Happy St. Patrick’s Day From WHS Shelter Dogs!

Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

I have the BEST photo team and the most cooperative shelter dogs EVER! How do I know? You’ll see the reason when you get to the Adoptable Dogs part of this post. But first, I’m thrilled to report that there were SIX dog adoptions since last week!

Laguna

Remember last week when I wrote a Quick Look for puppy Laguna, saying that she wouldn’t be at the shelter for long? Well, she wasn’t. I’m sure she is keeping her new family laughing, busy, and alert!

Oso

We knew that little Oso wouldn’t be around long, either. What a cute youngster at nine months.

Luna

We were especially excited when Luna was adopted as she had been waiting for the right person for quite a while.

Valkyrie

This was Valkyrie’s second time at WHS. We’re hoping it will be her last. She was adopted so quickly after her surrender this time, I didn’t even get to see her. This is a picture from her previous stay with us.

Nova

Our shy Nova was adopted a second time. The first time, the resident dog decided he didn’t want a roommate once they got home. We’re hoping this time will be her perfect fit of a family.

Lindsay

Lindsay seemed a little lost at the shelter, so we were very happy when she went home on Monday.

Please Note: The dogs I feature in this section are available for adoption as of today, March 16, 2022. 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 featured dogs are still available and to see other available dogs, click on the link to the currently available dogs here.

At the beginning of this post, I mentioned my wonderful photo team and cooperative dogs. Since St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow, I couldn’t help myself. I brought props to the shelter, as I do every year. Megan, Marianne, and Linda may have rolled their eyes when they saw me coming. I was lugging my tote full of green, and as always, they rose to the occasion along with the dogs, who agree to anything if cheese is involved. We had many laughs.

I may not be a puppy, but I am experienced. The people here love me and say I’m a wonderful dog. I hope you will think so, too!

Sometimes a dog arrives at the shelter who is just about perfect. Brutus is such a dog. He is a seven-year-old Lab/Pit Bull mix. He was surrendered to the shelter because his owner died. You will not meet a nicer dog.

I first met Brutus a week ago soon after he arrived at the shelter. He was uneasy, nervous, and sad. But when Megan asked to feature him this week and we spent quality time with him on Sunday, I realized what a special boy he is.

Brutus may be a senior, but he has energy and the family of his former owner had nothing but good things to say about him. At home he is “energetic and playful.” He walks very well on leash. He can be quite shy at first meetings, so will need a little time to warm up to new people. However, we found it didn’t take him long before he wanted to snuggle with us in Mary’s Place. In fact, cuddling with his people seems to be his favorite thing to do besides having some cheese bits as treats.

Brutus could not have been more eager to please and loved being part of the fun.

Brutus has not had a lot of experience being around other dogs, but has gotten along very well with the other resident dog in his former home. He also has lived happily with cats and children. He is house-trained and will alert you when he needs to go out. He loves riding in the car. Brutus is crate-trained and loves his crate; he sleeps in it at night. He will bark when a stranger comes to the door, but quickly stops. He is fearful of loud noises such as fireworks. And did I mention—he loves to cuddle.

Brutus is such a good boy. For a family who loves senior dogs, he will make a wonderful family addition. We’re hoping he won’t have to wait long.

If you would like to give Brutus his loving retirement home, fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on his picture and then on the link Adopt Me found on this page: https://whs4pets.org/dogs/.

I’m still here waiting for my new family who wants to go on adventures!

I wrote about Rock last week, but I just knew he’d enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day theme, so we spent time with him again on Sunday. He loved it!

The first thing you need to know about Rock is that he is a Hound/Alaskan Malamute mix. At four years old, he is still full of energy and ready for adventure. His former family loved him and he was very happy living on their property outside of town where he had room to romp. However, when the family moved to a smaller place in town and didn’t have as much time for Rock, he had a difficult time adjusting. His family wrote, “Rock wants to be more active than there is room for now, so sometimes he lies around seemingly depressed. He is happy when he’s around people, and wants to play.” 

It was pouring rain outside on Sunday, but it didn’t phase Rock one bit. He loved playing with us in Mary’s Place. And imagine our surprise when he broke into song…TWICE!

Rock is not the right dog for everyone, but for a family with space for him to run and the time and patience to work with him on fine-tuning his manners, he will be such an amazing character to have in your family. He will keep you laughing, as he did us on Sunday. He needs a little work on recognizing personal space.

Linda was working on some impulse control training, and Rock was trying to concentrate…

Rock will also be a loving friend who will enjoy simply hanging out with you at the end of the day.

To learn more about Rock and the kind of home he is looking for, and see a movie of him in action, read my last-week’s feature about him here.

I got to go to Lori’s photography studio and be a star!

I have written about Meliodas (Melly to his friends) several times, but his just-right family hasn’t found him yet. If you are a regular reader of my posts, you already know volunteer Lori, a professional photographer, who not only walks dogs at the shelter, but sometimes takes them home for their very own photoshoot! Meliodas got to have his day in the sun last week. Here is Lori’s report.

“Meliodas hesitated for a moment, then jumped into my car. He stayed very still on the backseat facing the opposite door with me sitting beside him. However, on the way back to the shelter he faced me and even ate a treat on the seat left from our ride to the studio. Great practice and progress! 

Meliodas was a little excited in the studio at first, but settled fairly quickly after being free to check everything out off leash. As my granddaughter sat in a chair, Meliodas quickly decided to jump right up on her lap for love and attention. Both were very happy!!

