Cats and dogs

I may have mentioned that I am currently volunteering at the local Humane Society. E wanted to work with the cats (since she won't be allowed to walk the dogs from the main kennel until she's 18) so we've mostly been volunteering in the Cattery.

Each of us has our favorites. Johanna is one that both of us like. She's a 9yo tabby who just wants to be loved. Her previous owner moved into assisted living and couldn't take her, and you can tell she was an adored lap cat. Ellie wants to bring Callahan home. She's got this thing for Siamese cats - especially the lilac points. Her current paranoid cat is one, and Callahan could be Kitty's twin: he's just as paranoid and scared of his shadow as she is. No thanks. Maybe if I could only have one.

Zeus is another sweet cat, but he's a drooler. I give him lots of love because he needs it and he eats it up, but I end up with slobber dripping of my hands. Yuck.

When I went in today I saw that both Traveler and Moo Moo had been adopted. Hooray!

But today was a day for dogs. Today I took the Open Paws 1 class and then joined a "dream team" to work with dogs who have just begun their training. Xena, Clarabelle, Darcy, and Slate all passed their Level II tests today - they sat when asked, sat while we put leashes on them, and then waited (mostly patiently) while we opened their kennels and brought them out. Poor Slate doesn't get along with Paddle (the dog on his right) and ended up with a bloodly lip from crashing into Paddle's kennel door. But the last time I brought him out he was able to ignore Paddle long enough to go out and back in.

All the other members of my dream team were convinced that Xena would never pass Level II. Apparently she "has issues." But for me she immediately sat, and I got her to sit again once I was in her kennel which my trainer wasn't able to do. And she very nicely waited while I opened the kennel door. After that, everyone else was able to get her to do the same thing. I guess I'm starting to be able to whisper dogs, too.

Working there makes me feel good. The love I give these animals is unconditional, and so is the love they give me back. I know I can't take them home - that at best I'll help prepare them to be at their best when people come to look, and to be well behaved for whomever adopts them. And on their part, they are happy just to receive positive attention. They want so much to be loved, and I love to love them.