable.

The other cats were all pretty scared on intake but really took it well. We ended up giving just about every one of them an updated rabies vaccine along with anthelban, a de wormer, and revolution to cover the external parasites. Amazingly enough we were actually able to do all eight intakes today. In addition to that all of the animals that could go home this weekend were entered into our computer system. All in all, a busy day that went by before I knew it had began.

In closing today I have to add that I got my first award, the Scribble Scholastic award from a great blog called One Girl Too Many Animals, a touching blog about animal rescue in Kuala Lumpur. Now the trick goes is that I have to award this to five of my favorite blogs, so here it goes, I wish it could be more. So here are my five:

1. NWsquared

2. Dog Days

3. For the love of Animals

4. Aimee's Petite Maison
5. The Adventures Of Cody Bear (and Daisy too!)

* Rules for Superior Scribbler Award:
1. Each superior scribbler must pass on the AWARD to 5 friends who are also SS.
2. Each SS must link the author and name of the blog from whom he receives the award.
3. Each SS must display the award on his/her blog and link to the post which explains the award.
4. Each SS is asked to visit the post which explains the award and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List.
5. Each SS must post these rules on his/her blog.

Trying to get through the day

2010-02-12T06:38:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those days that as soon as it started I was ready for it to end. The morning started out pretty normal, me opening up the front desk. I had a little extra free time so I helped out a few other co-workers and then went back to my corner of the shelter. Typically Thursdays are pretty busy up at the front desk because all of the adopted animals that just had surgery are able to go home, well today there were only three.

The preparation for these animals to go home is pretty simple, especially since the adoption deposit they made initially covers just about everything. Basically all we have to do is go into our computer system and "adopt out" the animal in there, print out some medical history, and state how the adopters paid. Not rocket science but you still have to be pretty careful because the computer system can get a little complicated and it's best that we stick to one way of doing everything.

Once the first animal went home I was already getting bored, there is only so much you can do when you have three staff members covering all the daily tasks. Luckily one of them wanted to get out of here early so without hesitation they were sent home. Just so you know I think every staff member here today wanted to get out of here early. See, we got some bad news about our cat that I was talking about yesterday. It turns out that there were even more lumps than originally expected and we had to euthanize her. This is the hardest part about this job but then again it was something that had to be done. That is all I am going to talk about that because it's still a little early for me.

The rest of the day dragged on, that is of course until 4:45 when everything hit the fan. We had a number of late showings as well as a number of volunteers taking animals on foster. Not to mention that we still had one of our adopters come to pick up their dog at 4:59. Hey, as long as they get to go home I am O.K. with that. On top of all of this we also had an adoption take place right as we were closing. Like I said before, and the staff agrees, as long as an animal gets to go home we are all fine with staying late.

Today was a pretty rough one, a day that if I drank I would have probably had two when I got home. Maybe another day I will go into more details about how crappy it was but for now I'll talk about the good things that took place. Thanks for reading everyone and I'll talk to you soon.

With the bitter comes the sweet.

2010-02-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

With my stint in kennels this week almost over I figured I might as well pick up after the dogs. Luckily though none of the ones that I cleaned up after had any sort of bacteria or parasites living in their intestines so the smell was at leas bearable.

After all of the cleaning was taken care of it was already opening time. People were already coming into the shelter even though there were still dogs that needed to be brought up and bags of garbage that still needed taking out. Fortunately there were some other staff members that were willing to help a hand.

Of course that didn't mean that I was finished cleaning. I still had to disinfect our South fake grass areas where our sick dogs with giardia had been going on breaks. Not the most difficult task, but scrubbing astro turf isn't the easiest thing either. On top of that there was a whole lot of bleach that needed to be sprayed on to make sure that it was actually disinfected for healthy dogs to use.

Once that was done I sat down with a staff member to go over a few ideas about an adoption event we are having this weekend titled "Puppy Love". In addition to having puppies though we are actually trying to focus the public's attention on our senior dogs. See, I just found out that we are pretty much the only shelter in our county that takes in animals over four years old. This was a surprise to me because we have so many senior dogs I thought it was the norm across the board. Anyways, I digress, the event this weekend will feature our KCS (kids community service) volunteers manning kissing booths (with puppies), selling baked goods, and having face painting. As well we will be offering discounted adoption fees as well as gift certificates to our thrift store with every adoption. Hopefully it will be a huge success and we will continue to grow these events.

Later in the afternoon it was finally time for some showings. All at the same time there were three cats showings. The first, which I grabbed, was with a pair of cats that we are adopting out separately. There story was a sad one to say the least, but as I was about to find out, it was a lot sadder. Initially when the pair came in we couldn't tell if one of the guys had an old scar or ring worm. Well, it turned out to be a mass cell tumor. Our medical staff removed it, and the surrounding area hoping it would take care of the problem. It turns out that today, with our vet, the med staff noticed a few more lumps. Upon biopsy, it was determined that they too were mass cell tumors. Now I'm not sure if they are going to try to remove these or not, but with two popping up in a matter of a month I have to be realistic. It's one of those moments that you really have to try not to think about. I mean the animal has been through so much already and now it's going through this, my heart really does break.

Even with all of the depressing news, there was still a little light yet to shine. Our sick cat's sibling got adopted as I was learning the sad news. Along with that another cat had also found her forever home as well. This place is one amazing emotional roller coaster. I really don't know how other rescues do it across the globe. I am still amazed at how lucky we are here at this shelter and the attention that we are able to give these animals.

I wanted to close on a picture of a few new arrivals to try to lighten up this down right depressing blog. The ones up top is an Italian Greyhound that came in with her sister from another shelter and of course some of our surgery dogs that found warmth with each other. Below is my first one eared cat that came in with the group of seven this past week. Thanks for reading and remember, the good stories always out weigh the bad ones at this shelter.

Coming back to a lot of adoptions, poop, and a few baths

2010-02-10T06:38:00.000-08:00

Recently I have kept myself from constantly looking at our website on my days off. I am trying to do this so when I go in to work on my "Monday" it will be a surprise to see who went home. Needless to say, the first time I tried this there were a whole lot of adoptions across the board.

First our crazy Wheaton terrier with extreme IBS got to go home to a wonderful woman who drove several hours with her dogs and family to come and meet him. In addition, Eclair, my little submissive grinner who was in the news paper got adopted as well. Those were just a few of our dogs that had been here a while, besides them there were a total of about four more that had come in through our second chance program that got new homes as well.

Of course I can't leave out all of the cats. When I walked into the cattery today I was astonished at how many empty kennels there are. I looked at the numbers and it is truly amazing the number of cats that have been adopted this past month. I guess now I understand why a few of our staff members went to another shelter today to rescue a few more. In addition to all of these animals we even had a long term rabbit, in fact two in the last week, that have been here for who knows how long. I have to say it was a nice surprise to see all of the adoptions going into work today.

On the other side it wasn't so nice to see all of the poop. All of our second chance dogs have been being treated for giardia but that still mean that there isn't going to be a little poop in the kennel. If you can stand it and you haven't eaten anything recently here is a picture of one of the kennels below. This is also why I bathed a few dogs today. I can imagine even if you are the cutest thing out there, when you smell like crap it's kind of hard to keep all of your appeal.

After the bathing my lab friend, pictures up top and down below, I finally got to see our friend Lucy. She was the dog that had the major ear surgery that was so graciously donated last week. She had been spending this time being monitored at a 24 hour veterinary clinic to make sure everything went well. She was still having a tough time blinking but she seems to be back to normal now. I couldn't believe the energy level she had. She was bouncing around, playing fetch, and jumping up in my lap. It was one of those moments where all you could do is smile.

Well, there were no adoptions today, but I have to say it was a pretty good day. I know I made a dog miserable by giving him a bath but hopefully the suffering will be worth it in the end. There are so many things at an animal shelter that can make you cry but what really is amazing is how many more things can make you smile. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to you comments.

A day of data entry

2010-02-06T07:42:00.001-08:00

If you didn't already know, today was my day in medical. Usually it involves a few intakes, a lot of paperwork, and prepping for the weekend. Well, today was more paperwork than anything else. I won't bore you with to much of the details but the data entry consists of setting up the animals files in our shared computer system and entering all of their medical notes.

There were a few other things that I did today in addition to sitting in front of the computer. I dished out the meds in the morning, including pilling a few cats which I must say I am getting pretty good at. We also had to pay close attention to our cat in ISO who has had a tough time pooping. We actually had to take him to a vet's office yesterday to have him looked over. They ended up giving him an enema and putting him on lactaloose. Apparently, from what I hear, he had a pretty large movement but has yet to go at the shelter. Hopefully the laxative and wet food will do the trick because I really don't feel like learning how to give a cat an enema.

We also had to purge a hematoma on a poor little safe house animals ear. I have to say, the sound of pus coming out of this poor little guy was pretty nasty, along with the smell, but he really seemed to be feeling better once it was all over. The med staff is still debating if surgery is needed. They are still waiting to see if the purging and antibiotics do the trick.

After all of this we still had to give a good ten dogs a dose of panacur. This is a de wormer that can usually knock out giardia in a five day treatment plan. I hope it does! When we all came in this morning, one of our new second chance labs was pretty much sprawled out in a large mess of diarrhea that even the most seasoned kennel staff members were holding their breath for.

The day took a little longer than expected but we ended up getting all the information entered into the computer. We also got all of the meds ready for the weekend and all of the dosing done for the afternoon. There wasn't anything to crazy which means that it was a good day in the med room. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to you comments.

Not a lot happening

2010-02-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

Well, as my Thursday's go today was an uneventful one. Typically it is the day that all of the previously adopted animals get to go home after their surgery day but surprisingly enough there were none today. What that means for me is that my attention was focused on a different sort of task today.

The majority of my day was spent setting up our "on hold" messaging system. Sounds exciting I know, but it is actually something the shelter has been looking to do now for some time. What the system does is loop a series of pre recorded messages and announcements for all of our customers that have been placed on hold. This is a big step up from dead silence that has traditionally accompanied the uncertainty of our customers wondering if they have been disconnected when they are actually on hold. It is also a way for us to spread the word about upcoming events at the shelter.

It's actually a pretty cool system that is easy to modify if you have a new event or change of hours. The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it is my voice playing on the message system. The other thing that kind of got to me, and a few other staff members, was while I was setting it up, just about every speaker phone in the shelter was on a continual loop of the message. Not that I don't like to hear my voice, but over and over again even I was annoyed with it. Finally I got a hold of the phone company and was able to straighten it out and get it all working, so now, we no longer have dead silence but rather a nice recorded message of the events that are taking place at the shelter.

There were a few other things that took place today up at the front desk. As always we got to spend some time with a dog in need of some good sleep. What happens is one of the kennel staff will bring up one of our animals that is having a tough time and set up a nice comfy spot for them behind the counter. It not only lets them get some well deserved shut eye but also puts the spot light on them for customers coming into the shelter. In addition to this we also had one of our staff members dogs up there while he tried introducing his other dog to one of ours. Not sure if he is thinking about fostering or adopting, but in any case I hope it works out.

I'm closing with a picture of one of our mange puppies that we have been treating at the shelter going on three months. I am amazed every time I see these guys because they are looking better and better. Hard to believe this guy was once hairless covered in soars! Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

A whole lot of nothing, til the end that is.

2010-02-04T06:40:00.000-08:00

For some odd reason, today I decided to do as much cleaning as humanly possible. Not sure if it is because I am only back in the kennels for two days a week or what but I just had the urge to help out. I started by doing the East side kennels, not a difficult task because for the first time I cleaned up after the dogs and didn't have to pick up one piece of poo. It was a miracle! Once I got all of the dogs fed and back in their kennels I moved on to the North cattery. There I was caught by our medical manager and asked to dish out a few meds as well as feed some of the guys that had been slated for surgery. I was able to feed them because they came down with upper respiratory infections and were unable to be anesthetized. I have never seen a cat eat food with medicine in it faster. After I swept up and made sure that I cleaned up after Clark the cat twice since he always spills his food bowl I headed back to dog ISO. there I finally cleaned up a yard that I had been neglecting for some time. I also cleaned up after our new puppy that stays there during the night, not because she is sick but because the heat is that much better back there.

Once the animals were accounted for I headed over to do some dishes. It's pretty amazing how fast they can accumulate when all of the new dogs are on panacur and dirty up an additional dish every morning. As long as there is good music playing in the kitchen the task is made a lot easier, and at least this way I can get out of taking out the garbage, especially because I saw that someone had torn a whole in one of the cattery garbage bags which means litter and poop are spilling out at some point in the journey back to the dumpster.

