A Furry Friday Request

Phew, this week has been...busy!

The shelter last night was fun, the weather was actually fairly warm, so it was even more enjoyable. Annnd, a lot of dogs have gotten adopted, so that is good. For the last several weeks, the adoption side has been full (30ish dogs), but we were down to half that amount last night.

I don't have any pictures...it was so icy last night that I had to keep my hands available for any sudden crash landings.

I've gotten a fairly good response from my pitbull article from a couple of weeks ago, and now I have found myself on a bit of a quest. I've tried contacting my local MPP Jim Bradley, to discuss the matter, but he has not responded. I've heard from some other people that said they have also tried contacting him to no avail. I find this really annoying. I mean, he is a politician, a provincial politician, a large part of his job is representing the people in his riding. So like, respond dude, it's your job.

Not much annoys me, I'm a fairly easy going individual, but I have to say, this whole thing has gotten me pissed. This pissed off feeling has been exacerbated by the fact that this guy who represents our community in parliament is ignoring me. It is frustrating.

The more I read about the pibull ban, the more I realize just how ridiculous the whole thing is.

I thought maybe I could get the shelter's backing on this, but surprise surprise, that doesn't seem to be happening, which really only adds to the frustration, because I really think it's something that they should be supporting and educating people about.

So, my goal for the next couple of weeks is to organize a letter writing campaign to a Mr. Jim Bradley, in an attempt to a) get him to support Bill 222 (the Bill that, if passed will reverse the pitbull ban in Ontario), and b) educate him. My thought is, if he truly understands the issue, then there is no way he can continue to support the ban. It just wouldn't make any sense.

I am leery of politicians. I have found many of the ones I have encountered a little too big for their britches, and really, being completely ignored by King Bradley isn't doing much to quash that opinion.

You're probably wondering where I'm going with this.

Anyone out there want to send a letter?? I realize most of you don't live in Niagara or Ontario, but the fact of the matter is, it all helps. The more people who write from different cities, the more this guy will have to rethink his decision.

I will have prewritten letters done up if that makes it any easier. I'm going to do up a letter template for pitbull owners, one for concerned Niagara residents, and one for concerned residents of elsewhere.

Ideally, this would be a snail mail letter as opposed to email, but email is fine too. My only concern with email is that they are easy to delete. Multiple letters coming in every day...not so easy to ignore.

When this is all said and done, and the letter writing is underway, I am going to request an actual face to face meeting with this dude, and present him with the fattest of information packages, one which details why exactly breed bans don't work, and why he should support Bill 222.

Honestly, I won't stop badgering him (in the politest way possible), until he sees the light on this. Maybe it won't be as difficult as I think, or maybe it will...either way, I'm putting my faith in the hope that common sense will prevail.

I've seen this law rip too many people apart, and I've seen more perfectly wonderful dogs be euthanized then I ever cared too.

My buds at the shelter mean the world to me, they really do. They never fail to brighten my life on a weekly basis, and I just, I need to do something, you know? It hurts my heart that someone can look at Brooklyn or Carleigh and think they are killing machines. I literally cannot wrap my head around this prejudice.

I always feel like I'm walking the fine line of becoming a crazy dog lady, you know, the one who cares a little too much. I think I'm okay with that now, I can live with that moniker. And hey, this crazy dog lady, she's aiming for you Mr. Bradley. Your prejudices and your uninformed decisions? Going down, one little letter at a time.

Soooo, if you want to help, if you get as fired up about this stuff as I do, or if you just want to know what the hell I'm talking about: email me!



Happy Weekend Ya'll!!

Furry Friday-Pupperonis

Only one more week of adorable, adorable puppies, because they are now all adopted (yay!!), and I cannot spend my Thursday nights squishing them any longer.

Maybe I got overly attached, but aren't these some of the cutest darn puppies you have ever seen?

Now their mommy just needs to get adopted!

