Not your typical Monday

It's always fun when you go into work thinking that you are going to be short handed when in reality everyone shows up and you are able to get everything on your plate handled. Well that was the morning in a nut shell. Initially I thought there might be just two of us to take care of everything but ended up having the full four, you want to talk about letting out a sigh of relief.

Now there was still a lot of cleaning to do since yesterday we were so short handed that just about none of the closing duties got done like taking out the trash or even cleaning the dishes. What this meant was that even though we had a full team but the time eleven rolled around everything still wasn't done.

After all the animals were taken care of and the morning chores signed off on one of our staff members headed home. I really don't blame them and in fact I was surprised to see them there in the first place having bronchitis and all. In any case, it was nice that they came in to help us out in the morning because if she hadn't come in we would have been playing catch up all day long.

I can't forget the weekly cleaning duty for Monday's, the dreaded poop buckets. Luckily the weather wasn't too hot and there were three of us to knock it out but no matter how much of a positive spin I put on it it's still doing poop buckets. In any case we were able to get it done pretty quickly and there was only one scary point when one of the staff members tossed a bag into the wagon and the thing ended up splitting open, not a pretty sight for the eyes or the nose.

Once I headed back to the office I was surprised at the flow of people that were making their way through the shelter. In fact as soon as I made it back I was called into a showing. It was with one of my favorite little guys Skeeter, a wiry little guy that has a great temperament. The showing went well and he ended up just lounging on his back and getting his belly rubbed the entire time. Unfortunately the woman still needs her roommate to meet and of course a rental agreement saying the dog is allowed. I was a little disappointed that I didn't see her back later in the afternoon but hopefully she will be back soon.

I ended up have one more showing with the same dog and the same reaction as I expected, the potential adopters absolutely fell in love with him, even with his Rocky Mountain fever, which took some explaining. I'm not going to go into details except that it is of course a tick bourn disease that if treated early gives the best opportunity for the dog. His titer was low so hopefully it was just exposure to the disease but he will have to be tested again in the future after his stint of antibiotics. Anyways, back to the showing, the showing went great but we still had to introduce our guy to their golden retriever. I thought everything would be good to go but the interaction wasn't what we were looking for. Their dog was a bit older and a little more laid back while ours is young and wants to constantly play. Anyways, after a few growls and a lot of ignoring it was decided it wouldn't be the best fit.

No adoptions today but at least we know what type of home would be best for our boy Skeeter. There were a few more showings with other adoption counselors but nothing that panned out. It was good to see that we were having the interest though and that gives you a sigh of release to know that it might take a little time but these animals will be adopted.

Just as an update, Wendy made it to her new home in Arizona and is now romping around with her older brother and sister. Just goes to show you that there is a perfect home for every animal. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.

Anne, I just want to say thanks for all that you do and the heart that you have.

Back with a bang!

After an interesting week of being sick, today I was ready for anything, or so I thought. Let me start by recapping some things that were of some importance that I ended up missing in the last few days. For one, there were two great long term adoptions that took place. One was our girl Sasha, a huskie mix that had a few problems. She ended up going to a wonderful couple and the family couldn't have been happier. The next big adoption was Wendy, our Weimeriner mix. You would think because this dog was so beautiful that she would have been adopted sooner but because of her "hound deafness" or doggy ADD it has been tough, especially because of her size. She has been in a lot of showings but just hadn't found that right family, until last week that is. It turns out one of our postings on petfinder payed off. A man from another state actually came to visit her with his two dogs and absolutely fell in love. After a two day courtship he had made up his mind that Wendy would be the new addition to his family. There was an obstacle to get over thought, Wendy had actually not been spayed yet and the man had to head back home. Lucky for us we have some great staff members and a great relationship with a local vets office. Typically our surgeries are done at the shelter on Wednesday but we were able to get her done on Friday, now it just left getting her to her new state. I couldn't believe what I heard next, one of our adoption counselors was actually going to drive her out to her new home. Talk about going above and beyond! All I know is that two great dogs that have been at the shelter for far to long finally get to go home.

Now on to today, of course my first day back we are short by two staff members leaving us with three adoptions councilors. What that means for us is a very busy day of cleaning and trying to stay caught up on just about everything. I have to say though that the dogs really didn't make to much of a mess and we were able to take care of them rather quickly, especially with the volunteers help. I really don't know how this place would run without their help and love for the animals.

Anyways, after all of the cleaning it was right to work on adoptions. My first showing was with a dog named Blitzen that the group had already seen yesterday but they still needed their rental agreement. Everything looked good but when I went back over their profile that mentioned that they were thinking about getting a cat in the future as well. Because of this I had to cat test the dog just to make sure that there wouldn't be any problems, and as I expected he did fine with the felines. It was a go after that, we verified his rental agreement and another dog had found his forever home. Of course he would be here until next Thursday so we can "alter" him.

