Playing with dogs

About few weeks ago, I signed up to volunteer at a local animal shelter.  The shelter in a no-kill shelter that takes in dogs and cats.  I did my first round of volunteering two weeks ago, just before going to Japan and today I did my second day.

It makes me feel good to spend some time with the dogs at the shelter.  The things people have done to many of the dogs are horrible and a lot of them come in pretty bad shape. This is the kind of organization I wish I could work for because I would much rather be helping these animals.  These animals need and deserve help.  Unfortunately, I can't work for them and what I'm able to do as a volunteer is limited.  Essentially, volunteers spend time with the animals, dogs or cats and generally play with them and get to know them.  So, I thought I'd post some pics of some of the dogs I've been able to meet so far.

 This handsome guy is Brody.  He's a Boston Terrier.  My parents were thinking of adopting him, but from what I've learned, he doesn't get along very well with other dogs.  So far I haven't seen him get aggressive though.  He's pretty good around people though.  The entire time I was playing with him, he wouldn't let go of his tennis ball.

 This guy is Max.  His placard says he's a Boxer, but he's definitely got a lot of Boston Terrier in him.

 This is not his natural expression.  I swear he's smiling for the camera since he doesn't have an underbite.

 Max absolutely LOVED the water.

 I think this guy might be one of my favorites.  His name is Roscoe, and he's a German Shepherd/Airedale mix.

 Really, he just looks to me like a Shepherd with a wire/rough coat though.  He's incredibly sweet, too.  When I went into his area, the first thing he did was sit at my feet and try to get me to pet him.  If it weren't for the fact that A)I can't afford to have a dog and B)he'd be too big for my apartment, I'd adopt him myself right away.

 This is Hannah, and she is a German Shepherd.  She was very recently brought in to the shelter and seems to still pretty much be a puppy.  She was initially really hyper, but once she calmed down, she seemed to be a really good dog.  She didn't seem to be in the best shape though.  Her coat was pretty dirty still and she appears to have recently had an operation.  I kind of suspect that her previous "owner" may have been using her for breeding.  Unfortunately, I also discovered about four very fat ticks on her and had to hold her while one of the employees removed them.  Poor thing.

 This funny looking guy is Spunky.  He seems to be pretty shy and meek.  His kennel-mate is Chatty, who seems to be the boss.  Spunky was pretty shy when I met him on my first day, but walked great on the leash once I got him to let me put it on him.  It didn't photograph too well, but he's got a very odd looking face.  He's a pug/terrier mix and has sort of a frowny face.

 This is Chatty, the boss of the group.  I saw him for the first time today.  I hear he's a bit of a bully, but I haven't experienced it for myself just yet.

 This guy is Rob.  His placard says he's a Jindo, but I'm not so sure.  One of the things that really makes me think he isn't is his hind legs.  You can sort of see it in the picture.  He's actually got dewclaws on his hind legs.  What's stranger, is that he has two dewclaws per foot.  So, he has a total of twenty-two toes.  They looked fully formed, too.  I'm thinking he might actually be related to the Norwegian Lundehund.  I'm sure it isn't a common breed, but they are known for having six toes per foot (or more, or less).  Not sure though.  His color is certainly off and his head is different.  It's hard to tell in this shot, but he is white with tan markings on his back.

This next guy is Joey.  He's a 1 year old Boxer mix.  This guy has way too much energy.  All he wanted to do was jump on me and roughhouse.  He was pretty crazy.

 This little girl is Sandy.  I noticed her as I was heading out today.  She's one of the small dogs at the shelter and one of the few who didn't automatically bark.  In fact, she seemed to outright like me.  I'll have to see if I can get some time with her next time I go.

Speaking of next time, I think I'll have to see if I can spend some time with these two.  There's a few huskies there, but these two are the only ones I've seen consecutively.  I'm not sure about their background or if they come together or what.  The placard on the pen only had the name for one of them (I forget what it was), so it's possible that they were only in there temporarily.  The larger of the two seemed to be the dominant one and has an amazingly blue right eye.  The smaller one kind of reminds me of my own dog.  Both were extremely talkative.