Also...I have exciting dog related news guys. Guess where I'm going in May? Kanab, Utah, the home of the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Holy shit ya'll. My fellow dog walking friend and I have been talking about going forever, and we are finally doing it. Plane tickets booked, hotel reserved and everything. Oh. my. lord. I have been wanting to do this for so long. There is a good chance that I will go to Best Friends and decide to just live there. I'll meet a nice Mormon boy and his other wives and I will be the best of friends. It could happen!

Dogtown!!! Add that to the absolutely insanely beautiful National Parks Utah has...I cannot even wait.

Furry Friday

Alright, I actually broke out my camera again last night! The runs are pretty much frozen, so we can bring the dogs out there again. And the weather was pretty nice last night, making it much easier to press buttons. I only had one pair of gloves on!



I'll be the first one to admit that Chihuahua's are cute, but I don't think I could ever have one. I would be afraid of stepping on him/her all the time...and really, it wouldn't take much to crush a chihuahua. I don't trust my clumsy self with that. The constant shaking they do is somewhat endearing...but it's like...are you actually cold, or are you just trying to get my sympathy? This wee one is only 4 months old, but I don't imagine he'll get much bigger. He's adopted already, natch.



Does anybody else have this problem with Blogger? Why do the pictures upload sideways when they are clearly the right way on my computer?? If someone could enlighten me as to what I'm doing wrong, I'd be eternally grateful. Anyways, this is the elk hound! He's only 4 months, and I'm pretty sure by the time he's done growing he'll be the size of a deer.



Again with the sideways. Oy. I'm not sure why this dog is back...I couldn't get a sensical answer. But he's getting so big. His body has elongated completely since I saw him last.



The ears!! I'm so obsessed with this dogs ears. Can you imagine being a basset hound puppy? People would just be constantly tugging at your ears. Just like Dumbo.







Ah, they are getting so big! I cannot even handle going in the room with the puppies. I want to pick them all up, and they are constantly jumping and crying, and it's almost too much cuteness to handle. Almost.

All the doggies had Christmas bandanas on last night which was extremely adorable. How is it that dogs in bandanas look 12 times cuter than dogs without bandanas? But it was very festive!

Happy Weekend everybody! There will be a New York related travel post next Tuesday. Cross my heart.

Also...google has just informed me that "sensical" is not actually a word. Huh! And to think of the number of times I've used it in a sentence...

Unfurry Friday

Well, a plethora of things happened last night which prohibited pictures from being taken. The main issue was that I was wearing so many pairs of gloves, that I could not bend my fingers to hold the camera properly, let alone press a button. Gale force winds plus freezing cold temperatures did not make for a great time. I even upped my shivering in the hopes that somebody in the Tim Horton's line would perhaps buy me a hot chocolate, but nooooo. Bastards.

I went to check on the puppies from last week, and I was going to take more pictures so you could see how big there are getting. But when I took out my camera, my battery was dead. Pictures were just not meant to be last night I guess! Also, I kept picking up and squeezing the puppies only to later discover they were covered in crap, thus covering my jacket in crap. It was unpleasant.

I undid my coat so it wasn't completely obvious that I was covered in dog shit, and as I was walking out, another volunteer was walking in. He showed me a newspaper clipping about Charlie's new home (he's become a local celeb ya'll!! haha, so cute), and then he was like, "it smells like dog shit in here". To which I could only reply, "yes, that would be me". I decided that would be a great time to leave, as being the smelliest thing in a dog shelter is a hard task, but there I was.

I wish I had a fun story about last night, but nothing really happened. I think I might have blacked out from the cold. I was wearing jeans, and I believe that's where I went wrong. I was bundled up like crazy, but my legs were frozen. Next week, I'm breaking out the long johns.

Isn't it weird how long johns can be both an undergarment and a donut? What the what?

I logged on to Facebook today and I had a realization. Facebook depresses the ever living piss out of me. If I see one more status that says "I'm engaged!!! <3", I am going to rip shit. I love feeling like everybody's life is just moving along, and I'm stuck here. Thanks for nothing Facebook. These are usually people I'm not even actually friends with, so I'm not too sure a) why they are on my list, and b) why I even care, but whoomp there it is. I dunno, I just had a very "I hate Facebook!!" moment today, and I thought I'd share.

