Collar Anxiety

Yesterday was the first Saturday I had a twinge of dread about going to the shelter. The thought of getting the tight collars on those squirming dogs and taking them out to the field with the potential of losing one to the busy nearby traffic just horrified me. When I got there my favorite senior volunteer Amy was there and immediately empathized with my field fear confessing to me that she was also horrified the first time she took the dogs out on the leash. The first dog I took out was Elmer, and Amy checked his collar and assured me it was adjust perfectly for him. So I confidently strutted out to the field with pup in towe and the second we stepped out the door he sat down. He was not the least bit interested in going out to the field. "Ah Elmer" I said "your collar is perfect you have to go for a walk." Eventually, I lured him out with treats but our walk consisted mostly of him munching on grass and squirming around on his back begging for belly rubs. I did run into a little trouble when I tried to get his collar off- I couldn't get a good grip on the strap to loosen it up. I was so lucky that he just sat there patiently while I tugged at is neck for what felt like half an hour. Next, I took Ringo a pit-bull corgi mix, named for the adorable black ring- ala-little-rascals dog- around his left eye. This was a completely different experience. He couldn't get out to the field fast enough and we even ran up and down the field a little. All in all the fear of taking the dogs to the field was completely conquered by the end of my 2 hour shift and I am dying to get back out there next weekend.
For a little shelter news, I am happy to report that the two Katrina dogs, Shadow and Beethoven, we're adopted this week by a woman looking specifically for a pair of dogs. Shadow was starting to go a little kennel crazy, pulling on the leash and being a little dog aggresive so this is very good news for him. You may remember from my first shelter day, that Beethoven (aka Butter) was my first escapee. I will always remember him fondly and hope he and his buddy are very happy at their new home. On a slightly sad note, the shelter also had to put down a dog named Martin for excessive aggression and unadoptability. I didn't personally know this dog but I know a lot of the volunteers were very sad this had to happen. I am sure to euthanizations in one week was hard on everybody.