Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

Pictured is CUBAROO. I won't even attempt to guess at his breed. He's just an easy to love beautiful "mutt". To me he has this chill persona. He's very "cool" on the outside but inside he's scared. He has a quiet nervousness about him. He'll strut but don;t let the strut fool ya..his paws are a sweatin'. He's not a needy boy but he will solicit attention, and when he puts his paws on you he has a cat like agility and gentleness that makes it like he's hardly touching you. He's of course on a sensitive stomach diet the poor little stress ball.

I first got to know CUBAROO as the sick easygoing youngin' who got a good F Off from my 13lb Rat Terrier when he was getting a little to familiar for her liking. He kept wanting to play with her and going in to play bows and lunging trying to get her to engage. Finally he relented yes with a little verbal help from me even though did keep walking past her looking at her as she was lying under the counter. I would lay on the big dog bed and if my dog was on it he wouldn't some lie down with me but as soon as she was off he would join me. He was a sweet gentle sickie.

After a couple weeks CUBAROO got back from foster & of course got adopted by a family with some younger kids right away. Hell he was sweet and gentle and just had a quietness about him! Who wouldn't line up for him? Not too soon before getting neutered and heading home CUBAROO showed himself to be a monster with other dogs. So bad in fact, that the family was called and told he would not be good with younger kids. Hmm maybe it was just that dog. Maybe that dog had attitude and deserved it. So a staffer who has a larger sweet older dog who gets along with pretty much everybody felt he'd be a good one to see how easily and often Mr. Hyde likes to come out and "play". Seemingly everything was fine and they were playing and then CUBAROO attacked the other dog from outta nowhere and pulled some hair out. No indication given. I was not witness to it. I HAVE witnessed his barking at and lunging towards other dogs and the whining to get at them but never the opportunity to see him actually interacting with dogs other than the few he met while on foster with me. My dog put him in his place and he did not retaliate and he also sniffed a big yellow lab and moved along without incident.

Then My little man came up to the front office with me. I figured he needed some good people time and a chance to chill out with us. We gave him a rawhide which he hadn't had in a LONG time since he had the sensitive belly. Well didn't little stinker growl at a staffer over it and then bit another while she was petting him while the bone was between his legs. Great now we add resource guarding to dog aggression. Not good. I could feel him get ten steps closer to the green mile! I was scared for him as I know where this leads to and quickly.

A staffer took him home for the weekend to see how he would do in the home again. Maybe it was just the shelter and he would decompress and be ok. As I hear it it, she couldn't even get CUBAROO off the couch with out him whipping around to bite with out even a growl for warning. She brought him back since she had to even have him sleep in the hall.

Time goes by and dogs deteriorate, it's just a fact. Call it the nature of the beast. You're isolated, few or no friends, very little social time and little rest because of all the activity happening all day. I suppose we are lucky more don't don't go crazy faster. I said my goodbyes to my sweet boy yesterday and hope he goes down easy. I love you CUBAROO RIP

When do you say when

When does one come upon the decision that enough is enough? What is it the others see in a dog that makes them say she is now "suffering" and no longer has quality of life? Where is that line that gets crossed from just plain stressed to now suffering? How can you tell the difference and when do you say when? Is it ones own internal breaking point of sadness and sense of despair? An idea that death is better than these temporary moments of pain or struggle? Or is it the loss of hope that someone will still come rescue our ball of love soon?

Pictured was our 6yr old kissy, butt wiggling, arthritis riddled, dog aggressive, suggles lovin', people pleasing Boxer mix named LOLITA. Unfortunately for me I had not lost that hope yet but I was one of the few who hadn't. LOLITA was with us for about 6 months and didn't exactly start out great. She was relinquished to us by her owner and would vomit up the gallon of water she would drink from stress and refuse to eat in or walk back to her kennel. Eventually we were able to get volunteers to foster her overnight and she would spend all of her day in the front office just hunkered down on her cushy bed and sleep. We put her on some pain meds for the arthritis and a sensitive stomach diet for her queasy belly. LOLITA seemed to finally be settling in.She would run and play in the yards and when she was in her kennel she would playfully hop up and down with her front legs at the front of it with a plush toy in her mouth in a way that asked "are you gonna take me outta here? C'mon c'mon c'mon take me outta here!" She was one of the main favorites of many of the volunteers and got lots of walks and lovins. I had even started getting her not to bark at the dogs coming through the front office by constantly jingling my keys and then showing her it wasn't a dog. She did however start barking at a few people who walked through the front office and that was not a common behavior with her.

