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

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.