Wednesday Sunset Date: Barnaby

Who says shelters don't have puppies? 

This is Barnaby.  He is a 5 month old blue pit bull mix. AND SO SQUISHY CUTE!!  K. and I took him out to the yard to check his behavior since he hasn't been released to the adoption floor yet (yes, that's how brand new he is).  He is super cute, super playful and I'm gathering super smart.  He caught on quickly that when we say sit and he sits he will get a treat.

Check out this video of him!

Barnaby will be available for adoption this Saturday at the SL County Pit Crew/SLCOaS adoption event at Petsmart on 3300 South 3100 East (11am-4:30pm). We will have lots of other adorable dogs with us for adoption!

Wednesday Sunset Date: Boss

I am pleased to introduce you to one of my favorite boys at 

Salt Lake County Animal Services... BOSS.  

Or as I like to call him, Bossy-Boo.

   Picture compliments of Salt Lake County Animal Services.

I vividly remember the first day I met Boss this summer. He "looked" at me through his kennel door and his eyes said "Be my friendly lady."  And so I took him out in to the yard.  I wondered why he ran in to my legs, in to the door, in to the kennel walls. Of course I inquired and found out that Boss was loosing his eyesight.  So I started researching how to work with dogs that are going blind.  Scents and sounds were going to become powerful tools in helping this guy. He can always sniff out the treats I bring him. And I bring him the GOOD stuff, the really smelly kind!

If Boss were to place a "Single's Ad" for Valentines Day his stats would read:

*7 yr old handsome male 

*Wants to be your only furbaby 

*Loves belly rubs, cuddles and most importantly KISSES

*Searching for that special someone to take me on long walks and splash in the water

*Needs a little extra TLC to help me learn this new world around me

Every week we are learning new things about Boss.  One of the shelter staff took him home last weekend and learned that he is great with chickens and her young daughter, that he is housetrained and does well in a crate!  For now, Boss needs to be the only dog due to his failing eyesight.  Other dogs and cats have a tendency to sneak up on him and spook him.  He did well around small children, as long as they are respectful of his space.  Otherwise, little grabbing hands might also spook him.  

Picture compliments of Best Friends Animal Society, January 2012

He has been in the shelter WAY too long (July 2012!).  I have been working on "Stop" with him at the shelter to prevent him from running in to walls, door when I am with him.  Blind dogs are just as awesome as seeing dogs! He needs someone who will love him for him and teach him how to keep being awesome in this new world without his sight.

Here is the video I took with him yesterday during our date.

And here he is on Channel 2 News Tuesday!  He really is our little movie star!

http://www.kutv.com/news/features/pets/stories/vid_40.shtml

And here he is on Channel 4 News this week!
http://www.abc4.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3936770

If you are interested in Boss, please come visit him at Salt Lake County Animal Services (500 W 3900 S).  

And of course, if you end up falling in love with him I will simply say "Told you so."  

Wednesday Sunset Date : Casey

 Casey is my "Adora-Bull" Wednesday Sunset Date! This month at Salt Lake County Animal Services they are featuring some of their dogs with fun Valentines.  Following suite, here is my "Singles Ad" for Mr. Casey...

I am a frisky fellow looking for love.  Don't let my age (1 yr 9 months) fool you~ I have wisdom beyond my years. I love to play, but also am perfectly content to snuggle all night long in front of fire with my special someone.  I am constantly "winking" at you with my single black eyebrow~ think Groucho Marx and The Rock (Dwayne Johnson, can you smell what the ROCK is cookin')!  Come whisk me away as your Valentine today!

Casey is an absolute love bug!  The first photo is his professional glamour shot taken by one of our awesome volunteer photographers at the shelter. The others are mine that I took last night. He was always trying to sneak a kiss in, that sneaky little guy. 

He's also great at bathtime!  Me and M and S took him, along with a few others, to get bath's at Paw Paw's a few weeks ago and he took it like a champ! He has the most handsome brindle spots on his white coat. 

And just in case you need even MORE reason to go see Casey here's a little video I made last night (first one ever btw)...

If you are interested in making Casey your Valentine, stop by Salt Lake County Animal Services (500 West 3900 South)! Trust me, you won't regret it.

National Pit Bull Day

Lola and I participated in National Pit Bull Day festivities hosted by Salt Lake County Animal Services Pit Crew.

 

Lola wore a bandana to show her Pittie Pride!

Wednesday Sunset Date

*BEYONCE*

 

This week I debated who my sunset date post was going to be about and that's why this is a few days late.  I am working with some amazing dogs who each deserve to be recognized.

 

I would like to introduce you to Beyonce.  She is a beautiful, chocolate pit bull terrier mix, 4 years old.  Every time I walk to her kennel I start singing something of her namesake. I think she likes it.

 

She has a TON of energy.  For the first five minutes of all our sessions I let her do zoomies. It's so cute when I crouch down and call her name and she comes running at me full speed to give me a smooch. I know, I'm weird. Having a muscular dog running full speed at me and all I do is giggle.

 She knows sit and we are working on down. It's like a half-crouch, half lay kind of position.  She does great on the leash. I have yet to put the halti on her because as soon as I start to slide it over her muzzle she rolls on to her back for belly rubs.  And that's how our visits end.

