Paw Partner Adventures: Benny

Meet Benny.

Benny is a 3 year old Cairn Terrier/mix. And to quote a little girl we passed in the parking lot, "that puppy is so hairy."

Once again, I called the shelter ahead of time and asked if they had any high energy dogs that could go out for a run. No. How about any dogs I could take out with my own dog? No. Okay. I changed out of my running clothes, apologized to the yellow dog, and headed to the shelter.

Today's Paw Partner pup was such a sweetie. I have found most of the shelter dogs seem almost indifferent at first. I mean, they're all happy to get out for a walk, but most don't seem to care so much about the human on the other end of the leash and take a little while to warm up. Not Benny. Benny was like this: "hi,ilikeyou,doyoulikeme,isthataleash,arewegoingforawalk,ilikewalks,ilikeyou,doyoulikeme" and not just his tail, but his whole body was a-wigglin and a-wagglin.

The 15 minute car ride to the metro park was interesting. When I first put him in the car, he sat right down on the floor like he had done this a million times and knew the plan. Silly me. Once we were on the road, it was a different story. First, he was up on the passenger seat, nose out the window, off the seat, in my lap, on the floor, in the back seat, on the floor, on my lap again, on the floor, in the passenger seat...you get the idea. So once he was still long enough for me to reach him, I used one hand to basically hold him in one spot until we arrived.

I would describe Benny as energy with fur on it. He didn't slow down even a little and we completed the 3 mile hilly loop in a record breaking 49 minutes. And that's with a couple of stops (so I could catch my breath). I was wishing I hadn't changed from running clothes to jeans and hiking boots because 1. I'm pretty sure Benny could have run the whole way and 2. I was getting overheated at our record breaking pace.

Benny kind of reminded me of a teddy bear hamster on an exercise wheel: he just put his little nose down and went. Fast. Don't let those short little legs fool you. Benny took this walking thing seriously. He meant business.

It was a beautiful day for a hike and we both a good time.

We took a quick break at the creek so Benny could get a drink.

And Benny loved all the new outdoor smells. 

Once we made it back to the car, I sat down in the grass and Benny promptly crawled into my lap and tried to lick my chin. I'm pretty sure he was saying: thankyou,thatwasfun,canwedoitagian,ilikeyou,doyoulikeme,yea,letsdothatagain.

Paw Partner Adventures: Jethro

Meet Jethro.

My Paw Partner this week was a 5 year old, 65-ish pound beagle/foxhound mix 

who likes to sniff...

a lot.

I was a little short on time so the plan was to stay in the neighborhood and head to the park. I knew right away this was going to be a walk and not a run because when Jethro decides he wants to stop, he STOPS -- abruptly. Even walking, I almost landed on my face a couple times. It took a while to walk the mile from the shelter to the park entrance with all of his stopping, sniffing, and leg raising. Jethro is also a "weaver" meaning he is constantly changing from walking on the right side, to the left side, to ahead of me one second, and behind me the next. I'm pretty sure he walked an extra mile in the process.

We took a lap around the walking trail at the park with more stopping, sniffing, and leg raising, when Jethro discovered...

wait for it....

geese!

Pictures can't capture his excitement: ear flopping, tail wagging, if-only-I-wasn't-on-this-leash-I'm-pretty-sure-I-could-catch-me-one excitement.

He showed off his low, loud hound-dog bay for a good 5 minutes, but they just wouldn't come any closer.

Once I was finally able to drag him away from the geese and water, he seemed to figure out we were headed back toward the shelter and came up with another game to extend our outing. It was called, "Wait! There's something in these bushes!!" And this game continued the half mile length of the bush-lined fence leading out of the park. We never did figure out what was in those bushes, but not for lack of trying.

Eventually we made it to the sidewalk and finally, over an hour from the time we left, back to the shelter. I scratched his ears, patted his head, rubbed his belly, and said goodbye. He looked at me woefully, wagged his tail, and slobbered a little. Typical hound.

See ya, Jethro. I hope you get adopted soon!  :)

Paw Partner Adventures: Dodger

Meet Dodger.

Dodger is a 2 year old pit bull/terrier/lab mix with very pointy ears. He's almost the same color as my yellow dog! 

Last week's Paw Partner outing with Wishbone was certainly pleasant. But Dodger? I just might be in love. He's such a sweetie. And as a guy in the parking lot said, "That's a good lookin' dog." He's wide across the shoulders and has a short shiny coat. 

