A little concern and a whole lot of cleaning

Starting the day by taking out all of the dogs for their morning break is nothing unusual, finding out that a certain few need to go in special yards for their surgery is. Typically you don't see to many animals with the dreaded cones on but today there were three. Not paying attention to much to the dogs I focussed on cleaning and getting all of the dogs fed and back in their kennels.

Once all of the dogs were up I noticed that our little huskie mix had taken off her cone while in the yard. I was able to get it back on and never paid any attention to it. Ten minutes later I had a volunteer come and tell me that she had taken it off again and was licking her spay site. The bigger concern is that there was some blood. I immediately ran back and grabbed her, I noticed it wasn't a complete emergency but it certainly needed some attention. I brought her back to the medical staff where without hesitation they handled the problem by wrapping a pressure bandage around the dog's waist. The kept her in the office to monitor her and felt she might need a "slumber party" at the vets office just to make sure nothing goes wrong. I have to say that I am glad our med staff can keep their cool because I sure wasn't.

After the excitement it was back to cleaning. We had a full staff today so we all wanted to knock everything out that has been slacked on earlier in the week. We were able to almost entirely catch up on laundry and cleaned a good portion of all of the crates. Of course there is always more to do and hopefully later in the week we can get everything done.

Along with all of the cleaning today I helped our behaviorist introduce our new dog who suffers from separation anxiety with another dog. Recently we have had some fears with the new guy and dogs but we also feel that without the interaction this under socialized dog is going to have a tough time adjusting to shelter life. Luckily the dog that we introduced him to was very tolerant and quick on her toes. Of course our new guy tried a whole lot of mounting but he also would roll on his back and take direction well. Hopefully he will continue to progress and eventually will settle down and become the highly adoptable animal that he can be. Here is a picture of the two drinking out of the hose after a good run around one of the yards.

Even though I didn't have any showings today I was feel like a lot got accomplished. We took care of a lot of necessary cleaning and we also found a new friend for our new arrival. I also learned that we had an adoption which is icing on any cake. Hopefully more animals can find their forever homes this week because after all, that is why we are here. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.

Finishing with a bang

Today, as every other, began with cleaning. I was actually surprised that it wasn't extremely messy but it still took up a good portion of the morning to get everything done. I started out taking care of the East and West dogs which includes those on quarantine still because they are part of our second chance program. What that means is that you have to clean in a very particular order to do your best in trying to avoid cross contamination.

Once the dogs were all done and back in their kennels with some breakfast I headed over to the rabbitat to make sure all of the bunnies were taken care of. I have to say it was quite a bit easier today handling the furry little guys after the pointers I got from our resident expert. I learned the best way to approach them, how to calm them down, how to read their body language, and most importantly how not to get bit.

After all of the cleaning and the "daily do's" out of the way I decided to spend some time with a dog, not only to help them out but to give me a nice relaxing break as well. The dog I decided to hang out with was our new arrival that I mentioned yesterday. He is a sweet guy that is probably the craziest door dasher and humper I have every come across at the shelter. I did learn quickly that once he settles down and if you are patient with him he can be a very sweet and caring boy. He ended up just plopping down next to me on his bed and getting his belly rubbed the entire time I was with him. Mind you it did take a lot of my leg getting humped to get to that point but it's good to see that he can actually calm down.

Of course I couldn't forget my favorite part of Monday's, poop buckets. If that didn't come across as sarcastic I'll have to work on my syntax. Anyways, since we were short handed I found myself doing this task alone, not that it's that bad but to be honest it can get pretty nasty. Luckily we weren't to busy at this time so I was able to get it finished in one attempt.

Being short handed I was surprised that we were able to get everything done in a timely fashion today. That was of course until the late afternoon when an influx of adopters decided to head our way. Before I knew it I was in two showings at once and having to explain to a couple about having the dog they were looking at spayed this week and how that will affect the dog's pregnancy. Not an easy topic to discuss but luckily I came armed with some good reasoning from our med staff and the potential adopters understood. They still wanted to think about it since it was such a big decision but they would check back tomorrow.

While all of this was going on I had another couple that had been in a few times in the past including yesterday back to check out a dog. After a whole lot of time and interaction they decided that she was the one. They seemed genuinely happy with their decision and were looking forward to taking their new addition home soon. They even asked if they can come visit until she has her spay. That I always like to hear.

Of course while all of this is going on there is also another dog adoption as well as a cat. Kind of a busy afternoon with only three kennel staff members handling everything. In any case it was a great way to finish the day and if needed I am sure that any one of us would have stayed late to make sure the adoptions went well.

