His tail is always wagging

We see such horrible things and such beautiful things, sometimes at the same time. When you look at this face the first thing you see are those beautiful eyes. Behind that gaze is a wonderful soul, he's so happy to see people and his tail is always wagging. We've named him Trip.

Trip has had a difficult few days. We don't know the whole story and probably never will. Sometime this weekend his left front leg was badly injured. His people tried to take care of him but they just couldn't afford vet care so they brought him to us. He was taken to the clinic immediately. His injury was quit severe and so Dr. K, AK and LM decided to amputate his leg. They reassured me he was young and would adapt to three legs quickly.

This photo of Trip was taken late this afternoon. He had just been taken outside by NC to make his first run. He was alert and happy to have his ears scratched. When you take a second look at the photo you can see the sutures at his left shoulder. A beautiful face, a horrible situation. He will continue to heal, and he will get lots of love in the process - from the clinic staff, the kennel staff and by me.

And his tail continues wagging.

Georgie

Each of us has a breed of animal that has a special place in our heart. It might be the type we grew up with, that a friend has or that we have always just liked the look of. No matter where it came from, it is part of us and we bring it with us to our work. For me it's chocolate labs - I have two. They have privileges the dogs in my parent's home never had - full access to the house, sleeping on my bed, trips to the creek to swim. They are both from rescue and I love them dearly.

This is Georgie, a three year old male chocolate lab. He was brought in stray and was terrified in the shelter. I was walking through the kennels when our vet tech was trying to take him to the clinic. He wouldn't walk, cowered and wouldn't take a single step. I fell in love. It turns out he is also heartworm positive. So I took him home.

Georgie is now happily playing, eating and sleeping at my home. He has conquered his fear of ceiling fans, stairs and traveling in car over the past week. He loves rolling in the grass and following my two everywhere. When they bark, he barks. When they sleep, he sleeps. He is a totally different animal out of the shelter. I took him back last Tuesday to be neutered and to start his heartworm treatment. Now a month of keeping him fairly quiet while the medicine kills those nasty worms. Will he become a permanent resident?? I don't know yet.

I'm taking work home again.

Shiner

Shiner is a 12 year old female Vizla who has been missing from the mid-town area since March 24. I had received a phone call and several e-mails with photos of her, there was a whole community looking for her. Her owner had been by the shelter to see if we had her with no success and with her advanced age had given up thinking they would find her.

I returned this afternoon from a meeting downtown, parked in back of the shelter and walked through the kennels to get to my office. I passed by a run that had a beautiful dog that reminded me of the missing Vizla. Dr. P walked by and I asked her if the animal had been correctly identified as a greyhound as I knew about a missing Vizla. She said it was indeed a greyhound but that there was a young Vizla in the shelter. She then mentioned another dog, one that I had talked to on my out of the building earlier. We went back to her kennel and found an older female with a white face who was scared to death. She backed away from both of us and didn't respond to the name but I was sure it was Shiner.

I went back up to the front office but the lost poster was not on the bulletin board anymore. I remembered that I still had the phone number of the person who first told me about Shiner but all I got was a message machine. He had given me the address from which the Vizla had gone missing so I used an internet reverse directory to get a name - which of course had an unlisted number. Going to a regular phone book gave me a business address and phone number. I talked with an assistant who confirmed that the owner had indeed been missing their dog for more than three weeks. She agreed to call the home and give them my phone number. Two minutes later my phone rang and I was talking with the woman who had been at the shelter. She said she would be at the shelter in 15 minutes. I had Shiner brought up front where I fed her blueberry goodies and calmed her down. Just after 5pm this evening there was a tearful, happy reunion of Shiner and her people. It was a good Monday.

The clinic cat

Here is Fiona with her only chocolate baby, check out the blue eyes. The pups are all over the office these days and they are so funny. Since I got both of my labs when they were about 2 years old I missed the whole puppy phase. The chocolate puppy has been wonderfully fun to watch over the past three weeks. I love to listen to them growl as they play with each other and last Friday the black female walked over and tried out her new teeth on my foot!

This is Wilbur, the clinic cat. Dr. P and the girls thought they could keep him a secret but it quickly became apparent that he was going to be around for a while. He is not phased by the craziness of the clinic and the many animals that are there for a short time.

Philosophy

I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a volunteer about the animals we are sending west in our transfer program. Tuesday night more than 40 dogs and puppies went to Denver. As our shelter is at capacity right now this was a big help in opening up space in the kennels. Some of those animals had been in foster homes including one litter of 10 and one litter of 5. The next morning the volunteer was disappointed that there weren't more empty kennels since so many of the puppies had been in foster. She felt that somehow the fostered puppies had bumped animals that were in the shelter from making the trip.

I tried to explain that the ones that had gone to foster homes would stay healthy until the trip - that by going into foster we had simply opened the kennels up as we went along rather than all at once. By sending those 44 animals to new homes in another state, our shelter will be able to hold other animals for a longer period of time giving them a better chance at adoption. She didn't agree and seemed to think the shelter had somehow made a "change in philosophy".

After she left I thought about it - and had to agree. I've been here one year now and I would hope we've changed our philosophy. Save the lives of these animals by every means we can possibly think of. Make everyone a part of the solution to our problem - too many unwanted pets. I'm sure it's the right thing to do.

Cats and Me?

A certain member of my staff is gloating over my new found affection for cats. She laughs when she walks by my office and I have one hand on my keyboard and the other rubbing the head of the latest feline living in my office. She's been trying to convert me since I started at the shelter and while she hasn't succeeded in getting me to leave my dogs behind, she has introduced a new appreciation for these creatures. Thanks Donna!

Leona, who became fond of sleeping the day away in a file box under my desk, went home last week. On the right is my new kitty, Midnight. She is very loving and is happy to curl up on my desk for the day. She is not afraid of Fiona or the puppies but will head into her cage and the cat box inside if knew people walk into the room.

We had another parakeet come in today, and a very chatty one at that. We placed his cage right next to Leo and I think both will be happier for it. I now have two birds, one cat, one dog and five puppies living in my office. It makes for a great welcome as I walk in each morning.

Leona

Leona went home today. And even with Leo, Fiona and the puppies in the office it seemed empty. I have been opening her cage every morning and giving her the run of the office. A few days ago she took the top off a box under my desk and made herself comfortable in the files. She would come out to have a drink, get her head rubbed and go back to sleep in her box. I'm going to miss her.

The puppies have grown HUGE and are now getting out of the pool. They can see well enough to follow me across the room which is so cute and a little disconcerting. Fiona continues to take great care of them. Taking her out for a walk every few hours is doing a great job of getting me out of the office for some fresh air. We've had three more Mom dogs with puppies come in over the past 24 hours - some giveaways and some stray (though I think the strays were really giveaways too).

Sunday evening

On Sunday night most of the world is ready to start a new work week. Monday is a new beginning. But for us it's different. Ours is a 24/7/365 industry and while I'm not at the shelter every day, someone is there. Our animals still need food and water. Their kennels still need to be cleaned. It doesn't matter if it's a holiday or the weekend, if there is bad weather or clear blue sky. Our care goes on. New animals have come in and we'll be preparing other animals to go out. It really is a continuum that we jump into and out of on a regular schedule.

I get to jump in again in the morning.