Week 2, Day 4: Walking dogs and the catwalk!

Today was a day full of wonderful dogs. I started out my morning in DogTown, here:

My morning was full of walking as many dogs as possible! It was a ton of walking! The dogs all had different personalities (some like to chase lizards, some want to go as slowly as possible, etc.). They were all wonderful. Here are some of the dogs I walked today (photos courtesy of Best Freinds):

Cinderella

Keystone

Aleah

Beetlejuice

Blondie

One of my most fun walks of the morning was with Diesel, a handsome, energetic, and super friendly little guy. He's still relatively new, so he needs to put on some weight and get adjusted, but he's a doll. What made me very sad about him was seeing the hack job done to his ears. A lot of dogs have their ears cropped (which I am against), but when it's done at home with scissors and no anesthesia, it makes me sick. How awful and traumatic an event that is for a dog to go through! And to top it all off, he spent the rest of his life prior to Best Friends in a crate. I want to cry for him, but then I see how happy and friendly he is now, and I am really reminded of how forgiving, resilient, and beautiful dogs really are. They have an abundance of strength within them, and I hope that someday I have even a fraction of that amazing strength in me. Here's Diesel:

After tons of walks, a volunteer and I helped to socialize a dog named Chopper, who has most likely never lived in a home environment, and is scared of people, especially if they touch him. We had a great time giving him treats for coming to us and I even got to pet him for a brief second around his collar (that's a big deal for him)! Here he is coming towards me:

After my morning shift, it was time for lunch. Given that it's Thursday, select departments throughout the sanctuary get to give updates during lunch. I love Thursday lunches. Well, this Thursday, the Welcome Center/Gift Shop got to give an update and wanted to update everyone on some new apparel for sale, so I modeled a lovely Best Friends shirt. I believe it was the biggest (and only) fashion show in Kanab, so I'm pretty sure my modeling career has officially taken off! As you can see, I chose to sport a look that shows I've been working with dogs all day, I haven't brushed my hair, put on makeup, or even put in my contact lenses. Just you wait, next season, that look will be all over the runways of NYC and Milan.

Here's a shot as I was getting ready to walk the catwalk (which included a walk around the cafeteria and a special loop around the salad bar), followed by one of me actually walking:

I also carried a Flat Buster with me down the runway to promote Strut Your Mutt!

After lunch, it was time to go pick up Pepsi for our first training session together! He is such an exuberant dog and was barking and pulling for most of class. It was a success just to have him focus on me momentarily and stop barking. He seemed to do best when his mind was engaged, rather than focused on the other dogs, so I did a lot of sits with him and even started him on down. He actually started understanding "down" really quickly, so he's a very smart guy. He just needs a little help with manners and focus. He's just so excited. His tail never stops wagging. After class, both of us were completely exhausted, so we sat outside his building and snuggled for a bit. He loves to snuggle.

After class with Pepsi, I headed to DogTown Headquarters to watch and record information for dog assessments. We saw three dogs (including Diesel) go through assessments. Many shelters use assessments as a way to test the temperament of a dog, his or her adoptability, or safety around certain situations or people. Unfortunately, many shelters use this kind of test to determine if a dog will get to live or if it will be euthanized. What's really a shame about this is that it really doesn't give a full picture of the dog. It gives a snapshot view of how the dog reacts to various stimuli while being tied up in a brand new environment with strangers. The dog could be frightened, or having a bad day and end up "failing" the test. Or there could be human error, in which, for example, a dog burps, but it is heard as a growl, and the dog "fails" again. These dogs are usually euthanized. 

At Best Friends, we are a no-kill sanctuary, so the dogs don't pass or fail the test here, and it is not used to determine if they get to live or not. It's simply one tool used in helping the caregivers and trainers see where the dog might need some help or if they're shy or scared of something in particular. All three dogs assessed today did a great job. It was really fun to watch and take notes on the dog to help the caregivers in the future.

Overall, it was an interesting and fun day and I got a lot of walking in! Luckily, I brought a ton of water to rehydrate!