Buddy and an update

I squeezed in one quick walk at Roice-Hurst before they closed yesterday. I had a lot of work to do, but I really wanted to take over two dog coats I have for them. One is a new body suit we got for my father-in-law's dog that didn't fit (it's the same stylish one that Sadie has). The other was Simon's old coat. It was hard to part with it, but I thought he'd be happy to know that it will help keep another dog warm.

I walked and played with Buddy, a chocolate lab mix. He's the goofiest and most uncoordinated 1-year-old dog I've ever seen. He's trying to learn to play fetch and retrieve. He tries hard but for some reason he can't figure out how to keep the ball from falling out of his mouth... It doesn't help that he has the attention span of a gnat. But he's a lovable sweetheart!



And remember Blaze from my walk on Monday? Well, when I arrived at the shelter a woman was leading him to her car to take him to his new home. YAY!

But my joy was squashed not long after that. While I was walking Buddy, a woman and her daughter came to relinquish their happy little dog, Simba. Ugh.

One other sad update on Darvey. I walked him on my first day as a voluteer in November. He's such a sweet guy that has been plagued by health problems his whole life.



He was in the office today with a big bandage around his belly. He recently had a growth removed, and the vet thinks it is malignant. The only silver lining to this story is that he's currently being fostered by the office manager, and she said if the growth is malignant, she'll keep him with her until the end. At least he'll get the good love he deserves.

Blaze and Gigi

oday I finally made it back to see my four-legged friends at the Roice-Hurst Humane Society. It's been way too long since I've been out to see them.

The first dog I walked is Blaze. He's a 3-year-old American cattledog mix. He spent most of our time together rolling on his back in the grass, wiggling in the snow to make snow angels, and using his snout as a snow plow. Every time we passed by one of the benches on the dog walking course, he'd jump up on it, sit down, and then try every trick in the book to get another cookie. He always got one, and then he'd get an extra one for good measure.

After Blaze, I asked to walk Gigi. You may remember her from my walk back in November. By asking to walk her, I broke the first rule I made with myself: Never ask to walk a specific dog. Part of the agreement I made with the husband when I started volunteering as a dog walker was that I would NOT bring one home. The best way to avoid bringing one home is to avoid getting attached to one.

But since our first walk, I've thought about her a lot. She has a sad story, though I suppose you can say that about any dog that finds himself in a shelter (especially the shelter's three featured dogs, which have each been there since July '09. Ugh.).

Today I asked the kennel tech if he knew her story. He said she was picked up as a stray in a town about an hour from us and she stayed at their shelter until her time ran out. Then arrangements were made for her to come to Roice-Hurst. He couldn't remember how long she's been there, but it's been at least since November. The one disappointing thing to hear is that she doesn't always get along with other dogs, especially some females. Drats. But he also said they just got a lesson today from a dog trainer in how to properly introduce dogs, so maybe with a proper and controlled introduction, she'd be fine.

She has the sweetest face and a loving disposition, but you can tell she's been on her own for a long time. I think she'd be a great dog once she has a good home, but for now she seems to sort of zone out when it comes to people, and it's hard to tell what kind of personality is lurking in there. But at one point during our walk I knelt down and she came over and started giving me kisses all over my neck and chin. She sure knows how to pull my strings!

I've been trying to get the husband out to the shelter to meet her for weeks now. He refuses. Probably because he's a bigger softie than I am and is afraid we'll come home with more than one dog! I will continue to work on him and maybe get him out there this weekend to meet her...

Moto, Tanqueray, and Drake

I spent yesterday afternoon with my four-legged buddies at Roice Hurst. I managed to walk three dogs (so what about all the other things on my list to do before leaving for NM today...).

First up was Moto. This isn't a good picture of him. I'd guess that he's a boxer mix. He's 8 months old and really tall for his age. He's had a rough time in his short life, and I think he's the kind of dog that just doesn't eat when he's stressed. He's really quite skinny, which I think might be why they blurred his picture so much. But what a sweet boy he is (his sweet brown eyes made me want to melt!), and he can jump straight up in the air about 6 feet. That's a really neat thing unless your fence is only 5 feet high.



Second was Tanqueray, a 9-month-old pit bull mix. Sweet and adorable, with a tail that goes a million miles an hour! She really liked the idea of running after the tennis ball, but lost enthusiasm when it came to bringing it back to me. I love her one blue eye.



The last dog for this week was Drake, an 8-year-old yellow lab mix. He seems like a bit of a goofball, and like most labs, his tail went from side to side the entire time I was with him.

Klinger and Gigi

I made two new best friends today while volunteering to walk dogs at the Roice Hurst Humane Society.

I had a ton of things to do today (um, like post today's letterpress giveaway...), but I couldn't wait to get back out there to walk some more dogs. I had planned to walk three dogs, but I got all the way to the shelter and realized that I left a giant bag of dog treats on the counter. I raced home, fully expecting to find Sadie fat and happy and an empty bag in the middle of the floor. It could happen--just ask her how much she enjoyed that whole loaf of cinammon raisin bread her idiot mom left on the counter the last time she went dog walking...

First up today was Klinger, a 1.5-year-old male Husky mix. I guess he was destined to be a sled dog until someone realized he is deaf. He's sweet as can be, and it took him no time at all to realize that a wiggle on the leash meant it was cookie time!



The second dog today was Gigi. She's a 3-year-old Golden Retriever mix and it pretty much broke my heart when I got home and looked her up on the website and found out that she came to this shelter from another shelter where she had "run out of time." I just can't believe she hasn't found a home yet. She has the sweetest eyes and not a mean bone in her body. She sits on command, took cookies gingerly from my hand, and despite it all still wags her tail when you say her name. I hope she finds a family soon.

 

Cold noses and warm hearts

I recently signed up to be a volunteer dog walker at my local animal shelter, the Roice-Hurst Humane Society. I decided I have too much love to give to dogs, and this is turning Sadie into a spoiled moocher. ;) This morning I went for my "dog walking class" and got to walk my first two dogs.

My first dog was Ace, a 4-year-old Blue Heeler mix. Their website says Ace is a female, but he's really a boy. What a sweet dog, but it seems like he didn't get a lot of human contact before. He doesn't like to play ball and he always seemed a little surprised that I would want to pet him. By the end of our walk he was really pretty happy to have his neck under his collar scratched.



I also walked Darvey, a 7-year-old Red Heeler mix. This Darvey is one special guy. He was born without tear ducts so his eyes get really goopy. He's also missing about 98% of his teeth (and what he does have are awfully crooked) but that doesn't stop him from mooching dog biscuits every chance he gets. He loves to play ball and knows how to sit and shake. He also has an amazing ability to quickly determine which pants pocket contains the dog cookies!




If you're interested in volunteering and you like dogs (or cats), check with your local shelter to see if they have any volunteer opportunities. I had no idea that my shelter had a dog walker program until I looked on their website about something else two weeks ago--a little something that I'll be sharing with all of you next week!