Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

If you are a regular reader of my posts, you know that I have a special love for older dogs at the shelter. This week I want to start out by telling you about Daija. This twelve-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier mix came to WHS because her family was moving and couldn’t take her with them.

This happened at our first meeting. See why my heart melted?

 

Daija has a wonderful history with children and—are you ready—cats! Yes, you read that right, cats! In fact, she is slightly embarrassed to admit that she is a little scared of sassy cats. She is selective about other dogs, but her behavior has been improving in our playgroups. Daija loves all people. She is affectionate, happy, and active. She is house-trained (she rolled her eyes when I asked her), smart and still eager to learn new things. And she enjoys posing for pictures.

Being twelve, Daija does have some signs of age, mainly several fatty lumps (lipomas). They are harmless, don’t bother her, and because of her age, our shelter vet decided it was best not to try to remove them.

On Sunday, Caroline, Marianne, and I took this sweetest of girls into Mary’s Place where she charmed us all with her happy, enthusiastic personality. We’re hoping someone with a love of seniors will scoop this girl up soon!

 

 

 

 

I may look like I’m grown up, but I’m really just a big pup! 

Looking for a young, active dog who will make a great camping, jogging, or running partner? Do we have a dog for you! Loni is a one-year-old ham who loves to go for walks, run, and be with people. He is one of our transfers from our sister shelter in Hawaii. He is thrilled to be in Oregon and can’t wait to meet his forever family. Here he was on Sunday with Marianne.

Loni is not just a people dog. He LOVES romping with other canines and has had a great time in both our shelter and public playgroups. He likes to play rough and rowdy with other social dogs. Loni walks nicely on leash, takes treats gently,, and loves to play fetch, bringing the object back and dropping it in your lap (as you will see shortly). In the spirit of full disclosure, however, this youngster is still learning not to jump on people when he’s excited. Because of this and his size, he should go home with older children.

Linda, Marianne, Caroline, Megan and I had a delightful time with this exuberant youngster in Mary’s Place.

 

And then Loni had an idea.

Here ya go, Loni!

 

 

 

 

I’ve been here a month and I’m getting kind of stressed. I’m hoping my new family will find me soon and take me home!

Terry was found as a stray in early September. He is about three years old and is an American Staffordshire Terrier mix. Terry LOVES people. He’s not so crazy about other dogs. In fact, he is dog-selective and would be happy to be an only dog. He is becoming quite stressed after a month at the shelter and we’re hoping he’ll be adopted soon. I mean, look at that face!

Terry is not the right dog for everybody. He is a big boy who has not gotten the rewards-based training he should have, and so pulls when going for walks. At 75 pounds, he can pull hard. He is working on this and trying to do better. The fact that he loves cheese bits will help in training him. Terry can also be possessive of his toys. Because of this he will need to go home with dog-savvy people and older kids.

But! Terry is also a ham, a love bug, and a delightful character. He even agreed to pose like this in the hopes of being irresistibly adoptable.

 

 

We had a lot of fun with this beefy guy in Mary’s Place. He really enjoyed the time out of his kennel with Caroline, Marianne, and me.

 

 

 

 

Guess what! I got to go on an adventure!

I’ve written about Carly many times and still she waits for her perfect fit of a family. This is what I wrote last week, in case you missed it:

Carly is a four-year-old Retriever mix whom I’ve written about several times. She is a favorite of many at the shelter and has been waiting for her “just right” family since May 3. She has been adopted twice, but neither was the right fit for this girl. Carly is wonderful with people and most dogs, though she seems to prefer calmer dogs who are not rough and rowdy. Because she can be picky at times, she will need to meet any potential dog siblings. Carly is house-trained and loves treats (especially cheese) and loves to learn new skills. She will need a feline-free home (cats are too much fun to chase) and a fenced yard, five feet or higher. Carly would not be a good apartment dog. She needs a family with older teenage kids, as she can be quite exuberant. Since she can become anxious if there is a lot of activity outside the house, a quiet, more rural area would be ideal for this sweet girl. She wants nothing more than to be around her peeps.

Today I got this great report and pictures from volunteer Megan about taking Carly on a respite.

“On Saturday I took Carly to Keizer Rapids Park to give her a break from the shelter, and we had a great time! Carly rides very well in the car and was easy to walk on leash in open areas and along the walking paths. She loved to explore and smell all the unusual new scents, but was easily redirected if I wanted her to move away from something less than desirable (mainly rabbit poop, which she thought smelled very interesting!). She also was willing to take breaks with me, and lounge around for a few minutes. Of note, Carly is dog-selective (meaning she enjoys being around some dogs but not all). She was very aware of the dogs that passed us, but made no noise or moves—she just watched them as they went by. She is a little shy of new people at first, but does warm up quickly if you show her a little patience and kindness. She isn’t overly affectionate, but does seem very happy to spend time with her person and will definitely be up for any adventures her future family want to take her on. Overall, she is a wonderful dog who will make a loving addition to the right family!”

Carly has been waiting for her perfect family fit for a long time. Her many fans at WHS hope she won’t have to wait too much longer.

 

 

Bandit is an eight-month-old German Shepherd mix, here with Christine.

 

 

 

Cash is a six-year-old mixed-breed girl on her afternoon outing with Gail.

 

 

 

Marianne spent some time with Achilles, a one-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier mix, in Mary’s place on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

Rocket

Remember Rocket? He was a big boy with lots of energy. He arrived in early June in 2017, was adopted twice and returned. He became one of our long-termers.

 

Then in September, he was adopted again. His new person sent a wonderful update a few weeks later. I had made a movie about him while he was waiting to find his forever home, and last week I got a notice that there was a comment about it on my YouTube channel. This is what it said:

“I just found this video in my ‘watch later’ folder. I actually adopted Rocket on 9/15/17, and I couldn’t be happier! He has brought so much joy to my life, and this video brought tears to my eyes.”

I’m hoping we’ll get another update with pictures soon.

 

On a personal note, I’m heading to Michigan for my annual visit with family. I’ll be posting again on October 31. I hope to be able to report that all of today’s shelter dogs have found their forever homes.

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