Prisoner #000534 Escapes

Prisoner #000534, aka "Smooth Eddie" and "Little Burrito" escaped from the exercise yard of the Westside Detention Center in Patterson early this morning.  Details of the brazen escape attempt are provided by
senior dog walker Bill, aka "Sloe Gin William".

At approximately 0910 hours I exited my vehicle along with my partner Izzy, and began our normal morning walk.  I observed junior dog walker Jody, aka "I Can't Hear A Word You're Screaming" in the exercise yard with inmates Lulu and Smooth Eddie.  Upon reaching the gravel driveway leading out of the detention facility I heard dog walker Jody loudly calling Smooth Eddie's name.  I turned just in time to observe Smooth Eddie approaching my position at a high rate of speed.  Having experienced a similar escape attempt by the same Smooth Eddie a month ago I fully expected he would once again run right into my waiting arms.  Smooth Eddie, who apparently also remembered his prior escape attempt failure, didn't give me a second look, and instead continued full speed ahead straight up the gravel driveway.

Dog walker Jody exited the exercise yard, and I, the witty and slightly vain more experienced dog walker, handed her Izzy's dog leash and told Jody to watch her, as I turned and put my new Costco tennis shoes to the test.  I went from 0 to 3 mph in a flash as I pursued Smooth Eddie.  I yelled the "Come" command and gave my friendly high pitched "beep beep beep" sound in an attempt to slow Smooth Eddie, to no avail.  Halfway up the driveway Smooth Eddie was out-pacing me, and out-lasting me.  Sensing I was losing this race I turned and yelled to dog walker Jody "Get a car!!  Get a car!!"  It was no use, she couldn't hear me.  I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and clumsily pecked in the detention facility phone number in order to get someone with a vehicle to assist me.  I got voice mail.  Taking a deep breath, I put my legs back into a run, and continued my pursuit of Smooth Eddie.

Smooth Eddie made his way onto Olive Ave, well ahead of me, and I began to fear the worst was about to happen.  I was now down to a trot, my lungs exploding , when Smooth Eddie made his mistake.  Just prior to Poplar Ave, Smooth Eddie wandered into the deep plowed earth off the side of the road.  Seeing him slow, I stealthily paralleled him on the asphalt road as I gained ground on him.    I got to within ten feet of Smooth Eddie when he looked up at me.  His eyes widened as I saw him calculating the distance to sure footing and freedom.  With the last bit of breath I could muster from my lungs, I let him have it.  "Damn it Eddie!  Stoppppppppppppp!!!  Smooth Eddie's ears collapsed upon his head.  All strength drained from Eddie's legs as he melted into a heap in the deep dirt.  The gig was up.

I pulled out my fake police radio and made the call.  "Code 4.  Code 4.  Suspect is 1015!"  For you not in the police field that would mean no further assistance needed, suspect is in custody.  I held Smooth Eddie close to my chest as I headed back, hoping my pounding heart would beat some sense into him.
A debriefing was held after the apprehension of Smooth Eddie and the following was found:

1.  We need to fill in the low spots in the front yard.

 2.  Smooth Eddie is banned from the front yard until security is tightened.

 3.  Old men have no business chasing Chihuahuas.

Bill

P.S. The preceding was written in jest, but mostly true. 

Teddy

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least among you, you did not do for me.'"
    -Matthew 25:41-45

I very seldom quote the bible.  As a matter of fact, the bible and I have had some big disagreements.  But today, I was reminded of this quote from Matthew, as I worked with a dog named Teddy.

I perused our walking equipment, searching for the best harness to use on Teddy.  Teddy is a very young small Terrier mix, white and tan, with blue steel eyes.  After rescuing Teddy from the County shelter just three days ago, we came to learn he has impaired hearing and vision.  Yesterday, my partner Tom took Teddy out to an exercise yard to see what we were working with.  Things did not go well.  Tom said Teddy just skirted around the yard, avoiding any human contact, not responding to verbal or visual stimuli.  Our boss put the word out, if we can't get this dog to show it can bond to a human, then we had no chance of adopting it out.

So I chose the small green harness.  It's the one I've had the best luck with, and I knew that I, and Teddy, needed luck today. No matter what happened, I had to get Teddy out on a walk.  Even if it was the ugliest walk ever experienced by man and beast, I know that a good walk goes a long way in building trust, and maybe with trust, a bond can grow.

As I walked through the yard and approached Teddy's pen, he looked my way.  Sort of.  Maybe.  It was hard to tell because you can only see the top half of Teddy's pupils.  I let myself in as Teddy bounced around my legs.  Down on a knee I went for greetings.  I'm used to young dogs mouthing when they get excited but Teddy was working overtime.  He pulled at my sweatshirt and grabbed my fingers as I kept him at a safe distance from my nose.  We did this dance for awhile until he got tired of trying to get a grip on me.  When he settled down I attempted to get the harness on him.  His little legs were just moving too fast for me so I went for option two.  I picked Teddy up and an amazing thing happened; his legs went still.  I looped the harness around him, snapped it on top.  Victory was mine.

