What’s Black and White and Speckled All Over?

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Jayla!

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She’s the one I told you about yesterday that I took to an adoption event (so, before you get all excited, no she is not my new foster). Mark says I’m just on a “falling in love” kick since I miss Johnnie. I say that Jayla is AWESOME and how can anyone not fall in love with her!? Let me tell you about her.

Dogs like Jayla are actually very refreshing to me (have I talked about this before? I feel like I’ve talked about this before… I’m sorry if I’ve talked about this before!). To be totally honest, it’s very easy when you’re working at a shelter to sort of have your eyes glaze over and stop seeing every dog individually, but rather as a whole group of animals who need help (Animal Farm Foundation addressed this in a very interesting blog post about the concept of psychic numbing). I don’t do it consciously, it just sort of happens… maybe it’s our mind’s way of sparing us a bit of the emotional torture that comes along with working in animal welfare. In any case, it’s not every day that I find a dog I really, truly fall for.

Jayla, like lots of the dogs in a shelter, gets lost in the crowd. At four-ish years old, in the sixteen seconds it takes for someone to walk past her kennel she is just another black and white dog with short fur and a big head. Even when I first took her out, she was distracted and investigating her new environment. Not that I blame her – new places are ohsointeresting when you basically live in a box – but it’s hard to bond with a dog like that. It was only after spending about thirty minutes with her did she start to warm up to me. And it turns out that she is a big sweetie!

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Point #1 for Jayla: awesome passenger in the car. Any dog who sits nicely and even falls asleep on their first ride in the car is awesome in my book. Point #2 for Jayla: calm around other dogs. After dealing with a few “over eager” pups, boy was this a nice change! Point #3 for Jayla: she’s tolerant and up for anything. Being around her while she’s got a bully stick? No big. Hanging out with kiddos who want to run and squeal and pull on her tail? It’s nothing. Taking her to new sights and sounds? Easy peesy.

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It seems pretty evident that Jayla’s wisdom and maturity comes from the fact that she’s past her teenage years (she’s about 4, remember). She’s over the partyin’ and would rather just hang out on your couch. Oh, and those belly spots? Feel free to give those a nice long rub while the both of you are enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? I tell ya, if I wasn’t moving in July this little girl would be in my house on my floor at my feet right now (whether foster dad liked it or not ;-)).

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And yes, I stole her away for a bit after the adoption event and introduced her to my parents and my yard. They fell in love with her, and she fell in love with them (okay, maybe mostly the yard). Sometimes you just have to fall for one again to remember why you do it!

05Looking for a laid back gal whose favorite thing to do is hang in your lap and make you smile? Email me at peacelovefoster@gmail.com.

Living for the Weekends

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Sometimes, because life is moving so quickly and I get so caught up in the day to day, I forget to sit back and realize how lucky I am to live the life I do. It seems like the grass is always greener when it comes to fostering – when I have a dog I miss the freedom of not having one, and when I don’t have one I really, really want one. This weekend made me realize that I need to embrace the fact that I am in the position to have the best of both worlds right now.  Working at an animal shelter (or volunteering, as the case may be for most people) allows you special opportunities to help homeless animals even when you cannot bring them into your home.

This past weekend I enjoyed the best of both of my worlds. Mark and I spent Saturday at a Tim McGraw concert (any country fans out there? this was my fourth time seeing him and every time it gets better and better!). Then Sunday it was back to focusing on the four legged tail-waggers that make my heart beat.

timconcertI’ve written about it before (in my pre-teaser teaser for Johnnie!), but I absolutely LOVE spending time at adoption events with great people and dogs. These events actually don’t always bring a huge amount of adoption interest for our dogs, but the day out of the shelter is totally worth it. Watching the dogs soak up the fresh air, new sniffs and attention from strangers is priceless! These events started small but thanks to the hard work of some dedicated volunteers, we were able to take nine adoptable pit mixes to the event this time around to enjoy a field trip into the real world!

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I fell in absolute love with the dog I brought, an adorable four year old female named Jayla. I’ll be gushing about her in tomorrow’s post – check back then if you want more of this ADORABLE smile!

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Sittin’ Pretty

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Johnnie and I love to learn tricks together. Yes, we learn them together because she learns the behavior and I learn the best way to convey to her what I want! We often spend ten minutes here and there practicing behaviors and tricks we already know, or learning new ones. My favorite trick I’ve taught Johnnie is “sit pretty!” I just love the way she sits up and stares at me and then bounces her paws around like she’s saying, “Look! I’m doing it!” It might actually be the cutest thing ever.

Thank you to my good friend Virgil Ocampo for capturing this moment when we were at an adoption event last week. I absolutely love this image because it shows how much fun Johnnie and I have learning together.  She trusts me and when we go out in public to events like this, and I set her up for success so she is comfortable and focused enough to show off her tricks. I love this little girl!  Happy Friday, everyone.

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To adopt an awesome training partner Johnnie Cash, email peacelovefoster@gmail.com.

No Better Way to Spend the Weekend

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As if working 40+ hours in a week at the shelter wasn’t enough for me, I more often than not find myself volunteering for something dog related on the weekends (as you can tell from this blog).  I keep asking myself when the day will be that I burn out – but so far there is no sign of that. I absolutely love doing all the things I sign myself up for. There are so many perks to volunteering, no matter what cause you’re helping with.  There’s got to be a reason why I continually offer my time to help these animals, and believe me – the “good feeling” isn’t always it. Check out a few reasons why I find volunteering so awesome:

1.  It’s usually FUN! I wouldn’t sign myself up for something I thought wouldn’t be enjoyable. Volunteer opportunities are often a great time to meet new people, hang out with animals (or kids or new adults, whatever your cause may be), and help with activities you’re interested in.  Not surprisingly, there is a reason why thousands upon thousands of people across their country donate their time – because it’s fun!