I couldn't forget to add a picture today, so up top is a blurry picture of Taxi, a spaniel mix with, of course, a huge underbite. I have to say this entire group of second chance dogs has nothing but sweethearts in it. I know that with a little more time all of them will find their forever homes. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.

As usual, some new faces and a few adoptions while I was gone

No matter how long I have been doing this, and it feels like a very long time, it is always a surprise when I go back to work after having a few days off. When I came into work today the first thing I did was check to board to see who had been adopted. To my surprise there was more cats than dogs. That was before I actually went out to the kennels and saw the number of adopted signs that were up on the dog kennels. See, we actually don't add animals to the board unless they actually go home, and since we have so many guys that are in need of their spay and neuter that when they get adopted they still stay at the shelter until the surgery is done.

Of course for every dog that gets adopted there is another one waiting to get into the shelter. We had three more relinquishments that were new to me today. Two were some cute little fuzzy lhasa mixes that I am sure will find homes very quickly. The other is a lab mix (maybe some pit) that might be at the shelter a little while longer. You know you have to prepare yourself for the worst when the behaviorist said she didn't know what she was thinking when she took in the animal.

When I first met him I understood. When I went up to the kennel I got a nice low growl that certainly made my cheeks pucker a bit. Then I heard how much he is attracted to legs, like death grip humping. Even with all of this you have to remain optimistic because the poor guy just lost his home and was thrown into this horribly stressful environment. I was glad to see after working with him for a little while that he did settle down and really mellow out. Goes to show you that not only can you not judge a book by it's cover, you need to be able to take a step back here at the shelter and realize no matter how good of a shelter it is, it's still a stressful situation for the animals. I hope that the little guy adapts well and gets adopted sooner than later because it just breaks my heart seeing him clinging to people because he is so nervous.

My first showing of the day was a good one. It was with a family of four that had actually seen a few of our dogs at an event today. From their profile it seemed like a perfect home for one of our animals, it just needed to be the right animal. After asking a few questions, and me being asked a lot, we decided it was time to go and visit Ruca, a sweet collie mix that had been relinquished about three weeks ago. The showing went very well and the family asking all of the right questions. After a good while the father and mother decided to talk about it because it was such a big decision. They then asked me if they should go and check out some other shelters because they didn't want to rush into anything. I told them that Ruca wouldn't be adopted for the rest of the afternoon and to go and check out some other shelters to make sure that she was the one. After a few moments of silence the father spoke up and said he didn't need to, she WAS THE ONE. A great family getting a great dog, that is why I do this.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. I had one more showing that if it pans out I will tell you about it tomorrow. Other than that I just rode the cloud that I was on from the other adoption, that and the news that Lilly, another one of our larger dogs, had gotten adopted as well. I have to say, I am not the biggest fan of working weekends, but it's when the most adoptions take place and boy do I like being a part of them. Thanks for reading as always, and if you're not following us through google or Facebook I would certainly appreciate it.

Something completely different and new

As usual, I started the day cleaning. The big difference was though, once I took care of the small amount of cats in our cattery I had a drink of coffee and headed over to the surgery suite to assist the medical staff today.

As soon as I met up with the med staff it was go from second one. Immediately I helped out masking down a dog that was slated for a dental. I learned quickly that when a dog gets anesthetized they can get a little squirmy. Luckily though this little guy was a total of about eight pounds so it was easily handled. As soon as he went down we clipped his toenails and gave him a few shots for pain and antibiotics. We also constantly monitored his heartbeat and oxygen levels. Then it was time to intubate him which was a lot easier than I had imagined. Once everything was prepped I monitored his heartbeat and breathing constantly adjusting the gas mix to keep his heartbeat steady and of course keep him from waking up. After his cleaning and polishing the gas was turned off as we continued to monitor his heart until he slowly began to wake up. Once he swallowed it was time to remove the tube from his throat. Before hand you had to remember that the air was taking out of the small balloon that makes the whole system work.

I found that pretty much all dentals work this same way. The only difference is that one actually had to be neutered first. Now prepping the animals for this is a little more intensive than just the dental alone. The animals are actually given a pre mix of some painkillers before they are masked down. Once all of the shots have been given and the nails trimmed it was time to wash and scrub the actual surgery site. I was amazed at how meticulous everyone was when doing everything when it came to the health of the animals.

