Web Shelter

This blog is not dead!

I haven't been going to the shelter and forgetting the post, don't worry. I just haven't been going to the shelter period. Honestly, I'm a bit depressed and a lot busy.

The YAYs: I've been working my way through teacher school to become a high school art teacher.

The BOOs: I lost my dad in September to cancer, and it's been really hard to get myself to do anything when I have free time.

But I'm trying to get back to the shelter soon.

[Prince]

[Mack and Ginger]

I'm bracketing [Mack and Ginger]'s names because honestly I'm only 90% sure this was actually their names. These pups came as a pair and had to go as a pair. This was right around when it snowed this winter and I tried to walk them one by one and it was a howling fest. They could not be separated. So off I went, walking the both of them together while they weaved and tangled me up in their leashes. They were funny, though, sniffing and bounding through the snow.

Mick

Luigi

Dahlia

Sister 2 out of 2! Dahlia is Daphne's jealous sister. If you're sitting with Daphne, Dahlia howls and howls for attention. She also came down to the shelter with Daphne when they were found on a property in northern BC. Dahlia is very kissy and cuddly. She did chew on my Croc jibbits and my nametag which isn't my favourite but she was easily redirected. She's definitely a lot louder, jumpier, and crazier than her sister. I could kinda see where her jealousy stems from, though, as I sat with her. Lots of people went up to her sister but no one came up to the kennel to see Dahlia. Part of it could have been because I was in there but that doesn't usually stop people. There's definitely statistics out there about how black dogs and cats stay in the shelter the longest. I hope that doesn't come true for Dahlia.

Daphne

Sister 1 out of 2! Daphne came to the shelter after she and her sister were found wandering around on a property in northern BC. She is a huge puppy but she is gentle. I took her for a short walk because she was crying at the front of her kennel. She'd hop up and put her paws on my shoulder and technically I shouldn't be allowing this behaviour but she is so elegant and soft when she does it that I can't help but pet her before I tell her to hop off. She is just so super soft. She didn't pull at all on our walk, even when she saw some very interesting crows. A couple dogs walked by and I had her sit and wait for them to pass. She was attentive but quiet and didn't react. She decided she wanted to head back to the shelter afterwards, which is something I very rarely see.

Rosie

Maggie Moo

One of the hardest things about volunteering in the shelter is some dogs are there for so long you can't help but get attached and the day comes soon enough when they go home and you'll never see them again.

Maggie was one of these dogs. When she first came in, she wasn't put up for adoption right away. She struggled physically with severe skin issues on her face, especially her nose, and behaviourally with resource guarding and reactivity. Maggie was in the shelter for a long, long while. At one point, she got into a foster home but she was back not too long after. The foster had struggled with managing those resource guarding issues.

At this time, we didn't have many dogs in the shelter and she also had to go pee every hour due to the steroids for her skin. Sundays, the day when I volunteer, are also the slowest so I spent a lot of one-on-one time with Maggie. If I wasn't walking with her, which she used to be really into but once the steroids got heavier was not so enticing, I was sitting with her in her kennel. She would cuddle right up to me and I'd just stay there petting her and petting her. The staff would joke that I was her person. Every time I came in and saw her there looking up at me from her kennel wagging her tail I felt the twang in my heart, wishing I could take her home with me.

She was there for so damn long and had so many failed meets that I was sure that she'd be a forever resident. With her being older, having her health and behaviour problems, and usually being pretty meh about meeting new people I started to think there was no hope. I'm ashamed to say that it really didn't bother me. In my head, she was my dog away from home. One day, I came to the shelter and she was gone. After weeks and weeks, she finally found a home.

Violet

When Violet first came in she was only a handful of months old. She was still so tiny and bouncy. All I knew- and still know- about her history is that it was difficult and that she if I remember correctly was living on the street. I had no doubt she'd be a success story; she's a puppy, she's a goldie, and she's so stinking cute. On my first walk with her, she carried the squeaky plush around with her the whole time. She was also trying to eat literally everything which included a poop that I had to pry from her mouth.

When she was adopted, I was relieved. Firstly because I'm always relieved to see a dog go home but secondly because I was not looking forward to more poo prying adventures.

A few weeks later a golden retriever puppy showed up in the shelter. She was larger, her fur was slightly darker. When I read Violet on the sheet on the kennel clipboard I thought surely it could not be the same Violet. She recognized me. It was her. Her adoption situation didn't work out so she ended up back in the shelter. In this time away she had developed some unruly behaviours. She got mouthy and pulled so strong on the leash that she was pretty impossible to control. I don't know if something happened to her during her time away or if she was just frustrated to be back in the shelter.

Maverick

The first dog I fell in love with at the shelter.

He was so sweet. He covered me in drooly kisses the first moment I met him.

Unfortunately he was a little excited and nervous around strangers. And after a long time of not finding a home, ultimately that was what lead to him being euthanized because he was considered a public safety risk.

Every day I saw him, I wished I could take him home. I was torn apart when he was put down. I couldn’t stand the idea that this sweet old boy could be forgotten- that he wouldn’t even have an opportunity to fade in to memory if no one had that memory to hold.