Are these stream of consciousness posts working for anybody? I'll get back to actual writing next week, but this is honestly sort of fun.

I signed up for a Pet First Aid course on Sunday. Pet First Aid!! And it starts at 9 o'flippin clock in the morning. I'm sort of excited, but also sort of apprehensive. There is a lunch break. And in my experience, there is not much that is more awkward than eating lunch with a bunch of strangers whom you were thrown together with during a one day course. You would be surprised the number of times this has happened to me. I'm an awkward person to begin with, so I'm really not looking forward to that. In regards to what Pet First Aid will actually entail, I have no idea. Maybe I'll get to use a scalpel? Or at the very least, a thermometer?

This work day feels eternal, and I'm starting to feel a little giddy.

I really want to go to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I'm thinking May or June. My goal this weekend is to get the application done. Is anybody as obsessed with Dogtown as I am??

Anyways. Happy weekend!

Furry Friday

Today is a good day in dogland guys!! Remember my Christmas goal of finding Charlie, the beauty of a white shepherd a home?? Well today, guess who got on the front page of the paper?? Mr Charlie himself. I am hoping, hoping, hoping, that someone out there will read the story and just have to have him. Keep your fingers crossed for him!! A forever home for him has been a long time coming.

Anyway, I again apologize for the quality of pictures...basically until it snows, we have to walk all the dogs on leash, and what with all the lunging and pulling, and general not walking on a leash very well, tis hard to take good pictures of the dogs with one hand. Anyway! I think you'll enjoy this weeks pictures because they are full of PUPPIES!!



Ummm there is not much that makes me happier than bunches of puppies falling all over each other. These guys are 5 weeks old, and holy crikey they are cute.



Bah!! I could not stop picking them up and snuggling them. Also, my favourite part of this picture is the dogs trying to eat each other in the background.



No idea why this is loading sideways. I'm not computer savvy enough to fix it either. Welps, turning your head slightly is worth it for the cuteness!!



A 9 week brown, standard poodle puppy!! Yes please. I tried for a very long time to get a picture with the dog looking at the camera, but it just wasn't happening. Also, in half of them you couldn't see her eyes. SO CUTE.



Poodle again! This dog was so fluffy it was hilarious. Her fur seriously made her look twice as large as she actually was, but when I picked her up, my hand completely sunk into the fluffiness.

That's it, that's all for today! Remember to send out good vibes for Charlie!!

I'll be away until next Wednesday, so probably no posts until then (unless I have absolutely nothing to do today and I can write a Travel Tuesday story!! Honestly, it very likely will happen).

Happy weekend!!

Furry Friday..sorta

Well, unfortunately I don't have any pictures today. The runs at the shelter are under construction so we need to walk all the dogs on leash, which is fine, but it puts a serious damper on my photo taking ability. I actually got one cute picture of the giant rottie Malcolm by getting him to follow the light that the camera was casting on the ground, then I quickly snapped his picture...but alas, I have left my camera at home.

I'm hoping to get some cute pictures this weekend, because this weekend is PET PICTURES WITH SANTA!! (plus a bake sale). The concept of Pet Pictures with Santa is hilarious to me, and I cannot even wait. So cute! Also...we are giving free bandanas to all the animals that have their pictures taken with Santa, so this means we have made teeny, tiny little bandanas, because if someone brings in their guinea pig...they are getting a bandana god dammit! Please stop a moment and picture the chaos that will likely ensue during this event. Hilarious yes? I can't even wait.

I baked up a storm this week, so hopefully all my goodies actually entice people to spend money.

I have mentioned before that the shelter is right next door to a Tim Hortons...the line up for the Timmies stretches right along the back outdoor run, and there is a patch of grass in between. When I walk the dogs outside, I usually walk them through this patch of grass. Last night I was walking this Catahoula Leopard Dog mix, who is just cute as a button, but he's huge and strong. He kept stopping, and I could not for the life of me move him. Of course he chose right by the Timmies line to be ornery. It's embarrassing. Then he decided it would be a great time to roll around in the ditch. This is usually the point where people start yelling things from the drive thru line, and I have to shrug my shoulders, like, "welps, not my dog, what can you do??" Most of them walk pretty well, but you get the odd one that just drives you insane.

