Shelter Happenings and Golden App

Casey

The shelter is closed to the public Saturday mornings so I have had little experience talking with potential adopters and in fact my time at the shelter is usually kind of conversation free. I have gotten to know the other volunteers and we do chat briefly about the dogs on occasion but usually when your in the runs or out in the field with a dog everyone respects your one-on-one time with the dog. This is something I really appreciate about the shelter. I really enjoy connecting with the dog and not feeling obligated to make small talk with people. Don't get me wrong I love chatting and socializing but the dogs need my attention more when we are together. Anyway, today for some reason I encountered so many chatty volunteers and inquisitive members of the public. One volunteer talked my ear off in the run complaining about the numerous rules and regulations at our shelter. I tried to be sympathetic to her complaints but also supportive of the shelter. I think the shelter has valid reasons for limiting what dogs new volunteers can walk. I don't think it is too much to ask that people are really dedicated and at least a little trained before they are asked to walk more energetic and potentially problematic dogs. Anyway, I felt terrible because we spent so much time talking that I didn't notice that her dog Chechi and mine, Mimosa, were getting a little agitated and before I noticed it they started fence fighting. Teeth bare and snarling. Yikes. That was actually the first fence fight I have encountered. I gently draped my leash around my dog's chest and tugged a bit. This distracted her and she came right to me but the other dog was still barking aggresively. Both are incredibly sweet, calm dogs- just not too into eachother. Anyway, after that I took Mimosa out to the field and while we were sitting on the grass a guy came right up to us asking if he could volunteer. I informed him of the new volunteer class every first weekend of the month and told him to go to the website. Just weird. Then I had to lead a couple of girls through the shelter to receiving so they could pick up a cat. It was just kind of odd all the encounters with people. Usually it's just me and the dogs. I did get some really quality one-on-one time with Casey a spunky Sharpei mix who is becoming my favority shelter dog. She is so smart and knows just what she wants. If she doesn't want to go back to her kennel or out to the field, she steps on the leash so you can't go forward or she just sits down and refuses to move. The behavior is of course not what the shelter is trying to promote and I always correct her but I am so taken by her intelligence. She really just wants to spend all day in the auditorium playing with toys. When you take her to the hallway she goes straight to the auditorium door and sits down. She is going to need a really strong leader to adopt her but as long as she knows who is boss I think she will make someone a great dog. In fact, we are going to have her come over for a sleep over Tuesday night so she can get some RR from the shelter and we can see how Livia reacts with a big dog in the house. I can't wait. I also have a phone interview with the Golden rescue group about adopting a dog. Oh I think I may be making the big adoption commitment soon:).