Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

It was a wonderful Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration at Willamette Humane Society on Saturday even though there was a steady rain outside. Inside were activities like face painting for the kids, shelter tours, dog trivia games, dog training demos and cupcakes!

Mandy, our Humane Educator

Jessi, one of our two Certified Professional Dog Trainers

Catherine, our Behavior Program Manager (and our other Certified Professional Dog Trainer)

Catherine and Jessi offered several dog-training demonstrations. Here they are with Axel, one of our terrific adoptable dogs.

Axel patiently waited his turn to show off his skills.

Catherine shows how to play “tug” and then stop when the person wants to stop.

The cupcakes!

One of the special guests was Meg Vogt. She lives in Portland and owns the Magic Dog Bus! Several days a week, Meg drives around her neighborhood picking up her clients’ dogs. Usually she has about twelve canine passengers by the time they arrive at the dog park to play. After they are all exhausted, back on the bus they go for the ride home. Here are Meg and her bus! She painted it blue and neighborhood kids decorated it. What a fun bus!

Meg is a close friend of BJ, our WHS Executive Director; here they are in the Magic Bus.

Yep, that’s me, pretending to be the Magic Bus driver.

And here are a few pics Meg took on the bus on Monday!

Waiting for the Magic Bus…

On the way to the dog park!

Heading home from the dog park on the Magic Bus…

 

 

There were fifteen dog adoptions during the past week and these were the Blog Dogs.

I was especially thrilled with Henry’s adoption, as he had become my current favorite.

Here was Eddy’s adoption picture that staff sent to me. Such a happy adopter!

 

Red was a newbie who arrived at WHS last Friday and instantly became a star. He was gentle, calm, and perfectly behaved. His only problem was hair loss on his back, so he would require medicated baths. He had been found as a stray, taken to another shelter and, when he didn’t get adopted, transported to WHS. The change in location was the answer. On Sunday a lady fell in love with him. I watched the dog meet with her Poodle which went very well. It’s so much fun when I get to record a happy adoption.

And I even got an update about Red’s first night in his new home. “I gave him an oatmeal bath and his skin already looks better. Just sat in the bath & allowed me to bathe him without much resistance. He is listening, walked well by the third walk; kept looking at me for instruction. Climbed into the back of my car & immediately laid on the big pillow for a ride to Petsmart. Very treat & praise motivated. Love this boy. I will give you an update in a few weeks.” How we love happy new beginnings!

 

 

 

My leg isn’t improving…I need a brace.

When I arrived at WHS on Sunday, I found Opie and Linda in the training room. They were playing a “nose game.” Linda put  treats in various boxes spread around the room and Opie had to find them. He thought it was great fun. Opie is a two-year-old Plotthound mix who has been waiting for his forever home at WHS since June 28th.

Remember last week when I wrote this about Opie?

Because of his bouncy personality, he has torn the muscle behind his right knee (like a human ACL) and can only go for walks for now, no racing around the yards playing with his beloved stuffed toys. Though not easy for him, Opie is doing his best to rest.

Surgery on his leg is not feasible, since staying still for weeks of recovery would be impossible for this irrepressible boy. An alternative is a custom-made brace. The cost, however, for such a brace is $900. So we enlisted Opie’s help to raise the money. Here is his appeal.

 

 

If you would like to donate toward Opie’s brace, here is the WHS link to do it:
https://whs4pets.org/donate/special-donation/?stim=Help%20Opie%20get%20a%20brace%20and%20walk%20again

 

 

I was the Demo Dog and I did GREAT!

As you saw in the pictures of the anniversary party, Axel was a star in the dog training exercises. Axel has been waiting for his perfect person since October 1st. He was found as a stray and is about a year old. He has won the hearts of many volunteers and staff. Here he is with Laslo on Sunday.

He’s such a funny boy!

 

 

 

We got new coats! Are we irresistible now?

Anna and Elsa are still waiting for their forever family to find them and are hoping it will be soon, since they’ve been waiting since October 3rd. Volunteer Krystal, who took them to her house for a respite, found a couple of festive coats for them and they look pretty spiffy, don’t you think? These very sweet and easy girls are Chihuahua mixes. Elsa (black) is about six and Anna (blond) is about one. Their adoption price is two for one! They need to go to their new home together. Here they were with Caroline and Marianne on Sunday.

 

 

 

Caroline’s Pick of the Week!

Captain Nemo was found running down a road last August and brought to the shelter. He was in sad shape. He had a very painful eye condition when the eyelids “roll” back into the eye causing the lashes to rub against the cornea. The only solution is surgery. In addition, he had a bad skin rash. The poor boy was a mess. After examining him, our vet determined that after surgery he would have a prolonged recovery time. Then there was his behavior. Because he was in pain and frightened being in a strange place with people he didn’t know, he did not want to be touched and was fearful of staff and volunteers coming to his kennel. He needed time to settle, the operation, and a home in which to recover. He got all three. He soon was taking treats and willingly meeting new people, the operation was a success, and since then he has been happily fostered by a former WHS vet tech. And…yesterday he became well enough to become adoptable! Jean, his foster, brought him to WHS for me to take new pictures of him. Nemo is a two-year-old Australian Shepherd mix. We all love him and he felt like a celebrity when he visited WHS with “NEMO!” coming from every corner of the place! We’re all hoping he’ll find his perfect forever home very soon! In the meantime, he’ll continue to live in his foster home.

