It’s All in the Eyes

A couple of weeks ago I told you about a beautiful boy named Bear. He was such a sweetie and it was a real boost to spend some time with him. I got some pretty good photos of him, but I was still worried because he was older and heartworm positive. Well, let the happy dance begin — he was adopted last week!

Bear’s new family sent this message …

"I don't even need to meet him to know I want him.  I can look in his eyes and know he's the little guy for me."

I’ve said before, as a WCAC volunteer, that I have no problem “wasting” time taking photos of dogs that get adopted before I can get the photos processed and posted to the website. As a photographer, it tickled me to no end to know that yes, a photo I took had that kind of effect on someone.

This past Thursday I didn’t get to as many dogs as I would have liked, but there are always a few cuties I want to talk about and post a photo of. Some of my time was spent scoping out some Hound puppies for a co-worker whose family is looking for a dog. Kinsis (the more I say his name the more I like it) was a sweetie. The first thing he did after I got in his kennel was to lay his head on my knee. He definitely knows how to work it. For being a puppy he wasn’t all that crazy, but that was his seventh day at the WCAC, which means he got to go for his first walk so he may have been tuckered out.

Hermione was just too cute and mighty quick. She almost escaped when I went to get in her kennel. They can be tricky like that. You walk by their kennel and they sit there all nice and pretty and quiet, but put on the yellow gown and unlock the padlock and they spring into action. I never could get the photo of her I wanted. Then again, that’s the way it is with most of these guys.

Hurley was another one that I didn’t get a truly good photo of. He’s one of those special cases where you want to do all you can to find him a home full of the love he deserves. He was picked up as a stray with his brother. His brother was super aggressive to the point that there was a note in the system for staff to wait for the owner to extract him from the kennel. When the owner came to reclaim the two dogs he said he didn’t want Hurley. Hurley is this big beautiful white “Bully” mix with the most beautiful crystal yellow-green eyes. But he’s so frightened he shakes in the back of his kennel like a little Chihuahua. That’s not right. I’ve seen it before and it has the potential to bring Hurley to an undesirable end. Several of the volunteers have taken a liking to him, though, and are working on building his confidence and finding him a good home. I’ll stop by and visit him again. If I sit with him awhile maybe he’ll get a smile on his face for just one good shot.

Hurley Update 10-18-10: We changed his name to Marley and he's got a cough so I couldn't get better photos tonight as he was in isolation. One of the volunteers who came in specifically to walk him went back to hang out with him awhile ... keep working on that confidence building.