I took Cooper for the Central California Labrador Retriever Rescue a couple months ago. He had been an outdoor dog the first year of his life. This is not a good way for a dog to start his life. He went to a new home via Craig’s List but I don’t know the reason for that move. He got on fine with the existing dog at his new home but the interior of the house reportedly took a beating so he spent most of his time… in the backyard. Or in a crate when inside. His people said that he…
The handsome Yellow Lab, not the Sacramento arena. His family is off to India for a wedding so Arco gets to visit with us for a bit. Arco used to live across from me when I lived in Folsom. The city, not the prison. He became infatuated with me and watched my house intently in order to monitor my comings and goings. I’m grateful that I still get to see him.
Charlie came to visit but just for an overnight. I didn;t have much of a chance to get a good photo, and Charlie, like many dogs, doesn’t care to look into the camera lens. So this profile is the best I could manage. When Charlie sees me again after having been away for a while, he chooses to show his affection by one or more serious body slams. I try to take it as a compliment.
I’ve written before about one of the mixed blessings of doing rescue work. When you meet hundreds of dogs you’re bound to fall in love with more than a few of them. And then there are the few that for some reason your heart just aches with the desire to take them home forever. Chief is one of those dogs for me. I’ve never been foolish enough to make an ordered list of the dogs I’ve loved the most at HB. But I can tell that Chief would be near the top if I made such an effort. Ogee has…
Nora, the blonde below, is a superstar dog when it comes to playing with other dogs. Nora excels at adapting her play style to the dogs she is with. In this post you can see her being a ruffian with the boys (Ryder and Decoda). Always willing to play but never gets too rough. On the other hand, it’s amazing to watch Nora self-handicap when playing with a puppy. She even takes the time to teach the young ones how to play properly.
Of course, we want all of our Homeward Bound dogs to stay adopted once they go home. It’s much easier to take if it’s simply a matter of the match not being right. Perhaps the dog was too high energy for the adopter’s lifestyle, or someone in the household turned out to be allergic to dander. Then we can vow to get it right the next time. Occasionally though, we have a dog come back due to a bite. That’s much more distressing. Yesterday I received a text message from a friend/volunteer at the rescue that Walter had come back…
Yule’s Mom, the wealthy heiress, is off traipsing around Europe or Asia or somewhere. It’s hard to keep track of her travels. The most excellent part about these trips is that Yule comes here, his second home. Sadly, I only have him for a few more days after which he must return to his primary home. You mat recall that Yule and Scrappy are best friends. Scrap won’t play with very many dogs. But he’ll play with Yule nearly every day that he’s here. I like to wait out front when I know Yule will arrive soon. I tell Scrappy…
Worst words a boy can hear.
I didn’t trust what he was telling me. Perhaps it would be better to say that I didn’t trust my first interpretation of what he was telling me. Scrappy is one of our best dog testers. When meeting new dogs he is calm and doesn’t usually react badly if the other dog dog is unsure of herself or behaves a bit rudely. He also doesn’t push himself on a new dog. Well, to be honest, he can be somewhat too thorough in the olfactory examination — if you know what I mean. Today we paired him up with a girl…
It’s been a challenging week. I think a scorecard to help keep track of the dogs involved would be a good idea. Bear is staying with me for an extended time while a friend attends to some important matters. Yule arrived on Sunday to board with me this week. I wrote on Sunday that we introduced Bear and Yule and it didn’t go well. This meant I had to keep them separate. But I couldn’t put anyone in my kennels because Teddy, the Homeward Bound dog I am working, is, shall we say, not very welcoming. So Bear would have…
ROB & DOG 