Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

I am currently reading Dave Barry’s book entitled Lessons From Lucy and came upon this quote that I have long believed: “…there’s something spiritual about dogs. If you’ve ever had a dog, you know what I mean; you can see it when you look into their eyes.” I find this especially true with seniors. On Sunday we spent quality time with Siri.

I’m not a youngster and I may take a little time to get to know you, but oh, I’ll be such a great friend!

 

Siri is an eight-year-old Boxer mix who is hoping for a loving retirement home where she can relax and enjoy couch time with her peeps. She will need to be the only pet, as she doesn’t care for other dogs or cats. But she LOVES people! It takes Siri a little time to feel comfortable around new friends. When we first brought her into Mary’s Place, she paced, having little interaction with us. But suddenly, after a few minutes, something changed. Her body relaxed, she made eye-contact and started to solicit our attention. Megan and Marianne were both smitten.

 

Siri has a good history in her former home. She loves kids and is rated PG+8. She is house-trained and is well-behaved, being mostly an indoor dog. She has the usual old-age lumps and a graying face, but she is an active and happy girl. Soon she was jumping up on the couch and enjoying hanging out with Marianne and Megan, not minding my camera at all.

 

Siri will be a wonderful new family member for the right home. She is a very special girl.

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve had a difficult past, but I’m starting to learn to trust. Please be patient with me, I’m trying my best.

Hawk came to us all the way from Alabama. Because of the terrible storms in early spring, shelters there were in desperate need of space for displaced pets, so dogs already in the shelter were sent to other places. WHS took in nine of these dogs, and Hawk is our last one waiting to find his perfect match of a home. He is a four-year-old mixed-breed boy. We know that Hawk did not have a very happy or social life in Alabama so he arrived extremely apprehensive about almost everything. But gradually, over the past couple of months, Hawk has begun to trust those who have spent time with him and has slowly begun to show his true wonderful personality.

I first met Hawk when Jolene had him outside while she was starting to work with him to gain confidence in March. He was fearful and didn’t want me to come too close.

Since that time, Jolene has spent a lot of time with Hawk and wrote this about him for my post:

“Hawk is slow to trust and he frightens easily, but what a delightful boy he is once you are accepted and trusted as his friend! His playful side has been emerging as he becomes more familiar with his people and environment. At first he showed no interest in toys, and after introducing him to different items to play with, he quickly discovered that toys are fun. He tosses them in the air, rears and bucks like a pony, and it is such a joy to watch him having a good time. He responds to “happy voice” and wiggles all over when he sees one of his friends. It’s wonderful to see Hawk gaining more confidence as he is slowly introduced to new people and positive experiences. Hawk is also a smart boy, and is working on sit, sit pretty, wait, touch, leave it, paws up, come, and walking with a loose leash rather than pulling. He’s a terrific dog.”

On Sunday, another one of Hawk’s trusted friends, Linda, took him out in a yard to play. Although he was still leery of my camera, I was able to take some shots of him being the joyful dog that he really is. This is what Linda says about Hawk’s improvement:

“Just want to give Hawk a shout-out for what a great Helper Dog he has been the last few weeks. He and Jolene have assisted with leash-reactive dogs, Hawk being the easy-going, calm, let’s-just-go-for-a-walk guy. We have also paired him with the shy ones, where Hawk shares with them all the confidence he has learned. He’s been wonderful to work with.”

 

Back in Mary’s Place, another trusted friend, Caroline, spent some time just hanging out with Hawk.

 

Hawk will need a very special family with older children to continue to build his trust and confidence. He is one of our Behavior and Training Team dogs and this is what our Behavior & Training Manager, Chelsea, says about him:

“Hawk is ready for his next step towards being a cherished companion. If you give him a chance and let him get to know you, you’ll see what we are seeing now–a playful, bright, joyful dog. He loves goofing off with his most trusted friends, and he is getting to be quite affectionate. He’ll need you to support him and advocate for him, and it’s critical that only kind, compassionate training is used with him. To help guide you both, he comes with complimentary post-adoption lessons.

“Hawk loves playing with other dogs, and he’ll be eager to meet yours to see if they can be friends. We don’t know about his cat history. He’ll thrive in a quiet, stable home with responsible adults.

“Hawk is being shown by our training department. Please submit your adoption questionnaire and allow them to contact you for an appointment to meet him.”

You can fill out an application here: whs4pets.org/adopt-a-pet/adoption-process/adoption-application/

We are hoping that Hawk will soon find his happily-ever-after home very soon.

 

 

 

We’re about as much fun as you can stand! 

Oh my goodness! Little did we realize on Sunday that we were about to meet three hilarious Jack Russell Terrier mixes who would keep us laughing during their entire photo shoot. Pookie, Dixie, and Odie came to WHS after their person died. And though they are seniors (16, 14, and 14 respectively), you’d never guess it by their “energizer bunny” delightful personalities. Pookie is more independent, while Dixie and Odie love being together. First I photographed them separately.

Pookie

 

Dixie

 

Odie

 

Then we took them into a yard just to see how they would interact with each other and with us. That’s when we really started laughing.

Pookie wasted no time in leaping into Ayla’s lap, much to her surprise.

 

Dixie and Odie didn’t want to be left out.

 

All three loved just being with us.

 

Of course, they had to explore the yard.

 

All three dogs are house-trained and all three need to lose some too-many-treats pounds. Pookie has lost most of her teeth, but she doesn’t seem to mind a bit and has quite a sense of dog humor, thinking her own jokes are extremely amusing.

 

All three dogs have lots of energy and are affectionate. They have a good history with children and are rated for kids about ten and up. Next we took them into Mary’s Place where they took over and we sat back and laughed.

Now, imagine my attempts to get all three dogs to pose for a group shot…after numerous efforts, success!

We’re hoping these three senior jokesters will soon be in their active retirement homes!

 

 

 

Max is a seven-year-old mixed breed boy who was at WHS once before in 2017, here with Megan.

 

 

 

Tiger is one of our new Hawaii transfers, a one-year-old Terrier mix, here with Marianne.

 

 

 

Tyson is a four-year-old mixed breed with lots of energy. Caroline and Megan are two of his fans.

 

 

 

Primo is a seven-year-old Shepherd mix who is an extremely gentle dog, one of Marianne’s new favorites.

 

Fingers crossed that all of these featured dogs are in new homes by next post! That’s it for this week!

All of the dogs I have featured today, along with other terrific dogs waiting to be adopted, can be found at Willamette Humane Society. Here is the link to the adoptable-dog page:

https://whs4pets.org/adopt-a-pet/dogs-2/

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