I'm Back

Well, after a three week sabbatical I am back and slowly getting used to the shelter again. Apparently this is the longest time anyone has ever taken off at our rescue so they were all pretty surprised to see me stagger in after thirty hours of travel and still incredibly jet lagged. I do have to say, after my travels I have gotten a better sense of not only how lucky we are in the U.S. as far as animal welfare goes but especially the shelter that I work at.

I have to say that no matter your job or career, taken this much time off makes it very difficult to get back into a routine quickly. I found myself asking in my head exactly what do I do in this situation throughout the day. Everything from cleaning to doing showings I felt like I needed a refresher course. I'm sure after a few weeks I will be able to get back into the routine, otherwise I might realize actually how difficult this job actually is.

Enough about my day, I want to catch everyone up on the what has been going on in the shelter that past month. I was a little sad to see a few of the same faces, Marco especially, still at the shelter but I did learn of some amazing adoptions. Just about all of the long termers, including cats all found homes while I was away. It was really amazing for me to learn about all of the stories and how good all of their new families were. Heck, even a fourteen year old cat with arthritis found the perfect home

After I finally got a little organized and caught up on all of the adoptions I was surprised to hear over the radio a number of showings. I ended up taking a total of three that were all great homes. The toughest part about the showings was actually having to learn about the dogs from other people. Typically I can go on my own experiences with the added knowledge of our staff and behavior specialist, but in this case I was only getting my info from the computer. I was surprised at how easy it was to assess the animals and which ones might be a good fit from all of the notes on their files, but I still like going into the showing with my own observations, that was the toughest part. Anyways, all of the showings went well, I just wanted all of the potential adopters to take their time with the big decision. Hopefully they will come back later in the week and take home a new addition.

Well, as you can see, I am going to have to gradually work my way back into not only writing this blog but also working at the shelter. I hope everyone has had a great month and I hope there are still a few of you left out there that are going to read this. I didn't take any pictures at the shelter today but I took a few while in Tibet that I thought I would attach. My doctor told me not to handle or pet any of the dogs but I just couldn't help myself.

A few more adoptions for the road

When it's cold and rainy out I usually come into work early just so I can clean up cats in the comfort of our air conditioned cattery. That is exactly what happened today. I do feel a little bad for not sucking it up but what the heck, I really don't want to catch a cold before leaving for my wedding.

Once all of the cleaning was done I jumped into my first showing. I have to say, after reading the profile I was pretty sure that the family would be able to adopt just about any of our animals, that was of course until I actually spoke with them. It turns out that they really don't know what they want but I do know what they don't want. A dog that is too energetic, that barks, that might have an accident in the house, that might shed, and my favorite, one that is not too old. This was all coming from a woman in her eighties. She also wanted to make it clear to me that she "lives well" and her furniture is to good for an animal to mess it up. Anyways, at least they came into a shelter looking, that does garner some points with me. I just really wish they would have listened to what I had to say rather than speaking over me. In any case, they ended up switching from looking at dogs to looking at a declawed cat. It might have worked but I reiterated that they need to "shop" around and see all that is out there. Luckily the cat they were looking at was adopted the next hour because I honestly would not have felt right sending an animal home to this family.

My next showing was one that sent me home smiling. It was with a younger couple, a firefighter and his wife. They typically are only gone a few hours a day and were looking for the right dog that could go one runs and just lounge on the couch. They initially came in to see a dog by the name of Roxy but she ended up having surgery so they were unable to meet. Well, it ends up another dog chose them. It was our sweet little Mississippi girl Darla. We ended up sitting with her for a good hour and sure enough she turned out to be the "one". It was so nice not only to see her find such a great home but for the adopters to find such a great dog. The couple was so nice and so appreciative of what we do it really did send me home with a smile today.

Well, that's about it for me for a while. I am heading out early in the morning to go tie the not with the love of my life. I'll be back though and of course jumping right back into the blog as well as helping the animals. Thanks so much for reading and I look forward to your comments.

Oh yeah, the picture up top is Roxy after her surgery.