LOLITA was still eating her food even while she was in her kennel and I never saw her show any other signs of now "suffering" and being "miserable" while in there, other than her vomiting up some foam on Saturday on our way down to her play yard. Two days later when I got back from my weekend I was asked if I would help put her down because the powers that be felt she was "miserable" since she was vomiting again after being so good for so long. I can't say what happened exactly in those two days that sent her to the green mile.

Let me tell you what I know about suffering. I lived my life for 20yrs in deep suffering. 20+ yrs of hating life, where I was and who I felt I was. I asked for death almost everyday and even tempted it once...needless to say It didn't take. I can't tell enough people now how blessed and happy I am that I made it through all that suffering to wind up where I am now. I am highly blessed and love my life and my situation and that I made it through all that to be able to experience my life now. I survived my "miserable" existence to wind up where I always believe our dogs will be....with people who love you and take care of you.

I guess I believe if I can make it through years of a miserable Present it's ok for our babies to go through some stress and anxiety to wind up in the same ending to their story as I did..in a place of gratitude and happiness. I would have missed out on so much beauty had I not made it though those painful times and if my loved ones gave up hope. I too refuse to give up hope. Unfortunately my hope is not always enough to keep one alive.
RIP my Sweet LOLITA. You will be greatly missed..I'm sorry you didn't get to hang in there longer. I love you

I feel so dirty

Today I was molested by Dr. Seuss, a beautiful 10 month old brown and white brick shit house disguised as a Hound Pitty mix. 65 pounds of pure muscle with front paws that will latch onto you like vise grips. This sweet sweet boy really does have some training and will sit and even do a down position for treats and loves being petted (a little tooooo much) but he is easily over stimulated and in a shelter environment does not get to release his energies when and how he should. Our little Dr has been on bite quarantine after getting a little overzealous with his asking a staffer not to leave him by grabbing her by the leg with his mouth. He's not vicious, more of a big doofus with to much energy like Lenny Small (from Of Mice and Men) on a ton of sugar and little way to express himself. Dr. Seuss if not constantly being asked to perform a command will be so excited to see you that he can't help but grab you and show you just how happy he is to see you. Now most unruly adolescent dogs can have the crazed jumping or mounting subdued by turning your back on them or holding them at arms length until they settle or by giving them a different outlet like playing with a toy or doing commands they know..well not our Therapist which I have dubbed him aka The-rapist since my violation. He just gets MORE excited if you try and push him off and once he has gotten overly aroused asking for commands is like trying to yell at Helen Keller to shut the door. The more you struggled the tighter he clung to you and dug those nails of his into you. I had heard of this issue but had yet to have him be so unruly with me. Well today was the day. Just as I was putting him in his potty yard for his afternoon break he saw me start to close the gate and grabbed onto my leg like it was a flotation device and he was a drowning sailor. I tried once to push him off but right back onto me he flew digging paws in for a better grip. He was on me and going to town like he was a parolee just out from a 20yr stint in the big house. Next thing I knew I was being peed on...oh wait that's not urine! Ewwwwwwww! Bad dog, bad bad dog! Thankfully I had jeans on and knee high socks underneath that, but walking around like that for the last 2 hours of the day was not a highlight of my day. Later on he was found in the back of the yard smoking a cigarette and asking for me to come take him back to his kennel. I must have that stockholm syndrome because I really do love him and always make sure that he has his kongs to keep him busy and that he has a nice bone to chew...but I refuse to take him out if I have shorts on now..I've learned my lesson. He's a good boy my little therapist but really I advise you don't turn your back on him...I still feel so dirty.

