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adoptable dogs, adoption dogs, deserving dogs, dogs, fellow dog lovers, humane society, shelter dogs, WHS, willamette humane society
Technical Note: Since the recent Safari 15.0 browser update, WordPress, my blog host, has had some photo issues. Previous posts that have side-by-side (aka gallery) photos are suddenly distorted. I’ve been assured that WordPress developers are on the case trying to fix the bug. In the meantime, if you view previous posts in Safari, you may find the gallery photos distorted. Other browsers do not seem to have the problem.
This week’s post is a little different from the usual. I am featuring two dogs whom I have featured before but who are still waiting for their new families. Marianne, Megan, and I spent extra time with both Bella and Hayley on Sunday and I took lots of new pictures of our time together. I hope this additional promotion will help them to find the homes they both deserve. Also, If you are a regular reader of my posts, you may remember the many updates about Buddy who was adopted as a hospice dog in 2017. I conclude this post with a memorial to this very special dog.
I’m very happy to report that we have had three wonderful dog adoptions during the past week!
Penney
Little 10-month-old Penney went home with her new family on Thursday. She is adorable! She kept us laughing during pictures. We were sure she would not be around long. Lucky family!
Floki
Floki, though only 26 pounds, thinks he is a big dog. He is such a hoot with a lot of opinions. So happy he now has a new person!
Marley
Marley, a ten-month-old energetic youngster with a go-go-go personality, was a newbie and I planned to feature her in this post. Marianne, Megan, and I spent a lot of time with her Sunday morning. She is hilarious and has a HUGE smile. She was adopted Sunday afternoon. She went home with an equally active brother, and I already got an message that they love playing tug-of-war with each other.
Please Note: The dogs I feature in this section are available for adoption as of today, September 29, 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/ .
Do you have an active family looking for an equally active dog who would love to play fetch, hike, jog, camp and learn new things? If so, let’s talk. I could be your new best friend!
Hayley is your typical, exuberant one-year-old Lab/Shepherd mix. At 88 pounds, she’s a big girl with lots of energy and an equally big heart. Hailey has been waiting for her forever family since August 28th. That’s a long time for a young, active dog to be in the shelter environment.
I first wrote about Hayley in my September 1st post, thinking she would be quickly adopted. But that didn’t happen. I’m hoping that telling more about her will result in her finding her perfect home.
Hayley was surrendered because her family couldn’t give her the time or space she needed. Hayley is hoping for a home with a fenced yard where she can romp and a family who will help her shed the extra pounds she has gained hanging around the house. Her former family says she loves everyone she meets, enjoys playing with other dogs, and gained a respect for the resident cat.
Hayley is house-trained, she loves to play with rope toys, and she isn’t picky about her treats, though cheese is a favorite. She loves to ride in a car and is excited and curious in new environments. Due to her size and zest for life, she is recommended for older, sturdier children. Hayley is working on not barking at strangers when they suddenly appear, and outside distractions. Her new family will need to continue helping her with rewards-based training.
Hayley’s former family described her as “energetic, playful, and happy.” We agree. Hayley loves to romp in one of our shelter yards. She’s so happy when she’s racing after toys.
Hayley can settle, too, after a rousing game of fetch. She loved having blanket time with us a couple of weeks ago.
On Sunday we took Hayley into Mary’s Place and she loved hanging out with Marianne, Megan and me.
Hayley is going to make a wonderful family dog who will love to go on any adventures involving hiking or camping. If Hayley sounds like the perfect addition to your family, fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on her picture and then on the link Adopt Me found on this page: https://whs4pets.org/dogs/.
I don’t get it. I’m cute, I love to cuddle, and I’m a good listener. So why is it that you haven’t come and adopted me, yet?
Note: Bella has several “meets” coming up, so may soon be off to a new home. If you are interested in her, you can check the WHS page of currently available dogs here: https://whs4pets.org/dogs/
Bella is a twelve-year-old Pug/Beagle mix who was surrendered because her family felt that though they loved her, they didn’t have enough time to give her and wanted her to have the attention she deserves.
Bella has been waiting quite a while for her new family. She arrived at WHS on August 21st. We were sure she’d be gone very quickly because she is such a little character. She has lots of personality and opinions that she enjoys sharing. She has an adorable little Beagle howl. When she’s excited, she throws her head back and tells the world. Because she is quite vocal, she probably is not the best choice for apartment life.
Bella has the usual older dog concerns including being hard-of-hearing along with having dental tartar. However, our WHS vet gave her teeth a thorough cleaning and pronounced her to be a healthy geriatric girl. Bella has never had dog roommates, but at WHS she hung out happily in a yard with Tess, another Pug/Beagle, until Tess was adopted. While she’s a senior, you’d never know it. Bella has spunk!
What Bella loves most is to be near or on her people. She loves attention and is very affectionate.
Bella has lived happily with a cat and she did fine with the children in the family. Bella is house- and crate-trained. She spent time in her crate when the family was gone and slept in it at night. She’s not a huge fan of baths or nail trims, but tolerates them. She’s not picky about treats, though she really likes my cheese bits. She loves playing with plush toys. Her former family describes her as “playful, affectionate, relaxed, and independent.” Bella does bark in the shelter when she is excited or anxious.
We love spending time with this little girl who will be such a delightful lap dog for someone who wants a devoted companion.