A staff favorite finally finds his home

After all of the morning cleaning it seems that a lot of my time has been preparing all of the stuff that I would have done in the next three weeks since I am taking off. I have been doing everything from scheduling to scanning in pictures for our 50th anniversary. The big thing that I have had to do was collect all of the data, adoption numbers and what not, for the first quarter of this year to send to the county for their records. In any case, I have seemed to remain busy but want to make sure that I don't leave any one hanging while I am away.

Coming into work after a few days off I learned of some pretty interesting things. First our old man Wylie, the twelve year old dachshund got adopted on Saturday and returned on Monday. Apparently he was throwing up everywhere and the adopter didn't want to continually clean up after him. I won't mention that his diet was switched immediately and a half of a baby aspirin was given to him before all of this happened, but I won't mention that. Anyways, at least he got out of the shelter for a few nights, I just wish people would listen to us when we give suggestions about acclimating this animals to their new homes.

On with the day. Speaking of people that fail to listen to you, my first showing was a shining example of that. It was with an older lady and her son and daughter. She had never been to a shelter before but I gave her credit for coming in now. I explained how we operated and why we want to make sure that it's the perfect fit for everyone that we strive for. Well, she was more concerned about tearing up furniture, barking, and peeing on the floor because "she lived well" and didn't want her home destroyed. Now, these are all valid points, but if since I couldn't get a word in with them I just chose to walk around the shelter and see if any animals caught their eye. Of course none did so then she wanted to see a de-clawed cat. I think the only thing that got through to them was me saying to take their time because this is a very big decision and commitment. I am just glad that the cat she was looking at ended up getting adopted the next hour by the perfect family. Anyways, I know there is a perfect animal out there for just about everyone, but people need to take their time in finding it.

Closing out the day it was time for an amazing adoption. There was a family that had come into the shelter several times in the last week to visit one of our long term dogs. Initially there wasn't that great of a connection but the adoption counselor suggested that they come back so that our little man could get more comfortable with them. They did and Cooper the dog was playing and jumping right up in everyone's laps. There was just one thing that needed to happen now, Dad had to meet. Luckily today he came in and listened to what the counselor had to say about behavior and of course energy level. Before I knew it little Cooper was getting a bath and going home. This is one of those dogs that has been on the fence here at the shelter just because of his kennel presence and the slippery slope that is a shelter but it just goes to show you that there is a perfect home for every animal out there.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course a special thanks to all of the volunteers and trainers that made Cooper's stay here at the shelter as stress free as possible.

They keep on finding homes!

Today is one of those days that I spend up at the front desk but actually ended up spending very little time up there because of an "adoption" meeting. When I first got into work my focus was on preparing for the day and making sure that we didn't have any situations arise from all of our puppies becoming available today.

Because we work on a first and best match for our animals it is typical that we have an influx of people coming in for puppies. In fact we actually created a binder for all of the applications that we have received over the past month or so. It was well organized though and the staff made sure that they took every precaution in making sure that not only did the animals find a great home but no one was going to get pissed off in the process. It turned out because it was weekday and pretty chilly out that there wasn't the rush of people that we had expected for the pups. Mind you, we would have liked to see them all adopted right when we opened but it was good that there wasn't a mad dash of people fighting over them.

Surprisingly enough there was another surprise adoption today when all we expected was puppy showings. It turns out that two young ladies that had been in yesterday looking at the puppies came back today to look at a sweet little spaniel mix named Tippie Canoe, don't ask me where the name came from. Tippie has been kind of a staff and volunteer favorite since she came back into our shelter after being adopted out. There was a lot of concern with adopting her to that perfect household with some pretty stringent guidelines. After she went on foster several times though we got to see a different side to her. Anyways, the two young ladies with their sweet little dachshund ended up adding her to their family. It was one of those adoptions again that you don't want to jinx but man did it put yet another smile on my face when I heard she had found a home.