The Revolving Door

Since you had heard last my fav crazed Fox Terrier MAKO was still with us. Apparently he liked it with us so much his behavior improved dramatically. So much that he was now able to go down below to the play ayrds with the rest of the kids without barking his head off the entire time and we could even put a dog NEXT to him with out incident....usually. Our boy had planted himself there so it seems. It had been 7 months so far and not more than 1 or 2 showings with him the entire time. My fears had started to bubble to the front of my psyche that this place would start to get to him and he would go down hill rapidly. So I decided to have the chat with him. The same chat that I had with SHAQ ATTACK. I told him he couldn't stay here, that this wasn't home and that a better place was waiting for him and if he stayed here to long odds were against him and more towards insanity and the green mile. I asked him to call his people to him. I don't know what happened but two days later MAKO had 2 families very interested in him! I didn't get to do either of the showings but since I have spent the most time with him I butted in to make sure they understood that even though he is high energy, prey driven, dog reactive and seemingly aloof he is also a really loving, chill and obedient sweetie. Both families left and one came back with dad to meet. When I returned from my days off I came in to hear MAKO had been adopted and was going home in a day or two. I got to say goodbye YEA! I don't know if he broke the record for being at the shelter the longest but it had to be close. My heart broke a little seeing him leave as I will miss his sweet face and seeing the excitement that arises in him when he sees me enter his kennel but am more happy for him that he will finally be in a home with constant love and attention AND a yard he will be allowed to dig for gophers.

BOON our sweet Pitty has an interesting chapter in his story. BOON came back to us because his owner said he was chewing (uh ya that's what pittys do when they are bored) to much stuff in the home. We don't get a lot of people through our shelter looking for those breeds so there was some worry BOON would be here a long time again. Well fortunately the couple who took care of BOON when mom was away, fell in love with him and actually moved FOR him. They were not in a place they could have a Pit Bull and moved so they could adopt him. They picked him up yesterday and he was only in the shelter a couple weeks. At least these people know what a muzzle puncher he is and are aware of his needs and bad habits and are still willing to take him on. Bless them and sweet BOON.

CLOUDY was still with us last check in and well she is AGAIN. She went home with a lovely woman who had a little Yorkie and a cat at home. CLOUDY was Perfect except that she was a love hog. Love hogs are those who refuse to share their human with anyone else, Well jeez I can't blame her for getting mad her person was "cheating" on her. I guess I could be called a love hog too then, How about you? ;]. The woman's cat is old and sickly and needs her to give it shots etc and CLOUDY refused to let that happen and the woman felt horrible but the cat needed more than CLOUDY would allow and she came back to us. I'm hoping our little blue eyed chihoo will not be with us as long as she was the last time though I do love to seeing how happy she gets when she sees me and decides to claim my lap as her own.

We had a little fund raiser for our girl OONA who is blowing snot rockets all over the place. She needed an expensive test to scope her passageways to see if there are blockages or tumors and whatnot. After all the hubbabaloo they feel it is some kind of allery or reaction-her passageways were clear. Yea she's just a snotty kid! Her adopter decided that no cure for snot rockets was not in her plan and backed out of taking OONA home. Poor OONA is back up for adoption. It's just snot, it washes off and it's not like it's nasty green stuff so hopefully there is someone out there who doesn't mind carrying a hanky around for their snotty loved one.

Another return was our sweet old Jack Lelane named WINNER. He's not feeling like such a winner at the moment I'm sure. The elderly couple that took WINNER called up freaked out because he likes to eat the dead critters on the path when they take him for walks (yep that's the only reason). How about keeping him on leash and not letting him get to them!? or quit taking him to the land fill for his walks. I mean where are you taking the dog that there are all these different dead creatures around!? Are you living near a nuclear waste site or something? If so you have bigger problems than him eating dead skunks with 6 legs. Needless to say he is back with is and if that wasn't bad enough our little man some how contracted ring worm and is now in isolation to keep him from spreading it! My poor sweetie is back there in a smaller kennel with hardly anyone to love on him. I hate it. I sit with him in a surgical gown so I don't get to much hair on me and he is so needy and just keeps jumping on you for more love. JM takes him for walks when we are slow so he's not totally neglected but most others are understandably concerned with getting it or passing the ring worm to their own pets. My poor Monkey, her mama throws caution to the wind and says she'll just have to suck it up and keep trucking if I bring her home some mange or fungus or a cold. :) The others need lovins to much to worry about that stuff. Thanks for being a caregiver after my own heart JM!

