Closest I've Been to a Puppy Mill raid...

Today the shelter was full of Australian Cattle Dogs -- Apparently from a puppy mill bust via the Kansas Animal Health Department. There were a bunch of them there, but I stuck to a couple of pit mixes and a beagle mix:


Missy

Shadow, cause I'm a sucker for that name

and Maggie.

Too many cats...

I've skipped posting a couple of times since I've started working more with the cats.

Recently, I went through the cat training just so I could check in on them from time-to-time after working with the dogs. Since I've been in a cast, though, it just seems to make more sense to work with the cats. Unfortunately, I'm not always able to remember all their names. since I see so many and don't always check their cards first.

I meet five cats today, and one person -- Violet. Violet is a long time volunteer who worked with me a helped me to feel a lot more comfortable in the Cattery.

Four cats I could remember:

Martha was shy at first and then seemed like she would never tire of head rubs:

Pallo appreciated the attention, but really wanted to explore:


Tinkerbell is quiet and calm, but she too would have preferred wandering around:


The one that will stick with me though is Willie:


Willie is a stray turned in by a good samaritan, and wouldn't stop meowing. He must have had matted hair when he came in, as he was almost completely shaved. I spent a while petting him, and even brushed (what was left of) his hair for a bit. Violet seemed to think he wasn't going to make it. I don't know if that is because he's not eating (which can cause the cats to die very quickly) or if he was not likely to be adopted. Either way, he deserves better. While it is a sad possibility, I am glad that I was able to give him a little attention.

Zeus, and some blackmail

So, a coworker (and dog lover) decided it'd be a good idea to stop in at the shelter to "take a look" with her husband (also a friend and former co-worker.) Of course, she found someone to fall in love with, Zeus:


I had to go in and check on him Wednesday, just to contribute to the craziness. Thursday. I took him for a walk, and I think he could totally be trainable. He was left behind by someone who deployed to Iraq. On our walk, he was searching the whole time, and didn't pay me much attention, but when he realized I had a treat out, he give me eager, crazy, splayed-out sit. I sent my old coworker an email asking him for money not to encourage his wife. We'll see if that'll make me some spare cash...

Since I broke my hand, I'm probably going to stick with sitting with cats for a while.

I revisited Buddy Boy:


Buddy, the King of the Condo (or at least my lap): Sam:
and three others. Calvin was not amused when I got home...
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Time flies

Seems like as soon as I arrive at the shelter, it's time for me to leave. Time definitely flies when I'm doing chores, visiting cats and walking dogs. Time also seems to fly for some of the long-time residents.

I walked Sasha again. She's been there for almost three weeks now. That's probably the longest I've seen so far for a dog in the adoption area. They say that the older a dog is, and the longer it's stayed in the shelter, the harder it is for them to get adopted. Our walk together was nice, though -- she seems to have warmed up to people a bit since last I walked her. She was eager for treats and responded to me every time I called to her. She even gives a nice sit and handshake. She definitely likes the water, and was very happy to sip from the creek for a while and couldn't understand why I didn't want to join her for a dip.

Afterwards, I spent a few minutes in a cat condo with one of the reluctant eaters (and a small handful of others), Buddy Boy.



Buddy Boy seemed to be happy supervising the condo. He eventually played with a cat toy when I put it right onto the chair he commanded from, but that took a while. In the Cat Kennel Assistant training, they told us that a lot of cats will become depressed, stop eating, and die of liver failure. They encourage us to sit with them to help them feel comfortable eating. I didn't have enough time to sit with him to see him eat anything, unfortunately. Just noticed he's been in the shelter for over a month...no wonder he's sad.

Josey and a bunch of cats

After a bit of laundry and some kennel cleanups, took Josey for a nice walk.
She was very enthusiastic to get out and proved why by giving me one of the largest (and stinkiest) bag fulls since I started. She's very into treats, but extremely gentle when eating them. She looks like she could be a very fast runner, and at only a year and a half old already has a very distinguished gray patch on her chin.

Afterwards, now that I've completed my cat training, I was able to stop in to a couple of the cat condos, but couldn't keep track of the names of everyone. The first one had two kitties in it. Kiki had been left behind by someone who may have ended up in jail. She's very skinny, but really loved having someone to talk to.


The second condo I visited had six kitties in it and three of them were very friendly. I was a bit worried that there would be some jealousy going on, but everyone was very polite.

The shelter is supposed to be slowing down for the winter, but as of today, they had 87 cats. This was the first time I had seen them lining the halls with cages and using the dog romper room as well. Apparently they do that regularly, but usually it's in July when they go to those extremes. Anyone want a really cute cat or two??

Wednesday on a Tuesday

After doing a bunch of dishes and cleaning a few kennels today, I saw Bo Bo in his kennel, but no card on the door. I wanted to walk him again, because I thought he was so much fun, so I went to the front desk to find his info. When I asked where it was, they said he was going home! Yea! Someone is going to have their hands full for a little while, but they're also bringing home a really cool dog.

So, the next dog that hadn't been walked in a while was Wednesday:


Wednesday is super sweet and gentle. She loves treats and was a pleasure to walk. When we got to the creek, she not only walked in and drank some water (by biting it at first), but she lay down in the water as close to the middle of the creek as she could get. In our house, we call that, "Pulling a Binkley" in honor of one of P's old dogs. She's going to need treatment for pannus (a new one for me), which damaged her eyes but when I went to grab her picture off the HSBV website this evening, I noticed that she's on hold. (I also noticed that Donece made a great video with her.) Hope she heads home soon. She'll be a great family dog.

Bo Bo Must Go

Walked Sasha:

She's a cute, energetic dog, even if she is a bit older. She was in one of the condos because she seemed to be a bit unnerved by the barking of the other dogs. Once we got out on the trail, she was head down and eager to explore. She even got her paws wet in the creek.

I also walked Bo Bo again. I had gotten a mass email from HSBV saying that he's been there a long time, and I was surprised by that. While he is a very energetic boy, he is still a puppy and can be a lot of fun. He also loves treats, so I think he could be very trainable. He was much more gentle eating them out of my hand than last week. He's actually the type of dog I prefer walking over the ones who are polite but seem not to notice there's a person at the other end of the lead. I hope he finds the right people soon.