Today I was surprised that any of us were even able to take a lunch. We were so busy with showings that if every one of them had been an adoption I don't think we would have any animals left. Unfortunately lots of them weren't adoptions for one reason or another. With all of the good showings there were a few bad ones as well. By saying bad I mean denials. There was everything from wanting to declaw cats to give animals as gifts which are big no nos here at the shelter. Luckily there were more showings waiting to take your mind of the ones that weren't so great.

My next showing was with a new little shi tzu that was brought to us as a stray from a county shelter because we could better deal with his medical issue. Nothing to serious but would require eye medication for the rest of his life. When I was called to the showing with him I was ready for a quick one because this usually deters people pretty quickly. When I explained to the couple his problems with dry eye that completely understood and recognized it was common with the breed and they would still like to meet him. After only a short time with him in the yard they were hooked. The issues now were cat testing him and introducing him to their 13 year old dog. The cat test went alright, I was a little concerned with his aggression and persistence but the family didn't think it was an issue. Another issue that arose was when we introduced the two dogs, now mind you our little guy hasn't been neutered yet, but he persistently tried to hump. After about ten minutes of this I said my suggestion would be to come back in a few days and try it again because nobody wants to put their dog at home in that situation. Hopefully they will think long and hard about it and come back for another meet and greet.

My last showing for the day was actually with a bunnie. Now I have done a little research online so I didn't totally go into the showing blind but I have to say there were some questions asked that I had to go back to the computer. In any case the family seemed like a good fit and the father came up to the shelter to meet as well and it was a go. My first rabbit adoption was definitely a learning one but I am glad to have it under my belt.

Closing out today a family that was supposed to pick up their dog tomorrow ended up coming in today and cutting their vacation short. They said they couldn't wait to get their girl home. It was so great to see the looks on their faces when I brought their new addition out. This is why I am here.

What a busy, cray, hectic, insane, GREAT day. I know that there are the tough days but those days are far and few between when you are finding loving animals new homes. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.

Wow, hope I start feeling better

If you follow this blog than you might realize that I missed a day yesterday without any explanation, well, here it is. Not sure if it was the flu or not but the docs certainly treated it that way. It began right before my alarm went off for work when immediately I knew something was up when my stomach started turning. I eventually made it out of bed and got ready as usual. I tried eating a little breakfast when I knew something was wrong. For the rest of the day the only time I got up, which was frequently, was to go to the bathroom. In the end it was best for me to stay home and not spread anything, plus I don't think I could have been any help.

That was yesterday, today I decided I was feeling a little better so it was time to go to work. Luckily the staff was very understanding and when it came to cleaning I had what you might call light duty. I helped out with the cats and did a few rabbits as well. Typically I do a lot more but my body was still aching from yesterday.

Once all of the cleaning was done it was time for our weekly meeting. The focus was our annual fundraiser that took place last Saturday. I wasn't able to make it but from what I hear it was a huge success. I hope in the future I can play a role in it because it sounds like it was quite a fun time. I forgot to give credit to everyone for the time and effort that obviously went into this magnificent event.

After all of this I was hit with feeling like crap again. Luckily there were some qualified staff members that could pretty much handle everything and I was able to go home early. Hopefully another nights rest will get me back to par and I can have a normal working day at the shelter where I can have the chance to do some showings and hopefully some adoptions.

Sorry for not writing sooner and I look forward to another day with some more excitement than leaving early. Thanks for reading and keep the comments coming!

Feeling like a Monday

It's been a while but today was definitely one of those days. Right from the get go I knew that today was going to be tough and unfortunately I was right. For some odd reason at the shelter the schedule lately has been a little screwy and on Sundays it seems we are short handed, really short handed.

I began as any other day by taking out all of the dogs for their morning breaks, this took a little longer than usual because every single kennel was full with at least one dog. Once all of the guys were out it was time to clean. Unfortunately more dogs means more messes and a whole lot of scooping necessary. Eventually everything got done and I was able to get the guys back up and fed just before opening.

I moved on to getting the dishes done when I realized that there were a few more than usual. That was because not only did we have about twenty extra for meds that were given out they actually didn't get done yesterday because the shelter was so busy. Needless to say I had some nice raisins for fingers once all of the dishes got washed.

The rest of the day was pretty much a blur of showings and daily tasks. At any given moment there was about three showings going on, now this is awesome but it makes for a difficult time if you don't have the staff to cover it all. Heck, even feedings which are usually no problem took me a solid hour with the barrage of questions I got from guests at the shelter.

