Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

The shelter has been bustling this past week with the arrival of sixteen dogs from an overcrowded Texas shelter. Almost as soon as they got settled into their new kennels, potential adopters arrived. Several newbies are already in their forever homes. I spent last Sunday afternoon taking their pictures and will introduce some of the remaining dogs to you later in this post. But first, I want to tell you about an adoption of one of our longer-term seniors.

 

 

Casey first came to WHS in 2014 and was surrendered again last May. He was adopted once, but it wasn’t the right fit, and he was returned. We took him in Mary’s Place on Sunday to get new pictures so I could feature him again this week. However, he was sure that his new family was coming and they did! They put a hold on Casey and then had a dog-to-dog meet with his new brother, also a senior and also named Casey on Monday. So OUR Casey is now Cadey.

 

 

 

 

Whenever a new transfer of dogs arrives at WHS, it’s exciting and many are adopted very quickly which is wonderful. However, as we volunteers know, there are some long-termers who watch from their kennels as new arrivals are scooped up and taken to their new homes. So this week I made two movies to showcase Kia and Roxie, terrific dogs who are still waiting for their perfect family to scoop them up and take home.

 

I’m a big girl, but that just means there is more to love!

Kia is a five-year-old Mastiff/Retriever mix and, at 118 pounds, she IS a big girl. She actually needs to lose some of those pounds, as she has arthritis and less weight would be easier on her joints. Kia is house-trained, walks well on leash, and has done well with kids. She is friendly to everyone and knows several commands. She loves to play fetch for short periods and when she’s tired she lies down to let you know she’s done for now. While playing, she will bring the ball back and put it in your hand. She is dog-selective, so would need to meet any dog she was going to live with.

On Sunday we first spent some time outside with her. She had romped with newbie Kylie in playgroup that morning and it was getting hot, so we didn’t stay out long.

 

Then we took her into Mary’s Place and introduced her to a Giant Fluff Ball. She immediately decided it was a great pillow to relax on after a tiring playgroup.

After these shots, we told her that she can take the GFB home when she gets adopted.

Staff member Ari stopped in to say hi and Kia told her all about the GFB and that she is going to take it home when she gets adopted.

 

Then it was time to make her movie!

Kia will be a wonderful, easy-going companion who will be happy with strolls around the neighborhood and short ball games. A family will be very lucky to adopt her.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Hogg, our vet here, fixed me up and now I’m ready to be adopted!

I first wrote about Roxie in June. She is an eleven-year-old Rottweiler mix who is a gentle, quiet senior. Her owner who had her since puppyhood died and Roxie needs a new person to love.

Before Roxie could go home, she needed to have some surgery to fix a few things. She had a fatty mass that was removed, a dental cleaning, and her eyelids were fixed (she had entropion, her eyelids rolled inward). Her eyes are still red from the surgery, but are healing well. Our wonderful WHS vet, Dr. Hogg, performed the surgery and now a “new” Roxie is waiting for a family to take her home. Here she was Sunday with Marianne and Caroline.

To say Roxie is a “couch potato” is a perfect description. She will be so easy to have around. She will be totally content to hang out with her peeps—literally on the couch. She won’t need long walks; in fact, if you have a fenced yard, she’ll be content just to wander around in it a couple of times a day. Roxie can be picky about her dog friends and, at her age, would enjoy being an only dog. She has not had experience with children, and so would do best with older kids. She has gotten along with cats that she knows, but will bark at ones she doesn’t. Roxie is house-trained and walks well on leash. To show you just how much Roxie enjoys lounging, here’s her movie.

We’re hoping that someone with a heart for old dogs will give our sweet girl a soft bed and lots of love for the rest of her life.

 

 

 

 

Yep, I’m still here. My sandwich and I hope to go home soon!

I’ve written about Summer several times, hoping the right person would see the post, but so far they haven’t. As always, Marianne and I spent time with her on Sunday in Mary’s Place and she was so cute posing with what was her favorite toy of the day, a sandwich, that I had to write about her again.