The rest of the day remained busy with several more showings. In addition to that we had a level two dog training class that one of the front desk staff members was able to attend. I think that it was a great idea that she go because everyone in the shelter is gaining an appreciation of what everyone else does. In addition to that it makes everyone aware of why we take the steps that we do to make sure the animals remain adoptable no matter their length of stay at the shelter.

Well, hopefully tomorrow the trend continues and there are a few more of our senior animals adopted. I know that's asking a lot but the way things are going I figured why not hope for the best. Thanks for reading everyone and thanks for the wedding wishes. Keep up the good work fellow animal lovers!

A sweet long termer finds a home

I love working outside, but there are some days that you wish you could be behind a computer again. Now those days are very rare but when it is raining and cold outside my longing for the desk job begins, but only for a very short while.

Once all of the dogs were taken care of it was time to jump right into the day. Not sure if it was just me or what but it seems that during the early part of the week we have had a few more showings lately. I grabbed my first one just after we opened today. It was with an older woman who had been in a few months ago to look at our little mange puppies. Of course the day she came back with her whole family to adopt the little guy had already found a home. She was still open minded though and said it just wasn't meant to be. She was still interested in finding that right fit though which was nice to hear. She ended up looking at our Cabo dog Alice, I tried to explain to her the extreme energy level she had but she still wanted to see her. The reason I tried to dissuade her was because she lived in a very quite home with her retired husband. Anyways, she did like Alice but I also showed her a new dog that won't be available until tomorrow. She is a little terrier mix that came from a sanctuary in Mississippi. Hopefully she will come back wither her husband and see if we can find the perfect fit.

My next showing was with a few dogs. I of course had to talk to our vet first to get some clarification on the skin issues that broke a few weeks back. Once I got all of my info I went to talk to the woman and learned that it was an ideal dog home. Someone was home all the time, the dog would go with them wherever they went, and of course they have adopted before so they know some of the issues that can come up with shelter dogs. I ended doing a showing with a sweet little spaniel named Tippie. She absolutely fell in love with her. Of course the rest of the family has to meet so I figured I might as well show her the dogs in ISO as well just so she can get a sense of their personality. She liked them but I think she had a thing for Tippie, hopefully I will see the whole crew in this week so we can find this sweet girl a new forever home.

While I was in my showings I learned that our dog Skipper that had been adopted out by us ten years ago and then returned because the family lost their house was getting adopted. I love to hear about animals finding new homes but to hear a twelve year old found his forever home was music to my ears. Peaks and valleys is what I say goes on here at the shelter. One minute you have all of these returns and the next they are all finding homes.

Closing out the day a construction worker brought in some stray neonate kittens that were certainly needing some looking after. Luckily we have an incredibly experienced staff member to care for them until we can get them out on foster. Here is a picture of the teeny crew, you can really see how small and delicate they are.

Thanks for reading everyone and of course thanks for the comments as well. I also just wanted to let you know that I will off for almost the whole month of May for my wedding but the blog will continue after that.

Some really good news...maybe

I finally figured out that if I get to work early enough I can sign up for cats, as was the case this morning. Once I jotted my name down on the sign up sheet I went to work on a little side project. I kept myself busy most of the morning scanning in fifty year old photos of the shelter in to the computer to transfer them into digital format. Once I'm done with that I am going to attempt to make a mosaic of all the pictures over the years for our anniversary gala later in the year.

Once it was actually time to work I headed over to the cattery where I began to clean. I have to say it was really nice just to throw on my headphones and get down to business. It's also nice because I can actually get to know some of the new faces that we have in our cattery. I do have to say that there are a few that I wish I could forget already. In one of the rooms I was cleaning there were a total of about five kennels with covers on them which typically means that the animal is new and is still adjusting. Of course when I went in to clean after them they let me know that they were still "adjusting". Even when I wasn't in their kennels I could here some of them hissing over the music of my ipod. Nonetheless I was able to finish and at least learned a few of the new guys names.