As I attached the leash and put Teddy back on the ground I fully expected he would go berserk at the sensation of the leash.  But no, forward we began.  Well, mostly forward.  There was some jetting back and forth in front of me, and some stopping to smell bushes, but this was not about proper walking technique.
Up the gravel driveway we made our way to the hardtop road.  I stopped to offer him some stringcheese as a reward.  At first I pulled off too small of a piece and it was hard for him to see my offering.  I pulled off a longer strip and he eagerly gobbled it up.  Off and walking again.  Along the way I stopped several times, calling him back to me when he reached the limits of the leash.  Each time he would come bounding back, reaping another cheese reward.  As we walked back toward the yard I noticed that Teddy was spending more time near my side, and less time in front of me.

Back in the yard I unleashed Teddy from his harness and walked away from him.  It was then that I received my reward.  Teddy followed me.  Having finished off the stringcheese I went to my pocket and pulled out a hard biscuit, breaking off a small piece.  Teddy liked the biscuit also.  I did several walkaways followed by trips up and down the porch to Augusta's house, Teddy followed.  Once Teddy strolled off to get a drink of water from a large bucket in the yard.  I took the opportunity to go hide behind a tree.  When Teddy finished drinking he turned and looked and I wasn't where he left me.  I wouldn't call it a panicked look but I could definitely see that he was trying hard to find me.  He turned his head from side to side, walking up to the fence, and then turning to look behind him.  I called out to Teddy to get his attention as I peeked around the tree.  Nothing at first.  I raised my voice in a loud "Beep beep beep!"  He turned toward me.  I waved my hands from behind the tree but he was having a hard time seeing me.  Finally I stepped from behind the tree and he recognized me, and into my arms he ran.  More biscuit.

I sat down in the shade and Teddy gave me my second reward, he laid down beside my leg.  We had bonded.  It was then that Matthew's quote crossed my mind.  What kind of adoption group were we if we only helped the easy to adopt dogs?  Now and then shouldn't we at least give a chance to the less fortunate?
I'd like to think that we are better than that.

P.S.  I will attach a photo to Teddy's story as soon as I can.

Update To Life With Miss Beans

Miss Beans passed away Sept 11, 2011 at the age of 14 1/2.  She is now reunited with my brother in Heaven.  May God let them play in his golden fields until I can join them once more.  I love you sweet baby.

Dog Walker

Life With Miss Beans

LIFE WITH MISS BEANS

　

　

Forty pounds of trouble nestled

against my leg at the end of a long day

This damn dog, whom I promised my

brother I would watch over,

Now owns me, as she once owned him

It’s a terrible thing to love like this,

To rest your hand on her side

To feel her heart beat with yours

To know that if her’s stops,

surely will yours

I didn’t ask for this,

this burden on my soul

But for those of you who love God’s creatures,

I know, you know

I wouldn’t trade anything,

For this life with Miss Beans...

UPDATE

Miss Beans passed away Sept 11,2011.  She was 14 1/2 yrs old.  Miss Beans is now reunited with my brother in Heaven.  May God let them play in His golden fields until the day I can join them.  I love you sweet baby.

Dog Walker

Katie Gets Adopted

And so, after more than 10 months of patient waiting in our shelter, our Catahoula Katie was adopted today.  Katie has been difficult to place because Catahoulas are unique dogs that

require a devoted caretaker to understand their need for exercise and training to become successful family members.  Katie is a beautiful athletic dog who loved our swimming pool and used it daily to work out.  Although Katie was a bit to handle on a walk because she was always looking for wildlife to chase she was also one of our best mannered dogs at adoption events.  She loved to lay out on one of our beds and watch all the people and dogs coming and going in front of the stores we would visit.  My partner Tom spent endless hours working with Katie teaching her commands and giving her confident love.  Veronica worked on photographing Katie and Carol worked on marketing Katie to the public.  All of our volunteers took turns spending time with Katie, and our shelter owner Augusta gave us constant training tips and provided Katie with a safe environment until she was able to finally find her forever home, and that happened today.

We thank the new caregiver for taking Katie into her world and we are confident this is a really good match.  While we want to get all our dogs adopted, our number one goal is to make sure our dogs are going to good loving homes and I feel we accomplished this today.

On a personal note I want to say that I don't wear my religious beliefs in a church, I do my talking to God while walking these beautiful animals that He has put under our care.  Thank you God for being with us and making this day possible.

