Adopt a shelter dog

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Setting Up For…

Failure.

Recognizing your weaknesses.  Acknowledging your prejudices.  Knowing your limits.

Every Thursday throughout the summer we have Lunch on the Square, where a local musician plays music, the food trucks descend and people fill the square and enjoy lunch al fresco.  We also bring a couple of adoptable dogs from the SPCA to strut their adoptable stuff and hopefully find a home.  After one near fiasco with a dog who didn’t do well in crowds, we stuck to the best of the best, so to speak.  We brought some true ambassadors for the shelter and by that same token, heard some valuable feedback.  People sought us out to see the star of the week and we heard more than one surprised person say that they had no idea such awesome dogs were available.  Too often the public’s perception is that of the broken and abused dog who will need so much work.  People don’t realize pets make their way to the shelter for a multitude of reasons and some of the most wonderful companions are waiting for their second or third chance.

Recently during some extreme heat, I decided to sign up at the last minute for a Lunch date and showed up to collect my date.  I knew it was probably a bad idea because of the heat.  I knew there were several dogs that I wanted to spend some time with and if I went to Lunch I would forego their company. 

I was paired with a long haired small dog who pancakes when being taken out of the kennel but is a happy little wiggle butt when outside.  I had my doubts.  I felt apprehensive.  This dog walked in swirly little circles in front of me.  This dog jumped at noises. 

We arrived at a parking garage and had to park on the uppermost level.  This dog doesn’t do stairs or elevators so we walked down the ramp to the street level.  She sat for a few pets then hid under the park bench and quivered so I knew that since neither of us were having fun, we should head back. 

I felt horrible because this dog is literally one of the sweetest little gals ever, but in my breed specific prejudice, she started out with a strike, in my mind.  The hot day and my disappointment at not being with one of my big-heads made me small and mean spirited, but also taught me a little bit more about myself.  I knew this wasn’t a good idea with the heat and a slightly hesitant dog, so I should have felt confident enough to express myself.  I should have acknowledged that staying close to the shelter and going for short walks would have been the best option for all involved.

A lesson learned.

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Behind the Glamorous Facade

Despite the fact that Glamour has at her pawtips an extensive wardrobe of Sirius collars and accessories, Dog Gone Cute decorations,  and also some Lamae tutus at her disposal, these are all borrowed items to help her find a home and not her own belongings.  Her borrowed collar is frayed from repeated use by former residents of the shelter as is her leash and other items. 

Glamour, while I’m sure, is grateful for her stay at the shelter and the excellent care she receives, does not like it there.  A home of her own is what this girl wants and needs.  She showed me that she has pretty good house manners.

She helps with the sweeping and floor cleaning without judging my housekeeping skills.

She helps supervise the laundry without grabbing all undies and socks in sight. (ahem, Ray)  While she was not in her crate, she saw our kitties and had absolutely zero interest in them.  When she was crated, she did bark at Miko when he entered her room, but it was a brief shout out to him.  When Asia reentered the house, Glamour gave one bark as well.  Just one and she was good.  A drawback may be her size.  This lady is musclebound, but she is a “pocket pittie.”  Potential adopters looking for a small dog will overlook her as a “muscle-bound pit bull” and Pit Bull type people may overlook her because she is small.

Girlfriend is selective.  She doesn’t like all people all the time, she doesn’t like a hand coming at her head (who does, really?)  and we are still finding out what all of her triggers might be.  Shelter stress really has to be a big factor.  The morning before I took her back, we sat by the pool and just chilled.  Her tail wags so hard that it beats each of her sides as her booty wiggles back and forth.  She climbs in my lap and gets out and repeats, until she finds a nice spot in front of my to receive some back and shoulder rubs. 

I’ve heard and read how adopted dogs are so grateful, but since I adopted Ray at only seven weeks, he really accepts everything as his due.  That morning, I could feel the stress leave and the calm enter her.  I could just feel Glamour’s appreciation. 

If you know anyone who would be interested in receiving the love and gratitude that only Glamour can give, please have them contact me or the Allen County SPCA to find out more about the Glamour Girl.

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Not the Mama

But I worry about them just the same.  While I celebrate every adoption, a small part of me feels sad, envious, worried, frustrated for those not chosen, or the last ones picked, the ones overlooked, the long-term residents, my babies. 

My Glamour girl is a handful, make no mistake.  There were days when even I didn’t feel up to visiting her knowing that I’d have to keep her from jumping and the first 5 minutes or so of the walk will be an exercise in pulling. Because of that, sometimes her walks were shorter than they should be but on the other hand when things are going well, her walks were longer than many of the others.

