Adopt a shelter dog

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Friday Feline Fun

I want to thank everyone for the sweet thoughts and sympathy.  I hate wallowing in self-pity, though I guess everyone does need to do so every once in a while.  Looking on the bright side, if my knuckle never goes back to normal, I will probably get my stones reset.  Oh wait!  I’m planning to do that anyhow.  *smiling and waving at my honey, here!*

Well, I’ve been really tired this week for some reason, though again I shouldn’t be.  Asia has planned and executed a great dinner both Wednesday and Thursday evening so no cooking for me (WOOT) but all I really felt like doing this morning was this:

Miko Peekie Pie

Or this:

Sleepy Ray

However, today is Friday, I had an amazing hot dog (The Snoop Dog-no pictures, because I inhaled it) from a food truck and I get to take Tonks to greenDogGoods for the afternoon.

Tomorrow I’m going to steal use Pitlandia’s recipe for sweet potato treats.  What plans do you have for the weekend?

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The Heart of the Matter

“I got the call today
That I didn’t wanna hear
But I knew that it would come
An old, true friend of ours was talkin’ on the phone
She said you’d found someone…”  ~Don Henley

My Dearest King, My Darling Boy,

I never expected to fall so deeply in love with your big headed, tender-spirited Royal Highness.

But I did.  And now I have to let you go.

Maybe it was destined, after all I’m “the bully girl” around here, so it just stands to reason that I would take a liking to you.  But it was more than that.  You came to the shelter and you were confused.  You were without you family and without your little chihuahuas and in a kennel all by yourself;  next to others in kennels all by themselves.  Your first week was hard but so many of us…and yes I was a part of that…tried to make your stay more bearable.  You needed your people and I was determined to be a reasonable substitute until you were united with your new family.  A family that will love you and be devoted to you.  The family you deserve.

As our outings together became more and more meaningful, I found it hard to leave but when I was able to pull myself away, I obsessed thought about you and how we could make you ours, at least in the short term.

On our walks you were a good listener and darned near the best leash walker I’d seen in the kennels.  You pulled a little but were easy to correct with a stop and a sound.  You sat for treats and offered your sit as a “please” when you thought you might score some tasty tibits.  I’m surprised that you are so treat motivated and yet so immune to the call of a bully stick.  And stuffies?  Stuffies lasted simply ages in your kennel.  You’re a sweet soul.

You kept your Royal name, King, but I joked with “Daddy” that I have another one picked out for you.  For a brief amount of time you were Herman…until the day when your true name revealed itself.  King.  For so long, Ray has been known as the Little Prince and you?  You are the King.  The King of Hearts.  The King of my heart.

As more than a fortnight passed and your family didn’t come back for you, you grew sad. 

You kept to your bed and didn’t come so eagerly to the front of the kennel so I took you out for a few field trips.  “Checking you out of the library” is how we jokingly refered to it.  Again, you were the best.  Ride in a truck?  Check.  Sit nicely?  Check.  Work in an office?  Check.  Ride in an elevator?  Check.  Share a lunch?  Yep…with the softest mouth ever, even though I know you were excited about the fries.

I went from smitten to in love.  Nobody was fooled.  Except maybe me a little.  Fooling myself.

You big headed lug.  You passed all the tempement tests.  And then you did it again, and again.  You were cat tested with the Big Meanie, just for us.  Mama heard someone say that you were their favorite at the shelter…and such a good boy “especially for a pit bull.”  Only you aren’t  good for a Pit Bull.  You’re a good dog.  Period. 

My darling boy, my King of Hearts, continue to be a good pup and a great ambassador for all block heads everywhere.  Show your new family every day how awesome The King is. If you think of me, remember how much I love you and how proud I am of you.  Remember me fondly as a friend who tried to help make your stay a little more comfortable as you wait to embark on your new life.  I hope you get lots of the Colonel’s potato wedges that you love so much.

The REAL Goodbye

“Mama” will always love you.  Goodbye.

