Lila the terrier mix and Nash the fawn boxer have been adopted! They get to go to their new homes on Friday after being spayed and neutered. These two are the lucky ones this time. There are still plenty of great dogs waiting for homes. Waiting and waiting.

 So though we celebrate the adoptions, we are still in the race for more homes for our dogs.

Saturdays are my favorite days at the shelter. The regular volunteers, Kelly, Jean and Taylor know what to do, how to do it and are not afraid to get paw prints on their clothes. Today, we did another ‘sit –in’ and gave all the dogs extra time after walking them.

I worked on getting the debris out of the big play yard so the ground can dry out when we have the nice temperatures this week. I also work on getting the pens back together in the play yard. We still need to get some new fencing up on them, but they will do for now. We can at least get 3 dogs out of the inside pens and into the sun shine. So much still to do.

As we were leaving the shelter, I noticed the cobwebs in the corners and Kelly reminded me that I couldn’t do it all, there would be another day in which to get it done.  Thanks Kelly!

This week my pick of the litter is our adult/senior Shepherd mix, Burton. Burton has been with us for 2 months and all he wants is to be with people. He is a very clean dog, does not potty in his pen, walks very good on the leash and loves to ‘talk’ to you in a quiet way. The whole time I was taking his pictures, he was ‘woo-wooing me’ as if to say “Hey, I am supposed to be by your side, not tied up to this table with you taking pictures of me!” He is very gentle and calm and would do well in most any home. Even though he is older, he has allot to give to some lucky family. Don’t let his age put you off. Everyone who volunteers here just loves Burton.

We are open by appointment only, so call to make an appointment to see this great guy.

There was marching on the street, though the crowd was sparse and we didn’t see any homemade signs, and it won’t make the headlines in the newspaper or even be on the local news. All of that and an old fashion sit-in! Wow what a morning!! Ok, there was no protest, but lots of supporters, ok there were 4, but it all was exciting and thrilling as anything we have done here in a long time.

 Each volunteer took about 25 minutes with each dog devoted all their energy just to them. The dogs got a short walk, then were separated so they wouldn’t be distracted by having another dog close by, got brushed then got some brain stimulation with a game of ‘find it’, which was hiding treats under the bowl and asking the dogs to ‘find-it’. Lady, Comet and Mia were great at ‘find it’.

Giving the dogs personal people time is what keeps the dogs people engaged and adoptable. We only wish that every day we could spend this amount of with all the dogs. Without the wonderful volunteers today, our sit-in would never have happened. Thank you Kelly, Taylor, Jean and Michelle.

There isn’t really a litter of puppies, but being we all feel like the dogs here are like our babies, they all are part of our litter.  Today at the shelter Hildie really stood out as THE dog who really needed a real forever home soon.  (They all deserve homes so I will try and do a pick of the litter each week and spotlight that one.)

 My pick this week is Hildie, the Akita mix (we think). She is such a nice dog. She is quiet, but watchful, loving yet can be playful has a beautiful disposition and a soft coat. She is smart and loves puzzles. She figured out how to get the kibble out of the jug right away and it kept her busy for quiet awhile.

So Hildie is the one I would take home if I could.

Somedays here are just busy, busy, busy. That’s life at an animal shelter. But with the help of Diane G coming out yesterday, Wednesday, I had real time to spend with the dogs. Hildie is such a quiet dog, soft and gentle. Jennings is another gentle dog who loves everyone. Korman and Katie are more high energy but loved their people time with me. And I swear that Mia knew exactly what I was saying with the way she cocked her head and looked at me with her intelligent eyes.

If only everyone could actually see all the great dogs we have. Seeing them in person is sooooo much better than just a photograph.

Pink slips. I really dislike pink slips! When I came into the shelter on Saturday and looked into the common dog pen area, all I could see was pink slips on ALL the clipboards by the pens. “ Not a good sign Pat” I said to myself. “Not a good sign at all.”

So off to work I went, praying that Kelly, Taylor and Jean would come early. I was so glad to see them, all smiling and happy. You can’t have a bad day when they come! So after oooing and ahhing over the new dogs, we got to work. After the dogs got walked, they came to the picture taking, vacation giving and now grooming table to be brushed by Kelly.