And then there were more

Typical morning of taking all of the dogs down to their yards and for the next two hours or so a whole lot of scrubbing, getting my pants and shoes wet, and bringing the dogs back up for their breakfast. This is a typical morning with pretty typical results. There was one surprise when I took the new puppy that is around four months old, surprisingly there was no mess in the kennel. A true first when it comes to cleaning!

We did have another new staff member start today so it made all of the usual "chores" that much easier. I just hope it works out this time because for some reason this job has a high turnover rate. I wonder if it is the pay or the actual amount of physical labor that is involved. If you come into this work looking for a paycheck you are in the wrong business. If you come into it and you don't absolutely love animals, once again, you are in the wrong business.

Of course, Monday wouldn't be a Monday without the task of poop buckets. Luckily there were three of us to take care of it so it took no time at all. That doesn't mean it smells any better than usual. Once we got all 15 garbage bags and suited up with the rubber gloves we made our way down to the yards and proceeded to scoop and replace all of the bags. I kind of felt bad for the new girl but I guess it's trial by fire here at the shelter.

Once all of that was done it was time to get the West side kennels set up for the TWELVE new arrivals that were coming in from another shelter. Usually there is a max of ten so this was quite a surprise when we learned so many were coming in. When they did make it in it was no surprise that everyone of them was a cutie. There weren't any large dogs but all right around ten to twenty pounds. They all seemed very adoptable but one in particular caught my attention. He is a little guy that looks like an ewok crossed with a griffon. It wasn't because he was cute that I was interested as more of the fact that he had the most annoying bark I have ever heard, and I am not exaggerating. Our behaviorist said that one is the devil for the simple fact that the two hour car ride she just got back from the little dog didn't stop barking once. Here is a picture of the little guy, don't let his cuteness fool you.

In this batch there were also four puppies that seemed like they would find new homes very quickly. One really caught my eye and I know as soon as they become available they will not be here for very long. Here is a pic of my favorite one, I think he is some sort of shepherd mix, but you can never be sure.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful with no adoptions by the time that I had left. We did however get a call about a dog that had been adopted from us about nine years ago. It turns out she has bitten two children and barely broke skin once. Because of this though the family is going to return her. Not sure what we can do but evaluate her and keep her on bite quarantine. I won't go into the depressing possibility but I'm sure you have a pretty good idea of what could happen to this dog. I'll keep you updated.

I almost forgot. We did have a couple come in to take a look at our sweet Liza, the coonhound that is slowly starting to come out of her shell. Of course though it's tough to explain to people that we will have to take them to our volunteer foster's house to do the showing since she is there permanently until she gets adopted. I'll let you know what happens as I find out. Thanks for reading everyone and keep the comments coming. Also, if you are on facebook I would love to have you following me. Just click the networked blogs banner on the left to follow. Thanks again!