What else, what else....a TON of the dogs are adopted and this makes me veeery happy. But Charlie still needs a home. I planted the seed in the assistant managers ear that maybe they could pitch a story to the local newspaper about Charlie, who has been at the shelter for almost a year now. People love a good sob story, and honestly at this point, I'm not above milking the situation a little. Charlie needs a home, and this is all I'm asking Santa for this Christmas. *Hopefully* something comes of the paper thing.

A couple disturbing things happening here in Canada regarding animal rights.

First off, over 100 neglected sled dogs found tied to trees in Quebec. The kicker?? Because this jackhole willingly surrendered the dogs, he won't get charged with anything. The laws for animal abusers need to be way tougher in this country.

Second, several employees at the Toronto Humane Society have been arrested on animal cruelty charges. This includes the General Manager, the head vet, the president and two others. I pretty much have no words for this. These people are supposed to HELP animals. They work for a HUMANE society. Jessssus. I was looking through some of the pictures that animal cruelty investigators took, and they are fucking appalling. Don't even bother clicking on the link because your faith in humanity will pretty much be out the window.

Thankfully, those huskies are getting a happy ending...a lot of them have already been placed with foster homes or adopted.

The Toronto Humane Society has over 1000 animals in their care. That is a huge responsibility, and god, you hope that when you have an organization like a humane society, that they would treat the animals, you know, humanely! Lord love a duck.

I hope karma gives these people a swift kick in the ass.

Anyway, happy news! Guinea pigs in christmas bandanas! Cats looking unimpressed at sitting on Santa's lap! Dogs barking for hours on end! Cupcakes!

I'll try to post some cute dog pictures if I can.

Happy Friday!!

Furry Friday

Last night was like heaven for me. There were puppies galore. I walked in, and there was a husky puppy behind the front desk. A HUSKY PUPPY! I about died, because husky puppies are the cutest! I have no idea who he belonged to, but I think one of the staff. As soon as I saw him, my immediate reaction was, "oh my, so cute!!!", and the staff member literally looked at me like I just kicked a kitten in the head. It was THE most disgusted look I have ever gotten. I mean, the staff are never overly friendly, but holy shit, last night took the cake. Is there any other reaction to a husky puppy? Google "husky puppy" and I think you will agree.

Although, I always question when staff members at a dog shelter get a dog that clearly isn't from the shelter. Ummm you work at a dog shelter...there are dozens of dogs here that need adopting, not to mention hundreds, thousands around the province, yet you've adopted a purebread, expensive puppy from a breeder (I'm assuming this, but I have my doubts that he came from anywhere else) Buuuut, whatever, it's not my shelter. However, when I do eventually open up my own animal shelter one day, staff must have rescued dogs, because what the shite kind of example is it otherwise? Anyway! I want to work at Dogtown, as the staff there are always super happy, and probably wouldn't make me feel like I'm wasting their time by volunteering. Good thing I love the dogs. Errrm, anyway!

So once I got over the cuteness of the husky puppy, I walked into the kennel and who is there but a border collie puppy and a basset hound puppy. Holy cripes! Puppies are my favourite.

Anyway, it was pouring rain last night so I couldn't get great pictures, but I did my best!





This dog was so long I couldn't get him all in one picture. He was such a sweetie though. Very cuddly. The ears!! Oh my.



Again, horrible photo, but you can kind of see him. So cute. He's adopted already.



This was the little border collie pup, who was three months old, and was a stray. Which is just really odd to me. He's adopted already too.



The smudge on the camera is from his nose, when he kept jumping on me. I was like, "dude, I am trying to take a cute picture of you, and you are making it realllly hard!".



Love this dog. Bax is from Louisiana, and has been at the shelter for a while now. He's adopted, provided he gets along the with couples other dog. Here's hoping! I *think* he'll be okay.



