Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

As we begin 2017, we’re very excited and optimistic that there will be many more happily-ever-after stories for our shelter dogs in the months to come, of both brand-new arrivals and ones who are still waiting for their perfect families. While lots of new dogs from a Texas transfer are settling into their WHS kennels as I write, this post is going to be about some of our longer-term residents—those who continue to patiently hope that their forever family will walk though our doors and take them home.

First, there was one Blog Dog adoption during the past week.

Beauty

 

 

I’ve had some wonderful adventures since the last post about me!

You know by now that Mary is one of my favorite current shelter dogs. She is an eight-year-old Bull Dog mix. This sweet girl is waiting for her perfect fit of a family. She will need to meet any dog she would be living with and since she loves children and has lived happily with them, she’s hoping for kids eight-years old and above. She will also need an escape-proof yard.She was very happy to spend Christmas with volunteer Allen and Michelle. Here was their report:

“I wanted to give a recap of our long weekend with Ms. Mary. We really enjoyed our time with her! She was very easygoing the entire time. We ran errands with her and she patiently waited in the car while one of us went in to whichever store we were at. On Christmas day we missed the window to drop her off at WHS so she came up to Vancouver with us and was a champ in the car. She really enjoyed playing with the balls and deflated basketballs in our back yard. If someone is able to take the time to play with her on a regular basis, we bet she could quickly shed some pounds. She can be a little enthusiastic during play (she will jump for the ball with it still in your hand) so it might make sense to have an older kid be the one to play ball with her. We left her alone in the car in the driveway for a time while we were visiting with family and she just curled up and took a nap.”

Just look at this face!

But that wasn’t all of Mary’s excitement. Remember when she went swimming last week? As you’ll recall, she wasn’t very excited about getting into the water. Marianne and I took her again on Friday and she was much more relaxed and actually seemed to enjoy it some. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Of course, Mary wrote her own story.

Mary was waiting for her first swim when volunteer Linda walked in to visit.

Even though Lori was on her way out, she stopped to say hi to Mary.

Feeling more relaxed and confident this time, Mary had a request.

 

 

Each client dog gets three swims with time in between them to rest.

After her three sessions, Mary was exhausted and happy to snuggle with me in the car on the way back to the shelter.

Mary continues to wait for her forever family. We’re hoping it won’t take much longer.

 

 

 

I went on an adventure, too!

No sooner had we delivered Mary back to the shelter, when we decided to take Kenny on his own excursion. Kenny is one of our ASPCA transfer dogs who arrived on October 28th. He’s a one-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier mix, and a perfect medium size, weighing fifty pounds. He was adopted once, but was returned because he did not care for the cat in the home. He rides wonderfully in the car and if you’re looking for a snuggler, this boy may be a perfect fit for you. He LOVES people and their attention. He needs a family with kids thirteen and older. He walks beautifully on leash and loves to learn new skills. Because Kenny gets nervous when on display in the Adoption kennels, his kennel is in the B section, away from the public. This means that people interested in meeting him need to ask the staff to see him. This may be why this sweet dog hasn’t been found by his perfect family. To help him get more exposure, Marianne and I took him to visit our friends at Capitol Subaru so I could make a video, showing his delightful personality. The staff there always welcomes our shelter dogs. So here is Kenny’s Subaru Meet and Greet.

Kenny wasn’t sure where we were going, but he didn’t care!

It was a long way to Subaru!

Subaru is very dog-friendly and Kenny enjoyed the amenities.

Kenny had a blast meeting everybody!

He  wanted everyone to know where to find him.

He even got to look at some of the cars available!

Here he is in action!

After all the excitement, Kenny was ready to relax on the way back to WHS.

 

 

 

I’m a hound. Howling is what I do! I’m looking for a Hound-loving person!

Every so often a Hound is surrendered to WHS who is looking for a Hound-savvy human. Ruger is three-year-old, knows some commands, is treat-motivated (loved my cheese bits), is house-trained and has lived with other dogs. He is a big boy at 82 pounds, so he needs to live with kids 13 and up. He generally walks well on leash, though he can pull some when excited. I first walked Ruger last week and had a great time getting to know him. I found him quite talkative, as Hounds often are.

Later in the afternoon, Marianne took Ruger out and I was glad I happened to be around. Who would have guessed they had the same taste in music?

They started with the Blues.

It turns out Ruger is quite the virtuoso.

Then they moved on to Country music.

The session ended quite suddenly.

 

 

 

We both have been here a long time. Maybe our new people will find us THIS week!

I have written about Betty and Scout several times, but they are both still waiting for their forever homes. Like Kenny, Betty and Scout do not show well in the Adoption kennels, so are in the B kennels, away from the public. This means that people interested in meeting them need to ask the staff to see them. Also like Kenny, this may be why Betty and Scout haven’t been found by their perfect families.

Betty is a three-year-old Australian Cattle Dog mix who has been waiting for her perfect family fit since October 24th. She is house-trained, loves squeaky toys, knows several commands, and is very affectionate. She would like an active family, since she LOVES to play. She also needs an understanding and patient person who will help her overcome her fear of strangers (especially men), and new situations. Her human kids need to be ten and older. Betty has won the hearts of many volunteers at the shelter and we’re all hoping she’ll go home soon.

Scout is a transfer from San Antonio, Texas. He is a two-year-old, fifty-eight pound Retriever mix. Scout is VERY active, acting much like a puppy when he plays—this means he’s jumpy, and a rough and rowdy player with both other dogs and humans. He can be mouthy, so will need some positive training to learn impulse control. Scout is looking forward to becoming an Oregon dog in a family without kids. His adoption comes with both our WHS Dog Smart and Check In & Chill Out classes.

And here is a little of a Betty and Scout play date. Let’s get them their perfect homes!

 

 

Update!

Red

When Red and his brother, Scooter, arrived at WHS last August, they were in rough shape. They had hair loss, eye problems, chipped teeth, dirty ears and coat, long nails and lumps. Red was the older one, at seven, while Scooter was four. But despite their medical issues, they were extremely gentle dogs. Red seemed depressed, but was cooperative in every way. Here he was at WHS. He LOVED to play ball.

After being treated by the WHS vet, they became available and to our joy and relief, each was adopted. I always wondered how they were doing, especially Red, since because of his age, he had more medical challenges. Well, this week I got this wonderful report on Red and his new family. He has two canine sisters, Jamie (the black one is eight) and Hattie (the chocolate one is 21 months). Here is his family’s update:

“We adopted Red from WHS back in October. I wanted you to know he is doing great and was a wonderful addition to our family. Adopting a new family member requires some adjustment, but Red was a bit more due to his health issues and a recent surgery. It did not take us long to get past the ‘what did we do?’ phase to not being able to imagine life without him. His sweet and gentle disposition won us over. Since bringing him home, he has formed a very strong bond with our youngest dog. They spend a great deal of time playing chase and destroying toys. He has quickly settled in to our active lifestyle and he absolutely loves camping and going to the beach. He bounces on his front feet when we get home from work. He snores and is a true bed hog. He is a perfect gentleman for his nail trims and his baths. We won the doggy lottery when we adopted this sweet boy.”

 And here is the extended family, dogs belonging to other family members! What dog-loving peeps!

On that very happy note, that’s it for the first post of 2017!

 

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