But I am noticing some trends at the shelter. 

Trend 1: they like to name dogs after TV and movie dogs. 

Trend 2: it seems they haven't actually watched the TV show or movie in which they are referencing. 

Dodger, of Oliver and Company

Anyway.

I picked Dodger up from the shelter and headed to Sugarcreek Park. He sat calmly in the back with his head over the seat, as if looking to see where we were going.  My plan was to do a 3 mile trail run and he certainly would have been up for the task. (Dodger is basically muscles with fur.) But due to the gorgeous weather, the trail was especially busy - LOTS of runners, walkers - with and without dogs, and children - lots of young children. 

And the warning they gave me when I left the shelter? Dodger doesn't like other dogs or children. Oh great. So we opted to walk the trail. I thought I'd have better control of him and more of his attention if we were moving at a slower pace. 

Can I just say - this dog loves to be outside. I'm pretty sure he sniffed every

rock, pebble, tree, flower, leaf, and blade of grass for the first 15 minutes.

Then he got his walkin' shoes on and off we went. Dodger likes to walk at a good clip and so do I, so we settled right in. When we passed others on the trail (like every ten minutes), I pulled him off to the side, told him to sit -- and he did!! -- and scratched his ears and talked to him as they passed by. He was a gem. After about the first mile, when he saw people coming, he walked to the edge of the trail and sat down! This dog is smart. Dodger never barked, growled, or lunged at anyone or anything. It made me think they must have their shelter dogs mixed up.

We crossed the creek a couple of times,

which made Dodger very happy... which made me happy.

I hope he finds a home soon.

Paw Partner Adventures: Wishbone

Yesterday, the yellow dog and I went to the shelter for the Paw Partner program. My plan was to pick up a shelter dog and then take both fur babies to the metro park for a long hike. When I got to the shelter, I was told there weren't any dogs available that play well with others. Bummer. The yellow dog and I headed off to the metro park anyway. It was a beautiful day for a hike and we both had a good time. We hiked almost 6 miles; much longer than allowed by the Paw Partner program.

So today, I left the yellow dog at home and headed to the shelter again. My plan was take out a larger dog, maybe Jefferson, and go for a 3 mile run. When I got there, Jefferson had already been out and they really didn't have any other "running" dogs. They asked if I would walk a smaller dog.

Of course.

Meet Wishbone.

He is an 8 or 9 year old wire-haired Jack Russell Terrier. And though the breed is right, whoever named Wishbone obviously never watched the show. (Just ask any one of my 3 older kids...)

The "real" Wishbone

But he was super sweet and so excited to go on a field trip. We walked a mile from the shelter to a nearby park. Wishbone was all decked out in patriotic colors and lead the way. It was a little strange to walk such a small dog but he was pretty good on the leash and I soon settled into his pace (which is much slower than what I'm used to). He wasn't a puller and though he preferred to take his half of the sidewalk out of the middle, he seemed to know to scooch over for other pedestrians.

As soon a we came to the park entrance, Wishbone was in heaven. He proceeded to roll all over in the grass and get all tangled in his leash. So much happy in one little dog!

The clouds were rolling in as we got to the park but it was still a nice mild day. Wishbone was very interested in the geese and we chased a few around. I figured, how often does a shelter dog get to scare geese away? He seemed to like it. I sat on a bench and thought he'd like to sniff around a bit but he just seemed to want to keep moving. So after a long belly rub and a water break, we headed back.

I obnoxiously told everyone I passed on our walk that Wishbone was a shelter dog looking for a home. He got a few pats on the head and if nothing else, raised some awareness.

We walked a total of 2.28 miles. His first mile was about a 19 minute pace. His second, around a 23 minute pace. I could tell on the way home, he was getting tired. Throw in some goose chasing, and all in all, I think Wishbone had a good time. 

Paw Partners

I saw this program advertised in a fitness magazine a couple of years ago and called our local shelter to see if they had such a program. They did not. But just recently, our local SICSA (Society for the Improvement of Conditions for Stray Animals) has gotten it off the ground. My youngest sent me the info last week and I jumped at the chance to register. With the weather getting nice, it looks like a great way to help homeless dogs and get outside and exercise.

Last night, I went to the required one hour orientation. I taught class immediately before and had exactly 8 minutes to drive the 6.5 miles from the gym to the shelter. Yes, I was a little sweaty so my plan was to keep a little distance between me and the other volunteers at the meeting. I'm sure I looked like an over achiever who thought she was running with a dog right then and there.