Little miss GATOR got herself a home as well with the crocodile hunter, no not really. Just a nice couple who liker her spazzyness and thought she was to cute to care about her gator like behavior. She is a cute little ankle biter.

BUBWA also went home to a couple with 2 Shelties which I am told are similar in behavior to the Pomeranians (go figure). Her other dogs are well behaved and we are told he is doing really well with socialization and them teaching him it's ok to be around people. We even got some pictures of him out at a park with tons of people just chilling on the grass.

They come in, they go out, they come in again, and sometimes again.

Just want to ask for some healing energy for another fav of mine named WASSAIL. She's a scrawny wire haired precious innocent munchkin of a Terrier that has a tiny liver and her blood work is all wacked out. Her adopters backed out after hearing about her issues and they claim with meds she could live a year but there would be extensive tests needing to be done to see if surgery would even be helpful for her so I don't know where that leaves her. I hate the idea of her last days being in a shelter. She is SOOO sweet and precious..I still think so even after she launched herself at JM's big Shepard for just sniffing her to much I guess. Heh heh. GOOD GIRL! DB is big hearted and MAY take little mis WASSAIL home to live out her last days there if the rest of her clan would allow it. I hope so. She is a good girl and deserves some happy comfortable last days. I love her. Thanks tuning in and for your well wishes for all our sweet ones at the shelter.

The Best Part

For me anyway, was manifest in twofold this week in the form of one itty bitty bat eared cream colored fearful ball of white lightning, (and she WILL strike twice) Named GATOR and a little bronzed dread wearing fluff ball of a Pomeranian named BUBWA. GATOR is a little chihuahua that was to mouthy and rough with pretty much all species whether it be cat dog or human though the cats as we understand it didn't seem to mind much (though I do find they are pretty brutal players themselves)so was given up for adoption. GATOR as she has been dubbed was plastered against the back of her kennel the first I saw her. I had been informed that she is to fearful to take out to potty and that for now we are just cleaning around her. Well being the over bearing mother with love and discipline that I am I decided I would slowly go up to her and see if she would take a treat. I got up close and held out a treat but she was as about as interested as a kid is in cooked liver. I let her be since I knew I didn't have the time to sit and get her used to me right now and she was frozen with fear.

Later in the day I decided to spend some time with GATOR. She is living with our angelic wonderful can't believe she is still here CLOUDY. You remember her as the one I helped save and is now an awesome companion. CLOUDY is so tolerant and sweet natured that she is and has been the perfect role model for our nervous nellys. Now CLOUDY loves me about as much as I love her and I don't know if that had something to do with what happend but it surely didn't hurt the situation. I walk towards this scared little sweetie (In Sheep's Clothing) and she starts weasling herself behind the crate against the wall and so I used the door that was stored behind the open crate to scoot her backward so I could push the crate back against the wall so she couldn't get behind it again. Then I sat down opposite GATOR all the while CLOUDY is vying for my attention by jumping on me and nuzzling me like a pig rooting for truffles, panting with excitement. As soon as I sat down GATOR jumped right into my lap. What The? What psychotic break did my little weirdo suddenly trust me and want me..oh and I mean want me. The moment I had to leave to go check on something more pressing I couldn't stand up fast enough for her NOT to jump right back into my lap therefore preventing me from being able to stand up. I had to do it 2 more times. OHHHHHHH that just made my day. She trusts me and feels safe with me! She did have some quivering bouts in my lap for a few minutes at the start but soon settled right down into resting her head on my arm and my torso fully relaxed. That time with this little beast is what makes me come here everyday and almost always happy to wake up and come to work(those other days I'm so tired I just wish I was wealthy and retired :]).

The best part was that when I came back to see her a bit later she was at the front of her kennel jumping on the door tail whipping from side to side faster than a ping pong ball between 2 Chinese. She's cured! Little did I suspect what a little beast she really was. She loves me she does and that love allows one to be comfortable in being themselves..kinda like when I guy or gal starts farting in front of you after you have been dating awhile. Well let me tell you she let it rip. Emerges is this energizer bunny with no off button with flea DNA I'm sure with the way she can jump a thousand times her height, repeatedly. Now eh, all that is really no problem in itself. The problem is that she apparently thinks the only body part she has to do anything with is her mouth. She is a mouthy, hyper mouthy playful mouthy assertive mouthy little GATOR.