Peace  

When Friends Return



Paco



Well, how can I not be happy to see this dog again?  When I came in this morning Tom gave me the news that Paco was returned to us.  How can that be?  Paco was adopted almost a year ago

by an older couple who were familiar with Malinois and to my knowledge we never received any negative feed back from them that Paco had problems.  I remember the day that Paco left it was the first heartache I felt in seeing one of our friends going away from us.  After all, it was Paco and his pen mate Asti (aka Molly), who provided me with my first shelter lessons.  I remember one day the two of them ganging up against me when I went to retrieve one of them for a walk.

As I opened the pen gate Paco pushed against my leg and when I knelt to block him Asti took a leap over my shoulder.  When I reached up to try and grab Asti Paco wiggled past my leg and I just lost two dogs in two seconds.  I also learned the importance of closing doors behind you when working with mischievous dogs because both dogs ran directly into our shelter full of barking dogs.  Lucky for me our very experienced shelter worker Colleen was inside and helped me gather up our little escapees.  From that day forward if I have two dogs in a pen or I'm working with an unfamiliar dog I shut doors behind me.  Thanks for lessons learned Paco and welcome back.

  

Rudy's Choice

It's not always easy to write, at least for me.  Some days are just average, and my undisciplined drive to write just isn't there.  Today, Rudy gave me a reason.  But before Rudy....

It's mid-summer in the Central Valley and today will push near 96 degrees.  As I drive up the road to work I come across my mentor Tom, walking our beautiful pain in the butt dog Katie.  Katie is a tall dark Catahoula, sleek coat, and very athletic. She can out swim most humans I imagine, and Tom always ends her play time with a dip in the pool.  I ask Tom why he's here today and he tells me his golfing plans got washed out so he decided to come in.  I smile at Tom and tell him I'll see him in a bit.  As I continue driving I wonder if Tom's telling me the complete truth, or is he feeling the same black cloud I feel, slowly approaching, threatening to put an end to our wonderful summer days with the dogs. 

We received news yesterday afternoon that our shelter may cease to exist before the end of the summer.  Our boss has done everything humanly possible to keep us open, risking everything for these dogs and the work she loves doing.  I admire this woman because she has been carrying this burden silently for so long while continuing to work tirelessly for these lovely creatures that God has put in her care.  But banks and lenders are cold.  They don't have hearts, they have vaults, and they want them full.  

We are lucky today because Veronica has joined us and we can get more dogs walked.  I walk Georgia while Tom and Veronica entertain our three little dogs.  Georgia has tender paws lately so we keep her off the gravel and stick to the dirt and asphalt.  Even Georgia is extra sweet today, not once complaining or mouthing my hands.  I move on to Ringo the German Shepherd while Tom and Veronica go to see the new puppies to take pictures.  I hope we stay open long enough to see the pups adopted.  Ringo is silent and sure as always, muscles rolling with each stride.  I wish just once that dog would give me a kiss.

The sun is beating down now, and if it wasn't for a slight breeze I would not have ventured one last walk, but I decide to go get Rudy.  I've talked of Rudy before, a four year old Beagle from another shelter who boards with us.  Rudy came to us with a bad reputation.  Legend has it he bit someone quite severely in the face and so would probably never be adopted out. 
My boss gave me permission to work with Rudy several months ago so I try and get him out when time allows.  Rudy greets me with wild tail wags and a Beagle smile.  He doesn't care how hot it is he just wants to go, and so we do.  Midway through our walk we stop to rest under the shade of an oak tree.  I sweat and he happily pants. 

We get back to the shelter and I take Rudy into the play yard where I can unleash him.  Rudy dashes off to track all the other dog scents while I seek refuge under our canopy.  Soon Rudy joins me and I take turns throwing balls and tug ropes out into the yard so Rudy can run them down and bring them back.  Rudy rolls around the ground and ends up on his back while he rests against my leg.  On our way back into the kennel Crystal is feeding the dogs and she asks if I want to take Rudy's food with me back to his pen.  I say yes and Rudy and I make our way back to the outside pen.  Once inside I decide to place Rudy's food bowl on top of the dog igloo while I say goodbye to him.  I wasn't sure if Rudy would take offense at me petting him while he ate.  I give Rudy a few pats and back away while placing his food bowl on the ground.  Rudy starts to go for the food but stops and walks over to me, placing his head against my leg.  Rudy chose me over food.  I kneel down and put my arms around Rudy, holding him close to me.  I find myself apologizing to him profusely for something that hasn't happened yet.  As tears begin to well in my eyes I forget about Rudy's past and I rest my face against his, feeling his warm breath on my neck.  There's a noise and through blurred eyes I can see that Crystal has come outside to feed the other dogs.  I wipe my eyes and stand, saying my goodbyes to Rudy.  At least we had today Rudy, at least we had today.