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.

Charlie revisited and Bo Bo

The shelter didn't get any help from community service folks, so they were behind on laundry and dishes. Since I hate folding laundry, and the dryers take 30 minutes or more per cycle, I got things caught up in the dish room.

After that, I took Charlie out for another walk. He seemed even less interested in me than the other time I walked him and had no interest in treats until we got back to his kennel. I worry that the longer he's in the shelter, the harder it is going to be for him to adjust to his forever home. He seems sweet enough, and despite the warning that he doesn't get along well with other dogs, he seems to ignore them when he's out for a walk. He did see a squirrel in a tree, though, and could barely contain himself.

Bo Bo is the kind of dog I could spend a lot of time with -- he's got a ton of energy and loves treats. When I came to the front of his cage, he was so excited to see me that he jumped straight up, getting all four paws up to my shoulder height. Once we got outside, he settled down a lot, and, with some encouragement, was able to take many, many treats from my hands without taking my fingers with them.

Red

I had to keep my visit today to only an hour, as well as fit in some dishes and a bit of cleanup, so I only got on a walk with one new friend, Red. As you can see from his picture, he has to most amazing icy-white-blye eyes:

I was surprised every time I looked him in the eyes. Red was super jumpy in his kennel when I went to take him out. He had to wait for a bit while I cleaned it up, and was so happy to get outside. Once we got out, he started by walking right with me. Unfortunately, I may have been too kind without being clear what I wanted, so by the end of the walk, he was pulling a bit. For the most part, he was quite a pleasant guy to take on a walk, and if I'd've been able to give him more treats he would have been spoiled rotten. He has a great sit -- very enthusiastic.

I went to link to his HSBV page this evening and couldn't find it immediately. Maybe cleaning his cage got him out of there quicker!

Charlie and Bailey

Walked one new dog:



Charlie is a pretty dog who had very little information in his packet from the guardians who surrendered him, other than,"Doesn't do well with other dogs." He is a pretty sweet dog on the leash, not very interested in treats or water, but quite gentle. It wasn't until we were on our way back to the shelter that I noticed why he doesn't do well with other dogs -- most of his left ear is gone, presumably from a bad encounter. He didn't seem to mind the other dogs as we went in our out of the kennel, though.

I also got to visit with Bailey again. As much as I love her -- she is so sweet and beautiful -- I don't really want to see her in there again. She and Jack (who is now out of his cast) both have been there over a week, which is as long as I've seen since I've started helping out.

Dixie and Jack

Got myself involved in dishes again, so only left myself time top meet two new friends:

Dixie is super gentle on the lead, but definitely a bit shy.  She put her toes in the creek when I brought her down to it, but it seemed like she only did because she thought I wanted her to.  

Jack was in a condo with an E-collar on.  His profile said he loves to chase balls, but somehow he must have hurt his foot, and had a cast on.  He definitely had a ton of energy and seemed frustrated dealing with a limp and a foot on the mend.  He's wide, enthusiastic and very fuzzy.

Ghost, Rider, Bailey

Thanks, probably, to all the traffic from The Cause for Paws, the kennel was pretty quiet today. The whole time I was there, I was thinking about how now there's more room for transfers (like Calvin) to come in. Three lucky dogs got a chance to go outside with me today:



Ghost is definitely a puppy and the first dog I've walked that didn't know how to sit for a treat. (Who can fault him, though -- he's only 6 months.) He is very soft with a cute stumpy tail. He did like to jump up, which I would have enjoyed except it's bad form. He'll figure out quick that the treats come faster when he doesn't. I brought him down to the creek and he seemed to like drinking the water.

Rider is much cuter than in this picture. He wasn't sure about the water at all -- he looked at it, but was not interested in getting his paws wet or taking a sip. He liked walking around and around me, causing me to do a lot of 360s at first to keep untangled. (We did get things figured out pretty quick.)
I was going to leave after those two, but Bailey really seemed like she could use some outside time. We went out in the front play area, since the place was so quiet, and she wandered around happily for a while. She has a really cute face and a super huge smile when she ran over to me.

Wish I could spend this much time everyday...