My afternoon was pretty uneventful, I did have a long conversation with a volunteer about how the shelter works and the choices that are made and never taken lightly. I always appreciate their input and help but it is tough for them to understand the things that go on in the shelter because they typically are only getting a snapshot of the happenings. In any case, I think they account for so much here that if we didn't have them this shelter just wouldn't work, plain and simple.

I did have one dog showing today, it was with our good friend the escape artist Cora. The family wasn't necessarily the perfect fit but I was willing to give it a go any how. Well, they fell in love with her even after all of my explanations about why she was returned and her tendencies to muzzle punch and escape. I decided to leave them alone for a bit to get a feel for her. When I returned I learned that they felt she wasn't the right dog for their young children. It's funny that no matter how much I explain a behavior, until the people actually experience it they tend not to believe it. Hopefully they find a right fit and Cora will find hers as well.

The rest of the day was dedicated to laundry and one interaction with a dog that just got returned to us. Luckily we found her a good playmate who needs a little guidance as well. We are just crossing our fingers that this duo will be a positive influence on each other rather than a bad one. And just so you know, I am finally learning to understand where people are coming from when they return our animals. I just always hope that it never happens.

Closing out the day, in fact at 4:55, a gentleman came into the front office to adopt Clark, the rambunctious cat that always turns over his food dish. Apparently he and his wife had been in this past weekend to meet and wanted some time to think it over. Well, it was decided that he was the cat for them. It turned a good day into a great one. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments, and remember, yes there are those people that return animals for the wrong reasons, but there are also those that have fought with it for months and feel it is the only option for the animal. Then of course I need to remind myself that I am not a people hater! :)

Oh yeah, the pictures are of two sweethearts that were just looking for someone to play with and of course the other is my new friend Legend the basset hound who just came in this week.

Back at work and learning of some great adoptions

2010-02-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

It's always nice to come back to work and learn of some great animals finding their true forever homes. Today this was especially true because I learned of a great senior dog finding a home along with FOUR cats! The dog was a great story, I had actually been conversing with the adopter via email the entire week and sure enough they came in on Saturday and ended up adopting. About half an hour after taking Princess home they had already sent a thank you email and of course a picture of the once skittish dog asleep on grandma's lap. It was a great sight and I even saw some staff members get a little teary eyed when they saw it. In addition to that adoption we had four cats go home as well. Three were pretty standardized adoptions but one in particular stood out, it was a cat named Spice that has for some odd reason been returned twice already. Now it wasn't anything on her part, they just weren't the right homes for her. The first had just lost a cat and felt it just wasn't quite the right time yet and the second thought she was a little too "needy", funny when I hear something like that when in the adoption they say they are looking for a lap cat. Oh well, I just have to remind myself that I am not a people hater. In the end I think that he found the right home that he will be truly appreciated in.

Moving on with the day. I began by cleaning out some kennels, I thought I was doing the lazy thing by signing up for south side dogs but of course that bit me in the but. It turned out that one of the guys over there has giardia and boy was he a painter. I felt like I needed hand rails in his kennel just so I wouldn't lip and go face first into the mess. I am being a little selfish here, I really do feel bad for the little guy but man was it a mess. Not only that, but an hour after I scrubbed it the kennel was back to the same condition. Well, at least we know we can treat him and it's not something more serious.

After all of the cleaning I was able to finally take a look at all of the new arrivals that came in on Monday. As always they were a very cute bunch that shouldn't have any trouble getting adopted come Saturday. Most of them are pretty leash shy but when it came to friendliness they all scored very high. I actually have two favorites out of this bunch, one is a big old basset hound who is just nicest thing and another that looks like a cattle dog but is only about twelve pounds, it quite a site to see in person. Here is a few pictures of some of the new guys.

I did do one showing today, it was with my friend Arbuckle the Italian greyhound and Schnauzer mix. The woman seemed like she would have been a good home but once in the showing she saw the energy level of this dog and said it might not be the best fit. It was really sad actually because he is such a cute dog but because of his age his is a bet scattered brain. Hopefully he doesn't stay here much longer because he needs to get the mental stimulation that will keep him busy and of course help him with training.

Closing out the day I talked to a woman who saw one of our animals on pet finder. It was one of those special animals that needs the perfect home. One without children and of course they have to be familiar with the breed. Luckily the conversation went really well and even after being a complete realist about the dog she was still willing to pack up her van with family and two dogs to come down and meet. Hopefully it will be a good fit and come Saturday our Tanner with have a place that Tanner can call home.

Quite a day back and I do have to say I am going home with a smile on my face. I do have to ask if Johnny M. was ever able to find those padded envelopes, but maybe I'll save that for another day. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

A quick day in medical

2010-01-30T07:46:00.000-08:00

Today is my weekly dose of helping out the medical staff. As I said yesterday, when I was at the front desk, it has been nice getting the different aspects of the shelter under my belt and of course learning new things daily.

The morning started off with dishing out the morning meds to the animals. Since there were three of us we were able to knock it out pretty quickly and get on with the rest of the day. But before we could do that a report of some bloody diarrhea came in. This could mean lots of things, none of them good but some certainly worse than the others. A giardia snap test was performed and came back positive. Now all we have to do is quarantine that dog off, feed them full of panacur for for five days and start them on some metro that will help with the loose stool. Now it is just a matter of making sure that no one else comes down with it.

Once that was done it was on to draining an ear of a dog that had a hematoma this past week. This was my first experience with this and I have to say the smell wasn't that great if you catch my drift. To me it seemed an incredible amount of liquid but apparently that's normal. It took a few minutes to finish up than a hot compress was put on the poor little pups ear. I have to say he was quite a trooper and it actually didn't seem to bother him that much.

After the smell cleared the room it was time for a few dog intakes. It was two little terrier mixes that had been relinquished yesterday that were hopefully going to go up for adoption this Saturday. At first we were a little hesitant just because the poor little guys were still very stressed about their new environment. Good thing the staff knows how to deal with this and handled the situation very well. After a few treats, some shots, and a little advantage it was all done. I'm just glad we had all the rest of their previous medical history because I think if we had had to do any more poking and prodding the little guys would have gotten too freaked out.

There was one last intake left, a sweet little five month old kitten. Long story short, an elderly woman passed and the cat was her property. The individual that had power of attorney was relinquishing the animal to us if everything checked out medically and behaviorally. The cat was a doll, I was really amazed at how calm and easy her intake was. The only thing I didn't like is that the woman wanted to call her "Kitten". Well, since the past animal with that name didn't make it we decided on something a little different. I actually got to name it after my grandmother, Mima. That's not her real name, but when you're five it was a lot easier to say than anything else. Here is a picture of Mima below.

That was about it for the day, it was kind of slow with a little bit of data entry but all in all I still learned a thing or two. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

Good old customer service

2010-01-29T06:39:00.000-08:00

As part of my new schedule I mentioned that I will be helping out up at the front desk, well, today is one of those days. I have to start by saying it is a nice change to see all aspects of the shelter but there are also those situations up here that I never thought would ever come up at this shelter.

The one common thing that I am experiencing up here is the constant telephone calls inquiring about everything from coyotes to neighbors complaining about barking dogs. In addition to all of the usual calls we get about animals and general questions we also get a good amount of calls that are actually looking for their local shelter which could be one of many. More often than not the majority of the phone calls all I end up doing is giving the caller another number. Sometimes it is kind of tough to always be polite because people don't quite understand that we are private and don't have animal control, they think that I just don't feel like helping them.

Aside from the influx of phone calls there is also the walk in traffic. Everyone from potential volunteers, to donors, to the all important adopters make their way through the front desk. Today was no different except that two ended up being one in the same. We had an elderly couple come in to donate towels to us and because they were here ended up taking a peek at the dogs we had in our care. Before I knew it they were in a showing with our Noodles and ended up adopting. They were the cutest couple that I knew were going to spoil the hell out of this little dog. They even asked if we would know where the best place to buy a car seat for him was. Hopefully they will keep us up to date and bring him back for visits because it's always nice to see updates on our little guys. This side of the adoption is nice to see because you really get to experience the emotion that these new families are expressing.

Along with the adoption comes the tougher times as well. We had a total of two relinquishments and two returns today. The more I go through these things the more I understand how hard it is for these owners to give up their pets. Two of them were sweet little dogs that the owner just didn't feel like they were living a good enough life so she thought we would find them a more suiting home. The other two were returns due to a divorce, as I have mentioned in the past whether it's ten days or ten years we will always take back our animals. I just hope that everything goes accordingly and these guys don't stay in the shelter for too long.

Closing out the day I have to add that we also deal with strays, in a limited capacity. Because we are private we have to call county to come and get the animals since we are not contracted to do it. That is unless the animal is micro chipped, then we simply call the owners and tell them to come and pick them up. Luckily the animal that came in today was micro chipped, the funny thing was the address and number were not correct but the secondary information was. It was amusing to call the mother in law of the owner to tell her that her son's dog was at our shelter. The comment I got back was, "he got out again". Luckily the son came in within the hour and we informed him about changing his contact information. I am just glad he had a chip in the first place.

Sorry for no pictures today but hopefully a lot tomorrow. As always thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bore you to much today and of course thanks for your comments.

Thank you for repairing the washer

2010-01-28T06:42:00.000-08:00

Well, my last day in the kennel for the week and of course I sign up for the dirtiest job in the morning. I try to do it at least once a week so my nose stays used to the smell. What I am talking about is cleaning up after the dogs in our South kennels. As I have said before, it always varies which task is the messiest but right now I would have to say due to shear number it is our South side dogs.

After I fed the dogs and brought them back up from their runs it was already time to open. Of course I answered a few phone calls to the shelter because I really hate when it rings more than twice. After that I had to quickly finish time cards since I was already a day behind. Once all of that was done another staff member and myself got to cleaning. The day was slow so we decided to pull out the huge cat kennels and clean both the floor and windows behind them. I have to say this, even if you don't have any sort of allergies, today would be the day that they would come out. The amount of dust, cat hair, and pure dirt in the air was astonishing. I can't even remember how many times I sneezed because I was sneezing so much. Anyways, we only did one of the rooms because my eyes were so itchy I really couldn't put up with it.

While I was leaving the cattery I headed back to the laundry room to see if there was any progress on our broken washing machine. As I said yesterday, the stuff really piles up unless it is continuously running. Anyways, the repair guy was there and it turns out our drain had gotten clogged and that was the reason the machine was unable to finish a cycle. In all honesty I wanted nothing to do with this because I had a good idea of what it was clogged with. Well, luckily the guy fixed the clog quickly and soon we had the thing up and running again. Here is a picture of the mess that was made when the machine had to be drained.

Finally I had my first showing for the day. It was actually with a woman I had met earlier in the week who came back to see the same cat again. She was looking at a grey tabby who has been at the shelter almost as long as I have. When she first came in she wanted to adopt but because this cat has been here so long I didn't want her to rush into anything and have this cat come back to us. Luckily when she came in today she fell in love even more with Ella. I'm crossing my fingers her husband feels the same way and this special animal will finally get to go home.

My last showing of the day was with my favorite little kitty Muffy, the shaved down Persian. It was with a single woman who has dealt with the breed before. She absolutely fell in love with her just like every one else that meets her does. Even though she has dealt with the breeds before I still had to reiterate how much work this animals are, that and the fact that she still needs a dental. Even with all of that there was no way she wasn't going to adopt. It seemed like a perfect fit and the woman was so excited you couldn't help but smile. Another great adoption of another great animal.

Closing the day I got to see Sushi, our mange puppy mom, one last time because she came in for her altering surgery. She had quite a face on her after the procedure. I had to include a picture because it really does look like a human face. Thanks for reading everyone and thanks to all of the volunteers and animal care givers out there, you are making a difference.

From medical holds to adoption deposits

2010-01-27T06:41:00.000-08:00

Well, I am back in the kennels for my two days a week and it is good to be back with the animals for a few days. I have to say, it's a little different dealing with different aspects of the shelter and after a few days I really do miss the interaction I have with the animals.

On with my day. Usually I clean the dogs but for some reason I went for the cats today. Cleaning them consists of pulling out all of their bedding, keeping it if it is somewhat clean (cats like to have their smells around them), replacing their litter and of course feeding them. You think that this task wouldn't take long but every once in a while our feline friends just aren't in the mood to be bothered. In those cases you sometime have to try to out think them, and I say try because it's not always possible. Usually what I will do is separate them into one kennel, clean their joined one and vice versa. Luckily we have the room to give most of our cats two kennels.