I have to mention a pretty amazing cat story from last week that I was hesitant to right about just because it was a little odd and I didn't want to jinx it. It all began a few weeks ago when a woman and her daughter had come in to look at our girl Ella, a cat that has been at the shelter going on a year now. After a several visits and a lot of thinking the woman decided to adopt and take Ella home the next day so she could prepare her house for the new arrival. In the time frame between adopting the cat and us closing a new volunteer went in and ended up getting scratched by Ella's tooth. What that means is the cat now has to go on bite quarantine to make sure there are no health risks. We were all mortified that after all this time she finally gets adopted and something like this happens. It turns out the adopter still wanted her and decided that while she was on quarantine would still come and visit. It was great to know that a person was willing to wait even longer for her new pet. So, yay! Our longer termer, and I mean long termer gets to go home in just a few more days.

The remainder of my day was spent in a very long meeting discussing some future events and policies at the shelter. Of course when it was done I went back to work and had a great showing with a cute little second chance chihuahua. While I was doing that I learned that our girl Lady, the dog that has been here for who knows how long went into a showing. After about an hour of explaining her "issues" the potential adopters decided on taking her on a "trial run". Now this is not something we typically do but because of Lady's situation and behaviors we want to make sure that we take all necessary precautions in sending her home. I am keeping my fingers crossed and trying not to blink hard because I am so happy right now just thinking that there might be a possibility that she gets adopted.

Thanks so much for reading everyone and of course the wonderful comments, they really do let me know that there are so many people out there that care about animal welfare. Keep up the good work everyone!

Some interesting people today

I started my day by of course checking all of the emails sent to the shelter along with the voicemail. There are always a few that surprise me. This morning the messages consisted of a few senior citizens asking about the silky terrier puppy named Peaches. Of course I returned the calls and let the women know that the little puppy was available for adoption but also had to explain her histiocytoma as well. That's always fun trying to explain why we didn't remove the tumor and what the implications could be on the future of the animal.

The big call I had to make this morning was to a recent adopter. It turns out after I left last night one of the longest term animals in the shelter had been adopted. Ella the cat has been here for over a year now and finally found the right family to take her home. The adopters ended up just putting down a deposit because they wanted to prepare their home for the new arrival. In the time that they adopted and the time the shelter closed though an elderly new volunteer went in to where Ella was housed. Ella gave her a love bite and broke skin. When this happens it is law that we put the animal on bite quarantine for ten days and out of public view. Now this is an animal that has been at the shelter almost as long as I have and now has to stay even longer. It was my job now to call the adopter and explain the situation. Because the woman had just spent time with the animal though she could still come and visit if she wanted to. She ended up being very understanding and really felt sorry for Ella more than everything. The one little bit of silver lining on the situation is the last day of Ella's quarantine is her due date for her yearly boosters, so at least it will save the adopter the trip to the vet. In the end it was a little odd but luckily our girl Ella found the absolutely perfect home.

Not surprising at all as soon as we opened the showings started coming in for Peaches. Within an hour she had been adopted. Once again I had to call a few potential adopters and let them know that she had found a home. I didn't want anyone else making the trip in just to find out she wasn't here. Surprisingly enough some people were upset with me because they didn't get her. I threw me back a bit because it was a little unexpected, maybe next time I will just let them waist their time coming in and let them find out on their own.

Closing out the day I wanted to reflect on the biggest thing that I don't like about the front desk. It's part of being in a shelter I understand but it can become very tough for me at times. What I am talking about is the daily barrage of calls from people who are trying to relinquish their animals. On any given day there are anywhere from five to twenty five people asking if we can take their animals in. Not only is it sometimes incredibly sad but it is frustrating as well. Some people can be so irresponsible and expect us to help them out of their situation. The other side of it is the tough part, you have the individuals that this truly is their last resort and all they want to do is find a home for their family member. Then of course there are the ones that you know we aren't going to take their animals do to health or behavioral issues and you have to explain to them why our shelter won't be able to put them up for adoption.

It can be a sad business at times but with that comes those moments when all you can do is walk tall and have an ear to ear smile. Thanks for reading everyone and of course a special thanks to all of the volunteers and rescue workers around the globe who are making all of the difference.