Melly enjoyed his studio time due to all the treats and attention he received to pose. He was very cooperative, friendly, and adorable as usual, showing great manners and skills. He is such a smart lovable dog.

I have loved Melly from our very first meeting and always seek to spend time with him at the shelter. My daughter and granddaughter became extremely attached after their two hours with him!”

And here he was back at the shelter, relaxing after a busy day with his favorite toy.

To read all about Meliodas and see if he might be the right fit for your family, check out his feature and see a video here. If you would like to meet him, fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on his picture and then on the link Adopt Me found on this page: https://whs4pets.org/dogs/.

Jack

Jack has been waiting for a long time for his just-right home. We knew he’d be excited to participate in our St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans, so we brought him into Mary’s Place for some fun. He was a great sport. He loved to snuggle with Marianne.

Jack arrived at WHS on January 21st. He was surrendered because he was not getting along with the other resident dog. Jack loves hanging out with his friends at the shelter. Jack is hoping for a person who will help him overcome some anxiety about a few things. The Behavior & Training staff and volunteers are working with Jack and he has shown great improvement. For example, he was alarmed when he saw his reflection in glass, but with positive training, he has overcome this fear. Jack needs a family willing to give him a little extra support when he is feeling nervous. To read all about him, see more pictures and a video, click here.

If after reading about Jack, you think he might fit well into your lifestyle, fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on his picture and then on the link Adopt Me found on this page: https://whs4pets.org/dogs/.

Galaxy/Aksala Sky

When you have written a shelter dog blog for as long as I have, you experience both wonderful highs when a favorite dog is adopted, and sadness when you hear that one had to be let go.

I first met Galaxy in August of 2012, and wrote about her in my September 5th post. Galaxy was a one-year-old American Pit Bull mix, a big girl at 64 pounds. She had come to us as a transfer from an overcrowded shelter in California, having been found as a stray.

She quickly became a favorite of mine and I looked forward to walking her and taking her to a yard to play every week. While Galaxy had a good and happy heart, she had had very little training and I worried about her being adopted. I wrote, “Galaxy is an energetic young girl who can be quite boisterous when she first greets you, but soon settles down into a lap dog. She wants so badly to be part of a family that she can call her own. She would do well in a WHS training class to help her learn to calm her initial enthusiasm.”

I was astounded when a lady named Kristine from Alaska, who was visiting Portland, happened to see Galaxy in my blog and sent me a message asking questions about her. I sent pictures and told her everything I knew about this big lap dog. In my next post on September 19th, I wrote, “It was love at first post. The lady arranged to drive to Salem on Sunday to meet Galaxy in person. She had already emailed me that she was ‘100% sure’ she’d be adopting her. I was excited to tell Galaxy the news, and as you can see, she was pretty happy, too!”

There was still one thing to do. I wrote, “One last detail before she left on her big trip was having Galaxy spayed. That was done this week. Tomorrow this California stray will be heading north. Here she was today, having to wear a cone after her spaying. I told her it would soon all be in the past and she’d be on a grand adventure.”

And then it was the day to head to Alaska! Kristine changed Galaxy’s name to Aksala Sky (get it? Spell Alaska backwards!) and off they went—a formerly homeless California dog was going to call Alaska her forever home.

Over the next years, I received several updates about our girl. This one was from October, 2012.

“Aksala was my little saviour the other night. I fell during a rainstorm and ended up flat on my back, in the dark, reinjuring my shoulder and couldn’t move. Aksala came and sat right beside me until I was ready to try moving and she literally pulled me up, walking in front of me the entire walk back to the door…what a sweetheart she is!”

In August of 2016, Kristine wrote, “This crazy girl is now unbelievably going on 5 years old. It’s hard to believe that 4 years have passed so quickly. She’s still as energetic, incredibly loving, clumsy, and slobbery as the day I brought her home and I wouldn’t change her for the world.”

Over time, Aksala began to show her age.

Last week I received the sad news that Kristine had to let Aksala go. She wrote,

“Greetings Martha….I promised myself I would send you a message for the past month and must have attempted to do so every day….

I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for introducing me to the most incredible, beautiful, loving and best friend I have ever had through photos from afar. We did have a rough start…but with patience, trial, error, understanding and a lot of good treats, we became inseparable and as much as she needed someone, I learned I, myself, needed her more. 

I was blessed with many years, although it can never be enough and seemed so brief. She was my purpose, my motivator and comforter when I lost my son five years ago. She always knew when I needed extra comfort and snuggles.

Last September, what at first had been mistaken for allergies turned out to be advanced cancer. She became my hospice pup. She was spoiled every last moment in every day she had left with homemade chicken nuggets (her absolute favorite), homemade ‘doggie style’ cheeseburgers and love, love, love…as always. As long as she was happy, wagging her tail, being bossy about her routine and still loving her life, that was all that mattered to me.

On her final day, I put a brave face on and was there to quietly comfort, hold and love her as we said goodbye. I made it home and then….I had to walk through the door and she wasn’t there. Thank you for bringing us together.“

I will always remember this sweet girl and be forever grateful to Kristine for adopting a challenging youngster and giving her the best life she could have. Thank you, Kristine.

That’s it for this week.

My extra thanks to my photo team, Marianne, Megan, and Linda, for being such good sports and making this post possible.

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/dogs/

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