Once the cleaning was done it was right to business, laundry that is. I was amazed to see that for the most part it was all caught up. For the first time in a long time their wasn't a dedicated kennel just for over flow. The disappointing part was as soon as we get caught up the washer breaks down, that's usually how it works. Hopefully it well get back up and running soon because it is scary how fast that stuff piles up.

After all of this I was finally able to learn about everything that took place the last two days that I was off. I found out that my good buddy Falcon, who had been on medical hold for the past three weeks for several issues had been adopted. He was finally eating again and all of his blood tests came back normal. I guess the stress of being in the shelter can really effect these animals. The other dog I learned about was Mercury. I had a feeling this dog was going to be returned to us because I had spoken with the adopter while I was at the front desk last week. There was a tough situation at home and the family felt like they couldn't give the animal the attention that he needed because he is still fairly young. I have to say when I saw this little guy all grown up I was thoroughly surprised at what he looks like now. He is actually cuter than I thought. The good news about the whole situation is that he was well taken care of and I have no doubt that he will find his forever home very soon.

On to the big one. We have two Jack Russel terriers that are six and nine. Both were relinquished to us because the family had some serious health issues. The dogs are amazing but some concerns came early when we were doing their medical intake. It turns out one of the dogs has a very serious ear condition that is going to require a very extensive operation to basically remove it. Along with this her sister had a seizure while at the shelter and had to be transfered to our vet's office for further testing. It wasn't looking good for this pair until an amazing donor came by and basically offered to pay for the operation and adopt both the animals. It was one of those moments where you take a step back and say wow. It was so amazing to hear that these animals were not only going to get the medical care that they needed but also have a forever home together. It was one of those moments you say I am glad that I work hear to have seen such a good thing happen.

The rest of the day lingered on but I have to say I had a pretty big smile on my face the entire time. I did get a call back to the med room late in the afternoon and when I went back I saw my favorite cat Muffie getting a hair cut. Don't think we are doing this for our own amusement, the poor little Persian came in so matted that it was our only course of action. I have to say that if I was ever to take a cat home this one would be it. She actually comes when you call her name. Plus that little squishy face is so darn cute.

Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

My weekly dose of medical duty

2010-01-23T07:43:00.000-08:00

Recently my schedule has changed so that I can basically be experiencing everything in the shelter, this also includes one day a week back with the medical staff. Now mind you I am still in training back there but it is amazing how much actually goes on in that little medical office.

My day began with first helping get all of daily meds ready for the animals. This includes everything from eyes drops, antibiotics, vitamins, de wormers, and ear meds. It's funny how meds are prepared, you think it would be a pretty simple task but because animals, like people, can be pretty fickle on what they eat you have to know exactly how each animal would consume or get their meds the easiest. What that means is that for some dogs it's as simple as a little cream cheese, while others you have to mix treats with a certain type of dog food and make sure that they don't eat everything around their pill and spit the medicine back out. Well, the latter happened to me for a solid ten minutes and because the dog is a shy one I was hesitant to pill her. Luckily but the fourth try I found the right treats where she consumed the entire "meat ball" with her medicine in the middle.

Once all of the meds were done it was on with the day. I am always amazed that each new aspect of the shelter I see and learn about I am amazed at how much work and dedication is needed to keep this place running smoothly. With that being said I began work on the vet due treatments. How this works is I go into the computer and pull up a report that draws typically from a month past through the weekend. Once I have this information I determine what can be given early and what needs to wait until the following week. Usually it is a whole lot of flea medicine but sometimes there are boosters and actual vaccines. Luckily today it was just advantage for me. Once I had all of the weights of the animals and their breed and name I grabbed my large syringes and went to work. I ended up just getting the cats while another staff member took care of the dogs. And just for your info, if you are ever giving a cat a topical flea solution, make sure that you put it high up on their neck, almost between their ears but not quite, because these guys love to lick and clean and this is one medicine you don't want them to ingest.

Luckily the rest of the day we didn't see too much excitement and I focused my efforts on data entry. Basically creating files in the computer of animal intakes which focus on physicals given as well as all medications and shots. Once you get the hang of it it's pretty simple but if one thing is screwed up and can really slow things down.

Along with the data entry there were also the daily checkups, basically seeing who has been and who might be sick and evaluating them before the weekend so staff knows how to handle any issues. This included taking a few temps and helping squeeze out a few anal glands, not my favorite part of the day let me tell you. In addition to this we also brought in two dogs to the med room to monitor if either of them had an sort of a cough. Well, it turns out they did and when you have a dog coughing in the shelter it is typically one thing, kennel cough. Nothing serious but better to treat and quarantine than risk other animals catching the "cold". Here is a picture of the two while they were visiting us.

That's about it for today. I kind of like it that there wasn't anything to exciting. I do once again have to mention though that the more sides of the shelter I experience I am beginning to realize how important every single staff member is here in making sure that this place keeps running. I want to thank everyone for reading and I look forward to your comments and questions.

The rain keeps on coming

2010-01-21T06:45:00.000-08:00

I guess I should start with our huskie returning sometime in the middle of the night. Not sure if she just wanted a night out or what but the size and number of fences that she had to climb was not an easy task. This was the first time this has ever happened since I have been at the shelter so approaching the problem was new as well. We did everything to make sure that if she was found she would male it back our way but who knew which direction she went or how fast she was running. Thankfully when I came into work this morning there she was covered in mud waiting for some attention. I really wish we could have seen through her eyes last night because all day today she slept which she never does. In any case, we are all glad she made it back and will not let that happen again.

Moving on with the day, of course it was raining again. Luckily the shelter has all of their contingency plans in place for days like today. From cleaning to getting the animals out to making sure everyone stays dry. Beginning with cleaning today everyone was able to knock everything out pretty quickly, mainly because there was no rain early in the morning. With that being said there was still a lot of wet yards to deal with and shuttling the animals into the fake grass yards was our only option.

Once all of that was done it was a day of trying to stay busy. There is always something that has to be done in the shelter but when you are soaking wet and cold the motivation sometimes just isn't there. Surprisingly though there were a few showings, mainly with cats but I even had one with one of our little mange puppies. I have to be honest, the calls and applications for cats have been a little annoying lately. The reason I say this is because the public learned about a litter of rag doll kittens that have been on foster for upwards of a month and that is all anyone is talking about. Talk about a hot commodity, I get calls every day asking when they will be available because we work on a first come first serve basis. I'm curious to see how tomorrow goes when the first batch goes up for adoption.

Moving on, I had a great showing with a man looking at our little mange puppies, who by the way are looking amazing. He had actually been in yesterday as well and brought his sister back today. He understood all the medical concerns but was still interested. The only problem was he couldn't decide between them. Hopefully he will be back again to take one home on foster.

Closing out the day I made my way over to the cattery again. I was checking things out and getting ready to lock it up when I saw some interesting liquid in one of the kennels. I informed our medical director and of course she asked how it smelled. When she said she was to stuffed up to tell I put my nose right over it and took a deep breath. Well ladies and gentleman, I no longer have a cold and was able to get the full effect of the worst smelling vomit/bad breath/bile I have smelled at the shelter to this point. Hopefully the little guy is O.K. because I was unable to hang around to find out.

As always thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

Rain Rain go Away

2010-01-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

Typically I love a good thunder storm, but when you work at an out door kennel it can be a little trying, both for the animals and for myself. Don't get me wrong, the shelter is a well designed place but there are always places that seem to accumulate water no mater how much you prepare, especially when the rain just doesn't let up.

The day began with all of the kennel staff teaming up to knock out the dog kennels to make sure that everything got done quickly. We do this because it can get pretty chilly for the animals away from their heaters so what we basically do is shuttle all of the animals that didn't go in their kennels into the fake grass yards, quickly clean, then shuttle them back and focus on the remainder of the dogs. Once this was all done it was time to head over to the cattery.

Once in the cattery it was nice to see everyone teaming up well to get all of the morning cleaning done. Not to mention everyone was happy to be out of the rain and into the only controlled climate on property. In addition to cleaning all of the kennels we also set up a few because we had some new arrivals coming in today. A bonded pair and a sweet Persian. Here is a pic of the Persian below, a really sad story of an elderly gentleman, that due to health reasons, can no longer care for the animal.

After all of the cleaning was done it was on to a group meeting where future adoption and volunteer events were discussed. I won't bore you with the details but it was nice to get that other side of the shelter and of course a chance to learn a little.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent laying sand bags and trying to control nature. We moved a few dogs around just because the wind was picking up and some smaller dogs seemed a little chilly. All I have to say is luckily our shelter's kennels are completely heated otherwise I don't know what we would have done.

Closing out the day we learned that our Huskie had actually jumped several fences while on afternoon break and we were unable to track her down. This is not typical and in fact this has never happened since I have been here. Our procedure was pretty much to stop everything and go out and look for her. In addition to this we notified her microchip maker to send out an email blast and of course animal control to be on the lookout. We also had some staff members make posters to be handed out and hung throughout the area. I'm trying not to be to depressed about the whole thing and cross my fingers that she will be back in the morning but it's definitely a stressful situation. I will keep you updated.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right when I walked into work I learned that our Huskie had made it back and was hanging out in the parking lot this morning! Glad she had a safe night out and was able to make it back into our care, I'll tell you one thing, that won't be happening again.

A different sort of day

2010-01-15T06:42:00.000-08:00

Well, as some of you know I am now working in a few different areas of the shelter, including the front desk. I have been looking forward to this opportunity but it is also going to take some getting used to. My day began with me realizing that I didn't actually have a key to open up the cash drawer, luckily we had a solid worker that did have a key coming soon after I had arrived.

Once all of the opening duties were taken care of, which took a whopping twenty minutes, it was time to prepare for the day. Today is not your typical day at the front desk for one main reason, there are a lot of animals that go home on Thursdays. The reason for this is because it is the day after surgery where all of our adopted animals that need to be altered go under the knife. Thankfully though our med staff staggers the pick up time for the adopted animals so we don't get bombarded all at once. The reason why this wouldn't be good is because there is a lot of paperwork that has to be completed before these animals can go home and be considered officially adopted, and of course this is all new to me so it takes me twice as long.

I was able to get one adoption packet put together with the help of the solid staff up there before I had to go to my first official meeting with the department heads. This was nice because I am able to learn all aspects of the shelter. The meeting today was about our future fostering of animals to our volunteers, especially because our kitten season is fast approaching. Included in all of this was making sure that all of the appropriate training was put forth for new fosters as well as all of the right information being put together to make sure that every aspect of the animal's safety is taken care of. How the front desk plays into this is to make sure that all fosters go over the agreements and understand what is expected of them. It's really amazing to see how much work is done by everyone at the shelter, including fosters, to make sure this machine keeps on working.

After the meeting the day stayed pretty hectic with phones constantly ringing and customers asking questions. I am just really happy and lucky that there are people up there that know what they are doing because it can be a little overwhelming for someone new to step in there. I'm also lucky that today wasn't to crazy of a day because I still have to learn everything, and let me tell you, I am not the quickest learner.

Closing out the day I have to mention that our new retail area is having its grand opening tomorrow. It's been amazing to see what a very giving interior designer has done to make our little corner a very special one. I am looking forward to it opening up again and as always showing off our shelter.

I hope to bring you some interesting stories from up here and as always I will be in the kennels again as well. I will also remember to take pictures of the dogs that we bring up to the front desk to help them relax and get away from the noise of the kennel. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

P.S., we are looking for a way to send some sort of aid to Haiti and their animals in need, if any of you have any ideas I would greatly appreciate them.

Some good news from our medical staff

2010-01-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

After the morning cleaning and me trying not to look like a fool breathing through my mouth, combination of cold and allergies to rabbits and cats, it was time get the day going. I came in today with a renewed sense that whatever happens, we are here for the animals. When I actually think about it how could anything rile me up when all you have to do is sit down with one of these amazing creatures to realize that there are more important things to life than letting some person get to you.

Today being surgery day it was also health check day. There was some news that I was waiting on that was not only important to me but a family as well. Myself and another kennel staff member had done a showing with a recently available six year old yellow lab that is a sweetheart of a dog but there were some concerns voiced by our medical staff. One thing was that his teeth were worn down but the main thing was two lumps on his belly and leg. I informed the family that a needle biopsy was to be done and if there was anything unusual that we would have to send in a sample to the lab. From that point it could get bad and surgery would have to be done depending on the type of cells the lumps contained. Luckily though both came back as fatty deposits and he was able to go home today. It was so nice to see the family come back in and add this amazing animal to their family. It was also great to see the dog wagging his tail as I helped him in their car. All I know is is sure did put a smile on my face, not sure if I could have handled this one if it went any other way.