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"Love me Tender"

Hello, Furiends!  My name is King and I would like to start off by thanking my brother from another Mother, Ray, for letting me have so much face time on his blog.  I know his friends have been missing his mug and I appreciate all the love and kindness I’ve been shown while I await my forever home.
I’d like to tell you a little bit about myself because there are things I’m just now discovering, too.  Up until about two weeks ago, I thought I was one thing, but it turns out I am another.  I was a part of a pack and there were 8 of us in all.  We were all chi-wow-ahs, I thought, but it turns out I’m something called an AmStaff.  I think that means really big chi-wow-ahs.  I’ve spent my whole first year of life thinking I was one of them, fitting in our nice little world but then my family said we were moving.  I didn’t realize that meant we were not all moving together to the same place.
They took me to a “homeless shelter” where the big hearted people there said they would find me another home, even better than the one I had before, and in the mean-time, they would take care of me and give me the things I need.  They even made sure my jingly bits went away.  I guess that’s ok, because I feel fine.
I found it to be very confusing there for awhile.  Lots of other dogs were telling me about themselves and lots of different people came to see me.  Ray’s mama comes to see me a lot and she said I could call her mama until I get my own.  She takes me for long walks and helps me mind my manners, even though she calls me Mr. Perfect a lot.  When we walk she makes the “uh-uh” sound and I’ve learned that when I hear that sound we stop walking.  I always stop and look at Mama to see why we’ve made the uh-uh stop but I think it’s just because she wants to see my handsome face so as soon as I show her my handsome face we get to walk again.  Sometimes we stop and I sit for a cookie.  The first couple of days, when she showed me the cookie, I wasn’t sure that she would give it to me but she gave it every time and all I had to do was sit!  She says I’m a master at something called “loose leash walking.”
I’d be happy to take that cookie!
I think we are going to learn other ways to get cookies too, if I’m here long enough.  Mama says she hopes we won’t have time but when she says that she seems kind of sad.  She says she loves how I greet her in a polite way.  I don’t jump on her and I don’t ever do sharky mouth, even when I’m looking for cookies that might be in her hand.  I’m just starting to ask her to play with me, but she is kind of a girl, so I take it easy with her and when she says “give Mama a kiss” I know exactly what she means.  I like to give kisses!

Anyhow, I’m ready to go to my home, but just as a little hint, my collar makes me look like I might belong in a peaceabull place, don’tchathink?

A note from Ray-Ray:  “if you are interested in adopting King, please contact the Allen County SPCA.  Now, please, before King becomes my little brother.”

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The Best Laid Plans

I’m not usually a Friday dog walker, in fact I usually try to make Monday my usual day.  The shelter is closed to the public that day and less volunteers come, so I try to make a point of being there.  Because I really didn’t know how much interaction King would get and I still have a soft spot for Banjo, I’ve been ine every weekday this week except for Valentine’s day.

Today my plan was to walk Banjo and King, of course, and also take sweet Max out for a bit as well.  I know there’s  a pretty steady volunteer who comes on Fridays so I was pretty sure a lot of the dogs would have gotten some attention.  As luck would have it she was still there and gave me the low down on who she had already walked and we gushed on together about how great King is on leash.  What else she shared was that the two puppies kenneled together wouldn’t come out for a walk.  The larger one ran to the back of the kennel and huddled in the corner.  Ugh.  I don’t really want to “do” puppies because A) they’re puppies and B) they often have poo in their kennels.  Ok those aren’t good reasons, but I saw King and made some kissy faces at him and then entered the puppy kennel.  Sure enough, the little beagle/puggle was all waggin’ tail and happy while the other ran to her corner and sat wanting attention but not sure.

Yeah, the view from my lap.

I decided to just sit and play with the two of them so they could get some socialization and the bigger one, Sweetheart, could get more comfortable. 

I should say that even the coldest heart that doesn’t want to sit on a kennel floor with puppies can get sucked in pretty. darn. fast.  Go on, try to resist, I dare you.  Ireland the beagle-y pup played for awhile on my lap and eventually fell asleep. I seriously wanted to sit there all day with this soft little pudge bucket snuggled in my arms.

Sweetheart was so sweet and eager to be loved yet juuuust a little hesitant.  She was pretty happy to lie near me and play with my fingers, her leash, my coat, my boots, etc.

She was such a darling girl and very open to being snuggled with (when Ireland vacated my lap for a whole 10 seconds) and loved to be near me.


After the better part of an hour had passed and I really had no inclination to  move from the floor, I finally tore myself away for a brief spin about the neighborhood with King before heading back to work 

Puppies.  I tell ya, they’re sneaky little things that just steal your heart.

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Walking Wednesday

(Since I knew this wouldn’t be wordless.)

I thought I’d share with you a few pictures from my walks today and to let you know that Miss Delilah has left the building.  Good luck in your forever home, sweetie.

Since I didn’t have enough time to walk Banjo yesterday, he was my first date for today, though he nearly missed his chance again.  Banjo is 10 months old, while not too puppy-ish, he still gets wound up some.  He is kenneled with Max whom I haven’t really interacted with to date.  A secret, here, is that usually since I am walking dogs on my lunch break from work, I don’t often walk any dogs that are double kenneled.  I just think there is too much of a possibility for a wardrobe malfunction.  But today since I had mentally promised some time to Banjo, I entered the kennel he shares with Max…and was very impressed with Max.  While Banjo was running around with his leash and collar, Max cuddled right up against my legs and wagged his sweet little tail enough to make sure I’d be back to walk him too right after I brought the Banj-miester back. 