Hehe, I'm such a sucker for scruffy dogs.

And that's all the semi good photos I got! Next weekend is the bake sale, so I'll be baking up a storm this weekend/next week. Hopefully I can make something edible and delicious!!

Furry Friday

I had such good intentions of being a good little blogger this week and posting more than three times, and I even had a post all written out for yesterday, but then I didn't publish it, because it was slightly questionable, you never know who might find this and I should probably err on the side of caution.

Anyway! It doesn't matter because I'm here now!

I was presented with a conundrum while trying to take photos last night. What with the clock switch and all, by the time I get to the shelter it is dark, and this seriously ruins my pictures of the dogs because they get "red eye" (except it's not red, it's blue, or green), and look possessed. Last night I was like, "pshaa, I'll just edit them!", but then I discovered today that this computer does not in fact have a program which easily edits out red eye. I mean, I'm sure I could figure it out if I wanted, but reallly, I don't have a huge amount of time. So! Please enjoy these pictures of possessed looking (but cute) dogs! You may think a viable solution would be to just take photos of the dogs inside, however, I have a theory that all the dogs look way too sad and pathetic in their kennels. It's not true, but they appear that way what with the walls and general blandness. I will demonstrate this by putting up a kennel photo. I don't like making people feel sorry for these dogs, because I think in some ways that puts the dogs at a disadvantage. Most of these dogs are normal, happy dogs and should be treated as such!



See what I mean? She looks SO sad. But when she was outside? Happy!



Beagle/Chihuahua mix!



This is Charlie skulking down and checking out the drive thru cars(still working on the Christmas goal of finding him a home!)



Bulldog!! So cute!!

Taking good pictures of dogs is so hard, half the time I just settle for ones where I can at least see their face. Like, every Thursday the majority of my pictures are blurry, of dogs looking away, or just jumping off the table. It's comical/extremely annoying.

Anyway, tonight I will be helping out at an adopt a thon, so hopefully some of my friends will find some new good homes!

A couple dogs that have been adopted that I think I have put up pictures of before are: Portia (the black and white beagle), Lewis (the cute little shepherd mix from Louisiana), Malcolm the giant (but sweet) Rottie, Scruffy (the terrier mix that looked like a muppet)! yay!!

Have a good weekend!!

Furry Friday

Wow, am I glad it is Friday. This week has been eternal! Every so often I get stuck in a "what am I doing with my life" funk, and I can't bring myself to do much of anything, let alone blog. Bahhh, the stress of it all. I tell ya. I think the problem is there are so many things I want to do in my life, and I start to panic because what if I never get to do them all? So many places to go, so many things to accomplish! Then I get lost in a pit of worry and woe is me, and it is just not pretty. However, I just have to keep on truckin' I suppose!

My doggie pictures from last night kind of suck, because I was attempting to take them while walking the dogs on a leash, which is apparently kind of hard! So I've thrown in some other random pictures for your amusement (?)

Also! I would just like to relate the following incident that happened about half an hour ago:

Setting: elevator in an office building

So I'm in an elevator going up to an office because I needed to check on a phone number, and there were two men in the elevator with me. All of a sudden, another guy came running through the front door of the building, doing the frantic waving that happens when you want someone to hold the elevator for you.
I stared at him a while, then pressed the "open" button, and so he got in the elevator, looked directly at me, and said: "6th floor please". Then I just stared at him some more until he pressed the button himself. Whoa buddy, first of all, don't say thank you or anything for holding the door, and second of all, I'm not the effin elevator attendant! I'm not wearing a top hat and a cumberbund, what exactly do you think this is, and where do you think you are, The Plaza Hotel??? It's not like I am even slightly dressed up right now...I'm wearing jeans and boots with tassles. Seriously, who does that?? After it happened and he pressed the button for himself, I just stood there laughing like a crazy person, sincerely hoping that he felt dumb.

Anyways, dogs! And other random things!



