Continuation of a Theme

To continue with the same theme of socialization, it occurred to me today after speaking with a person who may have to give up their dog that there is more to this story. I don't truly believe that people get a dog thinking that they will have to give them up after a period of time due to housing or any other issue that comes along without warning. But maybe we should think about that at the beginning. The gentleman I spoke to today has a 4 yr old dog. She has lived with children and loves them - yeah..she is up to date on her shots, licensed and spayed - double yeah!!!! But she is protective of her yard and territory, doesn't like people messing with her food and isn't thrilled with strangers. They have managed her well and have adjusted to her quirks. Sometimes we even encourage those quirks because it's easier for us to adjust than to work with the dog on some of their tougher behaviors. Now they are under the impression that if they take the dog to a shelter it will be put down if it fails even one test. I work with enough shelters to know that one thing alone isn't a death sentence but a combination of behaviors that we have allowed to continue certainly could be. With the current economy many shelters are over run with dogs that have been surrendered. They don't have the space, time, money or personnel to work with a lot of troubled dogs. Rescues are also filling up and foster families are hard to come by. So maybe we should take on a dog with the thought that it is temporary and we spend the time with them getting them ready to be the best that they can be? Help them to become a good doggie citizen, no matter what the breed or mix so that heaven forbid something comes up that we have to find another home for our beloved pet they have a much better chance? Prepare them for the world. Socialize them with all kinds of people and critters in a controlled setting, encourage good behaviors with positive feedback. Love them, cherish them, even spoil them, but let's help them to be the dog that not only we love but that can be loved by many!
ok..just my ramblings for a Monday evening

Congrats to our Friends at Mutts-n-Stuff!

A big shout-out to our friends at Mutts-n-Stuff, who announced today that they are building a new halfway house, called Phoenix House, that will provide safe haven for dogs rescued in fight bust cases. The facility is named for Phoenix, a a dog previously rescued my Mutts-n-Stuff, and is being built on land donated by a previous adopter. It will serve as a halfway house for dogs rescued in fight busts after they are released from their court cases.

The dogs in the cases are held as evidence until they are no longer needed by the courts, then they're released, often with no where to go. Suitable foster homes aren't always immediately available, and the dogs often require time to learn basic manners.

Our Pack is partnering with Mutts-n-Stuff on the HSMO fight bust case. Gale Frey, dear friend and founder of the rescue group, has been one of the people working with HSMO to help care for the dogs. Congratulations Gale!

Get the details about Phoenix House here:

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=185028

A Day at the Park

Hi All,

My name is Noel , that's me with my sister, she has the speckled nose, her name is Holly. we are currently guests at the Humane Society Silicon Valley where we are hoping to find a new home. I wanted to take this last day of the Thanksgiving weekend to tell everyone how thankful I am for all of the people who try and make our stay at the shelter as fun as possible. And a special thanks to the Mike and Ali for letting me go on an outing today. Today I got to go to the park with my friend Mary from Our Pack. She forgot to bring her camera so we don't have any pictures of me at the park but it was such a nice day and so much fun to get out of the shelter for part of the day, I just wanted to share some of the things I saw and did.

I haven't been for too many car rides so at first I was a little confused by everything going by so fast without me walking. I got used to it quickly though. Then we came to this place that Mary told me was the park and we were going to see lots of new dogs. There were lots of things to smell in the grass, I think they said there were gophers or something that was digging up the grass. I wanted to eat some sticks but they wouldn't let me. There were two little pups at the class and I got to demonstrate good calm manners. I got to go for a walk with a dog named Buddy who was having trouble relaxing but he seemed to do well with me. I got to meet two new friends, this is Texas.

She was calm like me and we got to go for a little walk together and they were all impressed with how well behaved I was.

Then I got to go over to Hailey's house and meet her. We went for a walk too and smelled the grass and the flowers and then I got to go and play in her back yard, There were so many good smells and the sunshine felt so good. Here's Hailey on her fancy chair thing, I'd never seen one of them but I even got to lay in it for a bit. I really liked her, she used to live at the shelter too before her mom adopted her. Now she is a Therapy dog and helps her mom with foster dogs that come to stay at her house.

Well I guess that was about it. I was pretty tired after all of the excitement and slept all the way back to the shelter. I told Holly all about it and maybe she will get to go next time if we haven't found a home yet. Thanks again to everyone who gave me this special day!

Love,

Noel