A Long Weekend

I’m worn out and blue and I hardly know where to start. I guess I’ll start it here with Kelly. You remember me gushing about this adorable Chow Chow that reminds me so much of Sugar. She had a deposit put on her during our Black Friday sales event and I worried the rest of the weekend whether or not I had steered the right family towards her. Well, she recently tested positive for heartworms and her soon-to-be family couldn’t handle that and voided the adoption.

Kelly (ID: 41522)

As much as I’d like to adopt Kelly myself, there is no way I can bring her home with me. Charlie and I had another energy sapping incontinence weekend-long episode with Tippi. We just can’t handle any more. Basically, the straw that broke the camel’s back came about 3 AM Sunday morning when Charlie found Tippi in the music room on the futon and her diaper had leaked. This was after he had spent most of Saturday laundering bedding and steam cleaning our bed because of a huge diaper leaking episode. So, nothing like discussing a major life issue in the wee hours of a Sunday morning.

With Tippi we’re currently trying Wee-Wee Pants, a disposable doggie diaper, and have plans to see what the vet school has to offer in the way of diagnosis and treatment. As for Kelly, I’m going to check our Christmas budget and see if I can help fund her treatment. The vet school does offer the treatment for cost of medication, but it still puts a damper on a dog’s adoptability.

Saturday I put my new plan in to place to spend a couple of hours at the WCAC writing doggie biographies. It takes more time that you might think, but I had a good time. Some of my time got sucked up taking photos of the dogs I was meeting to get some inspiration for their biographies. Finally, about 12:30 I was finished writing and printing. I went out to the floor to put out two last kennel cards and got stopped and asked a question. And then another question. And then a whole passel of questions. Oh, and then I got sucked into the cat room and helped two families find new kittehs. I tried to help one woman find her lost cat and got in trouble with staff ‘cause we were in the room with the feral cats. And then I was back to helping with dog adoptions again.

Finally, around 2:30 I pulled a “Vinzini” – pointing into the distance exclaiming “what in the world is that?” – and made a run off the floor.  I headed out the door to a southern snow storm (I do love driving in the snow). They cancelled the band we were going to see in Durham at the Blue Note Grill, but by that time we had a hankerin’ for their ribs and dirty rice so we went anyway

It was a nice snow. And I had fun at the WCAC that day. But I wish I would have gotten the Christmas tree put up. I’m one of those folks that no matter what, I need a Christmas tree with all the lights. Well, there’s always next weekend.

Jackson (ID: 44574)

Magoo (ID: 44856)

Tigress (ID: 44761)

Tootsie (ID: 44589)

And another Black Friday dog is back at the WCAC ... if you missed out on adopting Karl he's back and looking as good as ever.

Karl (ID: 38025)

Let’s Play Dress Up

Nooooo!!!!!!

Julie met me at the door with an arm full of costumes. This was the second time we worked as a team and I liked it. She usually has a couple of dogs in mind that she wants to bring attention to. Tuesday night it was Bonnie, Hanna, Tilly and Cameron, of course. Cameron’s collar was lovely fur-trimmed green velvet with four very large jingle-bells that made quite the noise when he tried to shake that crazy thing off. We finally got everyone’s photo taken and Julie headed back to the office to work on some more biographies.

I headed off to say hello to Kelly (you know I had to) and noticed Carter next door. He was on my list to take some new photos as he’s been at the WCAC for quite a while and his most recent pictures look rather mono-tone because he’s standing on a patch of gravel the same color as he is. I caught up with Julie and she recommended we give the red bow tie that was such a good luck charm for Chunk. Sometimes you just gotta wonder about dogs. Carter let us put the tie on him, I got in the kennel and the moment I pointed the camera at him he struck a pose. “Bond. Carter Bond.” And then he cocked his head as if he was really turning on the charm for the ladies. If this gets him adopted, I might just have to start accumulating bow ties.

Although I love them all, there is always one that seems to garner my favor more than the others. Tuesday, it was Ranger. He’s a big boy. Not as big as my Tippi, but don’t let the kennel manager fool you, Ranger is not a “small” dog. He’s a beautiful red and brown Lab and German Shepherd mix. The thing that got me was how well mannered he was when I got in the kennel with him. Now, he wasn’t one of those chaotic pups that are bouncing and barking all over the place when you walk by and you just know they’re going to be nuts if you try to get in the kennel with them, but he wasn’t super mellow either. I was most impressed with his gentlemanly nature when I got in there with him. He sat very nicely and let me take a whole bunch of photos. After I finished my paparazzi duties, I made a note in his Adoption Summary that he was one of those dogs you have to come and see and you have to meet him without the kennel door between the two of you. Even the photos I took didn’t do him justice.