Her Gatordom reared it's ugly little head during her medical intake. I was honored when asked to help get her since she loves me and will feel more comfy being in there with someone she feels safe with. As I was holding her to get her ears swabbed
she whipped her head around and we both heard the snap of those jaws slamming together on air rather than flesh. Then I released her after a finger came out of her ear she snapped at it twice just like a hungry GATOR. Thank god Momma Z was quick with the pull back! We couldn't help but laugh, not that it was funny for a dog being aggressive. It was how she looked when she did it and it helps that she is just so little and cute. We knew that since she really hated any kind of restraint and is a squirmy one (and I'm not great at restraining when they REALLY struggle because I feel to bad about holding them so tight to keep them from moving) we would muzzle her and feed her her fav peanut butter while we took blood from her. She was a champ but our little fighter definitely took some swings. No kids in her new home that's for sure.

Not only did I have a little dog whisperer moment with GATOR but also with BUBWA who has taken me into his confidence at about the same time as GATOR. BUBWA is a little more forward than GATOR in that he is staying still and giving you some lip or even coming after you moments after any threat is over. BUBWA as he has been dubbed since his previous owners who named him Barbara must have wanted him to get beat up by the other dogs. A dog can definitely learn a new name even if they have had one for a long time. Just keep using it and they catch on. Now BUBWA has had an unfortunate series of events up until now. Neglected and governed by uneducated people he has some issues to work out.

When I went in with BUBWA I sat close to the door since that is where he likes to be..near an exit. I'm a brave one (some may phrase it as stupid or crazy- puhtaytoe pahtahtoh) so I'm always willing to take that step and see if he'll accept my lovins. He was very nervous and I only did a couple of pets and soon he was scootching over to lay against me. By the end of my time with him he was going belly up for me. I still so slow since I can tell he is still unpredictable and am glad I did especially after seeing how forward he can be.

I didn't get to go spend time with him today since I worked up front. At the end of the day he was being brought up to check things out by our behaviorist. I went to fast leaning down and he must not have had a chance to catch my smell and gave a little lip again. I then let him smell me for a bit and he seemed to recollect who I was and went into his belly up for me. Then he saw our main front desk girl and started barking and LUNGING at her. He was on a high stool and he could barely reach her foot. This is NOT looked highly upon. I took him to me and told him the deal. I was open an honest and told him if you are to keep this nonsense up they will put you down faster than you can shake your tail. I figured I got through to him because he went over and decided to make friends with our girl. He became such good friends that he jumped up into her lap when she was in a lower chair and sat with her.We were all becoming so proud..until it was time for him to go. I could see the nervousness of wondering what he would do if grabbed the "wrong way" or being taken when he wasn't ready. Well all I can say is trust your instincts people. Our behaviorist went to get him off the chair and in a flash she was putting him down and he was jumping back up at her barking and snapping a couple of times. There was never any contact with any encounter with his assertiveness but it makes one concerned that the intention was there but execution was poor. Our hope right now is that his execution in right on the money and he is all talk, but he will be treated as though he talks the talk and walks the walk..but so far he loves me :)

