Only myself and another volunteer, Jodi, arrived. We formulated a plan to get as many as the dogs out between the two of us: we would each take turns taking various dogs out, the dogs that were really high strung and energetic we could leave for a bit to roam and run around in the outside pens, while we'd walk another dog around the trails at the same time. Then we'd put those dogs back in, walk the dogs that were in the outside pens already, and rotate in another set of dogs we could leave in the pens for while. (Multi-tasking at it's best!)
The dogs:
Camille and Damian: Jodi took these two adorable Rottweiler crosses out. They came in together and love each other, but Damian is documented as being somewhat aggressive towards other dogs. Camille is shyer but seems uncertain about other dogs. Yesterday when I was walking Bruno Camille was in her pen alone, and gave Bruno a kiss on the nose. Today when we walked by they were both barking at Bruno; I think Camille follows Damian's lead.
Bruno: OMG, can I just say how much I love this dog? He's lost weight since I last walked him, but he's still a big, pudgy, lovable teddy bear. He walks nicely by your side with you, listens to you when you tell him something, and love cookies (probably why he's overweight now...but if you met him you'd want to feed him cookies all the time too!) He's not interested in the other dogs (unless they are really aggressive to him, then I guess he feels he has to represent) and not really interested in playing fetch, but he loved our game of hide and seek. Once he finds you, he gets really excited and plasters himself against you for cuddles. I love him!
Ace: Ace is a beautiful, Siberian husky with only one bright, blue eye. Because of that, it always looks like he's winking at you. I've never walked Ace, but everyone says he's a lovely dog, much like Bruno, who doesn't pull when walking and doesn't get all riled up with other dogs. He's rooming with Mimi right now, who is his bi-polar opposite. When i was trying to get Mimi back inside her kennel, Ace was perfectly calm, sat down right in front of me and rested his chin on my tummy, looking up at me with his winky expression. So cute! Plus his fur was so soft.
Saber and Roxy: Jodi took Saber while I took Roxy. These two scary looking dogs are both bull breeds, but are rooming together with seemingly no issues. Usually I see the same guy walking Saber, and all reports say that despite her intimidating appearance, she is a sweet dog who likes to play. Roxy is the same, although she was really energetic and pulled a lot. Since they room together, we thought it would be ok to put them in a pen together for a while. At first, it seemed like they both wanted to play; they romped off together jumping all over each other. Jodi and I went to attend to the other dogs, but when we went back the two of them were going at it...intensely, I might add. Saber had the upper hand and and had snapped onto Roxy's ear. Poor Roxy was twisting her head around, trying to get away. Jodi managed to break up the dogs and hold Saber back while I rushed to get Roxy away. Her ear was bleeding badly, and they had to take her to the vet because the bleeding wasn't stopping. We don't know what started the fight.
Mimi: I've walked Mimi before and although I liked her, I knew she was a handful. Today was no exception. As soon as we approached her and Ace in their kennel, she started whining loudly, which escalated to near screaming as she was so anxious to get out. She started scrambling around wildly in her kennel, which may I add hadn't been cleaned yet so poo was spread all over the place. When I got her leash on, she instantlly dashed off, dragging me everywhere, same as last time. Jodi and I thought it would be best to put them into a pen first, since Mimi obviously had extra energy to burn off. When I came back afterwards to take Mimi, her and Ace were both waiting anxiously by the door to go on their walk. While Ace waited calmly with a minor bark here and there, Mimi was poking her nose outside, jumping up, trying to dig her way out. I managed to grab both of them and kick the gate closed so I could leash them up, except the gate has a kind of latch on it that swings out, and although the gate closed the protruding latch stopped it from closing all the way. Before I knew it, Mimi had run outside and was galloping up and down alongside the fences. F**k!! I checked to make sure Ace was secure and chased after Mimi. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) Saber was in the next pen, and Mimi, being the drama queen she is, decided to taunt the other dog by growling at her and chasing her up and down the pen. This meant that she did not run far, and we managed to grab her. After that, I walked her with some mild success in teaching her not to pull to hard, and we played a game of fetch. I think that she has the potential to be a great dog, she just needs a very firm handler and a lot of training. She is smart and knows some commands, but whatever her upbringing was, they probably didn't pay too much attention to her and didn't set any boundaries, so sometimes she chooses to ignore you.
Also, both Mimi and Bruno ate grass on their walk. What the heck?
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