I hate to say it but the majority of the day I actually tried to steer away from showings. Not only was it my experience yesterday that kind of threw me but the amount of cold medicine I am on certainly doesn't put me at 100 percent. Luckily we had a full staff and some amazing animals so there was no problem in me focusing on cleaning today.

In the afternoon I worked with our behaviorist and our mange puppies. They are all looking amazing by the way, I'll try to get a picture to compare them to how they were. Anyways, they are available for adoption but need a lot of work. The fact that they are as good as they are with people is amazing but their social skills with other dogs is not up to par. What we did today was a slow introduction with a sweet heart named Buddy who doesn't correct bad behavior and is more of a softy than anything else. What are goal was to see if the mange puppies could calm down once they were away from each other. We took each one on a separate walk with Buddy and it turns out they can be little turds but they do calm down eventually. We decided to separate them in their own kennels and try to find them new play mates to get them socialized. Hopefully this will help and we still put them together during breaks, but they need more training to help them get adopted quicker.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures today but I'll try to get some tomorrow, when I'll be at the front desk preparing paperwork for animals to go home. I want to thank everyone for reading and also your comments, it really does help to know that there are more people that experience the same things I do here. Thanks also to all of the volunteers out there that really give the time these animals need.

Is this day almost over?

2010-01-13T06:35:00.000-08:00

The days that I have at the shelter where I am so glad to be home are few and far between, but today was one of those days. It began early one when instead of five kennel staff members we learned that there would only be three of us. Luckily the staff that we did have there was solid and we were luckily able to knock out all of the morning tasks by opening time.

Surprisingly enough, once all of the normal opening duties were done we were actually pretty slow for the day. We even had a little time to catch up on laundry and attempt to whittle down the huge pile that has been taking up a kennel since the new year began. Once all of the laundry was going I even had a little time to spend with a little schnauzer/italian greyhound mix named Cooper. A big spaz until you sit down and all he wants to do is sit in your lap. Here is a picture of the little guy below.

Just when I was getting comfortable though the showings started to roll in. Initially it was kind of nice with some great potential forever homes for our animals to go home to. In fact Spice, a long term kitty finally found the perfect place to call home. In addition to that a sweet lab that just became available today also got adopted but will stay under our care until we finish up a few more tests. This was all great until I got the worst showing I have yet to have at the shelter. Initially the profile looked alright, a few red flags showed up but nothing that would keep them from finding the right animal that would fit into their family. The more simple one is that we would need rental agreement to verify that the family would be allowed pets, easy enough. The second was that they were undecided if they would de-claw the animal. I went over the entire profile and asked under what circumstances would they de-claw. she then replied well if it was scratching things up. I then asked if she understood what the process entails and she then explained that it was a surgical process. Once all of the details came out I told the woman that because of this we would only adopt to her a cat that has already been de-clawed. Then came the storm of screaming and accusations that I asked trick questions and that I didn't trust that the woman was allowed pets by asking for rental agreement. I was actually surprised at myself, more taken back, at how calm I was and continued to explain that they I have no doubt that they would have been a good home, it just needed to be the right cat. Well, according to them there was no time to debate. After all of the ruckus they got into their car and I headed into the front office. That's when the woman came back in, put her hand in my face, pulled some kind of dog whisperer shush and proceeded to scream at our new staff member about me. Now that I am writing all of this it does seem rather funny, but at the time I was pretty annoyed at how immature a fifty five year old woman can be. Oh well, I reiterated my name and if she had any questions or concerns to feel free and call.

Of course there were still showings and denials to be done, so I couldn't focus on it to long. I did vent a little to a few staff members who thankfully listened and then got back to work. The rest of the afternoon went by pretty fast and before I knew it it was already past closing and dogs were still being brought up. For a busy day today took forever. I really hope tomorrow is a typical day at the shelter when I can go home with a smile on my face rather than me rethinking an event that there is nothing that can be done about it.

Thanks for reading everyone and listening to me rant and I look forward to your comments, good and bad :)

Cats finding homes left and right

2010-01-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

Today I got in a little early to make sure that I didn't have to clean up after all the new dog arrivals, call it lazy sure, but I also wanted to clean the cats so I could get to know all of the new guys, after all it has been about ten days since I even stepped into the cattery.

In the cattery I noticed the extremely large number of black and white cats. In fact I would say a good fifty percent were tuxedoes. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that there is anything wrong with having a certain type of cat in our care I just thought it was kind of funny to see so many that look so similar to each other. It was nice to be in there to get to know the little guys though because they all have such different personalities and of course it's some good info to know for potential adopters when they come in looking for a particular cat.

Once all of the cats were done I headed over to the rabbitat where I made quick work of changing out their bedding and feeding them some fresh hay and water. I was surprised to see how quickly it goes when you have a few less rabbits and your trying to speed through so your allergies don't get to you. Surprise surprise, after not doing this for a few weeks it seems my sneezes have returned.

After the cleaning it was time to give all of the mange puppies their weekly medicated baths. I figured why not since I hadn't really spent much time with them lately. Each bath consisted of putting some medication in their eyes so they would stay lubricated because you are bathing their entire head and bodies. Once that was done it was a good ten minute lather on each of them to make sure the medicated shampoo did it's job. It was a nice break from the rush of the shelter, not to mention I got all of these great pics out of it. My favorite is the one up top.

Later I got called to my first showing, it was with a bonded pair of kitties named Rabbit and Robin, could you guess that they were from the "R" litter? Now this pair is a special case that has needed that perfect home form quite some time now. Both initially were completely anti social and wouldn't allow anyone to touch them, in fact I have a nice scar from one of them. Anyways, we had moved the cats into our in and out room with several other animals and they seemed to come out to of their shell. They still are going to need a lot of work I told the couple and they could digress but after a good long time the cat lovers decided to adopt. It was a great feeling to know that these two were going to a home where the family's last cat lived to twenty. It was also nice to hear that they will be very patient with them.

While all of this was going on, three other cats were getting adopted at the same time. Another bonded pair which blew my mind and another cat that was housed with Rabbit and Robin. Not sure if it's something in the water but I am amazed at how many cat adoptions there have been lately. Hopefully we will have a run on some black and white ones now.

Closing out the day I went back to medical to see how the intake was going on the new arrivals. When I went in I thought they were shearing a sheep, it turns out it was just one of the little matted guys that had come in yesterday. The poor little guys had such bad mats that his ear was literally connected to his neck. Thank goodness our medical staff knows what they are doing because after they were done the little guy had the closest thing to a smile a dog could have.

Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to you comments.

Getting back in the swing of things

2010-01-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

Starting off the day today I felt a little more comfortable in what I was actually doing after having so many days off. I began by once again taking care of the dogs which need a little extra attention today. The reason we needed to spend a little extra time with them was because we had the new "second chance" batch coming in later in the afternoon and we had to shuffle around a few dogs to make sure that we had room on our West side kennels to accommodate the new guys. The reason why we need an entire side of the kennels for these guys is to keep them almost quarantined away from the others because typically when they come from another shelter they have ether kennel cough or giardia, or all of the above.

Once everything was organized and clean it was time to hit the ground running. Mind you we didn't finish all of our morning duties until well after we had already opened our doors to the public. I never like it when I keep hearing the staff called over the P.A. system to help out a guest when we still are lugging garbage out. Luckily our front desk staff is pretty good at explaining a wait time for our customers.

After I finally got caught up it was already time to feed the puppies and kittens again. This was a surprise to me because it felt like I had just fed them minutes before. I have to say it's nice when your busy and the day seems to fly by. Once that was done it was time to help out in setting up the kennels for some new arrivals, ten of them to be exact. Initially there were only nine but when our behaviorist was leaving the other shelter a shepherd mix came in and she had to get him too.

In addition to setting up the kennels another staff member disinfected the fake grass yards that these dogs would be using for their breaks. I have to say thank you to them because I really was tired of walking around in wet socks so I was glad mine actually had a chance to dry today.

On top of all of this we were trying to play catch up with laundry. For some reason I didn't think that there was that much until I noticed one of the ISO kennels that was full to the ceiling with dirty blankets. Now I know what a postal worker feels like, it just never does end.

After all of this I can finally say I did poop buckets for the last time. Woohoooo! Since I am switching my schedule Monday's daily dues are no longer an issue, thank goodness. That is all I will ever say of the subject again...hopefully.

Closing out the day I helped with a few intakes of the silky terriers that were adopted out yesterday. I was able to talk to their adopter, in my horrible Spanglish, and explained that they would most like be able to go home on Thursday. The reason being is their teeth are horrible. So bad in fact that one will most likely need some extractions. The woman was very understanding and looking forward to bringing home her new additions. It really does put a smile on my face to hear the joy in people's voices.

I couldn't forget the new arrivals. They came in late and of course had their usually air of stinkiness to them. One was so bad that as soon as we get a chance he is going to have to be shaved down because he is completely matted. Overall though the group looks like a winning one and hopefully they all adjust well and make their way into their new forever homes sooner than later. The picture up top is one of the shepherd mixes and the one here is Mr. Dreadlocks as I like to call him.

Thanks for reading as always and I look forward to your comments.

A new year and back to it after eight days off

2010-01-04T06:37:00.000-08:00

I have to say it was a little tough to get up this morning and go into the shelter for the simple fact that I have been on vacation for the last week. Once I walked in the doors though it was a different story. I was glad to be back to helping out the animals and of course finding them their new forever homes.

It's sometimes takes a little more time than expected to get back in the rhythm of shelter after being gone for so long so there are some simple steps that I like to take. First I see who has been adopted while I was gone and then of course checking on the new arrivals. Because of the busy holiday season there weren't that many new faces when I came into work but there were certainly a few less. I learned that three long term cats had been adopted; Raja, Cayse, and Mollie. This was great to hear since all of these wonderful cats had been in the shelter going on six months or longer. I also learned that a sweet rabbit named Noel, named that before the holidays, had also been adopted.

Once I learned of all the adoptions now I just had to remember how to clean everything and actually do my job. After I took care of cleaning and disinfecting the south side kennels the showings came rolling in. Unfortunately the first profile I had was a denial for the dog that the potential adopter wanted to look at. Everything looked good but because the adopter had young children the dog they were looking at wasn't necessarily the best fit. Luckily they understood thins and said that they would keep looking.

After my first showing the rest of the afternoon was incredibly slow, not sure if it was because of the traveling day or what but I found myself doing a lot of laundry. When I was finishing a load I got a call to come back to the med room to help with an EBR (euthanasia by request). If you have read any of my past blogs you know that I really try to not have anything to do with these but because the animal was so large they needed my help moving him once he has already past. Not only was this tough to begin with but the poor guy lost his bowels in the process and there was an entire pool of poop all over the stretcher and on the floor. Needless to say I had to move him in steps because of the smell and of course because we were all covered in poop. I hope I am not sounding cold but it is what it is and this is how we had to deal with it. Eventually we got him covered and taken care of but not before stepping out of the med office several times for fresh breaths. I am just glad that the old guy went quickly.

After very few showings I found myself bombarded with adoption applications. My first was with an older woman and her live at home son who were looking at two terriers that just became available today. We thought we would have a tough time placing these guys because not only were they going home together, they are also almost nine years old and not potty trained. On top of this we were steering away from young children because one of the dogs was very skittish. Surprisingly enough though the mother and son absolutely fell in love with the pair and decided they were the right addition to their family. The adopter finished by telling me in Spanish how grateful she was to have found both of those dogs and is looking forward to bringing them home soon.

Closing out the day I was juggling about four other showings with several dogs. One was with a dog named Cora that has to go home to the perfect environment because of her "spastic" behavior. Luckily the family was understanding and is willing to wait for the perfect dog but they still absolutely fell in love with the huskie mix. The rest of the showings went pretty well, we had a lot of good potential adopters in today it's just a matter of finding them the perfect fit. I always say in my showings now unfortunately there is no shortage of dogs and that everyone should wait for that perfect fit because this is no small commitment. In addition to this we at our shelter pride ourselves on matching up the right dogs to the right homes, we are in no rush to send our animals out if there is a possibility that their new home isn't the perfect one. I am glad the people appreciate this when they come into the shelter because owning an animal isn't a small thing and you need to make sure that it is a mutually good thing.

Thanks for reading everyone and I hope that the new year brings everyone, including the animals, blessings. In the coming weeks I am going to be switching up a little what I do at the shelter to helping out at the front desk along with medical so get ready for a new perspective on the shelter environment. And keep the comments coming, I know that for those of you that are too young to volunteer there are programs that shelters provide for younger people to help out as well. At our shelter we have KCS which brings in middle and high school aged children to lend a helping hand.