Sickies Scardies and Growlers Oh My

We have this itty bitty cream colored, one eyed, tooth missing, crumb of love of in this Pomeranian & Pappion looking mix who should have a patch for her missing eye named OONA. She is one of my fav's. Yep she's as sick.... as a dog ;) There's this white/clear foamy snot that shoots out her nose and her lungs are all gurgley when she breathes. She is so sweet and can often be found laying on the hard cement rather than her soft bed or thick cushy mat. Maybe because she's hot with fever, or all that hair, but she is so stubborn when it comes to taking her medicine. OONA hates her meds and ain't no dummy when it comes to knowing when it's a treat or it's really medicine and she just ain't havin' it. Even after I've man handled her and stuffed the cream cheese or the ball of wet food or the pill pocket or the chicken (CHICKEN?!! have you ever heard of a dog not wanting to eat her CHICKEN??!!)she would still stay by me and want some lovins. OONA is a total snuggler. We don't know what's happening with her yet and words like leukemia are floating around but I keep hoping for her and do Reiki on her and hope her little lungs will dry up and she will get better. Waiting on test results. She is so sweet picky little eater! I made a pouch out of a blanket to carry her across my torso and she seemed pretty content in there and we hung out like that for lunch but then she started to get too warm and then I put her back in "isolation" :( I feel so sad for her that I took her on a car ride at lunch and of course she blew snot rockets all over my gear shift and seat cover as soon as she got in, bless her dirty snotty soul but I had expected nothing less and just kept trying to wipe her nose with a tissue every time she blew out a big goober. Unfortunately her tongue was much quicker than me and she licked that stuff right back in to her body before I could make it to her nose (I thought eeeeeww that can't be good) It was when I tried to give her a french fry and she wouldn't take it that I knew she was sick. I mean, what kind of dog doesn't want a FRENCH FRY!!?? Good thing is once we find out what's wrong with her, if it's not terminal is that she is already adopted. Send some good energy to our sweet OONA

CREAMER a thumbalina sized Chihuahua the color of his name with big eyes that weep what you would swear was rust was the worst of our scared pack. So much so that we had to corral him into his potty yard instead of trying to grab or leash him as he is usually crammed in the corner at the back of his crate when you walk into his kennel. He will stay arms length or further away at most costs with most people. The goal is to, whenever feasible, always allow the animal to come to you. A scared dog can become more afraid of you when you go towards it, grab it, leash it, or even love on it when it is in a fear state so we avoid causing more stress and anxiety to them whenever possible. Little tinkerbell CREAMER was brought in with his house mates a Boxer and a Min Pin who has been adopted out already so now lives with our precious CLOUDY who if could talk I'm sure would say she's not thrilled about it but will accept it none the less. Little CREAMER has a tendency to pee in his stuff which is probably what CLOUDY dislikes most about him. CREAMER has come a long way and will even allow me to pet him once he has crawled into his bed beside me after a 20 min session of treat bribery(another reason I'm sure CLOUDY dislikes him for) and has even leaned into my hand for more lovins. If he is not in his bed then the closest I get to any kind of love is rubbing his chin with my middle finger while he's chewing a treat out of my thumb and pointer finger and once the treat is gone so is the close proximity. I hope he will do well with the older woman who took him and got defensive when I told her he's a freak. I told her I love him but he will never be a normal, take to your friends house or about town kind of dog. It will be a miracle if he even allows anyone of her friends or family to touch him and I wanted to make sure she understood that. He is not just a "shy dog" he's a freak. a cute sweet freak.

We recently got in this slender sweetie in the form of a Whippet Aussie X named NICOLAI. He's tall and lanky and brown and cream. The first day I met him I talked to him from the front of his kennel on the outside and he came prancing up and as I was petting him through the door he growled at me. I pulled my arm out and decided to give him a second relax. I have never had a problem with him other than that first verbal warning. It was a bit concerning that he would actually come forward and allow me to pet him before he started to growl. Most dogs when they have the option of fight or flight will tend to choose the flight. Only when flight is not an option do they resort to fight and NICOLAI was safe at the back of his kennel since I never opened the door. Now everyone loves NICOLAI. Even our behaviorist who is a tough one when it comes to any "bad" behavior. Our boy has a tendency to be a growler when he is in "his" space and strangers come around. The good thing is we know the pattern, it's definable and so is able to be worked with and or avoided. The bad thing is it does not make him very attractive and people may not want to see him because he is growling (and now barking a lot) when they approach. Once he meets you though he is awesome and sweet and playful and very gentle. My guess is we may need to get him up front more so people can see him in a better light. Hopefully he will not become a long termer.

Out of our last bunch of long termers only one remains. Our boy BLARNEY got adopted by a couple with another dog. Go figure! BLARNEY was not able to get along with any of the dogs we tried him with because he came on like a jerk, barking at them nipping at them and here comes this other male dog his size and this dog even corrected BLARNEY and put him in his place and BLARNEY submitted! Holy crap it was just meant to be. The couple even just brought him back for us to see him and but another bed for him. The two dogs are doing great together. MAKO has gotten better at being around dogs without going completely coo coo or hoarse from barking and hopefully with his improvements will attract his forever home and be the longest long termer no more.