There was a moment during surgery, or rather several, that I held my breath. Since this was my first time I was making sure that every little thing that I noticed during the surgeries I let the vet staff know. There was even one time that the animal's heart rate dropped so he was given a shot to boost the pulse. Apparently it does happen, but for my first experience I have to say my cheeks were certainly puckered.

Overall as a first experience it was a good one. Not only did I learn and do my first intubation, I also learned a whole lot more. I did get my heart beating fast a few times but it was so interesting to see the processes that went into surgery and of course taking care of the animals afterwards. There is certainly a lot to keep track of while doing all of this and I am glad everyone was patient with me on my first time. And of course I can't forget the picture up at top, it's Ian our little tea cup chihuahua that had a full day of neutering and getting a dental.

Thanks everyone for reading and sharing the experiences that I have at the shelter. If you haven't already to sign up to follow us on Facebook and you do have time I would really appreciate it. Look forward to the comments and will share some more very soon.

I like to see patient young adopters

I won't bore you with to many details about cleaning, just know that I was able to sign up for the South side dogs first but that didn't mean that it was any easier. For some reason there wasn't that much poop, but what there was the dog's paws seemed to be drawn to it. Needless to say I washed my hands, arms, and pant legs several times after cleaning.

Once the pile of laundry dwindled (minutely), the dishes were washed and the garbage taken out it was time for a quick break because there was a lot more cleaning to be had. Today's weekly cleaning included washing the cattery windows as well as disinfecting the visitation room that has been home to two allergy prone cats that finally found a new home. When I say disinfecting too, I mean getting down and dirty when it comes to scrubbing, mopping, and more scrubbing. Luckily there was two of us to knock it out and make sure the job got done correctly.

After the cleaning I thought it would be a nice slow afternoon with lots of time to spend with some animals. Boy was I wrong, that's just when things got started. It seemed the radio never shut off with calls from the front office from everything from showings, phone calls, and of course visits for adopted dogs that are still in our care.

I helped out one of our adopters, a very nice gentleman that has come to visit his new dog everyday since he was adopted. Once that was done it was on to the showings. My first was with a young couple that I had met earlier in the week that had an interest in two cocker spaniel puppies that became available today. Unfortunately there were a few hitches with that, for one there was a family that was looking at the puppies first and second there were a few discrepancies when it came to the owner's relinquishment files. Luckily the couple was understanding and I showed them a few more options that might work. They first met with a sweet little chihuahua mix that loves her toys. They liked her but felt that it wasn't perfect. After talking to them for a while they understood how big of a decision this was and that they both have to be in agreement when it comes to their new family member. They did like some of the new second chance dogs that came in yesterday and will check back on Saturday to see if they might be a good fit.

Of course my next showing was a lot of the same. A young couple with a young child that needed that perfect fit for a new addition for the family. The initial dog that they wanted to look at was certainly not the perfect fit. They were going more on size than actual personality. They understood and said that they, like the previous showing, would wait for the new guys to be available. Seems like Saturday is going to be a pretty hectic day.

With the day coming to an end I learned that Tito, a little mix second chance dog I had done a showing with several times in the past week got adopted. It was good to see that someone, after three trips, had the patience to know exactly what they were getting themselves into and that it was the perfect fit.

After all of this, I am going home today knowing that no adoptions were rushed today and talking to people can be very rewarding. Not only did I find out what these people were looking for in a new pet I was able to help them understand not to rush into anything. There are so many dogs out there waiting for a new home that there is no reason not to "shop" around. I feel that every dog here is highly adoptable and I an certainly not pushing certain dogs over others but I also feel that for every dog there is that perfect family, it's just a matter of being patient enough for them to find each other. Thanks for reading everyone and remember how many good animals are in shelters that we know what their behaviors are and what homes would be ideal for them.

Oh yeah, the picture up top is Mindy the chihuahua I did a showing with. She actually was able to find a spot to bury her bear in fake grass. Has to make you smile.

A whole lot of nothing, then some new dogs

Mondays for me have become a day of getting stuff done, and when I say getting stuff done what I really mean is a whole lot of busy work. As usual I started my morning out with taking the dogs down for their morning break. Once they were all out it was time to get to cleaning. Not sure what was in the water yesterday but today the kennels seemed especially dirty, and for some odd reason just about every dog walked right through their own mess and ether spread it around the kennels or actually got it on me when I would enter.

After washing up and getting the dogs fed and back in their kennels it was time to team up and take care of the rabbits. It was nice today since one of the volunteers had taken out several of the bunnies to their run to cleaning their cages took no time whatsoever. Once again I have to thank the volunteers that spend so much time with the animals and really do make a difference at the shelter.