I did get a little tug at my heart when I read in Ranger’s file that he was picked up by a park ranger. Just a couple of weekends ago some friends and I were talking about the time they went camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains years ago and one of their dogs got lost. They drove back to the mountains the day after getting back and it was pure luck that they found Rascal just as they were about to give up and come home. Hopefully there’s not somebody searching for Ranger, or if they are they will see him on the WCAC website.

On another note, in my last blog I posted a photo of Cletus Joe who was adopted back in July and was brought back just the other day. It turns out he was brought back because his new family’s landlord wouldn’t let them keep him. From what the other volunteers say, he’s a real cuddle bear and has a favorite blanket. Maybe they should change his name to Linus.

Black Friday

I think I found a job at the WCAC that is not for me.

I worked a four hour shift on the Friday after Thanksgiving as an adoption counselor. I had brought my camera along in case there was time for me to work on my paparazzi duties. No chance of that, though — one of the other volunteers said that there were about 50 people standing at the front door waiting for the doors to open at noon! There were lots and lots of new families made that day, but not to worry, there are more to be had.

My first stop was to see my favorite Chow Chow, Kelly. She is such a sweetie and everything she did reminded me of my dear Sugar. I was desperate to find her a family as every time I saw her I was one breath closer to bringing her home. Happily, Kelly was adopted. She found a nice family who also has a Rottie and a Dobie … and a couple of kids too.

It was interesting to see the different people looking for dogs and how they went about it. There was one mother there who was letting her little boy pick out his next dog. They were also trying to make sure that it wasn’t too chaotic of a pup as he had a little sister who could easily get bowled over. I’m not sure who he ended up with. I do know that he was visiting with a lot of different dogs looking for the right one. Then there was the couple with the two-year-old girl who was interested in this spastic puppy. I didn’t want to insult them, but that puppy really wasn’t going to work, as he was nearly pushing me over with his excitement. Near the end of the day there were two dads with about six kids between them looking at a sweet little black Lab puppy.  As they walked off with Delaney’s ID number in their hand, a woman and her boyfriend came up to look at the same dog. You can’t “hold” a dog while someone looks around, but I really didn’t want this couple to get the puppy. Not because I wanted the little girls to get her, but because the boyfriend seemed very surly about the whole thing and was only there because the girlfriend insisted they come to the WCAC. Luckily, the family got to the registration desk first.

I was wiped out when I got home that night. As Charlie and I ate dinner I told him about Kelly finding a family and I started getting weepy. It took a bit for me to figure out why I was upset. I guess you might call it “reverse buyer’s remorse” – were those people the right family for Kelly? Since they had other dogs, was she going to get all the attention she deserved? And they keep their big dogs outside, but Kelly’s too sweet — doesn’t she need to be an indoor dog? Would they understand her Chow Chow ways?

As the days have gone by it wears a little heavy on my heart that each of these pups deserves a GOOD home with lots of LOVE. And no more upheaval, like Cletus Joe, who left the WCAC when he was about 3 months old and is now back again at 7 months. I haven’t seen the paperwork, but I can tell by the photo I took that he wasn’t one of those chaotic pups.

UPDATE: Just got a note from Gabi – 74 animals got deposits for adoption and 27 went home on that very day. May they all be with their forever family.

Puttin' on the Ritz

Can’t sleep … it’s probably the chocolate bar I ate earlier. Why is chocolate such an addiction?

Anyway, Tuesday’s paparazzi shift at the WCAC was good. I didn’t get to many dogs, but I was in a blue mood by the time I got there and just didn’t have the energy for any chaos pups. I think it was the clouds. It was the second Tuesday in a row that I was going to get no extra light from the sky lights. Bah, humbug!

On a brighter note, Julie grabbed me when I first got there and asked me to take a photo of one of her favorites with a red bow tie she brought with her. This is Chunk. Doesn’t he look debonair and even a little jaunty with his tie? Later that night as I was processing the photos I realized how far I had come where “Pitties” are concerned.