 

 

Beyonce, like stated earlier, has a ton of energy.  She would do great in a home with an experienced dog person and/or someone who is willing to keep her training up.  Since her energy level is easily excitable and sometimes doesn't know when to stop with other dogs. Probably no small children so that they don't get plowed by her zoomies. I love this girl and know she will find that perfect human one day.

*Disclaimer~ These are only my experiences with Beyonce.  I encourage you to come meet her and see what your experience with this sweet girl is. She migth just crawl in to your lap and turn in to a huge snuggle bug.

Wednesday Sunset Date : Oakley

**Oakley**

Oakley is a beautiful gray pittie! Her left ear is so cute and floppy. She is approximately 2 years and 8 months old.  Our date started out a little crazy. She has so much energy that once I leashed her up and brought her out of her kennel she tried running straight for the play gate door!  Once outside I let her zoom out some of that energy. She LOVES to play ball.  I got her to sit for me and started teaching her a new trick- "Touch." She was catching on very quickly (thank goodness for treats).  

I wanted to work with her on harnessing her energy through a halti.  A halti is a small face leash (I don't know how else to describe it) that applies gentle pressure to the top of her nose, like her momma would have done, when she needs gentle correcting.  In past experiences, most dogs are not thrilled when I put on the halti.  Oakley acted like it was no big deal.  She walked great with it on and we had a loose leash almost the whole time. I was even able to redirect her energy when we went back in to the kennels and I had her sit and wait before putting her back in.  

From what I have read and heard about Oakley from animal care staff is that she is in playgroup with other big dogs and does well. She does not do well with little dogs though.  Which probably means she would do well with kids over age 10 (not wee little ones).  She needs structure and a routine and I think she will flourish under that premise. Probably someone who is comfortable around strong willed dogs. Salt Lake County Animal offers low-cost training options to help Oakley blossom in to an amazing furry family member. If you are interested in meeting Oakley please go visit her at Salt Lake County Animal! Sorry my picture is a little fuzzy. She could see the treat in my hand when I told her to sit and her little head was moving.

*Disclaimer: These are simply my experiences with Oakley.  I cannot guarantee she will walk well for you on a leash, nor can I not guarantee she won't turn in to a big squishy love bug and immediately crawl in to your lap.

Wednesday Sunset Date

Introducing Wednesday Sunset Date Weekly Edition!  

Each week I will feature a dog that is available for adoption at Salt Lake County Animal Shelter and that I have personally worked with (that way you know I'm not just making it up).  For this first post I want to give some background with my picture.  And then from here on out, once a week, there will be pictures and stories!  So be sure to check in every Thursday for my Wednesday Sunset Date story!

Background:

Every Wednesday I have the opportunity to volunteer at the Salt Lake County Animal Shelter. I want my weekly limited time there to actually be helping and not just going, taking a dog out to potty, giving them a belly rub and then putting them back in their kennel.  The animal care/behavioral staff there is amazing and is allowing me to work with the ones who need a little more help than the others, whether they need some help with manners or simply need me to sit with them to help teach them that not all people are scary. I started this new found focus a few weeks ago. Each week I let the Pit Crew manager know who I want to work with and if there's anyone else I should be working with (usually this is in the event that one that I have been working with gets adopted and I can add another to my time).  She gives me guidance. Most importantly, she has confidence in me. 

I've been volunteering at this shelter since the beginning of the summer.  I have seen them come and I have seen them go (IE. ADOPTED!).  I have taken extra efforts to help prepare me to better understand the needs of the "special" dogs and how I can better work with them.  I get excited over the tiny baby steps of progression that I get to see these dogs make.  I get even more excited (and usually tear up) when one of them adopts their very own human and gets to go to their furever home.  Each one gets a little spot in my heart.  A side effect of all of this has been I have become even more focused on my own dogs.  I watch their body language more, teach them new things, and overall am enjoying (even more!) having them part of my family.

Interested:

If you are interested in any of the dogs featured in this series please holler at me, call SLCO animal shelter or pop in to the shelter to meet them.  You will not regret the decision to adopt.

If you are interested in volunteering, holler at me (once again). The shelter ALWAYS needs volunteers. You can work with the dogs or cats. Love animals, but directly working with the them not your thing? They always need office help!

Without further ado let me introduce my first Wednesday Sunset Date...

DALLAS
*UPDATE!!! Dallas found his furever home on Saturday, December 8!*

Dallas is 4 years old. He is a handsome *look.at.those.eyes* brindle pit bull mix.  He knows sit, lay down, shake~ all the basics!  Dallas LOVES to have his chest rubbed.  When he was sitting, he would scoot in to me and look up at me with his face very close to mine just to get his chest rubbed.  He didn't make one peep the whole time I was with him. He is going to make a family super happy! SLCO Animal also offers low-cost training options so you can teach him even more new tricks!

*Disclaimer: Dallas, from my limited interaction with him, seems to be pretty much perfect.  He's not one of the special issues pups. I had been wanting to meet Dallas, so I did!  The Pit Crew manager said that sometimes Dallas gets overlooked at the shelter because he is calm when people walk past his kennel that they might think he's not interested. SOOOO not the case. He LOVES people. He's just calm and not crazy jumpy for attention.   My experience with Dallas is just that, MY experience.  I cannot 100% guarantee that he will not bark for you or sit for you or shake for you or try to jump right in to your lap.  This is just my observations and what he was able to do for little ol' me. Who knows, he might try to kiss your face!