A happy holiday season

2009-12-23T06:50:00.000-08:00

Today will be the last day I write for a few days because of the hectic holidays that are fast approaching. This is my first Christmas at the shelter and there are certainly some smiles on everyone's faces at this time.

The past week has been down right crazy, with new dogs coming in and a whole lot going out. Because of the big holiday the shelter decided against bringing in any large number of animals just because our medical staff would get to overwhelmed especially since they are short handed.

The animals that did come in, mostly relinquishments, have all pretty much been adopted out. Not sure if it's Christmas or what but there has certainly been a run on adopting shelter dogs and cats this month.

All of the adoptions are special but one dog that we were glad to see find a home is a sweet heart named Rusty. When we initially brought him in we estimated his age at six to eight, but after doing some research we found out that he was nearly ten and a half! This is difficult because since we knew the age we had to divulge it and let's just say it's a lot easier to adopt a young dog rather than a senior. Luckily the miracle happened and a perfect family came in and realized that it was the perfect fit and just like that Rusty found his forever home.

I want to add a special thanks to all of the volunteers across the country that help out at shelters and everywhere for that matter. You all play such a imperative roll in making sure that these animals difficult situations are made easier until they find their forever home. I also want to thank all of the donors throughout the year that have brought in everything from blankets to beds and food to treats. To make a shelter work takes a lot more than an adoption counselor so thank you to all of you out there that play such a big role in helping animals. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year and continues the mission of helping animals in years to come.

A whole lot of busy work, saying good luck, and one solid showing

2009-12-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

After the morning cleaning I headed over to take care of the rabbitat. It was pretty routine as usual until I had to switch out a litter box for one of the guys. I went to the outside supply of the large plastic boxes and found one up on a top shelf. I was reaching for the stack when I noticed how heavy they all were, as I pulled it down I soon realized why. About four or so gallons of water came splashing down on my head completely soaking me. Luckily it wasn't to cold out and thankfully we have a industrial dryer. Other than the fact that it was pretty embarrassing it wasn't to bad. At least the rabbits got a clean box.

Once all of the cleaning was done the day was pretty routine. There were a few showings early on but I didn't get my first one until the afternoon. Then of course it wasn't a showing but rather a denial. On the profile it turns out not only did they have a female dog (we don't do female to female adoption due to history of such instances) and the big one was that they had a "prego" cat, or at least they hoped so. Now, I have no doubt that they are a loving family who take very good care of their pets but it goes against our mission to help control the pet over population and find animals their new forever home that is going to be a perfect match. I just wish people would not completely close their ears once I tell them I cannot adopt to them. Some are understanding but some seem to take it so personally.

My last showing was a good one with a younger couple that was looking at one of our staff favorites T.J., a collie whippet mix. The showing went well but I wanted the couple to go home and thing about everything that possibly could arise from adopting this animal. I have no doubt that they would love T.J. but I want to make sure that this is her forever home and not a temporary fit until they move. I hope they read the handouts I gave them and they come back to adopt.

Closing out the day we all got to say good by to Margie, aka Minnie. It's one of those bitter sweet moments where you are so happy to finally see her find a home but you of course are saddened to see her leave. I know that she will be a very happy animal and make her new owners feel the same. Thanks for reading as always and if you have any comments, questions, or suggestions feel free to send them my way.

A quick day

2009-12-16T06:57:00.000-08:00

It was the usual beginning to my day, taking out dogs for their morning break, cleaning out their kennels, turing the heaters off, feeding them, and bringing them back up. Nothing too exciting except twice while I was cleaning I noticed a toy chihuahua walking aimlessly up to me. It turns out one of the new second chance dogs can dig and move rocks pretty well. This was my excitement for the morning. Luckily he followed me right back to his kennel and didn't run.

Once all of the cleaning was done it was a pretty typical day. Lots of cleaning and surprisingly a lot of showings. Early on their was a kitten showing and of course an adoption. After that I was called to help out with a dog introduction with our recently available one year old lab named Marley. The intro went great and not to any of our surprises she was adopted the first day she became available.

There were a few more showings but nothing panning out as far as adoptions go. The rest of the afternoon was busy filled with feeding kittens and puppies and of course giving a little love to some special needs animals. I have to add a picture of Chica, one of my favorite dogs here right now. I was able to sit down with her today and spend some quality time with her and even scratch her ears for her.

Closing out the day I was told that there was a squirrel in need hanging out at the shelter. We think it might have either been attacked by another animal or gotten into the rat poison because there was something definitely wrong with it. I'm just glad we have people that are qualified to take care of this so I don't have to.

Sorry for the short length today, I spent most of my time cleaning up poop my own dog left for me. As always though thanks for reading and I truly appreciate the comments. I also have to close with a picture of Margie, aka Minnie, our deaf chihuahua that finally gets to go home.

A complete reversal

2009-12-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

With all of the sad and stressful times this past week I was ready for a rebound, and today it came. The day started off as usual with lots of cleaning and making sure all of the animals were fed and as soon as the doors opened I was in a showing.

The first showing I had was with a tiny little kitten with the fitting name Itty Bitty. The woman had been in yesterday but because she came so close to five we were unable to show the animal. Luckily she wasn't deterred and came back first thing this morning. The showing went great with the adopter asking all of the right questions. The adoption was a go and this new kitten has a new place to call home.

The day seemed pretty routine for a Monday after my showing. There was lots of cleaning and of course preparing for the new batch of dogs to come in through our second chance program. Usually they arrive with our behaviorist around one but today she was running a little late and wouldn't be back at the shelter until after three. This was good news because now we had a little extra time to set everything up for the new arrivals.

While all of this was going on our med staff was taking care of some new cat intakes, more specifically five rag doll kittens. We've had a run on cats and kittens lately and the cattery has seemed pretty empty so over the next few days there are going to be a lot of intakes.

Now on to the highlight of the day. I was called to do a dog introduction with our longest of long termers Margie, aka Minnie. She is a super sweet deaf Chihuahua that is going to need an extremely patient home. The poor thing has been at the shelter upwards of six months because not only is she a special needs dog she is also pretty aloof. Luckily though she had already gone through the showing and it was already onto the interaction with the potential adopters dog. I was honestly amazed to see them interact. A little of Margie's bitchiness and jealousy came out but we were able to calm her back down quickly. Better to prepare the potential adopter of everything than adopting out a dog that could potentially get returned very quickly.

After we let them get used to each other we put them in our quite room with the family and two adoption counselors. By the end of it Margie was actually giving the other dog kisses. It was so great to see and the potential adopter felt the same way. It was also great to hear how her new family plans on working with her and her disability. After a solid hour the adoption was a go. I almost couldn't believe it but our Margie has finally found a home. Did I mention also that her new adopter is deaf, you want to talk about a perfect fit. We are such a lucky shelter that we have the ability to wait for the perfect adopters rather than just putting as many dogs out there as possible.

Later our behaviorist arrived with the new batch and was a little disappointed to see Margie still here. She had known about the showing when she called to tell us she was going to be late. Then of course I told her that Margie will be going home on Wednesday because her new family wants to prepare the house for her. It was nice to see some tears of joy, it really is amazing the group of people here and how much they truly care for these animals.

I'm truly uplifted after today and glad I get to share it with everyone. All the new pictures are some of our second chance arrivals that came in today, I have no doubt they won't be here long once they are available. As always, thanks for reading and if you have any questions or comments about animal shelters in general I would love to help.

There is the emotional labor factor

2009-12-14T06:37:00.000-08:00

I seem to always here people say I wish I could have your job and I understand why, but there are those difficulties that tend to get over looked because the job, at times, is so rewarding. People typically just see working with loving dogs and finding them new homes and forget about the ones that aren't adoptable. In addition to this there are some other things in this job that can certainly bring you down.

One thing that I dealt with last week that I really didn't feel like writing about at the time was taking in a D.B., if you don't know what that stands for it's dead body. Being a shelter we dispose of the D.B., this I'm actually used to, but typically they die of old age and are covered up. This time though it was a young dog that was in an open box that had been hit by a car. Sorry for writing this, but it helps me deal with the sadness to put it out there. The even sadder part was trying to console the owners. In any case, it is quite a depressing thing to experience no matter what side you are on, I'm just glad that I can talk to people at work about it so get it off of my chest.

Along with this tragedy there were a few other not so great times this past week. Two of which were dog returns. One was completely understandable and it truly was the best thing for the dog, but the other I still have a few questions about because I was the one who did the showing several months back. The dog apparently has too much energy for the family, which, surprise surprise, is exactly what I told them when she was being adopted. Now I understand that they gave it every effort they could but it still makes me upset knowing that this animal is coming back to us. At the very least we will have a better idea of the perfect home for both of these dogs and their next adoption will be their forever home, not just a temporary residence.

Sorry for being so negative today, but there is a highlight to everything. I finished my day today with a showing of our little wiener dog Pee-Wee. The showing was with a loving couple that had lost their pet on Thanksgiving and decided there home was empty without him. Rather than go back to a breeder though they decided to look at all of the shelters. Amazingly enough they made it to us after ten stops and found their new little man. It was a perfect fit and if the family had tails, I know they would have been wagging.

It can be tough at times at this job, but that's just about everything you do in life. I want to thank everyone for reading and of course your wonderful comments as well. Hopefully I didn't dishearten you to much today, but there are times that I have to get things off of my chest. Thanks again and I look forward to your comments. I thought also that all of the happy pictures might brighten up your day, or at least put a smile on your face.

Busy day, sort of

2009-12-09T06:17:00.000-08:00

I love those days that when you arrive at work you hit the ground running. Today started out just like that. I began by tackling the South side dogs and making sure all of their kennels were clean with lots of warm blankets when all of the dogs returned. Once I got all of the food down I started to bring up all of the dogs. There were a few that a volunteer brought up because she was actually giving them bathes. You might think it strange to do this in cold weather but it was the mange puppies that needed their weekly shampooing.

Next it was time to tale care of the dishes, surprisingly though someone had already started to soak them. This meant that my job was that much easier. Once that was taken care of it was time for the crates to be cleaned. This is a daunting task if you do it alone but thankfully there were two of us. They really weren't to bad except for a few litter boxes that were literally caked with cat poop, not my favorite smell in the world.

At this point in the day I had almost forgotten about poop buckets. We usually do them on Monday but since the rain halted that they needed to be attended to today. I was actually pretty surprised that they weren't worse. Not to much water had leaked in so it ended up being like it always is, full of a lot of poop. There are still a few rules that you should always follow when doing this, never breathe in when you are opening up a can, always quadruple tie the bag, keep an eye out for spiders, and of course don't snag the bag on anything. Simple rules, but if they aren't followed, disaster is around the corner.

Before I knew it the day was flying by. I finally had my first showing in the late afternoon with a little rat terrier mix. He is a super sweet little guy who definitely has some fear issues. Amazingly enough though he seems to be coming out of his shell and the showing went great. There are still a few concerns before he can go home, like meeting his potential big brother who can be a bit dominant. The woman has hope though and she should be back in the morning to do the dog introduction. Hopefully it works out because we want to send this dog home to a household with another pet to show the little guy the ropes.

I did have one more showing, or denial later in the day. It was for one of our little chihuahuas that came in last week. Everything on the profile looked good except for the fact that the little man would be left outside during the day. The reasoning for this was because of the house's alarm system. Rather than chastise the potential adopter I went into ways of dealing with an alarm system and a pet at the same time. Not sure if he is going to take my advice but the fact that I told him all of our dogs are indoor dogs gave me my easy out rather than telling him he is a bad pet owner. I really do believe his dog has a good life, but sending a tiny chihuahua to live outside just doesn't make sense to me.

That about wraps it up for the day. On a sad note though we did get a return, a sweet huskie named Sasha. This is one of those rare instances that I don't blame the family because they did everything they could, unfortunately it just wasn't the perfect fit. I'm just glad she didn't bite anyone or get physically hurt.

Sorry for the lack of pictures today, I didn't realize how fast the day went before it was time to go home. As always, thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.

Wow, this kind of sucks!

2009-12-08T06:36:00.000-08:00

I have been so spoiled by the weather with the worst being an occasional hot day, well, I was in store for something different today. I got to work a little early and realized I should have brought about three different changes of shoes and socks. The amount of pooled water walking into the shelter was quite a site to see.