Ummm probably the farthest thing from a dog ever, but you have no idea how proud I was of this pumpkin. It took me hours, and then it promptly collapsed within days. You can't see it in the photo, but I totally made another carving in the back of this pumpkin which cast a shadow of gallows onto the wall. I was hardcore about the pumpkins this year! It had to live on somewhere!!



How big of a nerd am I that I actually wear this hoodie places??



Oh. my. god. Do you guys recognize? It's Brooklyn!!! Holy shit. It was like she rose from the dead or something. Somebody told me she was done for because she got into a fight with another dog (not her fault), and I just accepted it as fact because it happens all the time. Well last night, around the corner I go, and she's sitting there in her kennel. I about cried. I smooshed her face and took her for a nice long walk. Apparently she was just in quarantine this whole time. Oh my, you have no idea how happy I was to see her. Also, she's wearing the muzzle because it's the law here in Ontario, not because she's a vicious beast!!



This dog totally sat on my lap, and it cracks me right up when big dogs do that. Love.

What else, what else. We are organizing a bake sale for the shelter at the end of November, and that coincides with Pet Pictures with Santa. Hahahaha, I can only imagine the hilarity that will be that event. And next Friday I'm helping out at an adopt a thon...should be fun!! That's all the shelter news for now.

Happy Friday everyone!!

Furry Friday

Thank you baby Jesus, it's Friday!! I'm way more excited about this Friday than I normally am about other Fridays...it could be because tomorrow is HALLOWEEN, and I love me some candy and costumes. And pumpkins! And dancing at the bar!

Anyway, it's puppy time!! Last night was a fairly typical evening at the shelter, tons of dogs, not enough time. My arms got mauled slightly by a american bulldog/boxer mix, who was one strong mofo. I couldn't even get a picture of him because he wouldn't stop jumping on me. There was also a giant, like the most giant Rottie I have ever seen in my life, who I did not take out, because well, he umm scared me a bit. He was HUGE and barking and strong, and sometimes I just don't have the strength or willingness to get knocked over and jumped on by huge dogs. Plus I had to go somewhere after the shelter, and didn't want to be toooo covered in mud. I've had to work the past four Thursday evenings, so I haven't been able to be at the shelter as long as I would have liked. Next Thursday, it's back to my regular time slot!

Anyway, this weeks models:



Scruffy again. Just cause he's so cute, and I like to squeeze him. His adoption is pending, so they are probably doing a yard check. Hopefully works out and he gets to go to his new home soon! He is such a good dog, and he does that hilarious small dog thing when he just tears around the yard. So funny.



Charlie. He is such a love. He's been at the shelter since last winter, which makes me sad. He got adopted, but then the new owners brought him back because they couldn't afford him. I can't even tell you how irritated that makes me...like, how dumb are you? Dogs are expensive! People should realize this from the get go. But soooo many don't. So many of these dogs are up for adoption because their owners "couldn't afford them". Anyway, I'm doing up the newsletter for the shelter soon, and I think I'll feature Charlie as the dog of the month. And this picture cracks me up! I would like to find him a good home before Christmas, I may make this my personal mission.



Who's not a sucker for dogs with a patch covering their eye?



Awwww Rottie puppy, so cute. This dog's gonna be huge!!

Oh animal shelter...I wished I worked there. Can you imagine what a dog overload I would have if I actually did? I would have to refrain myself from posting dog pictures everyday of my life. I need to constantly remind myself that not everybody is as obsessed with dogs as I am. So far I have managed to contain it to Fridays!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! And a Happy Halloween!!

Furry Friday

Carter, the lovely brown lab. It didn't show up in the photo, but the fur around his eyes is a totally different colour brown than the rest of him. Weird. Carter has a bit of a sad story, not horrible by any means, but still enough to make you hate people a little. He was taken by the OSPCA because his owners did not provide any vet care. At all. He's a sweet dog, but who ever takes him in is going to have to be willing to spend a bit at the vet. He has really bad skin, and he is allergic to everything. Poor Bud.