And Then There Were Two

It seems we have been on a roll as far as finally getting some of our long termers out of the shelter. So as you may know, LADY went on foster with a potential owner and in the two weeks she had her, LADY proved herself to be the wonderful companion many of us believed her to be. She hasn't shown the behaviors she had in Bizarro World out there in the real world and has even gone by children (which she used to act like she wanted to maul and rip to shreds) playing without any arousal. The woman even sent us a picture of Lady all curled up with her on the woman's bed. She finalized the adoption. Ding ding ding ding ding we have a winner! FINALLY!

Then this family with a young teen son was looking at my crazed COOPIE. There he was barking like a maniac and reaching his paws through the kennel as though he could grab them and pull them to him. I walked up and showed them how he relaxes and sits for treats and told them he's not always a maniac like this and he is just stressed. away they went and I thought good going COOPIE ya knuckle head ya blew it again. Seems that was not the truth. Mom and son had come a couple more times and looked at COOPIE again and saw how a volunteer was working with him and eventually wanted to meet him. I did the showing and gave them all the info on how much this little nutty needs. Mom is home quite a bit and was willing to work with him as he showed well and did all his good behaviors when asked. They left to think about it and came back to meet him again. Then Dad came and met Him a few days later. It was great that the people weren't jumping right into taking him and liked him enough to visit a few times to see how he was different. After dad met it was a go. COOPIE'S going home!! I shed a happy tear on that one. So far COOPIE has been a good boy in the home and hopefully it will only continue to get better.

Next was our studly seniors WINNER our 12y old Jack Russell and SKIPPER DOODLE. An older couple was looking at a different dog that was quite energetic and very young and their adoption counselor who was doing the showing asked them to maybe give WINNER a visit. They agreed and decided he was the one! WooHoo another one bites the dust! Then BAM!! SKIPPER DOODLE gets a nice middle aged woman and her teen son and they didn't care he was old at all. Bless their big hearts.

The ones we thought would be longest was BOON and PADDY. Well they both got adopted over the weekend. BOON had a woman who had never had a Pitty before come in and think he was handsome. Well how can ya blame her for that, he is a handsome one. Our Adoption Counselor gave her lots of info on how much work BOON was and showed her some more good options if she was not totally set on BOON and also suggested she do a little research on Pitt Bulls before deciding for sure and she left and after a few days came back after reading about them and decided she was ready for this big beefy beautiful beastly loving muzzle puncher. High fives were slapping! Another good home for a special needs animal and long termer.
The most bitter sweet adoption of the week, at least for the staffer who fosters him overnight, is PADDY. Since PADDY had separation anxiety and could jump a 6' fence and WOULD, we figured it would be awhile before the someone who is able to be with him all the time and/or has the ability and desire to work with his anxiety. In came the perfect family. Me and the staffer who fosters PADDY did the showing and they family was wonderful. They had worked with separation anxiety with their last dog and she is a female Shepard. It was a stay at home mom with 10y old twins and dad works from home on their 2 1/2 acre lot. They brought their dog in to meet and after a bit of time they started to play and the people decided he was the one. Our tough guy J had to leave since knowing PADDY was going home he started to get a bit emotional and didn't want witnesses. We definitely do get especially attached to them when they are here for a long time and we miss them when they are gone even though it's a better place to where they have gone...at least it BETTER BE..or I'll be coming to the house and stealing my baby back if they aren't being treated well..better believe that.

Also CAM CAM got adopted and MOONIE got adopted by that woman who lost her other poodle. We only have two long termers left which is MAKO our fanged Fox Terrier and our now shapely Shepard BLARNEY as he has lost some fat and is looking sweet. DUST will be on the long termer list soon if not adopted, same with my WYLERS who was sent to the vet hospital on Sat for not being able to use his back legs I don't know what the diagnosis is yet but will keep you up to date. My poor little man. There's another new batch that came in and will let you know how they are doing soon.
Good Week for the kids!