With so little showings today the time was dedicated more to disinfecting and getting the kennels ready for the ten new arrivals that would be coming in from another shelter. To prepare for the new guys we have to sanitize the four break yards that they will be using along with the kennels. Once that is all done it's time to make them comfortable by putting beds, blankets, and toys in the kennels according to the size of the dog.

Now that we were ready for our new arrivals it was time to get back to cleaning. I got asked to check on the dryer since it was over heating again and after a few buttons pushed and some lint cleaned up it was back to working. Along with the laundry today our focus was the poop buckets. To my surprise they were almost done by the time I made it down to the yards and all I had to do was get two of them and take them to the dumpster, the glamorous part of my day.

Soon after the new guys arrived. I was not surprised to see a good number of them looked the same as most do from that particular shelter. There were a few that stood out though, one was a German shepherd mix that was absolutely beautiful. The thing that really stood out to me was that all of these dogs seemed very friendly and outgoing, in fact our behaviorist said "this group might be the best one yet". Before she could finish though I told her to bite her tongue and not jinx it, hopefully she's right though and all of the dogs will find homes very quickly.

The rest of the day was dedicated to getting the guys fed and of course taking them all out for their afternoon break. I have to say I am once again thankful for the volunteers that come in and spend so much time with the animals giving that human contact that they need. Even though what we do is very rewarding I have to say I miss being a volunteer and getting that "quality" time with the animals.

Sorry for no pictures today, I will get some of the new guys tomorrow and be sure to send them your way. As always thanks for reading and remember to spread the word about what good work animal shelters do. The more people that are educated the more our mission can succeed.

Do we adopt to homes with young children?

Today our hours went back to normal with a full staff working the entire day. What this means to me is that we get to mix it up a little bit more when it comes to cleaning. Rather than focusing on either dogs, cats, or rabbits we basically get to do it all. I started out taking care of the East side dogs and then moved on to the cattery.

Being off for two days I was surprised at some of the new faces that made it into the kennels. We had two new spaniel puppy mixes as well as a little shepherd mix. All three were incredibly cute but unfortunately didn't have the best bladder control. Luckily it was confined to only a few kennels and I was able to get it all cleaned pretty quickly. Once I finished bringing up the dogs and getting them fed I headed over to the cattery where it only took about fifteen minutes to change the litter boxes, take care of the special feedings, and sweep. Good thing too, because it was now time to open.

It didn't seem like there were many showings today but the ones that I had not only took a lot of time, they also took a lot of energy and patience. My first showing was with a mother and her three very young children. They initially wanted to see a small chihuahua because their larger dog was getting on in age. I explained our policies and decided to still show them the dog. Not to my surprise the kids were literally bouncing of the walls. I felt so horrible for this scared little dog that really had no idea what was going on. By the end of the showing I think I was ready to pull my hair our and told the woman that this dog might not be the best fit. She understood and went in to details about how the kids aren't always at the home but I told her to be patient and make sure she didn't rush into an adoption. I have to be honest I'm not sure that we have ever had a dog that would be good for this family. Not to say that they aren't great dog owners, I just think that for a stressed out shelter dog going into a household like this might create some bad situations.

Of course my next two showings weren't as crazy as the first but they too included young children in the household. These families however were more open to suggestions and breed types when it came to adding a new pet to the family. One family was pretty much first time pet owners that was looking for that perfect fit and did nothing but ask questions. In the end we really didn't have anything for her but she said she would be willing to wait for their new addition. Hopefully it works out.

My last showing was with a couple and their two infant twins. Now typically we don't adopt to families with very young children, there are just two many ifs in that situation. However this family had adopted their previous dog from us and had spent six months waiting for the right one, they said they would expect the same thing this time around. Hearing that I know that they have the right mentality going into this process. At least we can give it a try in order to find a right dog for this loving home.

The rest of the day sped by with the shelter sending a few dogs out to an event to get some more publicity. The last dog we decided to send out was Bogey, our special needs lupus dog. Of course before we sent him out we had to lather on the sun tan lotion and even put a hat on him to protect him from the sun. Hopefully the right person saw him with his adopt me bandana on and will come into the shelter very soon.

I didn't partake in any adoptions today but I did learn a thing or two. I understand why we tend to veer away from adopting out to families with very young children but I also feel that you have to take them on a case by case basis. Hopefully we can find these young families the right additions and make sure that it is the best thing for both the dog and the family. Thanks for reading everyone and if you aren't following us please do, the more people that sign up the more we will grow and spread the word about the importance of adopting animals from shelters.