Scruffy! This dog is aptly named. He is part yorkie part schnauzer, and he is a total sweetie. After running around like a maniac, he just sad on my lap and shivered, but I'm pretty sure he was pretending so I would cuddle him, because it wasn't that cold. His act worked of course, I cuddled the shite out of him!! So cute. He will be gone by next week, I can feel it in my bones.



This dog is a cutie, with one of those barooooing barks I love so much.



Another lovely Husky, but this one has pretty brown eyes. The dog was a little unsure of life, and he was not a fan of that camera, so he looks like a bit of a grumpo. He's still adjusting to the shelter life. Oh, and I am happy to report the beauty husky with the blue eyes from last week got adopted. Woooot!



Here is my bud Brooklyn again. Someone needs to adopt this sweetie very soon. She's been at the shelter for a while now, and she is soooo good. She hates other dogs, but other than that, she is a love. She however loves to play tug-o-war and just about broke my arm yesterday. She is one jacked dog. I've written before over my concern about Pitbulls, so I don't want to rehash that, only to say, I'm always extremely worried about who adopts them. I wish the shelter would look into it more. It is SO important for the breed as a whole, that all pitbull owners are responsible. The public has a very distorted view of "pitbulls", and that is mostly due to irresponsible/criminal owners. Pitbulls are lovely dogs. They can be deadly, don't get me wrong, but so can many other large dogs, if they are trained to be that way.

I was chatting to one of the workers the other night about whether they screen people more when they want to adopt a pitbull....and they said no, not really. Which I think is a wee bit ridiculous, but it is not my place (not yet anyway) to say anything about that. Personally, when people go to adopt a pit, I think they should get the shite screened out of them. This is nothing against the people, and most of them are probably responsible, but it is all about weeding out the assholes. It would break my heart if somebody came in to the shelter, adopted one of my pit buds, then trained them to be aggressive/fight other dogs, thus perpetuating the problem.

Oh, apparently I am going to ramble about pitbulls. Sorry! It just makes me so mad. And one of the pitbulls at the shelter Homer, a complete sweetie, got adopted! Yay!!



As I have mentioned, the big Walk a Thon is coming up at the shelter this weekend. Wish me luck guys, and pray for no rain!! I have never been responsible for an event of this magnitude before, and I am a leeeetle stressed. I have loved every minute of planning it, no doubt, but ohhhh boy, I hope we raise a goood amount of money and everything runs smoothly.

We are having a dog costume contest at the walk a thon, which I can't even wait for. What's cuter than dogs in costumes? Not much! I'll post pictures! But I thought it would be nice if some of my shelter buds would have a costume so people can ohhh and awww over them. I found this vampire cape at the dollar store. And I wrote on it in masking tape. Is it just me, or is that hilarious? hahaha. Ohhhh boy.

Furry Friday

Baxter!


Duke! This dog never gets less amusing for me. He is just so...cartoonish.


Isn't this dog gorgeous?


Bailee. She's adopted already, which is unsurprising because she is sooo friggin cute, and seriously one of the fluffiest/softest dogs ever. I could not stop squeezing her, she was so teddy bear esque.


Carleigh. This is a dog I'm very close to taking home, because I ADORE her. She has some major issues, but I just...love her. I am going to tell the shelter I would be willing to foster her if need be, which could be a slippery slope, but I don't think the shelter environment is helping her issues (she's terrified of men, and does not like other dogs). Anyway, she's a sweetie.

"Lefty" who I think I put a picture up of last week...well, he's a huge brat, but last night he was all kinds of amusing. Someone had bought me a coffee, which I had set out on the picnic table in the run. I was just finishing removing my jacket and purse from the area because I knew the dog would be allll over that, when I turned around the grab my coffee and there was Lefty up on the table. She grabbed my cup between her teeth and proceeded to run crazily around the yard spilling coffee everywhere as she went. Then she stopped and drank the rest of it. It was kind of hilarious.