Because of all of the rain it was decided that the dogs would only go out to specific covered yards that have fake turf rather than going out to the normal ones that were completely flooded. This made things a little easier on us as well since we did all of the dogs in two shifts. Luckily this wasn't the first time this has happened at the shelter and there is a system for everything here. We all paired up to get the dogs done quicker so we could move into the cattery where it was a little warmer and dryer.

By this time though my efforts to avoid the puddles have failed, my socks are soaked to the sole and the water has been steadily climbing up my pant leg. At least there was a box of rain jackets that helped out a little though. Now aside from my own discomfort, I had to remember that the poor dogs were out in this as well. The shelter is designed for pretty much all types of water though with heaters over head and built into the floor. The roof is also made to come forward from the kennels with a nice slope that no water splashes in. All I have to say is luckily there was no lightning and thunder because that really would have freaked out the poor guys.

Because of the rain today showings were at a minimum. There were a few though and even an adoption of our little three pound Tina. I was glad to see that people stuck out the weather to come and save a life.

Since there were fewer showings we decided to tackle some organizing issues today. I started in the pet kitchen where I made sure the smell didn't make you gag when you walk in. While I was doing this other staff tackled the cattery and doing a little spring cleaning in December. Once all of this was done it was time to sweater up all of the short haired dogs. So many people think that it is for vanity, but in reality it is to help keep the little guys warm. Of course we had to take care of the poor mange puppies first. Here are some pictures of the little guys.

That was about it for the day. I did think about changing into scrubs and putting all of my clothes in the dryer but then what would I have to look forward to when I got home. I do know I haven't played in the rain like this since my Marine days and I was sure looking forward to getting home and taking a shower. Thanks for reading everyone and following on Google and Facebook. Take care and I will be back tomorrow.

Counting on some adoptions

2009-12-07T06:44:00.000-08:00

Back from a few days off I learned that there were a few adoptions but less than expected, with that news all I could focus on was adoptions. After the morning ritual of cleaning the day actually started off pretty slow.

The first thing that I found myself doing was helping out another staff member deep clean our kitchen. You would be amazed what you could find when you actually move stuff out of the way to clean behind them. I'm not going into details about the mess but it was pretty nasty, and coming from a kennel worker you can imagine it was pretty bad.

Once this was done it was on to the odds and ends of the shelter. I started by taking care a load of laundry, something I like to do now that it is cold outside. It's nice when you get all of those warm blankets out to fold them, a lot better doing it now than in the dead of summer. After that I decided to fix a plank in one of the wooden gates that for some reason I always snag our wagon on. Unfortunately that took all of three minutes so once again I had to find something else to do.

Luckily there was a call over the radio for a showing with one of the recently available second chance dogs Lilo. I was a little disheartened though when I went over the adopter's profile and learned that of the two dogs that were in the household one was not altered. This means an immediate denial since it kind of goes against our mission. I was surprised to learn though when I went into the showing that the two dogs actually live at the woman;s daughters house and the reason that only one of them is altered is because she found them on the streets and got the female spayed first because she was pregnant. I have to say this was pretty unusual but this along with the fact that the woman had adopted her previous dog from us made it one of those exceptions. The showing ended up going great, I'm not sure however that the family actually listened to everything that I had to say since this dog has some potential medical issues. Hopefully everything checks out when we spay her and she will be able to go home sooner than later, in any case, it was a nice adoption and my first in quite a while.

The rest of the day was pretty busy as well, the rest of the staff all had showings and of course more adoptions. A total of five in total today, not to bad. In addition to this we even had a familiar face come and visit, it was Jack and Sweetie's adopter who came in with some donations. It was great to hear how well the duo was doing and to see the smile on the adopter's face when he spoke of them.

The day ended with a dog introduction with two gentleman that had adopted a dog from us about seven years ago. I let another staff member take our dog out for the intro since she had more experience with her. From what I hear it went very well so cross your fingers for T.J. and hope that she finds her forever home soon. Oh yeah, the two pictures are some of our recent second chance dogs, I love the one of Larry peeking his head over to the next kennel.

Thanks for reading as always and I look forward to your comments. And remember, as Bob Barker used to say, "help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered".

Some quality time

2009-12-03T06:33:00.000-08:00

Amazingly enough, today I got to spend some truly quality time with a few animals. Aside from the usual cleaning there were very few showings, in fact, none that I did myself, so it left time to hang with some of our residents.

After I did a load of laundry I decided to stock up the cattery with some towels and cat beds. Of course while I was in there I decided to hang out with one of my favorite cats Molly. The cattery is a funny thing, it kind of works on seniority in there and if you have been here for a while the cats tend to get more space to roam free. Such is the case with Molly who has her own room with a giant window to gaze out at the world. I'm not exactly sure how long she has been here but I do know that she is the friendliest cat I have ever met, sometimes a little too friendly. When I went into her room she immediately started talking and when I sat down she jumped right up in my lap and started purring. Then came the cleaning of my jacket. I have to say a cat's tongue on a wind breaker is pretty similar to fingernails on a chalk board. She ended up just laying in my lap for a good fifteen minutes and purring until I figured there had to be something I could do at the shelter. Overall it was incredibly relaxing to hang out with my favorite feline friend Molly, here is a pic of her laying on my lap, a little blurry but it's tough to get a cat to stay still when they are trying to clean you.

The rest of the day was pretty routine. We, as always, needed to make sure that all of the special feedings animals got taken care of as well as all the rest. Wednesdays you always have to make a little extra to put aside for the surgery dogs that haven't eaten in the past twelve hours but nothing else special about dishing out the food today. It is pretty funny to see customers faces perk up when they think a dog is barking at them just to learn that it's actually because the food bucket is making its way around.

Closing out the day it was time to bring all of the dogs out for their break. For some reason though we had a lot of "LOOSE DOG" calls. It seems when it rains it pours. I think I counted a total of about five dogs that got out today. On top of this, at one point I was carrying a small chihuahua from the new second chance dogs while holding another two on leashes, as I was trying to get out of the yard where they were kept another staff member was taking care of the other three. Unfortunately my chuck taylor's snagged on the bottom of the fence, tore a huge hole, and of course I went flying backwards straight on my butt. Luckily no dogs were harmed, just my ego. Lots of excitement for a simple task of bringing dogs up from their break yards.

Of course it wouldn't be a Wednesday without some cute surgery pictures. These are a few of the guys that got altered today and were still not quite sure what the heck was going on. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments, oh yeah, I had to add another picture of my favorite little mange puppies and their mom in the world.

Not the way I like to start the morning

2009-12-02T06:33:00.000-08:00

I usually don't start out with a picture but today it seemed fitting. When I first came in today I figured I might as well get right to it and as soon as I saw the first kennel I was about to clean I nearly gagged. Apparently the 65 pound dog that was staying there got a little jumpy last night but not before pooping a few times. What this means is that there was some nice artwork painted all over the kennel, as you can see from the picture. Just be thankful that computers have yet to perfect the smell o vision because it was pretty rank.

Once all of the morning cleaning was done it was time for, you guessed it, more cleaning. There are those Tuesdays when you are incredibly busy with showings but unfortunately today was not one of those days. Even though I would have loved to have seen some adoptions it was nice to have the time to catch up on the necessities and even get to spend some quality time with the animals.

The next thing on the to do list for cleaning on the day was to disinfect all of the crates that our behaviorist had used the day before to bring back the second chance dogs. This can be a pretty daunting task but luckily we had three people attack it and knocked it out rather quickly. There were those nasty parts those where you would find some swollen ticks and of course a little vomit from the four hour long adventure to make it to the shelter.

During the week there is always the weekly cleaning assignments. Today was no different but at least a little easier, and more pleasant, than Monday poop buckets. The assignment today was cleaning and organizing the cattery. This includes vacuuming out the sliding door tracks because litter accumulates very fast, washing the windows, and organizing the cabinets. This sounds like it can be done very quickly but with three separate rooms it took up quite a bit of time, luckily though we had a few staff members tackle it together and get it done in a timely fashion.

Personally I didn't have any showings today, I did however help out a Spanish speaking gentleman with some cats. I am always amazed that I am the one that speaks the most Espanol her at the shelter because I really can't speak it that well. Luckily though as long as you try people are willing to work with you, and if I speak a little Spanish and they speak a little English we can usually get our messages across.

With everything pretty much done I had some time to hang with the animals. Of course I am going to hang with the new guys to see how they are but there is only so much bad smell that you can take. I know that sounds horrible but being gone for so long I think I got my sense of smell back.

One dog I payed particular attention to was a little terrier mix that literally looks like Benji. The only bad part is we had to separate her to ISO because of the amount of nasal discharge that she has. This could mean several things but until we can separate her and monitor her eating habits it might be tough to see what direction of treatment and testing is necessary. I do know that she is incredibly sweet and loves to be loved so hopefully we can start some sort of treatment on her soon and get her adopted come Saturday. Here are a few pictures of the cutie just so you have an idea of why I became so attached.

Well, hopefully tomorrow I can write about some great adoption stories and not about cleaning, but it is what it is. As always I appreciate your comments and keep them coming. Thanks for reading and of course thanks for helping out the animals.

A week away but it felt like a month

2009-12-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I am finally back from my vacation and back at it again at the shelter. It's tough coming back to work after being off for so long, especially trying to play catch up on all of the new adoptions and animals. I think the toughest thing though was getting used to the smells again.

The first thing I did when I got in was read the board to learn that there were a lot of cat adoptions while I was gone, I think the total was about five. I also found out that a few dogs got to go home as well. It's nice to see so many adoptions on a holiday week, I just hope that all of those adopters kept their animals close during the holiday and didn't leave them unattended while they adjust to their new homes.

My first order of business at the shelter, besides cleaning, was to find out what new animals we have. I learned quickly that we were pretty low but our behaviorist was heading out to round up a new batch. I did see a mom and her three pups in one of the kennels. This was not your typical family though, apparently all of the puppies have a form of mange that isn't contagious but certainly needs some attention. Aside from being pretty pink, having little hair, and a few scabs these little guys seem very happy and they are certainly growing on my. Here is a picture of the group below.

I felt today that I never got into a routine. After being off for so long it seemed like everything was new. Luckily it was a Monday and we were pretty slow otherwise I'm sure I would have been more flustered. I was a little nervous going into my only showing of the day. For one thing I didn't know to much about the dog I was going to be showing and the other I hadn't even thought about doing a showing for an entire week. Luckily the potential adopter would be a perfect home for any of our animals. She ended up wanting to see out bull dog mix Chica who came to us from another shelter. The showing went great but the tough part is yet to come, an introduction with her pit mix.

Later in the day the woman returned with her dog. We did the initial interaction and everything seemed fine. Once down in the yard both dogs were pretty much ignoring each other. After a while though they did show some interest and Chica even play bowed before trying to dominate the woman's dog. When all the hair on both dogs backs were standing up it was time to calm them down. What I got from the showing is that Chica just has no idea how to play, probably because of under-socializing but there could be something else there. I don't think the interaction was a complete loss, I suggested that the woman come back again and try it on another day when both dogs can be a little more at ease.

Closing out the day our behaviorists arrived with the new dogs, fourteen of them to be exact, a new record. As usual all of them were incredibly cute and seemed like they had good temperaments. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them tomorrow and getting to know them better.

As always thanks for reading everyone, I look forward to your comments and of course thanks to all of you out there that help out the animals. I had to add this one last picture I took last week of the hair dog our med staff made after brushing one of the new guys, check out the hand next to it for scale.

A change of pace

2009-11-20T06:43:00.000-08:00

There have been those days where I have helped out in surgery but today was a little different back in the med room. Today I helped with intakes of the new second chance dogs along with a few rabbits that came in as well.

My day started with helping out with the morning meds. This is usually pretty quick but when you have a group of ten new arrivals that test positive for ghiardia you have to administer panacur, a de wormer, to all of them. This sounds easy but it's in powder form so first you have to mix it into wet food than try to get every one of these new dogs to eat all of it. Eventually we were able to finish but not before we got pooed by the little dogs paws. Luckily this is only once a day so hopefully by the time I go home I won't smell as bad.

Next it was a matter of getting ready for the intakes. This is a pretty simple process of cleaning up the med room, laying down a nice comfortable blanket, and getting some cream cheese and dog treats ready for the new arrivals. Once all of the that was done it was time to get the syringes ready for blood draw which included running an anti coagulant through them to make sure the blood flowed freely for the test we were going to perform. Then of course we actually had to get all of the tests ready. They are a simple snap test to check for a few things including heart worms and erlichia, a tick born disease pretty common in these animals. In addition to this we had to get all of the microchips and scanners ready as well.

