Dear Fellow Dog Lovers,

It was a very cold, rainy day on Sunday, so all of our pictures were taken inside in the Ed Hall. We had a very good time and all the new dogs were cooperative for posing for their website pictures. We even let some dogs paint some Christmas ornaments. Yes, you’ll see how they did it later in this post. First, here are the adoptions from the last week. There were three dogs I didn’t get a chance to meet who went to their new homes. They were Bologna, Prince, and Yoshi.

Hot Chocolate

This boy was found as a stray and almost immediately became a favorite of volunteers. We were thrilled that he was adopted so quickly, before I could even feature him.

Vanilla

This goofy (and perhaps deaf) dog was such a hoot. She kept us all laughing.

Thor

Thor was one of the nicest Husky mixes we’ve ever had. Only one year old, he loved playing with toys and was a great entertainer.

Pongo

Our senior boy was finally adopted! We loved this big-personality little dog.

Rocky

I very seldom feature puppies because they get adopted so quickly and don’t need any help finding a family. But that doesn’t mean my photo team doesn’t make a point to visit with them. Kate was instantly in love with Rocky and Linda taught him the cue “sit” before he went home.

Please Note: The dogs I feature in this section are available for adoption as of today, December 7, 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.

No, I don’t smile. I let my tail speak for me.

Rufus is such a delightful character, though he always looks extremely serious. Don’t let that fool you. As the Intake staff wrote when he arrived as a stray, “Rufus is sweet, with a mellow temperament.”

As soon as you meet Rufus, you know he has been cared for and loved. He was brought to the shelter by a good Samaritan who found him one evening running loose with a collar and harness. We were sure his family would find him, but that hasn’t happened and so he is now looking for a new family to love. Rufus knows a lot and is very well-behaved. We’ve discovered that he knows sit, down, shake, and no doubt more that we haven’t seen yet. Staff wrote, “Very friendly with people, highly treat-motivated, likes to be petted and perform tricks.”

Rufus loved being in the Ed Hall with us on Sunday. He liked going from person to person for pets.

With Christmas coming soon, the dogs decided to get serious about painting Christmas ornaments for the shelter Christmas tree. Rufus was excited to paint—especially since there was peanut butter on the outside of the plastic bag covering the ornament and wet paint.

And he was very proud of his first effort.

Rufus is such a laid-back kind of boy.

Then it was time to say goodbye to his peeps before he returned to his kennel.

We have no idea what was happening in this shot!

Rufus is simply a wonderful family dog. We’re hoping there will soon be one who looks past his serious face to see his happy tail. If that family is yours, fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on his picture and then on the link Adopt Me found here  oregonhumane.org/adopt/salem-shelter-adopt-dogs/

My name is Hank. I’m a Hound. Do you need to know more?

Oh, my goodness. Hank is a hoot! He is a four-year-old Coon Hound mix who was surrendered because the family had too many animals to care for. We spent a lot of time with him on Sunday, and we laughed and laughed. Here he was with Marianne, smiling an almost human smile!

Hank has a wonderful history with his family. They wrote, “Hank is very loving, listens well, great with kids, loves lots of attention, house-trained. He’s a hound so don’t expect him to always smell like a bed of roses. He is affectionate, playful, friendly with visitors, and thinks he’s a lap dog. He loves children and is very patient with them. His favorite thing to do is play with other dogs. He has lived with large dogs, small dogs, livestock and children.”

We had so much fun with Hank on Sunday. He is such a happy dog.

And who knew he was an Elvis impersonator with his own spin. Note the The King’s lip curl!

He enjoyed painting, too!

We discovered very quickly that Hank is not a “ball dog,” but he does a great job with “sit.”

We all fell in love with this goofy, smiling Hound. We’re hoping a Hound person (you know who you are) will come and take him home soon.

If you love Hounds, come and meet Hank! Fill out the Adoption Questionnaire by clicking on his picture and then on the link Adopt Me found here  oregonhumane.org/adopt/salem-shelter-adopt-dogs/

We have two happy updates to report!

Bo

I met Bo in early April of 2016 when he was surrendered to the shelter. He was a four-year-old Retriever mix who was very shy. I wrote this about him in my April 20th, 2016 post: “Bo will need a family who will be patient and understanding, as he is sensitive about handling. He has been an outdoor dog for a while, would like to be an indoor dog again. A calm and quiet home would be best for him.” We were very happy when Bo found just the home he’d been wishing for and was adopted on April 24th.

I recently got this wonderful update from Bo’s person.

“It’s hard to believe that we’ve had Bo for almost seven years now, since we adopted him from WHS in the spring of 2016. Bo is now 10 years old and is still in great health. We are thankful everyday that he has come into our lives when he did. 

When we first adopted Bo, he helped us get over the loss of our 16-year-old-dog, Hazel. This past year, Bo helped me get over the loss of my dad, and Bo was there again when we lost my mom in October. 

Bo loves going for walks and patrolling our backyard. He spends the first part of the night keeping watch from the back of our living room couch for cats, loose dogs, and raccoons. He still accompanies me out into the backyard when I feed the chickens and rabbits. He has a girlfriend named Xena who is a three-year-old Husky. She usually comes over at least once a week. 

Earlier this month, Bo was selected to be in the 2023 Buddy Mercury calendar! Buddy is a rescued Beagle mix from New York, who went viral on Youtube about three years ago when it was discovered he likes to ‘play the piano’ and ‘sing.’ Buddy and his family promote animal rescues. Each year they make calendars, and twelve rescued/adopted dogs are selected as rescues of the month. The shelter they were adopted from gets a donation, which is 10% or more of the calendar sales. Bo was selected as the featured rescue for January! I’m not sure how many dogs were submitted, but it was open to dogs all around the world! You can bet I’ll be buying extra!

Thanks Martha for all you do to help Oregon dogs get adopted!”

This is Bo’s page in the calendar!

Saskatoon/Jack

Saskatoon arrived at the shelter as a lively, eager, four-month-old pup while I was in Michigan in October, so I don’t have pictures. He was adopted in early November. Last week, I got this happy update from a person who took on the challenge of raising a puppy!

“I adopted this beautiful boy almost one month ago from Oregon Humane Society in Salem. He has been such a blessing to my life and I love him SO much! My cats don’t share my affections, but I’m hoping they will in time.

We have worked on training and puppy behaviors every day and he’s great!

With those happy shelter dog successes, that’s it for this week!

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

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: oregonhumane.org/adopt/salem-shelter-adopt-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