BACS Volunteers' Blog: October 2008

For those of you who don't know Chica, she's a young cutie pie shelter dog who has major attitude in the kennels. She puts up a ferocious show when dogs go past her kennel. Out on walks, she's bound to bark up a storm around other dogs as well. We were really beginning to fear that this baby girl's chances of adoption were slim.

Kate and I decided to find out how she would respond to a bit of attitude adjustment. We also were keen to determine if she's all bark and no bite. So, we took her outside and waited to see what she'd do when a dog came along. We didn't have to wait long as May Lee strolled by with a volunteer and Ms. Chica launched into her wild & crazy girl routine. Kate immediately corrected her. Fortunately, Chica responded well to the direction!

I then brought out good old Hendrix who loves to play and is as friendly as they come. He was interested to meet Chica despite her less than pleasant greeting. However, Kate had to repeatedly remind Chica that such behavior is not allowed. Chica appeared to get the message and settled down a bit. After 5 minutes or so, we allowed her to come close enough to Hendrix to sniff him. They exchanged some sniffs, wagged their tails (a good sign) and "just like that" our little fireball Chica went into play mode. She rolled over and did some play bows, inviting Hendrix to play.

Happy Days! We took the pair over to the dog run and let them roar around together. It was a pleasure to see her finally at ease with another dog, and wearing off some of that puppy energy.

Billy adopted on 5/8/08 by Rick P.

Billy (a.k.a. Bubba) gets to live, sleep, and work with Rick on 4 acres of land with palm trees everywhere. He is a great dog w/no aggressive tendencies who plays very well with his cousin, a male shep mix. Billy knows "stay" "sit" "jump in back of truck". Rick told me gleefully "It's like having a kid...never laughed so much in my life as I have the past 3 mos" "Thanks for finding me a great dog!" Things did start off a little traumatic for Billy in his new home, only 2 weeks post adoption, he was hit by a truck on the grounds. Billy ran off in the darkness - Rick looked for him from 9PM- 3AM , no Billy. The next morning Billy showed up pretty banged up, in shock, but very much alive and happy to see Rick! He was rushed to the vet and stitched up (nothing broken) - has healed well mentally, physically, and still finds himself getting into mischief. Recently there was an armed robbery in the area which brought a police K9 unit on the scene. Billy was eager to play with the police dog - which was not what this dog wanted at all, the police man had to hold his dog back from taking a "bite outta Billy". Seems as if our little rascal still wants to go go go!

Gregory/Popeye (no orginal photo) adopted on 5/31/08 by Carolina G.

This is the shy gentle giant who was found tied up outside of Popeye's Fried Chicken, hence Carolina thought it more than appropriate to name him "Popeye". They take him all the time to the Alameda Dog Park where he just plays and plays and plays! An endearing trait about Popeye is that upon meeting a new dog he will always approach the owner first, he is much less shy around people. One day at the dog park they ran into Popeye's biological brother whose owners had him since he was a puppy, and knew their breed as a mastiff/germ shep mix. He loves the beach and going in the water. As far as his training, he listens very well and is now house-trained (no more peeing on her boyfriend's carpet!), knows "sit" "lay down" & "shake". Popeye has a new little brother, a lab male puppy (around 8 weeks old), they get along wonderfully as evidenced in the pix below :>)

Julie/Ruby adopted on 5/22/08 by Rita F.

Ruby is "wonderful, terrific!" Rita had a DNA test done to find out her new addition's exact breed, it was such a mystery. The strong breeds = Shepherd & Basset Hound, the weak breeds = Samoyed & Norwegian Elk Hound. Go figure?! She is definitely a talker, I could hear her in the background during our call, howling away. Ruby acclimated very quickly to her home learning where the doggie door is by emulating the big dogs. She lives with Jet (110# Akita/Shep) & Bella (77# Akita), Ruby herself is not that big. She probably weighs about 40#, has "long lovely legs" & "Cleopatra eyes"! Ruby will be starting Sirius puppy training school soon. She loves to swim and also has been discovered to be a "neurotic ball dog" - fetching over & over AND over again.

Lucy/Olive adopted on 6/8/08 by Ingrid S.

Olive came home housetrained and a bit timid. She also was protective of Ingrid when friends came over. With steady work & a positive treat reinforcement technique (giving the friends a handful of treats to drop on the ground for her without any eye contact), Olive now sits happily on everybody's lap and is very friendly to all! She gets along really good with other dogs and is a regular at the dog park. Last week she went on her first trip to the beach & had a blast digging in the sand! Olive is a real snuggler & most endearing to people as a "tiny cow that barks a lot" ha ha!

Malcolm adopted on 5/11/08 by R. H & Maple M.

"Hello there Berkeley Animal Shelter,

Just a little update on Malcolm... He has pretty much made himself completely at home here with us. We've been taking him to the park, the lake, gramma's house, etc. Malcolm pretty much goes everywhere we go. To our surprise, he took to us very easily and was very playful. It's hard to believe that he was once the terror of your center doing death rolls, growling, etc. Malcolm is nothing short of a great companion and a wonderful addition to our lives."

McCoy/Bongo adopted on 5/31/08 by Nina & Charles

"We are 100% satisfied!" exclaimed Charles. They came up with a light playful name "Bongo" to fit their new pittie's sweet demeanor and to help lessen the tough guy reputation his breed may conjure up for some. He is a "very wonderful dog" who plays well at the dog parks under close supervision - he has never had any problems! Bongo came home completely house trained with basic commands down, he has no scars, no fears & appears to have been well taken care of in his life pre-shelter. He is a loving, kissing guy. When 9PM hits Bongo goes into his crate on his own accord to sleep, it is his secure den. The only issue Charles could think of is that as Bongo grows bolder, his recall is starting to waver. I suggested BAD RAP training and e-mailed him the info for Saturday classes.

Shorty/Smarty adopted on 6/4/08 by Cardell A.

Smarty is a really "good dog". He came home not knowing how to play. The Alfords had to show him how to have fun, now he really enjoys playing with his toys,riding in a car and likes to go for a walk. Smarty can be a bit possessive so when the grandchildren come by they introduce him very slowly. He sleeps in his crate in the house.

Sadie/Cali adopted on 5/28/08 by Alan

"On 5/28/08, we adopted a border collie mix that Berkeley Animal Care had named Sadie (now called Cali). She is high energy and we take her for lots of walks. She does appear somewhat fearful on occasion, and also shows some obsessive behavior typical of high energy herding dogs, such as chasing shadows and reflected light, as well as hyper focus on chase and fetch games. Nevertheless, we are working on establishing an understanding of rules and expected behavior, and there have been significant improvements in the last few weeks ... she actually lies down and takes a nap once in awhile, and is doing so now, as I write this.

My wife and I are very fond of her and we are confident that with time and reinforcement her behavior will soften even more.

Thanks for the opportunity to have this fine dog ..."

Trevor/Jäeger adopted on 5/1/08 by Tom

"He's the best dog I ever had!" Adopted with the thought that Jäeger would be mostly an "outdoor dog", Tom quickly changed his mind. Tom knew this was dog for him when they came out of the vet office and Jäeger jumped right in the back seat of his car into the crate without any prompting! It turns out he came home not only completely house/crate trained but with a bag of tricks up his sleeve! He is very human friendly & never fails to win people over with his cute begging trick (see middle picture below). Jäeger occasionally displays barking at other dogs but never acts aggressive, au contraire, he is quite social. For those of us who remember his watery eyes, they are still a bit goopy - Tom is treating them by giving him Omega 3 supplements.