Lately, though, I see her getting “small” when she comes to the kennel door and when I enter, she knows to go to her bed and sit or I won’t put her collar on her.  Once the collar is on, there’s a fair amount of twirly-whirls which often involve a bounce or two off the wall.  She has spirit!

Our shelter usually doesn’t have dogs in house very long.  Adoption rates are really good, so when a dog is there for over a month or more they usually get to become office dogs to help break up the monotony and keep up the socialization.  Glamour got a turn in one of the offices until she learned to jump the cubicle walls and ended up back in a kennel.  This week, due to some great adoption numbers, she finds herself in the front office area for awhile just as I am able to furlough her for a few evenings for even more of a break.

On the first particular evening, the stars aligned so that only Asia and I (and Ray) were home, so we orchestrated a little crate and rotate until we discovered that Glamour’s surname is probably Houdini.  Yep, she busted slithered out of the crate and made her way downstairs where she and Ray met face to face.  Since it was just a sniff and wiggle fest, Asia and I got a hold of a dog each and I parked Glamour out in the garage until I could come in and talk with Asia about a game plan. 

They had met, so we decided to take them out on leashes and see if they were socially inclined.  It was completely outside the original game plan of Glamour and Ray not meeting, but it actually turned out well.  Really well.  All twenty-five pounds of muscle gal, matched up really well with my Big’un and for short little bursts they played, they  bowed, and had a great time.  My pride in both of them knew no bounds.

Because we wanted to keep it on a very positive note, they only played for two very short sessions before I took Glamour back out the gate and around to the front, up the stairs and into her temporary abode.

Before darkness fell, I found Ray’s old harness and Glamour and I went out for a nice long bedtime walk where she explored nature, did her nightly toilette  and got nicely tired out before retiring with a drink of water and some soothing classical music.

Everyone settled in nicely for the evening and when that rude alarm sounded, I slipped out of bed, showered and woke Glamour from a sound sleep.  She unfurled herself from the nest of thick comforters and we headed down the stairs and out the back door for her morning relief.  She spent a few leisurely minutes reexploring the back yard off leash and then wiggled back to me for some pets. We sat by the pool and I rubbed her back and shoulders while she really seemed to be appreciative of her reprieve from the kennels.  She was so relaxed and calm and just …. peaceabull.

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Dog Gone Wednesday

Always one to jump on the bandwagon, especially if the said bandwagon is pretty, I decided to order some Just Dog Gone Cute collars for the dogs and cats at the Allen County SPCA as well as for a special new Foster Parent.  I love how eye-catching they are and adding the “Adopt Me” ribbon is even better.

Kelly was so great to work with, keeping me in the loop every step of the way about my order status, etc, and accomodating the need for two shipping destinations.

My boys are definitely NOT adoptable, just modeling for Mama

 I do admit that I had the shelter’s box sent to my house just so I could ooh an ahh over the contents before delivering them.  I also took that opportunity to have a mini photo shoot.

Dola and Max have both been adopted, but look at how cute they are.

I’m really excited to see if these will attract some positive attention at Outreach events.  Have you tried these fancy collar accessories yet?

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The Power of Pretty

They say clothes make the man and every woman knows the value of smart accessorizing.  As you know, we recently ran a promo with Sirius Republic which resulted in some great Adopt Me collars and accessories that went to the Allen County SPCA. 

Whenever Ray dons one of his fancy collars and especially if he wears a bow tie, he gets a ton of attention and compliments, so why should any other dog be different?  Well, they’re not.

The other day, I posted a photo collage of Glamour, an adoptable Pit Bull mix at the SPCA.

I had spent some quality time with her and towards the end of the visit, I snapped some pictures and tried to snaz them up a bit then posted them to Facebook.

Over 200 people saw this picture, 8 people liked it and no one shared it in the first 24 hours that it was posted.

When I came back for another visit with Glamour, I grabbed one of the new collars and flowers so I could take a few…Glamour shots and when I had a few moments I made another collage to post on Facebook.

Same dog, different collar, add a pretty accessory and voila  6 shares within the first half hour. 

That’s the power of pretty.

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Dog Selective

I bet you think I’m going to talk about Ray…

Self-Discovery
While I do consider myself an animal lover and I love my little menagerie, I have come to discover I’m a bit dog selective.