On a random note that is still slightly related, I just saw somebody walk by the office window walking two dogs, and one of them was a dog from the shelter. I am constantly on the lookout for dogs that have been adopted from the humane society, because I like to know how they are doing, and because I have a creepy ability to recognize them. Anyway, this dog that just walked by- Cosmo, was the craziest dog I had ever met in my life. Like, he was just insane all the time and it took forever to get him adopted. We have this board on the shelter where people can send in stories about dogs/cats they have adopted, and it's just nice to see. There was recently a story sent in about Cosmo, and when I read it, I stood in the shelter and cried like a fool, because I get overly emotional about dogs, and it was such a nice letter. Cosmo is doing so well in his new home and they love him. They have another dog who has probably been a great role model for Cosmo and calmed him down some and yada yada, the whole thing makes me soooo happy. Being at a shelter so much, I hear my share of sad stories, brutal, sad stories, so when I hear a happy one, I grab on to it and live in it. Not much can brighten my day like a nice happy ending for one of my buds.

Walk A Thon is coming up soon....in approx. one week. I *hope* it goes well and we raise a decent amount of money. It is the first event I have ever planned, and I am so excited/stressed! Woot!

Furry Friday

What a cutie. This dog seemed to understand when I said "high five", because he did it every time. Coincidence? Perhaps. Extremely cute? Yes.



I know Duke was on here last week, but he cracks me up way to much. Doesn't he look crazed? Granted, he is a little crazy, but that makes him all the more charming. He reminds me of Santa's Little Helper. The episode where Bart took SLH to dog training class, and he never learned anything. But then randomly just when he almost had to give him away SLH suddenly learned the commands. Same thing applies to Duke except all he understands is "sit". He was going absolutely insane moments before I took this photo, running around all crazy and jumping and play biting and generally being a nut. Then I said "sit" and he stopped dead and sat. So hilarious.



Yesterday was like Staffie day or something because there were several of them. I love Brooklyn to pieces, and she has been at the shelter for a good while now. She has had a little cast on her back foot for several weeks now, because she got hurt, but she was all healed yesterday so she could run around again. I love when dogs do the sticking the bum in the air, play stance. I hope she gets adopted soon! There was a lady looking at her yesterday and I tried to talk her up big time. We'll see how that goes.



Lefty is adorable, still very puppyesque though. He would not stop biting and jumping, and chewed on my hand for a while. Also, at one point he managed to get all the little poop bags in his mouth and then ran around the yard, chewing them. I had to run after him, picking them up as they fell. It was fun. Then he chomped on my puffy vest and I had to run after him while he dragged that around. Also fun. Then he grabbed my purse, but I managed to catch him before he spilled everything out of there. Good thing he was cute!

And also:



Here Lefty is in his cage after going out to play. Zonked out. Sorry for the jail like picture, but I didn't want to wake him up by opening the kennel door.

The shelter runs have some really unfortunate placement as they are right by a drive thru. Back in the day when the shelter was build there was absolutely nothing around it, and now a freaking cornucopia of big box stores surround it. The Timmy's drive thru is right next door.

People that go through the line can see everything that is happening. Which is good on the one hand because they get to see the dogs, and ask questions. People are always yelling out their window. Always. Is that dog up for adoption? What kind of dog is that? How old is that dog? What is that dogs name? Where did he come from?? Some ask questions I can't possibly know the answer too. Anyways!

Last night I had a German Shepherd puppy out...he is at that age where he wants to hump everything. Including me. Like, for 20 minutes, I was just pushing him off me. I wanted to be like, "Dude, people can SEE you right now. Stop!". Whatever, it's what dogs do, but geeeez. There have also been several instances where I completely wipe out in the yard, because I am running around like a fool, kicking a soccer ball, when all of a sudden I step in a hole and I'm down. That would be embarrassing enough if I were alone, but in front of a drive thru line full of people? No thanks. I also have a special knack for going to kick the soccer ball, completely missing, then just spinning/tripping instead. I never did make the soccer team! Last night I went to kick the soccer ball and it went flying over the fence pretty much into the drive thru line. The dog was totally like, youuuu asshole, I can't get that!. But then a kindly lady left her car and went and got the ball for me, and the dog was happy again.

And that was my night last night! Love. Where exactly did September go? Seriously. Oy.