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Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

May in the the Northwest is a delightful month with flowers blooming and trees filling out with new leaves. Spending springtime with shelter dogs while they wait for their forever homes is especially rewarding and fun. And when they get adopted, it is thrilling. This week there were four dog adoptions. First was a puppy named Togo. He went so quickly, I never even met him. Here are the other three:

Cowboy

Our sweet senior, Cowboy, went home with a WHS staff member. He is going to have a wonderful retirement in this forever home!

Waken

Puppy Waken went home with his new family right after I took his picture. What a good little guy who already knows the cue to “sit.”

Julia

One of my favorite things to do at the shelter is watch a first meeting of a family with a dog who will soon be their new best friend. On Sunday I got to watch Julia meet her new peeps. They were equally smitten with each other. Julia couldn’t stop smiling—even with a cone on! Her new family promised me an update soon! So happy for this sweet girl!

Please Note: The dogs I feature in this section are available for adoption as of today, May 5, 2021. But things change fast and our goal is always to find wonderful homes for our dogs as quickly as possible. To see if today’s dogs are still available and to see other available dogs, visit https://whs4pets.org/dogs/ .

I’ve been here for a while and I’m a little stressed. I’m hoping my just-right family will find me soon!

Woodford is a six-year-old Doberman Pinscher with a shy and loving personality. This is Woodford’s second time at WHS. He first arrived in 2016 as a youngster in an ASPCA transfer to us. He was adopted quickly, but returned when the family didn’t have enough time to give a young dog. He was adopted again and has lived happily in the family for five years. Recently he started having problems with the other resident dog. His family was heartbroken to surrender Woodford, but realized he needs to be the only dog in the home. I’ve spent quite a bit of time the last two Sundays with this sweet boy, but never got him to smile. As you can see in the picture below, he was quite puzzled by my antics.

Woodford’s family had many good thing to say about him. “At home, he was absolutely relaxed, loving, attention-seeking, will run in the backyard, walks fine on a leash, he’s a great family dog. He may bark at strangers but only to alert.” However, in the spirit of full disclosure, they also said, “Woodford likes to tear things up when not supervised, so can’t be trusted loose in the house alone.” Therefore a residence where someone is home most of the time would be the best for this boy. He loves to be in the car, excited to be going places, and has been fine at the vet’s.

Since being at the shelter, Woodford has become a favorite of many staff and volunteers. He is such an affectionate people-dog. As one staff member wrote, “We took Woodford into Mary’s Place. He walked around and sniffed a bit, then came up to us and shoved his head under our hands for pets. Any time we’d stop he’d paw or shove his head around our hand for more pets.” This is exactly what Marianne, Megan, and I discovered, too.

As you can see, still no luck at a smile. We have noticed that Woodford seems not to see well on his left side. The WHS vet thinks that he may be blind in that eye. But it doesn’t seem to bother the boy.

During the past five years, Woodford spent most of his time inside with his family or in the fenced backyard. He is house-trained and would alert that he needed to go out by going to the back door. He used to be fine in a crate, but the family hasn’t used one in recent years. He knows several cues, including “sit,” “stay,” “shake” and “treat.” Speaking of treats, Wooford isn’t picky. He’ll try just about anything; however, our WHS trainers discovered he loves the taste of pepperoni.

Woodford was fine with all adults and children in his former home. “He was friendly, relaxed, wanted attention and snuggling.” His favorite toys were Nyla bones, tennis balls and Kongs. He loved running and chasing a ball in the backyard. Asked to describe Woodford’s personality in a few words, the family said, “friendly, relaxed, loving, attention-seeking and playful.” They added, “We love him very much, but he needs to be in a home with no other animals. He seeks attention, is very active, and loving.”

At the shelter, we have observed that Woodford is quite shy and can be fearful of trains, cars, loud noises, and sudden movements. When frightened, he wants to lean into a person for comfort.

So what kind of home is Woodford waiting for? He will thrive in a quiet family with older kids. He’ll need to be an only pet. He’d love to visit the beach or the mountains with you. He’ll enjoy taking walks (he walks great on leash) and playing fetch in the back yard, though he does not always bring the ball back to you if he is distracted by an interesting smell. But most of all, Woodford looks forward to once again snuggling with his peeps.

Last Sunday we had a wonderful time just hanging out and visiting with this sweet boy. He was quite talkative. He loved our cheese bits and wasn’t shy about asking for more.

On Tuesday, Marianne and another volunteer, Nancy, took these pictures. Yep, he’s snuggling again!

If you have been waiting for a new best friend who will bond with you quickly and be a loyal, loving companion, Woodford may be your perfect match. If you’d like to meet him, fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on Woodford’s picture and then on the link Apply to Adopt found on this page: https://whs4pets.org/dogs/

I’m still waiting…

I’ve written about Morty several times, but still he waits for his perfect family fit.

To read all about Morty and what kind of family he is waiting for, click on this link from last week’s post:

This Week’s Featured Adoptable Dogs @ Willamette Humane Society by Martha Russell

Maxamillion/Miko

Remember Maxamillion, the beautiful shepherd who waited so long for his perfect family fit?

Here is the latest video sent by his person. Unlike many dogs, Miko is not intimidated by a vacuum cleaner!

On that laughable note, that’s it for this week!

Thanks to Staff Trainer Jessi and volunteers Megan, Marianne, and Nancy for helping with pictures for this post.

Remember, if you see a dog on my blog whom you are interested in meeting, fill out the Adoption form at whs4pets.org, and wait to be contacted by the staff. And please remember that sometimes dogs are adopted quickly, so might have already found a great home by the time you ask about them.

You can reach me at adoptanoregondog14@yahoo.com