Macho Joe

While I do love those animals called dogs in general and I know it isn’t a secret that I gravitate toward a certain “type,” I’ve realized that there are some that while I don’t actively avoid them  I certainly don’t seek out their company.  Because I walk dogs at the shelter so often on my lunch, there are certain limitations I’ve found.  Obviously, I can’t walk everyone in just an hour, so that usually narrows down the field to anyone who may not yet have been walked.  Also, since some dogs are kenneled together as roommates, I usually avoid that.  Because I am there in dress clothes, entering a kennel with two pooches is just that much harder in heels and/ a dress.  Then there’s fur.  The super shedders get a bit less attention as well because although I do have a lint roller in the truck, I just generally prefer hair.  Our last dog, Bam Bam was a chow chow and during shedding  season she  literally dropped small animals from her body on a daily basis.

Size Matters
It may or may not be surprising to know that the Rottweiler is one of my favorite breeds.  When I was a young adult living in Chicago, we had two.  I loooooved them and when I started whining pushing to adopt a dog a couple of years ago, I started looking for a Rottie.  I like big, muscular dogs with short non-furry hair, and blocky heads.  I eventually came to want a Pit bull type and resigned myself that I would have a “small dog.”  You know, 40-55 pounds.  Small.  I’ve handled other dogs way smaller and have become smitten with them but I still wouldn’t normally gravitate there.

 adoptable Glamour

I might be one of the few people who would call a Pit Bull type dog small, but there was a criteria to follow.  I always swore I would never have a dog smaller than my cat. I have three cats and the largest, Miko, weighs twenty pounds so with that starting point, 40 pounds is still “small.”  

Barney

It’s ironic and a happy circumstance that when I resolved that a Pit Bull type (smallish) dog would be fine and I adopted a puppy born of a 39 pound Pit Bull, that I would end up with an 85 pound dog. 

No Schedule
Several other volunteers that I’ve been chatting with have pretty set schedules with certain days and times they come.  I know it’s good so to have that to count on but with work and other things that pop up, I’m not able to commit to specific days or even times.  There are weeks I’ve found myself driving to the shelter as if my sheer will of the truck steering there and other weeks when I find I’m only able or for some reason willing to go one or two days.  Yesterday I may have hit me as to why.  I took the Glamour girl out for a walk and as we strolled and chatted about being girls and wearing pretty things I realized how much fun I was having with her.  We found a patch of long, cool grass under a shady tree where she promptly rolled and wallowed in a most ladylike fashion while I sat and babbled on to her about pretty collars and Sheila E.

Today, I have a ton of errands to run but the call of the short haired block heads reverberates in my mind.   I imagine that has something to do with my lunch plans.

*All photos credit: Allen County Spca.

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Did Something Right

Whether you’re the mom of a human, walking the floor at two in the morning with a crying baby or waiting for a teen that’s out past curfew or the mom of a fur baby wondering what more training techniques you can learn to help with chewing, barking, jumping or whatnot, there is that shining moment when you realize you did something right.  You got through the sleepless nights, the baby grew happy and healthy, the teen matured, and the puppy did too. 

I received two unsolicited blog posts last week from my daughter, Asia.  Reading them made me feel so proud and sort of like I must have done something right to get such a great human for a daughter.  At times I wondered if we would survive her teen years but she has become a caring, mature, responisble individual and a great mother. 

Here is the first installment of Asia’s thoughts.

Up until a few years ago, each time I would go in a pet store I would mull over all of the cute puppies and feel so bad for them.  They are kept in tiny little glass boxes, and I wondered, “How long do they have to wait for a home?”  I assumed that when I got my own house I would head to the neatest pet store and buy a cute puppy.  I would be saving a life, I thought. 

Then my mom became involved with an animal rescue so I volunteered as well.  I learned what a puppy mill is.  I learned how cruel people can really be to animals.  I became aware of how many animals are homeless, or live in filth.  Those are the animals I want to save and give a loving home to. 

I volunteer at the local SPCA sometimes and it breaks my heart to see a dog in his concrete cell, sitting in the corner looking utterly defeated.  Lost, alone, and scared.  I can only imagine the thoughts in their mind.  “What did I do wrong”  “Why didn’t my owners love me anymore?”  “Will I ever find my forever home?”

So many animals are in rescues or shelters  and those are the ones who need us the most.  Animals in pet stores come from unspeakable places and don’t even get me started on breeders.  When I have my own home I will adopt all of my animals.  I won’t choose my animals solely on looks, I will choose based on their personality and spirit.  I will give a less adoptable animal the loving forever home they deserve.  I will make sure to give them the best life possible and make up for lost time. I wish that I could save every animal in need .  But until then I will spread the word to anyone who will listen. 