Eventually all of the dogs did get fed and by that time we had to take them out for their afternoon break. Thankfully we had some hard chargers that took the lead and got the animals out while there were still more showings to be had. Before I knew it the clock read 4:15, there had been six adoptions and it was time to bring the dogs back up.

All in all it was a great day for adoptions, just not for me. I love getting the animals out of here but when you are too busy to realize that an adoption is taking place you really can't appreciate it fully. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, I just wish I could have savored it more.

Well, that's about that, I appreciate everyone reading and I look forward to your comments. Oh yeah, the picture up top is an adorable cocker mix that we like to call a "second chance" dog.

Getting to know the new guys, and of course more poo than you can ever imagine

Today was a little different, with all of the rain we had to work things a little differently when it came to taking dogs out. Typically we get all of the dogs out at once, clean out the kennels, lay down food, and then bring the dogs back up, however with fewer yards to use it was more staggered today. You wish that you could get the little guys out as quickly as possible, but with so few covered yards that can be difficult. You basically have to pick and choose who goes out first while the others wait. You think that it might be a tough decision but all you really have to do is let the ones out that didn't poop in their kennel last night.

After all of the guys got out that held it last night I got to work. I tried getting everything done as quickly as possible because as I was cleaning all I could see was the looks of despair on all of the other dogs that were still waiting their turn. Not sure if it was the long wait for the guys or what, but for some reason there was more poo than any other day. I have to say I think I am loosing my sense of smell because it really wasn't to bad, wow, did I just write that? Anyways, I got the first half done and cycled in the others once the yards were empty. I was surprised that it all got done rather quickly but I would have still like the guys to all get out at once.

With time to spare I headed over to the rabbitat where once again we had a volunteer helping out by taking the rabbits to their play yard. It really is amazing how much faster you can change everything out in their beds when there isn't a bunnie there to work around. As always, I have to thank the volunteers for the role that they play at the shelter.

After all of the cleaning and daily chores I got a call over the radio about some people waiting on hold to ask some questions about some animals. The questions ranged from adoption fees to animal behaviors and tendencies. I am always hesitant to answer these questions because you never want to waste a person's time if they aren't qualified to adopt in the first place. In any case, I go over the details of our processes and try to answer every question possible without guaranteeing them that they can adopt, it really is a tightrope walk sometimes.

Once all the busy work had been done I finally got to go over and check out the new guys. Of course the first thing I see is one of the little ones chomping down on a big piece of freshly laid you know what. Luckily I was able to clean it up before he could finish it, poor guy, probably just nervous. Anyways, I soon learned that a few had some issues, ether on leash or when it came to food. They seemed fine with humans but definitely had some issues with the other dogs. I do have to say though that when it comes to humans all of these little guys are incredibly friendly. I have no doubt that when they become available for adoption they won't be here long.

When it comes to showings this week it seems that they are all pretty much the same. I have had a few denials but for the most part I have had pretty much perfect households looking for a new pet. Even with all of the great families though I still haven't had an adoption. It seems that people are taking their time with the process to make sure that the animal that they choose is absolutely the right one. I know that this is what I preach but I still wouldn't mind seeing an adoption or two.

To close out the day we got one more new dog in. She is a lab mix that was brought to us originally as a stray. The staff absolutely fell in love with her but because we are private we had to bring her to a county shelter. After the alloted time however we found out that she wasn't claimed and one of our staff members got her to give her a "second chance". I think she will do very well here and hopefully find her forever home very soon.

Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments, and me being me, I would love to have you follow us on google or facebook if you aren't already are.

A pretty big scare

Of course, like any other day, it begins with a lot of cleaning, today especially. I began by helping take out the dogs for their morning breaks and once that was done got to scooping poop out of the kennels. Once I got them all cleaned out, food all ready with special diets included, I brought the dogs back up. It might have only taken a few sentences to explain it but in reality it takes over an hour.

After all of the dogs were done I headed over to take care of the rabbitat. Usually around this time there is another staff member that comes over to help out but no such luck today. Luckily though there was a volunteer that helped out by taking the rabbits down to their runs which made the cleaning very easy. After sweeping up and changing out the garbage bags I went back to the office and noticed that there were still a few morning cleaning duties that hadn't been signed off. This of course is when I went for the "trifecta".

I headed over to the cattery and helped out by sweeping and of course my favorite, scooping. Luckily just about everything was done in here and what wasn't just took a few minutes. In any case, it's not every day that I get to clean up after dogs, rabbits, and cats.

