Buddies at the shelter

I had the fun of helping with two play buddy sessions with two different sets of dogs Saturday — and, oh yeah, the dogs had a great time, too. Our manly Captain and flirtatious Fifi had a really lovely play session with Virat and me. Captain gets along with lots of dogs and L OVES to play, but it was as though Fifi was the girl he was waiting for all of his life. He often let her take the lead (or she just decided to) and they tumbled together, chased each other all over the place, went into the wading pools to cool off and just had a very well-mannered, fun time together. Sweet Luna was in the next pen and would very much have liked to join in. The three interacted in a friendly way as far as they could. Now that we know we can do a play session with three dogs (and three people), we’ll be able to let her join in next time. Meg and I also did a play buddy session with gorgeous Ricky and charming Annie. It was like a very acrobatic ballet! They chased each other, jumped over each other, wrestled a bit and then broke away and chased some more. Meg noted that there was no mouthing at all when they interacted with each other, they only touched each other with their paws and necks/bodies.  At one point Ricky did an almost-headstand against the side of the barn, just goofing around. A lot of fun! Play sessions like this are a good reminder that two dogs really are even easier than one. Good matches like these can keep each other entertained while you’re at work. They’re happy, you’re happy.

Feline Friendliness

A common question potential adopters ask is, “Does this dog do well with cats?” Some say a good way to gauge this is whether the dog lunges after squirrels and birds. An even better way is to see how the dogs tolerate the orange tom cat that hangs out under the animal control trucks and livestock trailer in the shelter’s backyard area. Nessa and Cricket appear ideal in their cat comportment (i.e. both were eager to leave the kitty alone). When Ricky encountered the cat, he was curious but didn’t lunge at him despite me having the leash totally loose. His fascination with the feline didn’t seem like “prey drive” at all – just interest and respect for the cat’s boundaries (which he made clear by occassionally hissing at Ricky).

[post courtesy of Chantelle]

New Photo Albums for Ricky and Cricket

New photo albums have been added for walking buddy Cricket and play buddy Ricky. That’s right, I added a play buddy category of flyer thanks to TLAC Adoption Manager Amber’s suggestion.

Thanks again to the wonderful Ken Simpson for taking the photos.

As always, the featured dogs album has the 3-4 best photos of all the featured dogs.

Ricky

Cricket