Dark Times

It is that time of the year when there is less light and you want to wear turtlenecks and wrap yourself in an afghan, stay home, and drink hot cocoa.




Izzy and Bullett tried to keep Loki warm but he said, "You are doing it wrong!"




We don't have turtlenecks for the dogs so we improvise.







Loki's coat wasn't enough to keep him warm so while Izzy and Bullett had a rousing game of chase and wrestle, Loki got some relaxation and warmth in the arms of a volunteer.




Loki looks to be the next adoption project by volunteer Loreen Skinner.



You see, Loreen's last project was the adoption of Hercules! Well, it isn't quite a done thing yet. He's on Pawsability.


Loreen found non-traditional ways to advertise dogs for adoption when she put a magnet on her car. Hercules was already used to sitting in his foster mom's car so Loreen put him in her truck and advertised his availability by parking her truck by the front door of the shelter. Then volunteers began taping hand-made posters on their cars.

Posters appeared on a sandwich board out front and in a local city garage.

Magnetized versions began appearing on cars.

The word got out state-wide through Craigslist and a potential adopter saw our videos and photos of Hercules. She had been looking for just the right dog for a year. And Herc was the right one for her. Keep your paws crossed for him but so far so good.

A number of adoptions came through since Christmas. The shelter is at an unusual low in terms of numbers of dogs. It has been a blessing because a number of the staff are involved in dealing with the Malamutes.

Just as the light starts increasing and our moods begin to lift as we look towards Spring, everything seems sunnier. Seeing happy dogs play on Play Group Sundays is a huge boost for us.


Dogs like Bailey get happy-crazy eyes and flapping tongue from being able to run the entire parking lot. We get happy from watching them get happy. How could you not feel that warm and gooey feeling when you see this photo taken by Debi Beardslee, our action photographer?


So while we wait for it to get warm we aren't in our PJs and afghans, we are still in our Carhartts and out there with the dogs. Volunteer participation in dog-walking has dropped off dramatically but the Feisty Fido Crew and staff are out there!

Hercules Playing With Another Dog

As I said in a prior post, Hercules has surprised us by being able to enjoy the company of some other dogs. I think it is fair to say that the environmental stress of the kennel was a huge factor in his deterioration at the shelter. I hope someone will give him a chance at a home now that it looks he could live with another dog.

It has been said before and I will say it, dogs change over the course of their lives. They can, with guidance, improve their ability to get along with other dogs.

Does He Play Well With Others?

Here's a photo of Hercules who thinks he must have done something wrong because I tried to tie a stupid bow around his neck. In actuality Hercules has done a whole lot more right than wrong lately. I'll get to that shortly.

We at the shelter frequently get asked about a particular dog's ability to get along with other dogs. We make it our mission at the shelter to find out how much a dog enjoys the company of other dogs and how they behave with other dogs. Dog run the gamut of the social spectrum just like people do. Some dogs are party animals and some are wallflowers.

Whenever I am searching for a way to word an explanation of a dog's ability to socializae I turn to
Bad Rap. I like that they work to rehabilitate the socialization of a dog, but we do too. They have been doing it longer and they work with dogs from rough backgrounds.

As long as we have been at this though I don't believe there has been a more mystifying dog than Hercules. In the shelter he did not seem to get along with other dogs. In a previous home Hercules grabbed a puppy and shook it for stealing his pig ear treat. But, when we began working on his dog-dog interactions while he's in a foster home we discovered a pleasant shock: Hercules can play with some other dogs!

Hercules has now had three play-dates at the shelter. Two were with playful females and one with a playful male.

We begin in a kennel that is just the right size so that if trouble happens we don't have to run too far to control the situation. The dogs drag leashes. Sometimes a problematic or unfamiliar dog will wear a muzzle till we know how they want to behave. And the first play-mate is always a dog that we feel confident about, a socially skilled dog. We record key behaviors and how it went. We try to make sure the dogs being rehabilitated get out at least once a week for a playdate. Corrections may be administered with a squirt bottle (water) or a shaker can. Fights might break out and we use special equipment. Don't do this unless you have undergone extensive training, as we all have. Knowing canine behavior and the meaning behind the dogs' body language is essential!

This service has been offered to people who have problems with a shelter dog they have adopted. We have been extremely successful in getting dogs to tolerate each other better.

Since most people coming to the shelter want to have multiple dog households this quality of being social is important to adopters.

Stay tuned and you will get more information about Hercules' ability to live successfully with other dogs.

An Interview With Hercules

I thought it would be interesting to interview a few of the dogs that can be adopted from the Lewis and Clark Humane Society. First up is Hercules since he's fostering at my house.

Me: "Hercules, what are a few of the nicknames you've been given?"

Hercules: "Herkie Turkey, Handsome Herc, you know, the usual."

Me: "Why don't you tell people why you aren't in the shelter to be seen there."

Hercules: "I don't care much for other dogs so having all those other dogs around me drove me to pace and jump against the walls constantly. The cleaning products used on my kennel gave me bad skin so bumping against the concrete caused me to have sores on my legs and feet. Then I got depressed as well as anxious and started to lose weight. A lot of us dogs are really sensitive and can't eat or tolerate being in such close quarters with all those strangers. I was really stressed out from my last home and from being in the shelter."

Me: "What do you think is the reason you haven't been adopted? You are one of the longest-term dogs on the rolls at the Lewis and Clark Humane Society.

Hercules: "A lot of people are afraid of pit bulls but speaking for myself as an individual I am just a couch potato/love bug. I'm not as high energy as a lot of the dogs at the shelter so I don't think that's a factor. Maybe people think that "foster" means I have a home but it isn't so. I need my own couch and humans. Fostering means somebody finds a place for a dog to decompress but the dog doesn't really fit into that family. I hope somebody understands and eventually sees how much I want them and begins to want me too.

Me: "Anything else you would like people to know about you? Anything you need to say?"

Hercules: "Just that there are a lot of dogs looking for homes and I hope I will be one of the lucky ones who gets chosen to be part of a family."