After all of the cleaning was done I was talking to our med staff to learn about to larger dogs that were in our barn yard since the normal kennels really weren't big enough. It turns out that one of them had been up at the front desk on one of the days that I was off and seemed to be having some problems. She was foaming at the mouth, had a rock hard stomach, and was in some obvious pain. Thank goodness she wasn't at the barnyard at this time and our vet just happened to be walking by because what she had was very serious. It turns out she had bloat, a life threatening condition, that calls for immediate surgery. Luckily we had the right eyes on her at the right time and we were able to get everything under control. She is back at the shelter now doing just fine. I hate to think what could have happened if no one had been watching her.

Surprisingly the rest of the day was incredibly busy. Along with the busy work of taking out poop buckets, setting up new kennels, and disinfecting yards we had a new group of second chance dogs coming in along with a whole lot of showings. I had almost forgot it was Columbus day when I noticed that all of the showings were with stay at home parents and their children. Similar to yesterday though most of the showings didn't go anywhere but with the new group of dogs there will be definitely more of selection very soon.

To the new group of dogs, talk about a cute group. I am always surprised at the animals that are brought into the shelter. Not because there is a never ending supply, which there is, but because just when you think you have seen it all here comes something totally different. You will have to wait for future blogs to see them all, but here is one of my favorites. We're calling him a sheepdog mix but you never really know. All I know is that is super friendly and very adorable.

Closing out I wanted to talk about my girl Liza again. She is a second chance dog, treeing coonhound, that came to us via Mississippi several months ago. Her fear and timidness caused us to put her on foster away from the stress of the shelter, but there hasn't been much interest in her. Recently though we were able to get her in a local paper and we have finally sparked some phone calls, one in particular seemed promising. I don't want to get my hopes up but as soon as I hear something I will let you know. As always thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.

Back to work

Coming back from several days off is never easy, today wasn't so bad though. I came into work noticing that there was a pretty solid staff and realized we had everything under control even though we were going to be a bit short handed in the afternoon.

Since our normal staff wasn't here there were a few differences in how the day started out. For one, I actually didn't have to clean today! I think that this is a first at my days at the shelter. So rather than clean I had to dish out all of the meds to the animals which might have actually been tougher than cleaning. The reason I say this is because there were a total of four animals on ear meds which can be a daunting task. On top of that there is another dog that also needs two eye medicines along with several pills, poor guy. Once I got all of the ears cleaned out and waited ten minutes to put more drops in them. Of course it's easier said than done. Pretty much every one of the dogs that needed the medicine was kenneled with another dog in the break yards, what that meant was that I had to no only control one dog while I stuck drops in their ears I had to dodge the other ones that would jump all over me. In the end, I was dirtier than I had ever been when doing kennels. In fact I actually had to change my shirt because of all of the mud that ended up on me. Hey, at least it was something new. Whether it was more difficult or not, I did learn a few things, like not all dogs like cream cheese.

After all of the meds were done there was still time to help out cleaning. I headed over to the rabbitat and got to work. Luckily there was a volunteer there to help take the rabbits out to their play yards which makes the cleaning that much easier. I can never thank them enough for taking time out of their days to help the animals and the staff. Because of the volunteer we were able to clean in record time, then of course head out to do more cleaning.

Once all of the morning duties were done it was time to spend some quality time with some special needs animals. We have a list of dogs and cats that need special attention and work to make sure that they can be as adoptable as possible. The dog I chose to work with was a Siberian Huskie mix who can be a bit of a spaz at times. She means no harm but she can certainly make it feel that way. I took her to our quite room which is a small area in front of the shelter that has no barking dogs, a nice couch, and carpeted floors. It took some time and a whole lot of jumping but finally she settled down and got comfortable. I think she just needs a very active household possibly with another dog because the energy that this dog has is amazing. It was good to see that she could calm down indoors though.

Later in the day I had a few showings, a few denials, and absolutely no adoptions to speak of. Even though I didn't send anyone home there was a nice cat adoption and I think a few of the showings that I had could pan out in the future. One in particular really stood out, it was with a family that had lost their dog of 13 years three weeks ago. They had been to several shelters but felt that the right dog would pick them. Overall they were a perfect household to send any of our animals home to, it's just a matter of finding the right one. They said they will think about Dixie, the sweet dog they were looking at but they will also check back to see if there are any new additions.

Kind of a different day today with some nice quality time with the animals. It did get a bit hectic in the end trying to make sure that everything got finished, but being a little short handed and having some late showings made the afternoon fly by. I hope in the next few days that some of the wonderful families that came in to look at animals will be back to take them home. Not a great day for adoptions but that doesn't mean that tomorrow won't be. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments. By the way, the picture up top is Kissy, our overweight cat that likes to lounge around in the indoor/outdoor room.