More of the Garden Gang

Life at the Garden changes very quickly from day to day, we get a lot of new dogs and have a very high turn over of dogs getting adopted. Since my last post we have gotten several new dogs and four that I mentioned have either been adopted or moved to other areas. Hera is back up at the Lodges, she was getting to worked up in the octagon with all the people in and out, so the trainers thought she would calm down and do a bit better up at the Lodges where she used to live. In her place we got a dog from the Lodges named Jagger, aka Frenchie, that you may remember from a previous post about the dogs that came from the Spindle Top rescue group in Texas.Idaho went back to Old Friends, now that the quarantine for ringworm has been lifted from that area, and we got Marge back. Marge moved to the Garden from the Lodges when I was still working up at the Lodges (you may remember Margie from previous posts - she's the smiler) and then she developed ringworm and was moved to Old Friends with some other ringworm dogs (not in the same run) to try and contain the outbreak. Unfortunately, Marge has lymphoma and will probably not get rid of the ringworm because of her diminished immune system. But she is the last dog at the sanctuary that I know of to have ringworm and they decided to bring her back to the Garden because the dogs are mostly young and healthy and less likely to pick up an infection should they come in contact with the spores than many of the dogs at Old Friends. Marge is such a sweet dog and she has very little time left with us, but we will love and adore her until she is ready to go and we are working on lifting her quarantine so that volunteers may go in and be with her and walk her using the same protocols that the staff are required to use. In happier news, Simon and Oakley were both adopted last week. Simon went to Denver and Oakley went to the central Washington coast and we hear that both are doing quite well in their new homes. Valley Girl, Oakley's former run mate, has three new kids in her run to keep in line. She now lives with Poinsettia, a very sweet little hound that is a bit shy but very lovable; Tucson, a Rottie mix that is very playful and fun but a bit scared in new situations (during his behavior assessment he tried to climb out the window when he got scared); and Dana, a very cute red-brindle six-month old pup that looks like a jackal when he gets excited.

In the other building, Anahi and Pilot have two new friends as well. A lab-hound mix named Boone that was picked up roaming in Colorado City, the nearby Fundamentalist Mormon (aka Polygamist) settlement. He can be nervous with new dogs and isn't always sure of himself in new settings, he was probably never in a home environment prior to his arrival at BF, but he absolutely loves people. For about a week he was living with Grady and Mercy but they were picking on him a lot and by the end of the week he never wanted to go back into his run in the morning or after a walk, so we decided that we would try him with Anahi's run and he is a completely different dog. He plays and stands up for himself and he seems happy to go back with his friends in the morning and after walks and outings. We have another black and white hound named Alden in Anahi's run, as well. He was in a foster home for a few weeks but the family had a rabbit, too and they were too nervous to let him meet the rabbit so after a little while, they decided to let him come live at the sanctuary. He is an incredibly well mannered dog and I can't imagine that he will be with us at the Garden for too long, somebody is going to come along and snatch him up. We have already had one couple fall in love with him, they took him on sleepovers for three or four nights in a row, he is easy to love and very sweet. Pilot is our Plott hound, he is a beautiful and remarkably powerful dog. From a sit, he has a six-foot vertical jump; he is solid muscle, as is the standard for this breed. He is young and playful and doesn't know his own strength, he wears a harness for his walks to help cut down on his pulling but getting it on him is a decent challenge in and of itself. It is kind of like trying to dress a toddler that doesn't want to be clothed and can, without warning, jump six feet in the air - some days I wish I could wear a hockey mask to work. Anahi is the odd duck in this run, a twelve year old Akita mix, she definitely doesn't fit in with the three young hounds, but she loves them. For some unknown reason, Anahi prefers male hound dogs - in spite of their youthful play and crazy antics (Pilot is forever jumping on her head by accident) she seems content with them.

Well, that seems like enough for today, I still have three runs of dogs to introduce, but I will save them for another post. I hope you are all doing well!

(All photos copyright Best Friends Animal Society.)