Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

The shelter has been extremely busy with adoptions during the last week! Take a look!

Ferb

Ferb is a five-month-old huge youngster. Such a good puppy. Lucky family.

Trudy

Trudy was a stray and we instantly fell in love with her sweet personality. Happily, her family found her at the shelter and took her back home.

Mocha

Mocha was one of the transfers from OHS Portland campus. Such a beauty!

Iceman

Iceman was another one of the transfers. Such a stunning dog.

Perry

Perry is a brother to Ferb and just as nice of a giant puppy.

Lexie

I was lucky to be at the shelter on Sunday to take little Lexie’s going-home picture.

Buster

Buster is such a handsome boy. Volunteer Lori got some great shots of him.

Marma

I was smitten with this girl the moment I met her. She was sad in the kennels, I’m so glad she’s now with her new family.

Benito

We were going to feature this wonderful senior in this week’s post, so spent a lot of time with him on Sunday. But on Monday he was adopted and we were thrilled. Lucky family.

Snow

This was Snow’s second time at the shelter and we’re hoping this will be her forever family. She is such a delightful girl.

Drizzy

Drizzy has been waiting for his new family since late July. We are so happy he finally found them!

Please Note: The dogs I feature in this section are available for adoption as of today, October 5, 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.

I love people and am ready for adventures with my new family!

Gloria is an energetic, happy, two-year-old American Pit Bull Terrier mix. She arrived at the shelter as a stray so we don’t know her history. Volunteer Lori took these great photos of her when I was gone. Gloria is a beauty with such a wonderful smile!

Gloria was uneasy when she first arrived. A staff member wrote, “When I went to go get her, she was scared but very cooperative. She sought attention from everyone that she met.”

We spent a lot of time with Gloria on Sunday. Since she had a lot of pent-up energy, we took her out to a yard to romp. However, she wasn’t impressed with the Jolly Ball. She preferred tennis balls.

But she didn’t quite understand what playing fetch actually meant.

She preferred to race happily around the yard.

What a joyful girl she is!

Then she hopped right up on the bench with Megan.

Gloria can be a bit timid when she first meets people, but soon warms up. Because of her enthusiasm for life, she would do better with older children. She does jump up to greet you sometimes, and she’s working on impulse control. She would like to meet any other dogs she will be living with.

After her outdoor romp, we took her into Mary’s Place where she was an excellent poser.

She wanted to show Linda that she is a lap dog.

She went from person to person for pictures, here with Megan.

She got goofy with Kate.

And then it was my turn…

Got a lap? Do you mind sharing it—A LOT? If so, come and meet ME!

Every so often, we get a dog who is quite opinionated. And when that dog weighs only five pounds, it can be humorous. Calvin, a five-year-old Chihuahua mix, has strong opinions. He arrived at the shelter as a stray, afraid and needing medical attention. After multiple teeth were removed and getting medication for his skin, Calvin is doing much better and has made many friends.

Volunteer Lori took some great pictures of Calvin and Kate.

Do you like having five pounds of contented dog on your lap? That is exactly where Calvin most likes being. He also enjoys belly rubs and gentle pets. What he doesn’t like is being asked to get OFF a lap, and he lets you know it. Because he has so few teeth left, Calvin can only eat soft food and treats, but that’s fine with him as long as cream cheese, spray cheese, or tiny bites of hot dog are included.

While Calvin can be shy at first, give him a little time and a lap and you’re soon a friend. Linda and Calvin both fell for each other quickly. Here they are in Mary’s Place.

Because of Calvin’s strong opinions, older children who will respect his space would be best for this little guy. Here he was on my lap on Sunday. He quickly fell asleep.

If you would like to meet Calvin, 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 new here, a little nervous, but I’ll be a wonderful family dog! I love kids!

Jax is an eight-year-old Pointer mix. He was surrendered because his family didn’t have time enough to spend with him and thought he’d be happier with another family who did.

Jax is pretty much your perfect family dog. His people had many good things to tell us about Jax. He has lived with small children. “Jax is great with kids. He loves attention and is very patient with children.”

He has lived with another dog for seven years and they were best friends, so a family with another dog would be perfect for Jax. He’s not a big player with other dogs, but likes to be near them and just hang out.

“He responds well to cues and just loves people and attention. When he eats, he is trained to sit on the stair landing while you put his bowl out and stay until you say ‘ok’. However, Jax loves food and his nose will get him in trouble if you leave him and your dinner out together unattended.” Jax knows many cues such as “sit, stay, down, and shake.” He is house-trained and does fine when left alone. His family describes his personality as “playful, friendly with visitors, and very active.” He has not lived with cats, and will chase them, but has never hurt one.

So there you have it. Jax is just about perfect for a family, and if they already have a dog, that’s even better for Jax. We’re hoping he won’t be long at the shelter, he is uneasy.

Marianne fell for him right away.

We spent some time in Mary’s Place and Jax was hoping his new family would come.

Jax is waiting for you in his kennel and he and we hope you will come soon. If you are interested in meeting Jax, 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/. 

Last Sunday after we finished spending time with our featured dogs, Megan, Marianne, and Kate decided to try a little canine painting. Into Mary’s Place came canvasses, paint, plastic bags, peanut butter, and cheese. The paint went on the canvass, the canvass went into a plastic bag, and the peanut butter/cheese went on top of the plastic bag. Then the dogs licked…

Snow will now demonstrate.

Here were the results of our first effort.

Snow (now adopted!)

Gloria

Peaches

Goose

Dakota

Remember Dakota and her love of the Jolly Ball a couple of weeks ago? Linda found a HUGE Jolly Ball and Dakota was thrilled!

To read all about Dakota and see if she’d be a great fit for your family, read her feature here.

If you are a regular reader of my posts, you will remember little Vanilla who came to the shelter in September of 2021, a frightened, under-socialized little puppy. At that time, Jean was working at WHS and visited with him often. He loved spending time in her office and the rest is history. His name became Damien and though he was a challenge, Jean was determined and patient, and what a wonderful life Damien now has. In preparation for his Gotcha Day, Jean sent me his professional photo to celebrate.

Scout

Scout was an instant favorite at the shelter when he arrived in July after his person died. He was such a good boy, but potential adopters walked past his kennel day after day.

Here he was in my favorite picture of him with Kate.

Then I wrote this in my August 31 post:

“Scout has been waiting for his new home since July 27th. On Sunday, a couple met him and fell in love. After spending time with him, they decided they needed time to think, and went home. But within an hour they were back at the shelter to adopt him. He’s going to have the best life!”

I recently got this terrific update!

“Hi Martha,

We have had Scout for just over three weeks now. He has been such a good boy. He is well-behaved, knows some commands, likes to please and walks well on leash. And he is good with other dogs. We had a lesson with Nicole today. Scout has a high prey drive and our yard has lots of squirrels. So Nicole gave us some hints on how to distract him from the squirrels! Here are some pictures.”

Squirrel alert!

Such a lucky dog!

A Personal Message

I’m heading to Michigan to visit family on Sunday. I’ll be back to write my blog posts again on October 30. I’m hoping there will be many adoptions in the meantime.

On that note, that’s all for this week.

As always, my thanks to my photo team volunteers Marianne, Megan, Linda, Kate, and photographer Lori.

All of the dogs I have featured today, along with other terrific dogs waiting to be adopted, can be found at Oregon Humane Society Salem Campus. 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 shelter soon. Some dogs are adopted more quickly than you might think.

You can reach me at  adoptanoregondog14@yahoo.com