Summer arrived at WHS on May 5th. She is a four-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier mix. She came to us with a chronic ear infection which is now under control with medication, but it will need to be monitored and possibly treated for the rest of her life. We are hoping that this condition will not deter an adopter from taking this sweetheart home. While WHS was evaluating her medical issues, she had two “holds” from interested adopters. However, when Summer was finally able to go home, both families were no longer interested in taking her. So Summer is again waiting for her forever family. She can be picky about her dog friends, so will need to meet any dog she goes home with. She also is nervous around children, so older teenagers, fifteen and up, would be perfect for her. Oh yes, and no cats! They are just too easy to chase.

We had so much fun with her Sunday afternoon. She is just a delightful and fun dog. Here are some pictures from our time together. First Summer had to FIND her sandwich.

 

Marianne found the sandwich!

I call this series, “Dog with Sandwich.”

 

And then it was time to relax.

Summer is getting stressed after being at the shelter since early May and is barking more in her kennel and when she first sees strangers. We’re really hoping she’ll be adopted very soon so she can decompress and settle into a new family who will love her as we do.

 

 

 

Here are some of our newly arrived dogs, some from Texas and some surrendered.

Aleela, a five-year-old Border Collie mix, hung out with Marianne on Sunday.

 

 

 

Sparky is an eight-year-old Rat Terrier mix, here with Patty.

 

 

 

Duke is a one-year-old very active mixed breed youngster with a ton of energy. Here he is with Shannon.

 

 

 

Reggie is a two-year-old Golden Retriever mix, here with Marianne.

 

 

 

This is CiCi, a two-year-old mixed breed girl who loved Mary’s Place and raced around, stopping for only a nanosecond on the couch with Caroline.

 

 

 

Marianne had fun meeting Baloo, a two-year-old Black Mouth Cur mix. Love those eye markings!

 

 

 

This is Kylie, playgroup buddy of Kia, with Caroline. Kylie is a four-year-old mixed breed girl.

 

 

 

Besides the newbies, I want to include two more longer-termers in this week’s Quick Looks. First, Boomer—Ayla sent me this picture she took of him in Mary’s Place. Such a fun, goofy boy! Boomer is a five-year-old American Staffordshire mix.

 

 

 

Nola is still waiting for a loving retirement home. Nola is a gentle ten-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier mix. She is just a gem of a girl with a large fan club. You can read about her in detail in last week’s blog post.

 

 

 

 

 

Atom/Buddy

I’m happy to give you another update on our wonderful boy. Background: Atom arrived at WHS as a stray and a medical mess on September 13th. Because of his age, about nine, and multiple health issues, it would have been easy to decide that he was too old for the needed treatments. But Atom had such a sweet, gentle personality despite all of his problems, and WHS put the time and effort into making him healthy again. So you can imagine how thrilled we all were when a delightful young couple fell in love with this giant teddy bear and decided to take him home. They have been wonderful about keeping in touch and love Buddy (his new name) with all their hearts. Marianne and I even made a house visit to see him again. Last week these pictures arrived. Oh, and when they adopted Buddy, he wasn’t going to be allowed on the bed…

After recovering from guffawing over these, I asked for an update. Here’s what they sent:

“Buddy is enjoying his first summer with us in Salem and is having plenty of fun outdoor adventures now that the weather has brightened! He spends as much time as he can in the city park next door to our house, either quietly lounging in the grass enjoying the breeze or sprinting after his favorite tennis balls (he would chase balls 8 hours a day if we let him, but then he wouldn’t be able to walk the next day so we limit him to a few Chuck-It sessions every day!) He also loves to greet customers at the self storage facility (also our home) and tries to coax them into taking him to the park to play ball, ha! Buddy loved roaming the open acreage with us at our friends’ 250-acre ranch in Dufur, OR, and always stayed right by our sides (he’s such a good guy) even off the leash. Buddy loves riding in the car and before it got too hot outside he went with us on a few Hoss Soss deliveries (Hoss Soss is our hot sauce company) and delighted all the warehouse stockers with his happy smile and wagging tail. He has been back to the beach a few times and most recently Buddy enjoyed a day on the water—we rented a pontoon boat at Detroit Lake and he got his sea legs right away! He’s not the biggest fan of water at home (as in taking a bath once a week) but if it’s hot outside he’s happy to wade into a river to cool off. All in all, Buddy (we hope) is having a blast! He makes us laugh and smile every day and never turns down a chance to snuggle or have his belly rubbed. We love this guy SO much!”

 

On that very happy update, 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