Outside, Banjo again delighted me with is great leash skills and his solid “sit.”  He was just such a pleasure to walk that I just don’t know if I can gush about him any more.  When we returned, Max was already out with another volunteer, so you know who I turned my attention to.

Not thrilled with the little picture taking box in my face, lady.

King does really, really well on the leash and takes correction easily with an “uh-uh” and a stop.  Now that he’s more settled in, he was much more interested in being treated, though was not at all interesed in learning “sit” for a treat.

Hey lady, you got any more of those nom noms in your pocket?

King is so sweet and thankful for the little treats I gave him but when I tried to lure him to a sit, he gave up pretty fast as if he didn’t really expect me to give them.  It was kind of sad and I’m a big push over so I just gave up the treats in exchange for a couple of hugs.

Both of these young gentlemen are still available to be your forever Valentine, just contact the ACSPCA for details.

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"Getting to Know You"

Have you ever been happy to see a dog in a shelter?  Do you find any irony at all in Lily, Pitbull Ambassador & Therapy dog winning an online contest run by The Denver Dog?  (Not intended to be mean-spirited…I’m happy she won this.)

The shelter I volunteer at sits in a neighborhood where the kennels could really be filled with one certain type of dog but they are not.  There are no breed restrictions but it is a limited intake shelter and I can honestly say the variety there has been vast.  One of the questions I asked before volunteering was about the policies and stance on  Pit bull types there.  There wasn’t a breed ban and I liked the answers well enough to lend any time or talent I could in order to help out.  I’ve seen small and large I’ve seen boxers, boxer mixes, lots of  retriever mixes and even a blocky headed “terrier mix” with a medium thick coat. 

But times, they are a-changing, folks.  Our new director’s focus is to save lives.  She is open, caring and tireless in her quest to not just turn animals out to homes for the numbers but to get the right animal into the right home for life.  Last week as we were messaging about another issue, she mentioned to me that since I was such a “bully -girl” that I “should hustle over to the shelter” because there were dogs sure to win my love.  I figured she meant Bullwinkle the boxer but she said no it isn’t him.  How long do you think the next morning was while I waited to take my lunch break?  How fast do you think I got to the shelter? 

He wasn’t available yet, he wasn’t even neutered so I couldn’t talk about him but the Volunteer Manager snuck me back to the staff only area to see him and I saw his big happy face.

I heard the high pitched whine, the cry for companionship and I knew.  I saw the big block head and I knew.  I saw the deep chest and I knew.  There was no disguising this guy as a ” terrier mix” because he was pretty much undisguisable. 

So now that this handsome guy is officially without his jingles and on the adoption page, I am proud and excited to share with you King.

King is pretty good on a leash.  We took a nearly one hour walk today and not once did he bark or try to chase any squirrels or other dogs.  He did show interest but not too much  in other dogs, and so far he doesn’t seem to be too treat motivated but he caught on pretty quickly that if he pulled on the leash, I stopped walking until we got some slack. 

Yes, it’s a new day and in this case, I’m happy to see a dog like King in the shelter.  He’ll be loved and well taken care of while awaiting his perfect forever home and if you are in our area and are interested in making this boy the King of your home, contact the Allen County SPCA for details.

*extra credit if you know why this post is titled this way.
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Caring, Sharing (Every Little Thing That We Are Wearing)

As we mentioned on Friday, LL Cool Ray and I were pretty excited for him to don his new superhero bow tie from Little Bow Pup and go on some more weekend adventures.  However as fate would have it,  an adoption even came up rather suddenly which left Mr. Ray-Ray at home and bow tie-less.  Always willing to help, Ray loaned out his Mama and his new bow tie in order to help a fellow out. 

I saw Banjo both on the SPCA website and also when I went to volunteer earlier in the week and I can honestly say, he was (to me) overlookable.  Just going on looks alone, he was not my type (German wirehaired pointer and “rolling stone”) and since  he had already been walked when I arrived I didn’t spend any time with him.  But when I went to pick him up on Saturday?  Oh. Em. Gee, people.  I mean it.  Soulful eyes, easy disposition and very mellow for a seven month old puppy.  I was in lurrrrve and could have kissed his wiry little schnoz all day long.