After a successful but wearying bus/light rail trip to the DTC and back, I got to spend 4 1/2 hours at the shelter today recovering. I cleanup up some kennels, and walked a bunch of dogs. Many of them are no longer shown (just a few hours later) on the webpage, so congrats to the few I can remember who are now in their homes: Jackson, Buddy and Holly (again, I don't name 'em, just walk 'em.
Hammy is definitely a ham -- he knows he's super cool. I like the fact that he looks like a chihuahua with a golden retriever jacket on. He was fun to walk, but all business.

The highlight, though, was spending two hours shadowing Dawn, an Animal Welfare Associate. She was mostly handling animal meets, and we did quite a few of them. One was for a couple interested in a cat, which was a nice change as I've been focusing on the dogs. Some of the dogs that we let people meet:

Gunny will probably be going home with a teacher who has never owned a dog before, but has wanted to for a long time. There will be a lot of adjusting for her, but I think she'll figure it out.
Lady is a super, super friendly girl and has a ton of energy. The couple who met her thought she was great, but (probably correctly) decided that she was a bit much for them. She'll find someone else to shower with kisses soon enough.

The most touching meet was with Ziggy:


The man who met him had recently lost his dachshund/beagle mix of 12 years, and had just yesterday missed out on a puppy. He was so a burly man who looked like a gruff construction worker, but as soon as he got together with Ziggy, he was rolling on the ground, snorting and giving Ziggy some serious love. His wife was on her way over, but I don't think there's a crowbar long enough that could have kept the two of them apart.

And, in the most emotional moment I had, Yoko (a favorite from yesterday who I walked again today) went home. Dawn had me go grab him from his kennel, and although I failed in my attempt to help, she chipped him so he'd be ready to go. Yea!

Got to get to bed -- I'm supposed to be back at 5:30am to help with the Cause for a Paws benefit road race!

Yoko, Crayola, Jada

Today, when I arrived at 5pm, not only were there were a lot of people looking at the dogs, there were a lot of dogs that hadn't been out in a while. The first half hour at the shelter was a race to pick up the poop in the kennels and get the dogs outside faster than they could put down new poop. It was definitely a losing battle until a few other volunteers showed up.

I did walk three nice pooches, though:


Yoko is very polite and eager to please. This picture does not do him justice -- he's very cute and engaging. I did watch a couple sit outside with him and slowly fall in love. He's got a hold, so they may be serious about him.


Crayola has a lot of energy and pulled a bit, even on the Weiss walker, but loved treats whch made walking a lot easier.


Jada barked at all the other dogs she saw. I expect she really wanted to play and get her wiggles out.

Time flies while I'm there, and I wish I could focus on my regular work as well as I do the shelter jobs. Unfortunately, as I was leaving, the clouds opened up and I got soaked biking all the way home. It was that first reality-check (time to buy some good clothes) ride of the year, and as usual, I'm probably going to do nothing. Maybe after the second or third reality-check ride, I'll finally go shopping.

Daisy and Hercules

Washed a lot of dishes and pushed a few loads of laundry, so only met two today:


Daisy reminded me a lot of Lewis. She loves treats.


Hercules is energetic and friendly. He did a four legged pounce on a bug when we paused for a moment on our walk.

Cassie, Sammie, Girl and Chelsea

Cassie is very sweet. She pulled a bit on the leash, but was very excited to be out. One time when I called her to me to give her a treat, she lay down and rolled over, expecting a full blown tummy rub.

Sammie is a beautiful dog, and was great on the lead -- he stayed right next to me the whole time. I probably wouldn't have needed a lead at all if there hadn't been bunny rabbits around.

Girl is a sweetie -- she liked to jump up a bit, but was quite gentle and had very soft paws.

Chelsea is a beatiful dog -- light brown spots on a beautiful coat. She was pretty excitable, so I used the Wiess walker on her. We went out for a quick walk because someone was getting ready to meet her.

Spaghetti and Max

So, I should start with my own dogs, but before these disappear...

Walked two dogs today:

Spaghetti: A sweet, but really shy girl. She's in with her sister, Cannoli. (I don't name 'em, I just walk 'em...)
http://boulderhumane.org/hsbv/go.asp?mode=profile&aid=5788816&astat=adopt_dogs

Max: Energetic, big, soft, friendly puppy. Brown spots up front, black in back...
http://boulderhumane.org/hsbv/go.asp?mode=profile&aid=4633322&astat=adopt_dogs