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2.  You get to open the world up for an animal. This generally only applies to bringing animals to adoption events, but boy is it one of the best parts! I brought this adorable cutie to an event on Saturday, and I can almost guarantee it was the first time she’d been in a place with so many new sites and smells. She’s a versatile little thing, so she loved it (it’s important to keep in mind some dogs may not).  Plus then she slept like a baby when she went back to the shelter that night!

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3. You make really great friends. Hands down one of the best things about being so involved in the sheltering/rescue community the past year and half has been the friends I’ve met. Whether through work, through fostering, or through volunteering – it’s amazing the amount of people you meet and click with when you’re doing something you love! Well, I guess it’s not that surprising considering most of us do it for similar reasons, but it’s still an awesome perk. I know I have made some friends for life through doing this. Volunteering can be a very social experience!

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4.  Once you put in time doing what’s needed, you can spend time doing what’s wanted. After a day of volunteering on Saturday, I found myself curled up on the floor of the shelter offices with this handsome boy named Admiral once all my duties were finished.  Often times if you’re volunteering at an event you have an allotted time you’re needed for help, and then some down time to do what you want.

Here’s a hint: it’s the perfect way to get into an event for free! Don’t take this the wrong way because obviously I don’t want people mooching off rescue groups, BUT I have definitely seen folks who can’t afford to attend an event themselves (usually a gala type or something similar) offer to volunteer so they can still experience the evening while helping out. It’s a win-win for the organization! Plus I have seen volunteers still donate to raffles or buy merchandise, etc. to do their part (in addition to giving their time – did I mention volunteers are awesome!?).

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5.  Resume booster! Volunteering shows that you’re willing to give up your own time for a greater cause, and that can be very appealing to a potential employer.  Not to mention there are a lot of skills to be learned as a volunteer, depending on what exactly you’re helping with.  Don’t think that just because you’re not getting paid means it might not be great experience for a job position!

6.  The “good feeling.” It’s pretty obvious that most people volunteer at least in part because they know how much it helps, and doing your part sure makes ya feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  I certainly cannot complain about spending an afternoon spreading the word about adoption with a pup who was grateful to get out of the shelter. Sure I could have been out shopping with my friends or relaxing at home, but I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to try and get more animals adopted.

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I know I’ve spammed you with this message enough on the blog. . . but consider volunteering!  There are so many groups out there who could use your help.  Volunteers are absolutely invaluable to most non-profits.

Expanding Your Audience

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This past weekend our shelter had an extremely successful adoption event specifically held for our “pit bull” dogs. A local store, Bark!, along with local awareness organization Generation Wags, hosted us and five of our adoptable dogs to try and get the pups more exposure.  The shelter is full of so many happy faced, tail wagging dogs that it can be overwhelming to adopters and many end up getting overlooked. By taking these five superstars out of the shelter, they got some special time in the spotlight away from the 50+ other dogs.

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Bark is located in a suburban shopping center that is frequented by all sorts of different people. There were so many shoppers who came in to meet the dogs after seeing them through the window or on a flyer around the community. The great thing about these out-of-shelter adoption events is that it creates an opportunity for John Q. Public to meet and interact with a “pit bull” dog. For the most part people came in and ooh-ed and aww-ed. We don’t really know what visitors thought about “pit bull” dogs before they walked in, but after getting face kisses or giving belly rubs galore, we’d bet that they left with positive thoughts about the experience.

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37An important part of events like these is to remember that you are not your target audience. I’ve mentioned it on this blog before: we are not trying to win over the already converted.  Advertising adoptable dogs to our family of “pit bull” and shelter dog advocates is great, but a lot of them already have homes full of dogs and are tapped out.  It’s the outside world we need to bring into not only our “pit bulls are just dogs” circle, but also the “adopt don’t shop,” “spay and neuter your pets,” etc. circles.

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Even if all the people who meet these dogs don’t end up adopting them (and not like we expect them to), they are still going home and telling their friends and family about the great dog they met today, who happens to be a “pit bull” dog.

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13All of these cuties are available at the Montgomery County Humane Society!

Adoption Event Success!

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The Montgomery County Humane Society qualified for the ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge back in February through a voting competition (thanks for those who voted!). For this next round, we are trying to adopt out at least 300 more cats and dogs from August to October this year than we did during the same months last year. Even if we don’t adopt out the most animals of all fifty competitors, it’s a total win-win because hundreds of animals will find forever homes! We kicked off the Challenge with a big event this weekend.

Our theme is “HOME RUN” – every adoption is a home run, our animals are our all stars, and adopters are our VIPs. So fun, right? We had a total blast with it, including singing our own version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Check out our brief music video for Take Me Home from the Shelter!:

We had amazing success this weekend at our kick-off event, with lots of lucky animals finding forever homes. I, of course, was behind the camera all weekend and snapped pictures of some dogs and cats awaiting forever homes (many of which got adopted!).

Events like this are totally exhausting, but so rewarding. Knowing how many animals are spending their first nights in a loving home makes me squeal and burst into spontaneous happy dances. We are all looking forward to keeping this momentum and saving many more lives from here on out. If you’re interested in learning more, you should check out the shelters competing to see if one in your area is on the list – many of the shelters are doing very exciting things!