some new dogs

The big brown chocolate lab/Chesapeake Bay mix is Wimbleton- he loves his tennis balls. He's a nice big cuddly bear type of fella who loves people and walks fairly well on the leash, which could turn into walking beautifully on the leash with a little training. He was tied up between two trees in the back of a yard for a lot of his life and is fairly well adjusted, considering this history. The little adorable one is Lilly, a Japanese Chin, who spent quite a bit of time curled up in my arms.She's cute as can be, 6 years old, loves men and women, gets along with dogs and cats if they are nice. It was very hard not to adopt her myself but I am only half of the household decision making process. She only arrived yesterday and I'm guessing will be adopted soon, as she is small, cute, with no major issues and 100% adorable.

Dog on wire

Beyond the heroic nature of Fireman rescuing dog, the artist in me sees the strange dance of man and dog, spiraling around on the helicopter line,while the dog's legs continue to doggie paddle/swim while in the air, as if the dog was still thinking it was in the water. It reminded me of the incredible documentary film about Philippe Petit "Man on Wire." This incredible act of man's created machine and man plus dog, triumphing over their environment.This age old relationship of man and dog, continuing their journey together from out of the cave, into the sky

One adorable kitty

This little tyke was a favorite for awhile. It( I can't remember if it was a boy or girl) has been adopted but we have another one who looks just like it.

Pandemonium Saturday

walked three shelter dogs in 2 and a half hours.,tried to let one black dog out who was in a kennel with 2 other similar looking black dogs. I accidentally let all 3 dogs out. They proceeded to run up and down the corridor of the outside kennel area, barking and chatting with every dog behind the kennel fence as if they were speed dating. I tried to grab them and put them back, only to realize that none of them had collars on. I quick saw an open kennel and corralled them in there. I then went and alerted the staff, of what had happened. They said they would come out and deal with it. I proceeded to get Lenny on the leash and take him out of his kennel. As Lenny and I are in the corridor, the three collarless dogs escape again through the gate of the kennel I had tied them up in. The kennel had a gap between the closure, they manged to squeeze through. The dogs hadn't been introduced to each other and a few of them were recently neutered so snapping and snarling ensue. I quickly see another open kennel so with one foot keeping the trio away from Lenny, and another hand opening the smaller kennel I quickly shove Lenny into the kennel and get the trio rounded up into another better secured kennel. The staff come out and try and address the three, "they had collars on this morning"" what happened to the collars?" Just another pandemonium Saturday at our busy shelter. Lenny who was in a smaller kennel looking at me like" Hey I thought I was going on a walk, what's this?" finally gets to go on his walk. Needless to say at the end of the day I was ready for a rest after so much walking on my feet, and thinking on my feet.

Lenny Returns

Poor Lenny, he's such a charming, eager little fellow, desperate to be loved. It seems he chewed up the t.v. remote control, and that was enough to return him to the shelter. I'm curious to know how it is possible, that after close to a month of being adopted, the people hadn't bonded with him enough to overlook this, after all, remote control's are rather cheap at the big box stores but for whatever true reason, Lenny was returned. He recognizes me, pleads with me," take me out, get me outa here". I only have so much time, I pet Lenny and then take Mongo out with Blue. He did well, he's getting better walking more nicely on the leash. My corrections are easier, more of a one armed jerk back rather than a full body throttle like in the past. Pascual, my dog, is still lollygagging at his senior pace. I don't think I'll bring him next time with Mongo, that way I'll be able to walk faster, but I thought it would be good for Mongo to be around another dog so he's not alienated from his own kind so much. I have watched the great dog trainer, Cesar Milan, socialize dogs gradually this way, introducing them to other pack members, the right pack members so as not to cause a disturbance. Mongo is becoming more warm and playful with me. A friend of mine saw us walking on the bike path and said that he looked like a happy dog, which is a grand improvement over him looking like a frozen anxious dog. With his newly uncovered lab like playfulness I have come up with more lighthearted names for him the current list is; Mongo, Mango, Mongoose. For those readers new to the blog, Mongo is the black dog, Lenny is the golden colored dog

Howdy pardner

This is what I like about rural Idaho, you can ride right up to the coffee shop and park your horse. This is a very nice woman who does dog and horse rescue in my area. We see her gang walking while we are out walking our dogs.The coffee shop is a nice amenity and serves up good food, espresso too!

the plight of Mongo

Lenny got adopted, Bella got adopted and Mongo is still there. Improving in his leashwork,physically filling out after neutering, slowing down a touch. He's like some men I have known that had a rough and difficult start in life. They seem unable to feel, to trust, to get tangled up in a relationship they don't understand. The emotions seem frozen somehow. The thaw is happening, slowly but surely. He looks back at me and comes into a lean on my legs of his own accord now, a few times on our walks. He also allows me to smother him with hugs and praise. He's always been happy to see me initially and takes the leash in his mouth as if to cart me off on his walk. In that he is rather humorous. But somehow when we get outside in the street and neighborhoods there is much to much going on that is new to him for him to pay too much attention to me yet. I stop and sit on the steps in the park and watch him. He sort of comes to me now with some coaxing, although at times I'm still not convinced that he doesn't suffer from temporary self induced deafness. It's as if no one ever called the dog to come and then played with him, as if all that was ever done for him was to have given him food and water. It's as if he was just left in the back yard and given no more attention than a rock in one's back yard, which I don't really understand. He still seems more comfortable with men and will sort of warm up to them more easily than to women. Both myself,and another volunteer are working with him and with all these people pulling for him he can't help but improve and come around if not slowly, and on his own terms.