Beginning a thousand miles

Today, the walking began.  EHS does a great job of making sure the volunteers are well-equipped and comfortable before they go off on their own.  What that translated to today was a review of what was discussed at orientation, and then some time shadowing a team leader (someone who was been with the Humane Society in the dog walking program for a while).

Because I took part in the morning walking, the biggest task is getting all of the dogs out of their kennels so that the staff can clean.  EHS has this great outdoor area that they call the "Okay Corral" that has short-term kennels that you can put the dogs in.  From there, the walking takes place.

My team leader, Pam, took her other trainee and me inside to Murphy's kennel.  Murphy is fairly new to the shelter.  He has a yellow sticker on his info, which means he's okay on the leash, but has some challenges.  Murphy is enormous, easily over 80lbs of pure muscle.  He stood there calmly as we approached, which is somewhat unusual as far as I can tell (most of the pups jump and go crazy because they know they're going out).  When Pam opened his door to leash him, he began shaking.  He stood his ground, and was trying to be a good boy, leaning slightly towards us, but clearly frightened of what would happen when he got out.  That's when I noticed that Murphy's head and rear legs are all covered in scars...some newly pink, some older where the fur just doesn't grow any more.  There's no way of knowing for sure, as he was picked up off the street, but I think Murphy may have been some sort of bait dog.  My heart broke.

But, with some treats, coaxing, and gentle voices, he came out and walked aside us out to the Okay Corral.  Murphy's card indicated that he's not good with cats, kids, other dogs, or livestock...as Pam put it, "Looks like he's gotten himself into some trouble."  Yet, even with those warnings, he was showered with love from Pam.  Slow movements, calm voices, and the occasional treat...Murphy was actually quite easy to walk out to the pens outside.

After Murphy was settled in, we ended up grabbing Alex.  Alex could not stay out in the Okay Corral because he kept escaping from the crates out there.  He didn't ever really go anywhere, just didn't want to stay in.  So the four of us went out for a loop together.  Alex is also pretty new, so Pam didn't know a lot about him.  However, as we walked, it became apparent that at some point, somebody cared enough about Alex to teach him leash manners.  He didn't pull.  He stayed right by Pam's side, and occasionally would look up, just to be assured he was a good boy.  Alex was a dream to walk.  When we saw the other dogs, he got excited, but there was no aggression; he was practically play-bowing to dogs 15 feet away!  

Alex is like so many of the other pitties out there.  He came alive when Pam would pet him, tell him he was a good boy, and rub his giant head.  Kisses abounded, as well.


Pam was sure to tell us about exercising caution with dogs when having this kind of interaction.  You never know what can happen with some of these pups, and your role is to protect them.  It was drilled into us at orientation, but again today...if the dog bites you, it has to get put down.  Don't let your carelessness, inattentiveness, or lack of knowledge be the reason that a dog dies.  Period.  The humor for me was as much that Alex did not stop licking Pam the entire time she was giving us this information.

My first solo walk was Beatrice.  She is a six month old beagle mix of some sort.  She did not want to stop jumping, and the volunteers are to work very hard to discourage that behavior.  Pam suggested I take her to one of the interaction pens to see how she did off leash and with toys.  As soon as I squatted down to take Beatrice's leash off, she stopped jumping.  She was ecstatic to have me at her level.  So I stayed there.  I tried throwing some toys; we got maybe two or three half-hearted ball chases in before I realized all she wanted was to be pet.  So I sat in the pen, and gave all the love, affection, and booty scritches to this little gal that I possibly could.

As you can see, she didn't even want me to stop petting her long enough to get a decent picture!


We walked a bit too, but I found that she would start jumping again after about five minutes.  So I'd sit back down with her for a few moments, and then we'd get another few minutes of walking in.  We didn't cover much ground, but it was amazing to see how much more mellow Beatrice was when we got her back to her kennel.


Pam reassured me that, as cute as Beatrice (and her almost-twin sister, Betty) is, we'd pretty much be guaranteed that she'd be gone soon.  That gave me moment for pause.  I found myself wondering if anything could ever change that.  Beautiful Beatrice, so full of puppy love and cuteness, would not be around long.  But scarred up, shaken Murphy, with so many special considerations?  What about him?  How can you teach the average dog adopter that Murphy has just as much to give as Beatrice?  I suppose that's where the volunteers come in.  It will be my role to help in that as much as any of the other amazing people there today, who all arose before the sun to go walking dogs not their own.


Pam asked the pups she had not met yet the same question: "What's your story?"  As I looked around at the other volunteers, I thought of the way we each had our own reasons for being there.  Mine has as much to do with how things turned out with our Samantha.  But the other walker training with me was there for something to do since she was out of work.  And each of the other walkers had their own particular reasons as well.  We had the words to tell each other.  The pups grinning at us, as we trotted them along the walking loop, well, they don't have that luxury.  So it is our job to learn as much as we can in the time we share with them.  We won't always be able to speak to where they've come from, but we can tell you what happens when a rabbit scurries in front of them, or when another dog barks from a distance, or what happens when you rub just the right spot behind the left ear.


Murphy, Beatrice, and Alex are all at the Escondido Humane Society, awaiting forever homes.  Murphy's info is here, Beatrice's here (and her sister, Betty, here), and Alex's here.


EHS is adopting dogs out in January (over 7 months old) for only a $25 adoption fee.