Saturday I was set to go to the Canine Good Citizen class, which is a little bit later than I usually go in. I had committed to showing up at 8, but sure enough, I was up before the sun again (without an alarm, even!) and figured I'd go for the early stuff.
Saturday was a gorgeous day, and I'm glad for that. Sad to say, EHS does not have evening walks on Friday and Saturday nights, so the pups are raring to go when you get in the following mornings, as most have not been on a long walk since the prior morning. This was challenging to see on one main level for me. Several of the pups are house-trained...and they view their kennels as "inside", so don't generally do their business in there. Unfortunately, on Saturday (and Sunday) mornings, it's usually been too long for those guys to hold it. I cannot express to you the look of shame that most of the house-broken pups have when you walk up and they haven't been able to hold it. It's pretty heartbreaking. But, they also show a completely different level of joy when you take them out...off the charts!
Saturday was a great day, that start aside. Because I didn't have to get back to go to work, I got two walks in...and they were longer play times than normal. First up was Joy. Joy is a pink-nose pit, and is pretty special. She has a collapsed trachea, so cannot be walked on a collar, and is also on a no-treat plan right now. This poses a big challenge, as the easiest way I've found to coax most of the dogs where I want them is with a few well-timed kibbles. Luckily for me, Joy is almost as happy with a belly rub as some of the others are with treats.
We took our time wandering around the grounds. We did the big walk loop, and then went into one of the interaction areas. Joy went nuts as soon as the leash was off...I have never seen a pit bull corner so fast, nor so low to the ground! I swear, she was doing her best imitation of drifting around that pen! Finally, we settled on a bench for some cuddles...most of the volunteers know and love Joy, because she will stay as pictured below for as long as you are willing to keep petting her:
Joy brought exactly what her name says in every moment we shared together.
Next up was Mimi Swee Swee. Yes...a thoroughly ridiculous name. Very few of the volunteers call her by her full name; everyone pretty much just knows her as "Mimi". But, if the "Swee" is short for "sweet", it becomes a significantly less ridiculous name, because that is exactly what Mimi is. She's a big girl, but so amazingly gentle...even with her treats! You can tell she's excited, and the first treat, she sort of leaped after, but after one reminder, she was so patient and careful. Mimi walks perfectly. She is so very treat-oriented that it is incredibly simple to distract her from other dogs, birds, you name it...just show that big face a treat, and she goes straight to sitting and watches your every move (with some chop-licking, of course!)
Mimi loves playing with rope toys...she shakes and shakes and shakes...but doesn't really tug. As soon as you ask for it, she'll bring you the toy, and when you've got a hand on it, one firm "Drop" will get her to do just that. Mimi and I played fetch with that thing for almost 20 minutes...stopping only for some snuggles. She reinforces for me the love that pits can share...a few scritches under the collar and she was in heaven!!
I didn't end up going to the class on Saturday. I was having way too much fun just playing...I will be attempting to do so in the future though. One thing that struck me on Saturday was the different group of volunteers. During the week, it has been a small group, maybe 6-7 each morning. Saturday there was a small army. It was so wonderful to see. It also became apparent to me that, while I might really enjoy the class, it's 9:30am time is a little more palpable for some volunteers on a Saturday morning than the 7:00 herding to the Okay Corral. So, I may just continue with that. We'll see...this is about where the need is, and not about what I think I want to do.
Today was an interesting challenge. It rained overnight in Escondido, but thankfully was not raining this morning. Had it been, the routine shifts a bit, and the dogs get less time out, since the Okay Corral isn't really equipped for a lot of rain. I brought coffee for everyone; I figured on a cold, wet morning, it would be a good way to warm up some already warm hearts.
There were more volunteers than I was expecting today...the rain doesn't create chaos in all of San Diego County, apparently! We had the dogs out pretty quickly, so I had time for two quick walks. I first got to take out Zander, one of the bigger boys. He was quite the character...I don't think he got farther than a foot away from my treat bag, even when we went into Mark's Park! It made for a new challenge in walking...Zander didn't pull ahead; he turned into my hip every few feet, sticking his nose towards my treat bag! About ten minutes into this, I realized I could probably get him to go forward a little bit better if I put a treat in my hand, and held it in front of his nose, and sure enough, we got forward progress! Zander is also a big loveable, cuddler. We spent some quality time with pets and scritches before he went back to the Okay Corral. I personally don't think it will take him much longer to be adopted out; he's got so much personality!
My last walk today was Samson. It took about 90 seconds to realize that a walk was not what would benefit Samson...and we headed to Mark's Park for some off-leash running. Samson's eagerness to chase tennis balls rivals that of Angus, so that was how the time was spent today. Samson is young, and you can see in his play. He would come back with a tennis ball, drop it, and then do what Tyler and I call "bug butt" as he tried to decide if the ball in my hand that I was about to throw was more interesting than the one in between his paws. It went both ways :)
Samson wasn't big on snuggling the way some of the other pups were, but I convinced him I was worth it with a few treats and a well-placed scratch under the collar. Note to self - do not get any manicures this year...my short-trimmed nails seem to be just right for most of the pooches scratching desires!
I would like to end with some awesome news. I mentioned meeting Murphy on my first walking day. Murphy is the big boy that I think was used for bait. He is still timid around the male volunteers, but for the gals, he lights up. His smile is so wonderfully enormous, and it is amazing to see the difference that just a week has made.
Big kudos to the volunteer who got this picture up on the EHS site...it so wonderfully captures Murphy!! While he has his challenges, I truly hope that Murphy goes to a single woman who loves walking, or even jogging. He is a dream on the leash, and I can guarantee all my female friends that NO ONE will bother you with this guy next to you (seeing as how he'll stand about hip-high on an average woman!).
The first week has flown by, and I feel like I've been doing this forever, in the best possible way. I wake up on walking mornings so energized...before the alarm by a few minutes today! My only regret is that it has taken me so long to take the jump into doing this, now that I know the amazing feeling I get every time I turn down the driveway to EHS.
As usual, the dogs I've already fallen in love with can be found on the EHS website:
Joy
Mimi Swee Swee
Zander
Samson
Murphy
One final note today: I am adding a link on the side to the Escondido Humane Society's wish list. Not everyone can give time, or take a dog home, but there are lots of other ways that you can get involved. If you are not local to Escondido, I can guarantee you that your local shelter will have similar needs, so please call them and see what you can do!
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