Dogtown!

Parrots are cool, rabbits are cuddly, but nothing compares to the love of a dog! They give us their entire heart & souls and ask for nothing more than a little food and a lot of attention. I drove into the sanctuary on Friday excited to finally be spending the day at Dogtown. I wasn't disappointed. I got to spend time at the Dog Park, where each dog is given time weekly to run and play in a different area than their runs. They're also given many opportunities for walks/hikes, and even overnight sleepovers with volunteers. They're given top quality food and the best medical care available. It's inspiring to see how these dogs are treated. This is what every shelter should aspire to be (okay, technically, every shelter should aspire to be closed -- because there would be no more homeless pets. But this is second best).

Minnie! When you enter Conrad's Corner, you'll be greeted by Minnie, the companion of a Dogtown employee. She's beautiful and sleek and grey. She's so elegant, I think she should be renamed Jackie O.

Minnie is such a funny girl, she just wants to curl up and nap. When I pulled her bed out so I could sweep, she looked at me like she was really being put out. So she wandered outside and waited patiently on the doorstep, waiting to be invited back in. What a girl!

The first task of the day was to walk Bagara, a 9 year old feral girl who's very afraid. She wouldn't let me get close enough to put the leash on her, so John hooked her up for me. Then we went on a nice, leisurely stroll.

Next, I took Lola & Dakota to the dog park. It's a nice, big park, and these two only used a small section of space. I sat on a bench and let them play and wondered how big the park is... while I daydreamed about how fun it would be to see the dog park on a hot summer day, when the pool is cool & inviting. I think Lola was on the same page...

Then I brought Bella & Trappy for their turn at the dog park. As their caregiver John walked with us to the park, he explained that Trappy is an escape artist, and shouldn't leave my sight. If given a chance, he'll jump the fence and take off. Then John left me and the dogs on our own. No pressure or anything!

That's when I learned how big the park is.

Trappy proceeded to patrol the perimeter of the park at a pretty good clip, keeping one eye on me at all times. I followed him, then realized that was making him go faster, so I had to bob & weave to keep him interested in me - running circles around trees and shrubs. I must have looked like a nut! It was getting warm, and running through the desert sand isn't easy, so I was really hoping that our time at the park wouldn't be a series of laps! But that little joker ran back to the front of the park -- the area where John said he'd jump if given the chance, and acted all nonchalant. Just when I started to relax, I saw him crouch down in preparation to jump the fence! I grabbed his lead and prevented the escape. After that, he calmed down. Whew! Not on my watch, little buddy.

Lunch time! This is serious business at Best Friends - top quality dry food, supplements for one dog, meds for another, maybe some calming pheremones for a nervous pooch. It was fascinating, but not nearly as fascinating as the feeding process itself. Open the door to the run, and typically one dog will run out into the run, and the other will stay inside. They know that's what they're supposed to do, and they know they're supposed to sit for their meals. All of them do. Maybe it's only for a split second, or maybe it's until you've sat the bowl down, but all of them make an attempt. It really speaks to the consistency of the employees and volunteers.

Lunch for me brought another nice surprise. Just as we were finishing, and getting ready to head off to a meeting, a woman approached and asked if we minded if she join us. We invited her to sit and learned that she was Charity Rennie, one of the founders of Best Friends! She said that before the sanctuary was started, she'd become unhappy with the way the world was going, and wanted to do something for someone besides herself. It was inspiring to hear her talk about the early days, when they had no money for anything - they built the lunch room that we were sitting in with their own hands, and did it mostly with donated materials. She talked about the struggle to acquire the lower canyon, where the welcome center and horses are kept. And she told us about the point in time when they needed to decide whether they would stay small, or continue to grow. (Grow! was the decision). She's charming and easy to talk to, and it's a conversation I'll always remember.

Later in the afternoon, I rode with one of the employees down to the HR office to pick up a couple of dogs who spend time in the HR office so they can socialize. We walked into the HR office and found an employee laying on the floor spooning TBoy, a healthy brown pit bull. I sat down on the floor, and within seconds, TBoy crawled up in my lap. It just melted my heart. We drove TBoy and Esther back to their runs, and I finished up the day with a short clicker training session with Bagara, where I clicked and treated her for getting close to me. After a few minutes, she was comfortable enough to let me hook her up and take her for a short walk.

What a way to end the day!