Shelter Journal 9/19

As I was signing in and getting my ID badge and "out for a walk" sign and such one of the staff members approached me. The same staff member who had me work with Cricket a while back. She said, "I have a project for you." I smiled. "Oh yeah?" Bella. She wanted me to work with Bella, who has been there since May. Bella is a jumper with springs for legs which leads to headbutting people in the face when they go to pet her. I said sure, I'd work with her.

First I went to check that all the housebroken dogs had been out that day. Shep. Gator. Django.

Shep
Photo from SDDAC

Gator
Photo from SDDAC

Django
Photo from SDDAC

As I was training with Django in the yard, rewarding him for calmness, he was sitting nicely then chose to lay down. I kept petting him and he rolled over for belly rubs. That's when I noticed his knee. It was gashed open! He hadn't been limping at all or giving any indication that it was bothering him. I took a closer look and realized he had to go to medical. Now. There was basically a flap of skin over his kneecap that was not attached. I waited in medical for about 15 minutes while they were dealing with some kittens before they could see him. We got him laying down and one of the ladies said it likely needed a staple. I left him there.

Kayla had been spayed so was too doped up to be let out, and Annie had already been out.

Kayla
Photo from SDDAC

Annie
Photo from SDDAC

One of the volunteers had asked me to look at Kenny. He was fantastic on leash. In the yard he coughed and wheezed so I immediately had to put him back, and filled out a form for medical saying he likely had kennel cough. Kennel cough is really going around from the overpopulation.

Photo from SDDAC

 
I went to look for Bella. Kennel 50, I knew. But she wasn't there. I couldn't find her! I looked on my sheet. Kennel 27. Damn, that's in "kennel cough row" as I call it. She'd been moved there. I looked in 27. No Bella! Hmm. Instead of wasting time looking for her I searched for a different dog nearby to take out.

Cosmo caught my eye [Petfinder link].

Photo from SDDAC

Photo from Petfinder

He's been at the shelter since August 24th. He was excited and pulled pretty hard on leash. In the interaction yard he was great! I think he may have been clicker trained before because he really responded to the click and seemed to already know sit and down. We did mat work, having him sit on a towel in front of me for attention, praise, and treats. He kept trying to climb up in my lap or jump up when I sat and I worked a lot on having him sit instead. He was catching on really well! If he ever put a paw up or jumped I immediately stood up, turned my back to him and crossed my arms for a couple seconds. I practiced having him stay sitting as I stood up and sat, stood up and sat, again and again. Great leg workout for me! He was getting it really well by the end.

My time was up. On the sway out I saw the staff member at the front desk. I waited for her to have a free moment and look at me. When she did I said "Bella is in kennel cough," and she replied, "I know." I hesitated. I was going to say "So how do you want me to work with her" because we're not supposed to take dogs with kennel cough out, and if I interacted with her I could spread it to even more dogs. All I got out was "So," before she said "This guy just adopted her!" My face lit up and I had a rush of full-body euphoria. "Oh my gosh! Awesome!!!" The guy and I introduced ourselves to each other. The staff member said she gave him my flyer for the free basic obedience class I offer, and he and I talked about the class and why he chose Bella. He will hopefully be coming to the one starting in a couple weeks. I am so thrilled for Bella!! I nearly cried when I was back in the car I was so happy for her.

Photo from SDDAC

Photo from ARRF