Getting down to business

I have to say, it's pretty nice coming in early, getting down to business and watching the day fly by. Now, there are days that take forever and those, like today, that one minute you get there and the next you leave. It wasn't that we were so busy but there always seemed to be something to do. Of course we were short handed again but hopefully that will change soon. But in all honesty I kind of like being able to stay busy with the extra work.

Once I got all of the kennels cleaned and my pants dried off from the leaky hose I brought the south side dogs up from their break yards. Believe it or not I think you actually spend more time bringing the dogs back and forth to the yards than you actually spend cleaning. There wasn't a minute to waste once the dogs were eating their breakfast because being short handed I had to take care of the ISO dog as well as the rabbits. Before you knew it the shelter was open for business.

We were able to take care of the washing the dishes, piling the trash on top of more trash with a full dumpster, and of course work on the laundry. When it comes to the laundry though you can count on something taking a little longer than it should. For one thing every time you do a load in the washer you have to re set the machine by switching the breaker off and then on again. Then of course there is the always fickle dryer which tends to overheat. Today it over heated but luckily you could just hit the easily accessible re set button rather than climbing into the lint trap to find the other.

After a quick break and of course a Popsicle it was time to recruit as many people as possible for the weekly duty of the dreaded poop buckets. Last week it was just me so I wanted to make sure we had a few more hands on the task to knock it out quicker. Luckily there was three of us that attacked the job and after a few gnarly whiffs and a little gagging the job was done for yet another week.

On to the showings! My first showing was with Benjamin, a sweet puppy with too many mixes to name here. He's a special guy that has been in the shelter for several weeks now because he has needed to find the right family to go home to. It's funny because yesterday there was that perfect family but they wanted to sleep on it and of course when it rains it pours and another couple came in and absolutely fell in love with the little guy. They were a younger couple but worked opposite shifts so the pup wouldn't be left alone for hours on end. They also would have a room dedicated to him rather than keeping him in a kennel. Overall I can feel pretty confident knowing that Ben is going to have a very comfortable lifestyle and a family that will surely love him.

Of course as they are adopting him the other family from yesterday has come back to adopt him. I'm glad they had a good attitude about it and instead of complaining that they didn't get him they decided to take a look at another dog at the shelter named Mr. Burns. Now if you know anything about the Simpsons you can imagine what this guy looks like. He is a chihuahua mix but his colors are actually more blue than anything else. He also has some major light sensitivity and tends to squint when he isn't in th shade. Oh, and did I mention that I have never seen a bigger overbite in my life? If he looks up you can actually see the roof of his mouth when it is closed! I have to say that it really does give him character because he is the sweetest little guy I think we have right now. The couple fell in love but like any big decision in life they wanted to think about it. They did however ask if they could possible adopt over the phone if they made their decision just to avoid the situation they had today with Ben. Hopefully it works out because the family is sure to give any animal they adopt a great home.

There were a few other interesting moments in the day. Once being that I was asked to see if I could locate a dead squirrel that couldn't be found out by our main gait. I obliged hesitantly and was able to find the poor guy rather quickly. Luckily he had been there a while so it wasn't anything to bad. Luckily it was right next to the garbage too so no one had to see me walking with a back as far away from my nose as possible.

Closing on a good note the shelter received a letter from some adopters who had taken home Libby, a wonderful cat that was going on six months in the shelter. It was great to hear how well she adapted and how appreciative the family was for what we do at the shelter. Once again, I know we don't get paid much but the overall good feelings that can come from the work we do is amazing. I'll see if I can get a copy of the letter just to pull some quotes because I always like giving myself a nice pat on the back.

An update on my little guy who had all of the dental work done. He is doing great, he seems to be a lot happier than he was before the surgery and he already keeps on trying to eat dry food. He is a little funny looking with a few teeth missing but I think it just gives him more character. Thanks for reading everyone and I look forward to your comments.