muddy paws
It's been a while since I posted any pictures of dogs. (Or have I ever? I can't remember!) This guy's name is Liono, after the Thundercat, and he is rather chubby, but it doesn't slow him down. I would not go so far as to say he's happy at the shelter, but he definitely loves people, and so when we have him in the kitchen he's happy to climb onto people's laps and get pets. He was rescued by another local agency from the euthanasia list at a NYC shelter this spring, and I've seen the pictures from his intake: he was so emaciated you could see his ribs and his vertebrae. Now he has little fat rolls. His only quirk (that I've seen) is that he pees like a horse, so if he doesn't get outside in time, he'll leave a puddle in the corner of his kennel. But otherwise he's quite neat (he doesn't step in the puddle, for example, unlike some dogs I know), good on the leash, and generally calm.
There are dogs in the shelter who I know are Good Dogs, but maybe they're also still brainless puppies and so I find myself scrubbing shitstains off their walls almost every day, and I have to admit I'm less inclined to think fondly of them (even if that's unfair of me). Working here has given me a perspective that not everyone looking to adopt a dog gets, but as I've said, dogs behave differently in their kennels than they do in a calmer environment like a home. Maybe the young dog who pees and smears it everywhere in her kennel wouldn't do that in a home. Maybe Liono has triggers can't see yet, because he's living in a shelter.
Anyway, I'm still happy about the opportunity to hang out with dogs nearly every day.