He has long been a favorite of Caroline’s and here they were before Nemo’s operation.

And here he was on Sunday with his eyes looking so much better!

And here is what his foster “mom” Jean wrote about him.

“Nemo is a very sweet boy. Since his stay with me, he has grown from a shy, timid and fearful dog into a happy dog. He has learned to trust and bond with me and my husband. He is playful but not high energy. He would love to have a large backyard to do what I call his “zoomies.” He loves to play with my dogs, ranging in size from 3 pounds to 30 pounds. Nemo loves to follow me around the house but he is also happy to lie at my feet or even better, snuggle up next to me on the couch or in bed at the end of the day. If you do not want to have him in bed with you, then he would love to have his own comfy bed/pillow to rest in. He should not be an outside dog because he wants to be with you. He is not a barker, although occasionally he will bark to alert me of something. Because Nemo is young, he still needs help with house-training. He is not consistent in letting me know when he needs to go potty, so he has had some accidents inside the house. He would really appreciate some patience and help from his new family in this area. Nemo has also figured out that some food and treats seem to live on counters, so he has learned to counter surf. I have caught him doing it while we were not watching. We have been working with him on correcting this behavior and when caught, he will give you the most guilty and sorry look because he knows he is not supposed to do it. Nemo takes voice corrections very well.  

I don’t know how Nemo is with cats. I also don’t know how he will be with children. When we were at the shelter on Sunday, he met a lady with her little boy who gave him several treats and Nemo took them very nicely. So there is a possibility that Nemo may be ok with children.  But perhaps to be on the safe side, I would say older children because when he gets playful, sometimes he can get a little mouthy and may knock down a little toddler. Nemo is nice to walk on a leash.  Although he is not perfect on a leash, he is not a puller so he is not difficult to handle. You can walk him on a relaxed leash.

We love Nemo very much.  He is such a loving dog.  We will miss him so very much.  We want to see him go to a family where he can become part of the family and be loved for the rest of his life.” 

 

 

 

I’m famous! I have my own movie by my former rescuers!

I introduced you to Koa last week. He is a two-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier. He has gotten along well with dogs in the past. Bailey, another of our shelter dogs, is his best friend. He should not go home with cats and he is too boisterous for small children. This last week I have learned more about his history from my friend at his former shelter. Here this happy, healthy boy was with his pal, Daniel on Sunday.

And here he was when he was found as a stray.

He ended up at a California shelter. A kind person took him and put him in a boarding facility and then eventually in a board-and-training facility for two years. He was not adopted because of the sheer overwhelming number of Pit Bulls needing homes. Here is his video made by his trainers.

 

We don’t know how long it has been since Koa has lived in a home with his own family, if he ever has. Since he was found as a stray more than two years ago, he has either been in a shelter or a training facility. It’s time this boy finally had a real home and a family with which to experience mutual love. Here he was today with volunteer John.

 

 

 

I know! I have a very cute smile! Wouldn’t you like to see it every day?

This cutie is Evie, a two-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier mix. She is a newbie to our shelter and is already winning hearts of staff and volunteers. Evie is house-trained and crate-trained. Her favorite thing in the world is being with her people whether it is snuggling on the couch or lying on her bed in the same room as you. She thinks of herself as a lap dog, which at 64 pounds…well. She is wonderful in the house, even when left alone. She enjoys playing fetch and has done some beginning agility and “nose” work, which she loves. Evie is very smart and affectionate. Her one special need is to be the only pet in the family. We’re hoping this sweetheart won’t be at the shelter for long. Here she was with Diane on Sunday.

 

Updates!

Patience

Remember Patience and her kittens from last week? Well, this may be the cutest picture ever taken. Marianne happened to open the door to the “kitten room” to check on everybody and found this. Luckily she had her camera with her!

 

Gryffin and Bella

Patience isn’t the only dog with her own kitten. You may remember Gryffin who was adopted in August of 2014. Well, his family decided he needed a kitten and adopted one at our recent Kitten Kaboodle at the mall. The first picture was taken shortly after they met each other and the second one is a couple of days ago.

 

Emma

A new picture of our sweet Emma! If you’d like to learn Emma’s touching story, type her name in the search box of my blog.

On those happy notes, that’s it for this week!

Remember, if you see a dog on my blog whom you are interested in  meeting, try to make arrangements to get to the Willamette Humane  Society soon. Some dogs are adopted more quickly than you might think.

You can reach me at adoptanoregondog14@yahoo.com