Now it was time to start bringing in the dogs. I have to say, this group was very cooperative. After going through a "tutorial" on blood draw it was my turn. After a few failed attempts I was able to draw enough and got the hang of it by the end. In fact by the last one I didn't even blow the vein. I still feel bad for the majority of the little guys that now have both of their legs shaved because of blood draw.

Once the blood was drawn it was mixed with a solution then put on the snap tests. You have to wait about a minute, without taking your eyes off of it, until the blood runs down to a certain point then you click the test. Unfortunately one of the tests came back positive which means we have to to a jugular draw and send the blood work out to the lab. Hopefully the animal was just exposed to it because you never want to see a sweet dog like this go through anything difficult.

Of course on top of all of this we also had to microchip all of these animals. It's a pretty simple procedure but when you actually see the size of the syringe compared to some of these dogs you are amazed that you can actually do it. Luckily, like I said before, this group was amazing and we only had one screamer. I really can't explain how loud it was except for the fact that everyone was a little dazed afterwards.

Closing out it was time to do the rabbit intakes. I pretty much remember weighing the little guys and that's about it. When you are confined in an eight by eight room with ten or so rabbits with the door closed your mind tends to get a bit hazy. Weather you are allergic or not, the amount of hair and dander in this room was crazy. Luckily fresh air was waiting for us, along with a lint brush, and the intake was over. If I hear of what actually went on in there I'll let you know.

Thanks for reading everyone and the picture up top is a sweet little puppy named Digit that we brought in from another shelter. The picture isn't great but the underbite on this guy is hilarious.

Wow, is that for real!

2009-11-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

I'm going to keep this blog short and sweet and skip all of the crap about cleaning. I know that it is a good portion of what we do here but I know it gets pretty repetitive when you read it every day and for me when I actually do it every day then come home and write about it.

Once the doors opened I was once again expecting a crowd since we still had our little ten week old poodle puppy up for adoption. The reason she didn't go yesterday is because our policy states that everyone in the household has to meet the animal. This can be difficult sometime when an animal becomes available during the week and there are several people who either work or go to school that are unable to come in. We did have a lot of really good families come in to meet but in the end it's the one that fits best that will ultimately get this new addition to their family. I do have to say I felt really bad for a young girl that came in with their mom and spent a good amount of time with the dog just for us to tell them that they cannot adopt until their father meets as well. I know it sounds a little cruel but there are reasons for our policy and we just want to make sure that this is going to be the perfect fit that will last a lifetime.

I was actually surprised how slow it was today which meant that I got to hang out with some animals until I was called to help out with a showing. I ended up having to use my Spanish to get rental agreement. The tough part is, I don't speak that much Spanish but I can get by. Eventually I got that the family could have the second dog and the adoption was a go. I just hope my interpretation was right and this dog doesn't get returned.

Closing out the day we had gotten a new bunnie relinquished to us. This are few and far between but this rabbit was especially sweet when I petted him in his cage. The big surprise came when I pulled him out and learned that we needed to trim his nails. I have never seen anything like this and I have to say I was shocked to see an animal go neglected in this way. I don't want to go on a rant but at least the animal is in our care now and hopefully a little more comfortable. Here is a picture so you can see for your self.

I'll be writing in a few more times this week because I am doubling up on shifts to take a nice holiday with my family. Thanks again for all who read and of course a special thanks to all who help out in shelters.

A trend I like to see

2009-11-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

I like starting my day out knowing that you have a full staff and that there are no worries about getting all of the morning cleaning done. Of course since we got in a large group of new dogs I was lazy and signed up for cats and rabbits again. I know, I know, I actually feel a little guilty about not stepping up but every once in a while I like to steer away from lots of poop.

Again the cats were a breeze to clean up in the morning and there was plenty of time to make it over to the rabbitat where another staff member had already started cleaning. Like I said before, it's nice having a full staff and know that you aren't going to be in a rush to get everything finished in time for opening. After the rabbits were done we quickly knocked out the laundry, dishes, and garbage with time to spare.

After our morning meeting it was time to hit the ground running. Today it was decided that we were all going to pay particular attention to the special needs dogs and work on making them more adoptable. Another staff member and myself decided to hang out with our crazy puppy Waylin who we have been working hard on making more adoptable and of course more socialized. We ended up grabbing a new arrival named Mollie who we heard got along great with him and went down to one of the large play yards. It ended up being a half hour long play session where both dogs had a blast and never really got out of control. It was good to see that there are dogs that this little puppy can get along with and it gives me hope of finding him not only a new home but maybe a sibling as well. Here's a picture of the ruckus below.

After logging our experience with the two dogs in a folder to make sure we are monitoring progress I learned of another showing with a truly long term animal in the shelter. The showing was with Kissy our overweight cat who has graced us with her presence for the last year. There are a lot of factors that play in to an animal staying here for so long including age, breed, and of course looks. All of these combined made it difficult for people to look past and see the animal that the entire staff fell in love with. In any case, that perfect household came along and Kissy was exactly what they were looking for. I also think people in general feel good about adopting an animal that has been in a shelter for so long, it's really a win win situation. Anyways, I digress, Kissy got adopted! I hope that the trend continues and all of our older guys get to find their forever homes soon as well.

Closing out the day we had a group of Kids Community Service volunteers come into the shelter to help out. This is the program that helps educate people on what a shelter really does and how it benefits the community and of course the animals. Once again, working on as many things as possible to make sure that we are doing our part to help out the animals in the long run. Thanks for reading everyone and as Bob Barker always said, "remember to have your pets spayed or neutered".

Great way to end the day

2009-11-17T06:41:00.001-08:00

I got to work early today and when that happens I take my pick at what I want to clean. Since it was a little chilly out I took the low road and went for the cats and rabbits. I was surprised to see how few cats there actually were in the cattery due to all of the adoptions that have taken place in the past week or so.

It was quite easy work to get all of the cats fed and their litter boxes changed. Once I was finished I headed over to the rabbitat to get started there. I had almost forgotten that one of the bunnies had been adopted yesterday as well. I have been at the shelter for a little while now and this is the first time that I am seeing a steady flow of adoptions, not sure why but I will take it with a big smile on my face.

Once all of the animals were fed and taken care of this morning it was time for the garbage, laundry, and of course dishes. I was surprised to see very little of everything, once again because we have had so many adoptions recently there are fewer things to pick up after them.

The doors opened and of course we were pretty slow. Rather than make the day pass by slow everyone hit the ground running, especially because we had to prepare for the arrival of eleven new second chance dogs. I started by getting the kitchen organized while other staff members disinfected the runs the new dogs would go to along with changing out all of their poop buckets. In addition to all of this we had to set up the six kennels where all of the new guys were to be held.

While all of this was going on there were a few showings and my was with a Kelly, our resident Grandma. It was a good showing with a woman who recently adopted from us and was looking to add to her flock. Kelly's age and medical concerns didn't bother the woman too much but she wanted to make sure that both dogs got along. Since she lived so close she headed home to get her "daughter" and was back in a flash. The showing went alright, they ignored each other more than anything. Unfortunately the woman wasn't all that thrilled about how things went and said she would think about it.

Later in the day the front desk was a little short handed so periodically kennel staff would go up there to help out. The first call I took was with a nice English woman once again asking about Kelly. I answered her questions and explained everything that I could, all I can say is I was amazed at how much attention our little old lady was getting.

Of course this was the only call that put a smile on my face while I was up at the front desk. I covered a lunch up there and was pretty surprised at some of the questions that were thrown my way via phone calls. The first was a woman who asked what she should do because her dog had eaten a lot of gummy worms and lactose pills. Besides not being qualified to answer this the phone seemed to be ringing off the hook with other questions that needed to be directed elsewhere. Once I got all of the lined answered I told the woman she should call her vet and that we weren't qualified to give her advice, she then said she thought she was calling the vet. That was enough excitement for me and thank goodness our front desk associate was back to take it over, I think I'll stick to the dogs.

Later in the afternoon all of the dogs arrived and of course everyone had to go and look. In addition to these eleven we also got number twelve from another shelter. Now this girl looks like something straight out of a comic book. Check out the picture for yourself. All of the new dogs seem very friendly and it's good to have a full house again. I know it's easier to clean up after less dogs but I really feel bad knowing that we have the space and ability to take care of more dogs.

Closing out my day the English woman I had spoken to earlier in the day had come in with her husband to take a look at Kelly. I went over their application and the thought came to my mind that I wish all of them looked like this. They were looking for a mellow dog that would get along with visitors and not be nippy. They didn't have any children and treated their animals as such. Once in the showing they absolutely fell in love. I left them alone for a bit and came back to Kelly laying on the woman's lap. It was a go! I couldn't have ended the day in a better way. I am so happy that our little Grandma found the perfect home and a family that will enjoy having a wonderful senior pet.

Thanks for reading everyone and if you aren't already following I would appreciate the support. The more education we can spread about these wonderful shelter animals the better. I look forward to your comments.

Signs of life

2009-11-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

I love going into work after having a few days off and seeing which animals have gotten adopted. In the past I would stay up to date by checking the web but lately I've been waiting to see the surprises when I go in. Today was a good one to start my morning, Laverne and Shirley, a bonded pair of young cats had gotten adopted. On top of that a spunky little dog named Luigi got to go home as well. I've found that no matter how much I'm not looking forward to my week, the minute I learn of the adoptions my optimism comes back.

And on to the day, all be it a short one. I started by signing up for the East and West dogs, I had a good feeling that there weren't going to be to many messes on this side of the shelter. Of course when I assume I usually get proven wrong. After scooping all of the poop, scrubbing down the kennels, disinfecting a few, and drying out the rest I got all of their food down. I made sure I got the special diets done for our "slightly overweight" dogs and started to bring them back up from their breaks. Once they were all up I headed back to our kitchen to sign up for some daily chores.

I ended up taking the garbage out since everyone else had already gotten on top of everything else. Once that was done the day was beginning. There were a few showings early on but mine didn't come for a while. In the mean time I decided to take a look at our disinfecting spray nozzles that I learned were pumping out about 12 times as much as they should be. Not sure if breathing in the stuff is healthy but at least we shouldn't have to order it as much now.

On to my one showing of the day! The initial application had a new puppy listed but after reading over everything we thought it might not be the best fit. Reason being is they have two small children and the reason they gave up their last dog was because it kept biting. Pretty sure a young puppy who is teething will probably do the same thing. With that being said they wanted to take a look at Shaq, our old guy who got a reprieve a month ago. I was ready to send him home when I finished looking at the profile and noticed that they might get a cat in the next year, this was unfortunate because when you open Shaq's profile you see in big all caps letters "WILL KILL CATS!". I'm glad the people were understanding and still were interested in finding that "right" dog.

I decided next to show them the two ends of the spectrum when it comes to older dogs. Of course I am showing them two that get along with children. The two I showed them were T.J. and Kelly. Both ranged in ages from six to eleven with the energy level easily seen. When I showed them the energy level of T.J. they said it probably wouldn't be a good fit, they were looking for something a little mellower. I then decided to show them grandma Kelly, our eleven year old Schnauzer. They seemed like they really liked her and would have to discuss some things but I was glad that they were open to looking at a wide variety of dogs rather than just a puppy. Hopefully they find the perfect fit and are able to take home one of these great animals.

That's it for today, I called it early for some personal reasons. At least now I can go into work tomorrow and see what surprise adoptions await. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

Another day, crossing my fingers and hoping for another adoption.

2009-11-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

Today I started with the dogs and I have to say, because of all of the recent adoptions there really aren't that many of them to clean. Mind you that doesn't mean the ones that are there didn't make a mess!

I was able to get all of the dogs taken care of rather quickly and back up to their kennels to eat just after ten. Of course that doesn't mean the cleaning is done. Next you have to make sure that all of the yards are scooped and also hosed out, don't want those flies hanging around. Once everything was done with the dogs I headed over to the rabbitat where I was met by another staff member. It's amazing when there are two of you how fast you can get things done.

Once all of the animals were looked after it was on to the daily do's of taking out the garbage, starting the laundry, and of course washing some dog dishes. Thank goodness for the staff we have because even before the doors opened we had finished everything.

With all of the kittens we currently have at the shelter it was no surprise that the showings kept on coming for them. Throughout the day it seemed there was always a kitten heading to their new home. Even though I wish it were the cats as well, we have so many kittens on foster waiting to get into the shelter so it is good that we are gaining a little more kennel space for the little guys.

My first "quasi" showing of the day was with one of the new second chance dogs that have been here a little over a week. I call it a quasi showing because I was actually leaving it up to one of the new guys and chiming in when necessary. The showing ended up going great and the new adoption counselor did his part very well. In the end the young gentleman ended up being the perfect home for our little Megabyte and the adoption was a go. I wish the little guy was able to go home now but because he still needs to be neutered it might not be until next week.