Banjo was great.  He has a solid “sit” and is attracted to children.  He liked other dogs, but honestly, not all other dogs and while he was extremely approachable by humans while he was chomping on his bully stick, he was a little annoyed if another dog came near it.  All in all a sa-weetie pie.
The other dog at the event with us was the darling Delilah.  I had seen  Delilah at the kennels as well earlier in the week and although she is a Basset hound which would make her not one of my top favorite breeds, I saw her personality shine through in about a half a milisecond.  This girl is divine!  Delilah has the za-za-zoo in spades and I’d be shocked if she isn’t adopted within the next 24 hours.  I think we ended up handing out 2 applications for her and received a filled out app right away. 
So bye, bye, bye, Delilah.  Under these circumstances, I have to say, I’m glad I only knew you for a short time.
Don’t feel too badly for Cool Ray, though.  Even though he had to model the neck tutu that Delilah is wearing, he still got to go out on the town Sunday and get his fair share of lovin’.


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Rumor Has It

What is “It” and who is Rumor, you ask?  Well, if you’ve read here at least once or twice, you can deduce that Rumor is a homeless soul waiting at the SPCA for her forever home.  I met Rumor recently and I can tell you, IT is loads of energy and bucketfuls of personality. 

She was the last dog to be exercised or walked on the day I met her.  Actually there were only a few left and when I was up to her, I stopped at her kennel door and watched her bounce.  Up and down, up and down.  With a sigh, I got her leashed up and decided to make the best of it by taking her out to the play yard rather than walking around the muddy neighborhood with a jumping bean.  Let me tell you, that was the Best. Decision. Ever.  Had I decided to walk her, I probably would not have seen much of her spunky, playful personality but in the yard I quickly discovered that our girl of the week luuurves herself a game of fetch with some tennis balls. 

We played with two so that as soon as she chased one down and brought it back, I was ready with the other and to my delighted surprise, she was so well-mannered in the exchange.  She scampered after those tennis balls back and forth, letting me take them from her and waiting really well for them to be thrown again and again.  Thoroughly delightful. 

I hope she finds an active person or family to love and play with her because she is truly a wonderful little sprout who will truly blossom in the right place.

If you know someone looking for a fun and fabulous little companion and can throw a mean tennis ball, have them contact the Allen County SPCA to meet Miss Rumor.

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Tardy Tuesday

We’re dreadfully late with today’s post and as a result, this will be very brief.  Yesterday I stopped by the shelter after running some errands to make sure everyone who needed to be walked was done.  I know that when time gets tight, some of the “spunkier” dogs might not get out as much  and I wanted to visit with Miss Honor a little bit anyway. 

Honor and I are building quite a nice little relationship and though I want to write a post dedicated to her, I’m hoping she will be in her forever home before I get to it.  Now here is another little gal that I spent some time with yesterday.  She was a sweet, calm,  happy little (ahem) “terrier mix.” 

Based on her appearance and age she might not get a lot of looks but if anyone is just looking for a great companion dog… Just a Dog…then Abby is your girl.  Anyone looking for a forever friend may want to consider Abby.  She is nothing fancy, nothing frilly but oh my goodness the sweetness of this girl!  Her average Joe Jane  personality is just so great, I hope this little black dog garners some serious interest.

If you are interested in Abby, go visit her at the Allen County SPCA and see for yourself how great she is.

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Fe Fi Fo Fum

Last week when Mommy said she had a three day weekend, I was really excited because I knew we would spend every single minute together.  Boy was I surprised when one of the first things she did was to take me to the place where they cut my entire leg apart removed my little lumpus.  I like being at that place but not so much when they have monsters scissors in their hands.  When we came home, I was a little angry at Mommy so I went to my quiet place and ignored her for six hours a few minutes so that she would know that I was serious. 

Once I was sure she had learned her lesson, then I went ahead and gave her kisses again.  I was still happy to have her home with me for a whole extra day. 

The next day, though, she left me at home for the entire day a few hours while she was at an adoption event.  I thought that when she said she was going there, she was mistaken because I’m already adopted, but when she put me in the truck to go to my favorite store, it all became crystal clear.  She had some girl in the car with her.  I could smell her presence.  Then I saw these pictures on Mommy’s phone.

I just knew she was up to something.  I wasn’t actually upset, though, because like my mommy, I want to make sure all the other homeless doggies have a warm place to live with people who love them so I don’t mind sharing her sometimes if she can help.  If you are interested in Honor the little GSD mix (Mom’s current favorite) or Phineus the St Bernard-ish puppy contact the ACSPCA.  Or if you are not seeing your heart dog there, please check out Smiling K9’s where my heart Mommy found me.