I pulled into the parking lot (with 1 minute to spare) to find it slam full. I then drove through the large overflow lot looking for a space. Next, I tried the huge lot of the vet's office next door, already closed for day, and not a space to be found. I finally found a place on the curb on the street 1.5 blocks away. I sprinted to the shelter, as I was now officially late for the orientation meeting (and now also in need of a little more space between me and the other volunteers).

What I found when I got there: over 180 people from the community. The meeting room was overflowing; every chair taken, people sitting on the floor, and standing, pressed 2 deep against every wall. (fire code, schmire code) It made my heart happy to see so many people interested in providing exercise and companionship to homeless dogs.

We picked up our info packets with Paw Partner applications, waivers, releases, rules, and important phone numbers. A staff member introduced Jefferson, a super friendly 4 year old coon hound, to show us the harness and leash system, the fancy water bottle that when turned upside down fills a little collapsible attached bowl, and the handy-dandy-ever-so-important poop bag dispenser that attaches to each harness. They explained that each dog is micro-chipped, wears a collar with a tag stating "Property of SICSA" on it, and also while out with the Paws program, wears a flag that says "Adopt Me." During this show-and-tell of details, Jefferson went from laying sprawled on the floor half asleep to trying to climb into the lap of the closest volunteer.

After hearing all the guidelines, the staff opened the floor to questions; always an interesting, if not entertaining, experience in a crowd this large. (Keep in mind, they shared a LOT of info with us already - this was an hour long meeting!) Here are just some of the questions that followed:

Can we take out more than one dog at a time?
No. One-on-one is preferred. If there are 2 volunteers who want to go out together, they will try to match 2 dogs who get along. Otherwise - one handler, one dog, as stated in the info packet.

Can we drive a dog to a nearby park?
Yes, for now. They realize people have favorite routes, parks, and trails they like to run so you can put the shelter dog in your car. If this proves to be a problem later, the program may be limited to walking distance of the shelter. They stressed the facility is not responsible to any damage to your car and that some dogs may not be good travelers; all stated in the info packet.

Is there a distance limit on how far I can run a dog?
A shelter dog can be away from the facility a maximum of 2 hours. Staff will track the times and distances each dog is taken out, with a 1 mile limit week one, 2 mile limit week two, 3 mile limit week three, and then a maximum of 5 miles per outing after that. Their high energy dogs will be allowed to participate in the program more often, while participation of older or less energetic dogs will be limited. Program hours are set so the dogs are at the shelter during peak adoption times. Again, all explained in the info packet.

Can we bring our own dog along?
Yes, but a staff supervised meet-and-greet is required each time. Please see info packet for more details.

Can we have a kid in a stroller while we take out a shelter dog?
Yes, if you can control the dog and the stroller. The dogs all undergo a personality assessment but, like all animals, are unpredictable. You assume all risk for yourself, your children, and anyone else, says the waiver we all signed in the info packet.

Can we roller-blade with a shelter dog?
After an awkward pause, yes. As long as you can control the dog, and don't run over its paws, you can roller blade. We may need to add this to the info packet.

About now, I am starting to shift my weight from foot to foot, feeling a little uncomfortable. The intelligent (and even a few less-than-intelligent) questions have all been asked. This is when I am convinced people are wracking their brains, trying to think of questions, any question.

Do we have to run...can we walk the shelter dog?
Of course! The smaller breeds may not be the best runners but they all thrive on exercise outside. Duh.

Do we have to keep the dog on the leash?
Really? Yes. Some shelter dogs may seem very well behaved but they don't know you, and chances are, they don't know their surroundings. If we lose the dogs, it's hard to find homes for them. Let's keep the leashes on, as stated in the info packet.

What if I get here, and there are no dogs available?
Are you kidding? Should they give you a cat to walk instead? With the overwhelming response to the program, it is possible that all participating dogs may be out when you arrive. You can call ahead and reserve a dog if you want. But if you reserve a dog, please show up so as to not hurt their feelings and add to their rejection insecurities.  :)

Stay tuned for future Paw Partner adventures. The program officially starts April 17 and 

I hope to participate at least once a week. 

I made a promise to my dog that I wouldn't walk shelter dogs 

unless I had first walked her.

 That seems only fair.

And then I had to make a promise to my honey
not to bring any shelter animals home.
Hmmm....that wasn't in the info packet...