Today, Marianne brought Bella to Bush Park to meet up with other volunteers Linda, Jolene, and me for a respite from the shelter. Bella did great! The Beagle in her sniffed the ground everywhere. She enjoyed just hanging out with us and watching the people and dogs walk/jog by on the path. You would never guess she is twelve years old! It was such a beautiful fall day for an outing!
Bella may not be a puppy anymore, but what a wonderful senior girl she is. If you are looking for a sweet and affectionate little dog, Bella fits the bill. If you think Bella would be a perfect fit for you, fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on her picture and then on the link Adopt Me found on this page: https://whs4pets.org/dogs/.
Buddy, the The Three Tennis Ball Wonder!
Atom (his name before he became Buddy) arrived at WHS on September 13, 2017. It was very difficult to look at him. He had been found as a stray and was a medical mess. Both eyes had entropion, a condition in which the eyelids turn inward, causing the eyelashes to rub against the eyeball, a painful (but fixable), situation. Because of this, Atom kept his eyes closed as much as possible. He also had much hair loss and terrible skin irritation. Finally, he had a tumor that was probably malignant. 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 despite his many health challenges, Atom had such an amazing personality. His sweet, gentle nature, his quiet acceptance of his conditions, and his affectionate personality made volunteers and staff eager to put in the time and effort to make him healthy again. After surgery on his eyes, the removal of the mass, and treatment for his skin, he felt so much better! Sadly, the tumor was malignant, and so, not knowing if or when the cancer would return, it was decided he would be a “hospice adoption.” We worried about who would adopt this huge lug of a senior dog, whose expression never changed, who had a possible short life expectancy, and with whom we had all fallen in love.
It turned out, we didn’t need to worry. You can imagine how thrilled we all were on October 22, 2017, when a delightful young couple fell in love with this giant teddy bear and decided to take him home. I was so excited that I got to meet his new family!
After the threesome was settled, we were invited to come and visit and we did! Here we are: Marianne, Caitlin, and I absolutely over the moon about the jackpot of a home Atom, now Buddy, had won. It turned out the boy LOVED tennis balls and stuffed two, sometimes three, in his mouth most of the time.
For four wonderful years, I would receive updates on Buddy’s happy life, so amazing for a dog who was a hospice adoption. Sadly, last week I got the news that his devoted pet parents, Matt and Catharine, had had to let Buddy go. I asked them to write a tribute for this post along with their favorite Buddy pictures. Here it is:
“Every dog is amazing.
Then there’s Buddy. Buddy was truly an amazing dog and everyone who got to meet him felt this way. He was the most kind, personable, loving dog we could have come across at the shelter that day in October 2017. We immediately knew we came across a great dog because at least three of the shelter volunteers were watching closely as we met him and interacted with him. We knew they cared what happened to Buddy (or Atom as he was called when we arrived). They all wanted to be with him in the petting room, they told us about how wonderful he was, and they fed him little blocks of cheddar cheese.
After spending a half hour in his presence, we fell in love with him. He had come a long way at the Willamette Humane Society. He still had some healing to do but despite all of his troubles, he still had endless puppy smiles, sloppy kisses and so much love to give.
We learned over the next four years that this was Buddy’s true superpower: never giving up and always finding joy in being alive every day, no matter what.
Once we got Buddy home, we lay on the floor with him and discovered his need to place his huge American Bulldog head on top of ours. He quickly earned the nickname “Buddy the Crusher” not because he was a brute, but because he devotedly crushed us with his love and affection.
For a week or two, Buddy curled up in his first little bed (one of many to come) and slept and slept. He seemed a bit hesitant to join the family at first, perhaps simply exhausted from his life journeys or simply unsure whether we would be there tomorrow. But every day we were there and slowly his bed and warm blanket and fuzzy fleece collection grew. We wanted to show him he could trust us.
We took Buddy everywhere and slowly he saw that we were a family and that any time we left, whether for a few hours or a weekend trip, we would always come back. I think once he figured this out he realized he could have anything he wanted, and he took it. Every blanket in the house, any treat and every bed—it was all his. Orange bell peppers were his favorite snack.
Except the couches! He was told NO to getting on the couch when he arrived and he only cheated twice (that we know of). After that he refused to get on the couch even when invited on special napping occasions. We loved waking up in the morning and snuggling him in our big bed, he was so comfortable lying on his back, splayed out, sleeping til 10 or 11am, sometimes even noon.
Buddy was an older guy but after some healing he sure didn’t seem like it. He loved to leap over the wall to the park next door and run (and run and RUN) after his tennis balls playing ChuckIt until he tore his ACL and had to have knee surgery at age 11. His knee never recovered to full capacity, but he still loved his walks several times a day and never tired of strolling around sniffing, drinking from the dog fountain (his favorite water source), and joyfully sommersalting onto the ground to scratch his back and roll happily on the green grass.
I like to think that Buddy lived for four years with us because of love. We loved him so much and I think he really loved us. We are really missing him, he has left a massive hole in our small family but we are so thankful he came into our lives and spent his last years with us. He brought so much love, goofiness, and friendliness into our world and shared it with everyone who met him.
Thanks, Buddy. We miss you and we love you.”
Buddy, an old soul even when he arrived at WHS, will be in all of our hearts forever, always with a tennis ball—or three—stuffed in his mouth. And we will be forever grateful to Matt and Catharine who gave him the life and happiness he deserved for much longer than anyone thought possible. So many happy memories.
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:
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