ADOPT DON’T SHOP.

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Parade With the Stars

Back in February, our shelter director, Jessica, made a visit to Ohio State University Vet Medical Center with one of the shelter dogs, Aerie.  Aerie is a young black lab who has hip dysplasia and she was being looked at by the experts to determine whether or not she would need surgery.  Being the Pit Bull geek that I am, I knew that Gremlin was going to be at the same facility that day, so I texted Jessica to see if she could meet them.  I’m being very cool about it all now, but on that day I was hopping around the office, totally squeeing over every text.  Jessica was planning to snap a picture of Gremlin, but unfortunately our crew was done and left before Gremlin was finished.  Jessica did send me a picture of herself with Chris Hughes, Gremlin’s dad,  as an awesome consolation.  He also mentioned to her that they were coming to Indiana for an appearance this Spring.

I recently found out that Gremlin was indeed coming to Indiana and this visit was to be her last before she retired from public appearances.  She was going to be the featured guest at Parade A Bull which is hosted by the Humane Society for Hamilton County.  In the back of my mind I knew I wanted to attend, but the event was two hours away from my house and Ray, still being a youngster, hasn’t been to many events and certainly not one of this scale.  I really, really didn’t want to drive two hours each way just for him to do his famous leash eating tug of war routine in front of two hundred Pit Bull owners and fans.  The thing is, though, if we didn’t try, I’d never know, right?

The event was held at The Monon Center in Carmel which had beautiful walking paths, a pond, ducks and a great resource center.  We got there just in time for the parade which was essentially a pack walk for solidarity.  I’ve got to tell you, folks, it was so moving to see that many responsible dog lovers in one place.  That many Pit Bull advocates and others who were interested in learning more about the group of dogs labled as Pit Bulls.

The start of the “parade.”



We were hoping to be able to at least catch a glimpse of Gremlin and The Stig (as well as their parents) but got even more than that!  At the first turn, look who we found!

Gremlin’s mom graciously offered to take our picture while we chatted a bit and made the Ohio State connection.  It turns out they are getting married later this year and the pooches are going to be a part of the wedding party, so they were very excited to see Ray wearing a bow tie and I was happy to be able to refer them to both Sirius Republic (Ray was wearing his monsters collar and blue bow tie which we got a ton of compliments on) and also to Little Bow Pup who makes amazing bows and collar flowers and has really, really good customer service. 

Stop by tomorrow to see more pics of the great Parade-a-Bull event.

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Instant Pick-Me-Up

This week has been long and a bit more stressful than usual.  When things get busy like this it is hard to get away at lunchtime and by Thursday I start feeling really…lacking.  I believe I would work much better in an environment where I could have my dog or at least A dog near me throughout the day.  I had to get away today to get some puppy lovin’ and recharge my batteries.

There’s absolutely nothing in the world like happy little puppy kisses to make all of your troubles recede for a short while, except for maybe double the puppies and kisses.

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The Luck of the Irish

I spent a rewarding and sober St. Patrick’s Day with some wonderful people who were willing to forego the green beer to showcase some great adoptable pooches from the SPCA.  I was escorting the available and handsome Valentino to the festivities at Deer Park Irish Pub.  Do you remember his Sweetheart of a sister?  Well she along with the other littermate, Cupid, have been adopted so only the debonair Valentino is left to find a love match.  We spent some quality time with Gunner as well.  Mr. Gunner was returned to the shelter because his original adopters were moving.  Apparently …well, don’t get me started on that.

Valentino and Gunner
 

That cutie above was dressed to the nines and howling for treats, so I had to snap a picture.  She was just too stinking cute.  (Not adoptable and obviously well loved and cared for by her doting Mama.)

There was a parade as well, but as we were lined up to start, I could tell that Mr. V was getting a little freaked out by the crowds and noise, so he and I sat out the parade and headed back to the SPCA tent.  The little guy is only 14 weeks old and has spent nearly half his life in the shetler and is probably the last man standing from his litter because he is just a little more reserved than the others. 

By the  end of the day, he was more than ready to chill a bit on the ride back to the shelter and dream of the life he and his wonderful ears may have in store someday. 

What fun things did you do for St. Patrick’s Day?  Did you or your pooch dress up?

If Valentino or Gunner is the dog of your dreams, head to the Allen County SPCA and fill out an application today!