Straydog UPDATE posted SATURDAY 3/1/03 at ~9:30 p.m. CT

Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log

SATURDAY MARCH 1 2003

Puppy-dogs Jeff and Zack are adopted!

      What a great day for the Black Lab Pups Jeff and Zack! Both pups have been adopted (separately) and are now happily settling in with their new families. Guy made the home visit with Jeff while Susan and Sue made the home visit (all the way to Wylie) with Zack. Susan said that when she and Sue got back to the store after leaving Zack with his new mom and dad and their five-year-old little boy, she saw Jeff's mom and dad, with Jeff too, shopping for Jeff at the store, and their shopping cart was full to the brim with goodies for their new little pet.

      Again we thank all of our wonderful dog-sitting volunteers for giving so freely of their time to help Straydog find wonderful homes for so many of the rescued dogs and pups in our care. Thank you all!

Jesse is becoming friendlier everyday!

      Now Jesse will come to meet us when we walk into his kennel, although he won't come all the way to us to be petted, but he comes to us now and then sits down several inches away from us, just sitting and looking at us as if to say, "I'm still very shy of people, but I want you to pet me." Jesse isn't afraid of us. He knows we're all his friends, and we can tell he wants to be petted, but this is all very new to Jesse and he continues to be cautious.

      So, when we go into his kennel (just one person at a time), he comes to us and sits right in front of us, staying just a little distance away. When we sit near him he will come and sniff our fingers, and even touch our hands with his nose. The petting routine for Jesse and me has been for Jesse to walk slowly over and sit beside his fence. Then he waits for me (as I talk to him softly all the while) to slowly walk over to him and sit down beside him, and he lets me pet him. He's free to walk away from me anytime he chooses, but he will let me pet him for 10 minutes or longer without wanting to move.

      Randy is working hard to win Jesse's trust too, as are all of our other employees. This big Chow mix fellow is showered with attention throughout the day, just as all other timid or fearful dogs and pups are when they come to our Happy Home for Strays, and Jesse is beginning to trust us.

      Toys are new to Jesse also, and for the first two days he's been with us (this being his third day), he just sniffed at them, not knowing how to play with them. He seemed to like Randy's cap, so Randy gave that to the fellow to play with. This evening when I looked out to check on Jesse, he was playing with a toy bone, having the best time scooching the bone with his front paws all over his kennel yard. It is wonderful to see him so happy.