I had only one more showing the rest of the day and it was a father and his two young children who initially wanted to look at Waylin the puppy. The big problem that I see is that there are constantly grandchildren that visit the household and with the puppies current behavioral issues this might be a problem. In the end they completely understood and decided to take a look at Bobbie, a sweet 10 month old lab mix. They ended up falling in love and the match was perfect to say the least. The only problem is the mother still needs to come and meet. Luckily they were able to get a hold of her and they agreed that she will be in first thing tomorrow morning. I explained that we don't put holds on animals but because it was so late in the afternoon it should work out fine. Hopefully she shows up in the morning and this sweet little girl can find her new forever home.

Another day down and a few more adoptions to account for. Not sure it the shelter can be an economic gauge but things are definitely seeming on the up and up with all of the adoptions this past week. I truly hope that it continues because unfortunately there isn't a shortage of dogs that we can find homes for. Thanks for reading as always and I look forward to you comments everyone.

Staying busy all day long

2009-11-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

Typical Monday's consist of playing catch up from the weekend and of course a whole lot of cleaning. Well, that is exactly how today started, especially since we were one staff member short. I began with cleaning cats today since I really don't know to many of our feline friends.

After a quick morning of scooping boxes and getting climbed all over I headed over to our isolation unit to take care of the sick guys, or rather one guy now since everyone else is back in the regular cattery. I did have one extra attendee today, she is a sweet cat that had been adopted about six months ago and was back because she ended up biting someone and had to go on quarantine. She seemed fine to me except for one thing, she was completely covered in poop! Now usually I am my selfish self and do nothing but complain about the smell but I really did feel bad for this cat, she was so scared that she really couldn't help herself. Because she is healthy we decided to set up a larger kennel in dog iso so she has some room to stretch her legs on her ten day sentence. Hopefully it flies by and she is able to go home in a flash.

Once all of the cats were finished I headed over to the rabbitat where I was met by a senior volunteer whom I always see at the shelter. She is a big bunnie fan but typically spends her time with the cats. Of course though I always feel that the rabbits never get out enough and explained to her that in the mornings, especially when we are short staffed, we just don't have the time to get them out to their runs. She was more than willing to help out though which put a smile on my face, these animals can never have enough love given to them.

Early on I was greeted by the same woman who had come in yesterday to visit with the schnauzer I like to call Grandma Kelly. This time though she brought her husband. They both absolutely love her but still have some concerns because their dog is a bit of a handful. After spending some time asking the right questions and seeing Kelly run around they came to the conclusion that once the holidays are over and they will not be traveling they will bring in their dog to meet. They don't want to do it now because in either case they don't want to bring her home now because they feel that they don't have the time at home to make her adjustment as easy as possible. I have to say, I really enjoy these types of showings, where you know whatever dog these families have, they are going to be well taken care of.

The rest of my day was spent trying to find a good mentor for a puppy named Walyn, who is a bit of a handful to say the least. He is absolutely the cutest thing with great kennel presence but when introducing him to other animals he ends up being a little to pushy and not taking direction well. Luckily we finally found a dog that he listened to, a seven month old male lab. They seemed to be doing great in the yard and it was good to know that this puppy could go home to a household with another dog, all be it the "right" dog.

Of course as soon as we find the puppy a play mate, the play mate and his sister get adopted out together. One of those bitter sweet moments, well, more sweet than bitter. While all of this was going on I was in another showing with a great family. They were looking at one of our second chance dogs named Turtle, a sweet old beagle. Luckily the family already had a beagle so I didn't need to explain to much of the breeds needs. We ended up doing an interaction and the pair got along great. Turtle can't go home yet because he still needs to be neutered, but come Thursday he should be in his new home.

Once again we have yet to catch up from the weekend, luckily thought most everything did get done today with the help of a solid staff and of course some great volunteers helping out. In the end all I can say is that we have actually run out of adoption signs, a first for me. Today I will be going home with a smile on my face.

Oh yeah, the picture up top is our blind little Annie with her new seeing eye collar. It looks funny and ridiculous but it actually helps her not bump her head into things. Thanks for reading everyone and if you're not already following on Facebook or Google I would really appreciate it, the more people are informed about the great animals at shelters the more we can save.

Coming back to a different place today

2009-11-09T06:39:00.000-08:00

I truly enjoy coming back to work and finding out that absolutely no cleaning got done the day before for one simply reason, it means there were a lot of showings. Today was one of those days and I had no complaints. I found out that yesterday was a barrage of showings from the moment they opened the doors to the moment they shut them with an enormous amount of adoptions to show for it.

Just about every dog that was a "long termer" here got adopted yesterday, that's including Copernicus, Bogey, and even Hannah. I don't have all of the details on the adoptions just yet but I have no doubt that they all went to wonderful homes. On top of those three dogs there were probably a good six more from the new bunch that just came in as well as a few cats. For the staff yesterday I commend you for working so hard and like I said before, it was one of those days today where I like the place to be a mess.

Luckily we had a full staff and were able to catch up with everything in the shelter pretty quickly. Even though we caught up we still had a fair amount of showings today as well so tomorrow might need a little extra attention to the laundry.

My first showing was a continuation of one from yesterday. It was with a relinquished Jack Russel named Lexie. Originally when she came in we set pretty high ages for family members just because of her issues with restraint and her mouthiness, but because she has gotten better we were opening up a few more age groups. I start with this because the biggest issue the adoption counselor saw yesterday is the same thing that I saw today, that the family has a nine year old son and if not properly informed Lexie could become a bit of a handful. Luckily the family was very receptive and understanding of Lexie and after a good while in the showing everyone knew it was the right fit. Not sure what it is about this weekend but we will soon be an empty shelter once again waiting for some new arrivals, you can't see my face right now but there is a huge smile on it.

The rest of the day was pretty steady with a few more dog showings and a lot of kitten showings. There were a total of three kittens that got to go home today and there would have been more if we had allowed them to. The biggest issue with kittens is denying potential adopters if they plan on declawing or making the cat an indoor/outdoor one, this immediately disqualifies them.

My last showing of the day was with a very nice woman who came to look at Kelly, our resident grandma Schnauzer. The woman had heard about the dog from a friend who volunteers at the shelter and had to come and meet her. She immediately fell in love but there were a few concerns, mainly with the woman's dog at home who she felt my corrupt our Kelly. I explained to her the adoption process and how we wouldn't send home an animal if everyone didn't get along and she was very receptive to this. Hopefully she will be back soon to do a dog introduction and we can say goodbye to our favorite little Schnauzer.

I was happy to come into work today and learn of all the adoptions, of course it was a little bitter sweet because I never got to say goodbye but that's just me being selfish. I love seeing empty kennels as well because I know there is no shortage of dogs that are waiting to get into our shelter, I just hope some day that places like this humane society aren't needed because every animal will have a home of their own. Thanks for reading everyone and keep your fingers crossed for Kelly!

I'm beginning to see a trend

2009-11-04T06:36:00.000-08:00

Usually I start this blog off with what I cleaned but today it's going to be a little different. I'm going to discuss a something that has happened yet again making it three days in a row. What I am talking about is the abandoned animals that keep showing up at our front gate. For the last three days I have seen everything from two chickens on Sunday, a kitten in a box on Monday, and a sweet little chihuahua mix today.

I'm not sure if it's the economy that is fueling this issue or over crowding at other shelters, either way it is a problem. I understand that people can be put into very difficult situations where they are forced to relinquish their animals, but there are the proper ways of doing it. Our shelter being private we are very strict on the animals that we take in and the process can take a while but it is possible. I think if people didn't wait until the last second to find a home for their pets they might not have to leave them all alone hoping that they will be alright.

Now I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining because there are far worse things that these people can do to their animals. At least they are giving them a chance rather than dropping them off on the side of the road, but I'm not sure that these individuals know what they are putting their pets through. When you drop off an animal at our shelter all we do is put them in a kennel with some food and have county pick them up as a stray. I wish they we could keep them all but because we are private and these animals are considered strays it is our job to get them to county. Now just imagine if you were that animal, first you're left all alone in a dark cold box for who knows how long, then you are dragged into this jail like setting where you are put into a kennel, next a truck comes and picks you up to transfer you to yet a smaller "cell". If you knew all of this, would you put in a little more effort to find your pet a new home?

As far as legality goes, it is against the law to abandon your animal with a fine reaching up to 5,000 dollars. The issue than will be actually catching the person that does it and of course prosecuting. I am no legal expert but it might be tough to convict someone when they are abandoning their animal at a safe shelter rather than the middle of the road.

So that is my vent for the day, now on to a great showing I had with our boy Bogey. He is a sweet lab mix who has been at the shelter for some time because of his lupus. It's nothing to serious but when people hear that they tend to veer away. In any case, he seemed like a perfect fit for this potential adopter and hopefully after he talks to his vet about Bogey's condition he will be back to adopt, so cross your fingers everyone.

At least I ended on a good note after my rant about people leaving their animals at the gate these last three days. I hope everyone that reads this, and I have no doubt, realizes the need to adopt shelter animals, not only to save one, but because they make such great pets. Thanks for reading and spread the word about all of the great animals that need a good home. Oh yeah, the picture up top is the latest surprise that was found at our gate.

Another day, another surprise left at the front gate

2009-11-03T06:36:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to clean the cattery again to better get aquatinted with our feline friends at the shelter. I always tend to focus on the dogs and really never keep up with new arrivals and adoptions when it comes to cats, well this week I'm changing that.

The nice thing about cleaning cats, in addition to spending time with them, is that your socks don't get wet. Now this is just the added perk since so many of our cats are sociable animals. While I was cleaning Molly in our visitation room, and yes, she gets her own room, she actually jumped on my back while I was scooping her litter box and she started to clean my hair. I have to say I was a little freaked out but she really is such a nice cat. Once I got all of the healthy cats taken care of and fed I headed over to the isolation unit where there are still six cats.

Our medical staff has certainly stayed on top of those sickies and I can now say that they are certainly getting better. I remember when they could barely open their eyes because they were caked with so many eye boogers from their URIs. Now they are up and about and very talkative. It was sad to see a young bonded pair, Laverne and Shirley, separated and just crying out for each other. When I would let one out of their kennel they would immediately go to the other's and just paw at them, it really was sad. Hopefully soon they will be able to go back to the healthy side and to bigger kennels.

Of course once I took care of the cats I headed over to the rabbitat where I made quick work of changing out hay boxes, blankets, and water. Surprisingly enough though for some odd reason my allergies acted up on me and once I was in the small little building that houses our rabbits I couldn't stop sneezing. All I have to say is that I hope it was allergies!

You know it wouldn't be a Monday without taking care of poop buckets. Thank goodness we are running a little short on 150 pound dogs this week! Since we have all little guys it was pretty easy to take care of all of the runs with just two people, but we still had to disinfect the four fake grass yards since we were to be getting some new arrivals later on in the afternoon.

Once we got everything set up for the new arrivals I headed into our break area where I heard the unmistakable cry of a hungry kitten. Sure enough, there was one in a postal box literally covered in fleas. Once again someone had just dropped of this animal in front of our gate hoping that he would be found. Now this is better than the alternative of leaving the animal in a canyon or out in the wild but couldn't you take better care of it in the first place and at least leave it with some water and food. In any case his new name is now Huku, which is apparently Hawaiian for flea or lice, not as cute when you hear the meaning.

With all of the commotion I learned later that there had been a showing with my good buddy Skeeter and Taxi. It turns out the reason I didn't hear about it because it was such a long showing and I had no idea it was going on. Unbelievably it turns out that our staff members were actually introducing them to each other and they ended up getting along great. Because of this the potential adopter is actually going to be adopting both. Not a bad Monday afternoon I have to say. In addition to this great news, another adoption counselor was showing a little poodle named Monty and the family absolutely fell in love and ended up adoption too. Now this adoption is a win/win as well because in all honesty this little guy has a scream that will cut right down to your bones!

Closing the day out the new arrivals came in. After their four hour van ride they were a little shaken up but seemed to be adjusting just fine. Of course there are a few more puppies and several other dogs that for some reason look exactly like ones that we have gotten in the past. In fact one staff member said we should contact the AKC to get these little guys recognized because literally every time we bring dogs from this shelter there is always one that looks like this basset hound, dachshund, chihuahua mix.

Well, hopefully I can give you a better update on the new guys tomorrow and also have some more great adoption stories.