A week away but it felt like a month

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.