The first dog I had was a little German Shepherd/Shar Pei mix 
named Teeko. He was really small for his breed background; his body came up just past the height of my knee. The coordinator informed me that he was a little fearful, and certain hand movements freaked him out. The poor guy was still a young pup at only a year old, so someone must've been very harsh when disciplining him. Walking with Teeko was pretty easy: he pulled a little at times, but walked right beside me at other times. He definitely took some time to warm up to me, but let me pet him, and when we were walking he would glance back at me and push his nose into my hand a give me a little lick. He didn't take any treats, though; not sure if he just didn't like them or he didn't trust me enough to take them from me yet.
named Teeko. He was really small for his breed background; his body came up just past the height of my knee. The coordinator informed me that he was a little fearful, and certain hand movements freaked him out. The poor guy was still a young pup at only a year old, so someone must've been very harsh when disciplining him. Walking with Teeko was pretty easy: he pulled a little at times, but walked right beside me at other times. He definitely took some time to warm up to me, but let me pet him, and when we were walking he would glance back at me and push his nose into my hand a give me a little lick. He didn't take any treats, though; not sure if he just didn't like them or he didn't trust me enough to take them from me yet. I let him off leash in one of the pens, and he just meandered around, smelling things and marking his territory here and there. He showed some interest in one of the tug toys, even taking it into his mouth and playing with me for a second, but dropped it when one of the other dogs walked by. Teeko seemed to like other dogs; when Frankie (who I walked next) walked by they had a brief but positive meeting, and while Frankie continued walking Teeko got very excited and tried to follow him. When Frankie walked beyond the fence, Teeko started whining and tried to dig his way out. That's when I took him out again and he seemed happy just to be exploring everything around him.
I only had 
Teeko out for a short time, then the coordinator switched me over to Frankie, who is a nine year old Border Collie mix. As soon as she handed the leash to me, Frankie came right up and rested his head on my stomach, and looked up at me with his soft, brown eyes.
Teeko out for a short time, then the coordinator switched me over to Frankie, who is a nine year old Border Collie mix. As soon as she handed the leash to me, Frankie came right up and rested his head on my stomach, and looked up at me with his soft, brown eyes. Yes, I melted.
And I continued to melt into a big, gooey puddle the longer I spent with Frankie: he was the sweetest, most adoring dog I've ever met! Even though he was an older dog, he still had a bit of energy in him to keep us walking around the trails more than once. He was very food motivated, and had good obedience (even though it took me some time to figure out which hand signal he knew for 'sit'), but the very best thing I loved about him was that he loved cuddles! I would lower my hand to my side and he would instantly nuzzle his head against it, and then press right up against me for more. He was a dog that knew what a hug meant, and when I hugged him he just burrowed himself into my arms. We took a little break at one point and just rested in the shade; after practicing some commands with Frankie I had him lay down and just petted him and gave him little massages. After a while, he rolled over onto his side and literally into my lap. With the breezy sunshine around us, it was very relaxing.
One possible downside to all this attention, as mentioned by the coordinator, is that Frankie might not do so well with other pets or children, because he definitely loves the attention and might not be so keen on sharing it with other people or animals. While we don't know 100% that's how he would react, all I can say is when he's with people he is very, very sweet and gentle.
Sidenote: with all the animals at the SPCA at the moment, there are sadly quite a few animals in 
their senior years. One such animal is such a lovable dog named Snoop, who is fifteen years old. Snoop was found a stray, but had proper ID that they were able to track down his owner. His owner, who said she had had Snoop since he was a puppy, said she was going to come pick him up, but she never did. When they called her again to follow up, they found that she had changed her number!! Wtf?
their senior years. One such animal is such a lovable dog named Snoop, who is fifteen years old. Snoop was found a stray, but had proper ID that they were able to track down his owner. His owner, who said she had had Snoop since he was a puppy, said she was going to come pick him up, but she never did. When they called her again to follow up, they found that she had changed her number!! Wtf?
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