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| Flying off to the Rainbow Bridge October 11, 2011 |
I’ve pretty much kept up my normal shelter volunteering schedule. I think I’ve been hoping that the dogs I photograph will give me the doggy love I’m missing at home. The first week I only got a few photos done. Reggie, Rayna, & Hansel were all pretty young and not looking for someone to cuddle with.
Then last Wednesday I had some good little photo shoots. Itty-bitty puppies that would fit in your pocket. They had just eaten dinner and their bellies were HUGE. They looked like ticks ready to pop. One of them had eaten so much he was just sitting there crying.
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| Rubinos (63161) |
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| McDonalds(63162) |
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| Wendys (63163) |
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| Bojangles (63164) |
I was also able to finally get some good photos of Tiny Princess. In previous weeks her kennel was never clean, but D was working Dog Room A and Dog Room C that evening so any post-regular cleaning accidents were cleaned up. D’s the best and I was pleased to see her training A, one of the new volunteers, to those standards. A even brought warm fresh towels from the dryer for the itty-bitty puppies as her last task of the night.
Lola Baby is a wonderful spaz of a puppy. She’s going to be a big girl when she’s done growing as she looks to be about 20 lbs. and she’s only three months old. She’ll need someone who is a confident leader of the pack, but she’s a smart little dog.
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| Lola Baby (62118) |
And then there was Rob, or better yet we’ll use his real name – Frog. A & L were talking about him when I first got to the Center, so I made a point of finding him and getting some photos of him. He was BIG and beautiful – friendly and very gentle. I would have sat down and cuddled him in the kennel, but there just wasn’t any room.
Saturday I went into the Center just to upload some photos and maybe take a photo or two. I ended up spending most of the day with lots of good photos shoots and doggy time.
I took photos of another litter of puppies – the “Smurf” family. These guys were bigger than the itty-bitty puppies from the other night and much more rambunctious. They immediately started a game of tug with my gown, which actually made for some cute shots.
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| Smurfette (62106) |
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| Happy Smurf (62107) |
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| Dreamy Smurf |
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| Clumbsy Smurf |
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| Riley - a.k.a. Azrael (62114) |
Curious George was a real cool looking dude that I kept coming back to both Wednesday and Saturday. I love the shape of his head; it reminded me of a smooth-coated Chow Chow. A very sweet dog who just wanted someone to spend some time with him; after his photo shoot he kept looking down the aisle as if to say “aren’t you going to come back here and pet me some more?”
And this sweet little Pittie-type momma convinced me she needed her picture taken and a little attention. She was in the kennel next to the "Smurf" puppies and just quietly stood at the door and watched me go in and out. She gave me those big sad puppy dog eyes and I just had to stop in to see her.
"Sometimes you pick them and sometimes they pick you."
I found out that Frog had a brother – Bruegger (a.k.a. Booger). Bruegger is a big boy, not as big as his brother, with one blue eye and one hazel eye. Just before I did Curious George’s photo shoot I let a nice couple in Bruegger’s kennel for a meet and greet. He didn’t seem interested and kept looking at me wistfully. I wandered off hoping that they would make a connection. They didn’t, and another volunteer told me Bruegger acted the same with a couple of other potential adopters.
Bruegger was next on my list after Curious George and from the moment I stepped into his kennel he was wagging his tail and giving me his happiest expression. He was such a sweetie that I decided to sit down on the floor with him for a little while. He was immediately in my face touching his nose to mine. I told him to come sit down next to me, him being such a big boy. But he did more than that. He draped his big ol’ upper body into my lap and pressed his big ol’ head into my chest. We sat there and cuddled for the next 10 to 15 minutes. He was so sweet. He’d look up at me and put his snout up to my ear if I stopped stroking his head.
My heart broke a little ‘cause he was all wrong for the Foote family: too soon – we decided no new dogs ‘til after the first of the year; too big – Charlie was thinking in terms of a smaller dog, like Snips, and Bruegger is bigger than Tippi in some ways; and too old – Bruegger is about 6 years old and we want a dog who isn’t quite so close to the “senior dog” vet visits.
I was hoping to go back on Sunday and cuddle with him some more but another volunteer pulled him that evening to go to Paw Prints Animal Rescue. I’m glad, as I know they’ll take good care of him until they find him a perfect home.
“Maybe Frog told him how nice I was or maybe Bruegger just recognized that I needed some serious doggy love that day.”
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| All my jokes were funny ... |
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| Okay, not all of them ... |
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