Chunk is an American Staffordshire Bull dog, i.e. Staffy, Am Staff, American Pit (not really an American Pit Bull as that’s just a name given to a “Bully” breeds mutt). We whisked into his kennel. Julie put the bow tie on him and then left while I got in the kennel with him to “work my magic.” I finally realized that there was a top and bottom to this bow tie and we had it on upside down. Without thinking of it, I slung my camera over my shoulder and grabbed Chunk around the head to fix his tie. It took me a while as he was excited to have all the attention and I couldn’t quite figure out how the thing was hooked. He was such a good boy to let me handle him so and I was surprised to find that I treated this Pittie just like I treat other dogs.

And then there’s Kelly. What can I say? She’s a Chow Chow and she reminds me so very much of my Sugar. I actually visited her and her pups (Pup Pie and Pup Cake) last Thursday. No one had photographed her yet, so she was immediately at the top of my list. I’m glad she hasn’t put her head in my lap like Shelby did as I’d be hard pressed to walk away. As it is, Kelly is the one I should have waited for, but Tippi’s the one that needed me.

Tippi’s incontinence has not been “fixed” or even abated very much. We’ve gone through all of the tests that my long time vet and a second vet have come up with. We’ve tried different hormone treatments including estrogen and are now using some Chinese herbs. In the end, the thing that is keeping our house a little cleaner is dog panties with adult incontinence pads. One of the WCAC techs commented the other night that anyone else who might have adopted Tippi would have brought her back by now. It is a tough thing as everything else about her is wonderful.

I’ll be spending most of Black Friday at the WCAC. They’re having a special Black Friday Sale. Any cat or dog with the least little spot of black is only a $25.00 adoption fee including the spay/neuter surgery. There are lots and lots of dogs right now, so I hope we have a lot of people coming.

BTW: I have a couple of videos of the Chows I cuddled on Thursday – Kodiak, Kelly, and Pup Pie/Pup Cake.

NOTE TO SELF: Rainy days = Non-productive days

See this photo? It’s the best – yes, the BEST – shot of Hansel that I could get, and it pretty much describes how I feel about my level of accomplishment last night.

It’s as if events were conspiring against me. I forgot to pack some of T’s Pup-eroni® treats that morning; Gabi was out so there were NO TREATS; it’s getting dark early these days, which has put off some of the after-work Fido Fitness folks; it rained all day Tuesday, which did in the other Fido Fitness volunteers so only a very few dogs actually got walks; there were lots of people walking around but no Adoption Counselors to help them meet and play with the dogs – all of which led to a whole lot of WOUND UP puppy dogs.

I will admit that I gave up on Hansel. He just had too much energy and very sharp claws. Actually, it’s when he had my ankle in his mouth that I decided it was time to move on to a calmer pup. Ha!

So even if they were curled up in a cute little “I’m almost asleep” ball, as soon as they saw me bring out the kennel key they started bouncing. And once I got inside their kennel with them they were all shy of the “evil eye in a box” pointing at them. Oh, and I did I mention that the lighting wasn’t the best and they all had coats without variation so the camera didn’t want to focus? My friend Joe at work asked me about manual focus and I did my best to ONLY roll my eyes at him.

Bud and Jorge were both pretty tall, but very sweet. They just wanted to go out for a walk or be cuddled. Both of them let me hug them, which is not a dog’s favorite form of attention. Like Hansel, Chicklett is a young thing and had much more of that puppy energy that needed to be expended. Each of these guys would make a good dog with lots of exercise, discipline, and affection.

Brilliant idea striking … next time there is a rainy day and I don’t see any volunteers, I’ll photograph cats and kittens!

There are currently a lot of great specials going on at the WCAC, but I especially want to suggest that next Friday after you’ve had enough of all the people in the malls that you stop by and find your new best friend during our Black Friday celebration. Any animal with even a touch of black is a flat $25 adoption fee – including SPAY/NEUTER. Now that’s an after-Thanksgiving bargain! And if you get that puppy now, he’ll be all trained by the time everyone comes for Christmas!

Black Friday Adoption Event

November 26th - Noon - 6 PM

Black Friday usually signifies deep discounts at most retail outlets. The Wake County Animal Center will hold a special “Black Friday” event where all animals that have even a touch of black will qualify for a flat $25 adoption fee, which includes spay/neuter service.

Adopt-a-Senior-Pet Month

Now through November 30th

Throughout November, all pets over the age of 5 are available for adoption for a flat fee of $25, which includes spay/neuter service. There is limit on the number of animals that can be adopted.

Senior Cats for Senior Laps

Senior adopters (60 years or older) can adopt any cat over the age of 3 for a flat $10 adoption fee, which includes spay/neuter service.

For more information, visit the Wake County Animal Center website at http://www.wakegov.com/pets/default.htm or call 919-212-7387.