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Puppy Dog Tales

It's puppy season! Okay, I guess the shelters would tell you it's sort of always puppy season, but spring is, after all not only puppy time, but the perfect time for a new friend of the canine persuasion. You did make that obligatory New Year's resolution to lose weight and exercise more, right?

No, I am not a representative of the Humane Society or the ASPCA. I am the worst kind of zealot. I have a new puppy.

I hardly have to say it, and I know there are those of you with your own little ones that will beg to differ, but I will anyhow. Cutest. Puppy. Ever.

So, humor a smitten new pet owner, and let me tell you about our new baby. After the typical bittersweet tour of the Albuquerque shelters, ridden with guilt and ashamed to even look at all of those I could not take home, I found this little guy on the PetFinder Site housed at the Socorro Animal Shelter. For the record, not only is he the cutest puppy ever, he's also the smartest puppy ever. Estimated at 6 weeks old, he was house trained (well, okay mostly) in 48 hours. He also puts away his toys. Really. But, I gush. Look at that face. Can you blame me?

Bragging up the puppy aside, what I really want to say is that this little fellow had 3 siblings- also utterly adorable, and I am sure equally as brilliant as our new baby- and 2 of them (Bobby and Sally) are still at the Socorro shelter which is small and clearly not as well funded as like facilities here in the city. During our search, we tried Animal Humane here in Albuquerque and I am thrilled to say they appear to be adopting out puppies at a good rate, and that is a great choice. But, if you find yourself looking for that special addition to your family, please also consider taking a drive to one of New Mexico's less frequented shelters. One of the lesser considered impacts of recession is the toll it can take on our animal companions. Pet drop-off rates to shelters in poorer areas of the state have increased as owners are forced to choose between a bag of kibble and their hamburger helper. Obviously, we cannot adopt every abandoned animal, but you might just find the perfect pet. And, even if you are not in the market for a pet, perhaps you have the time/space/resources to consider fostering one. My puppy is happy and healthy and despite my broken heart at not being able to adopt every critter in the place, I feel incredibly good about bringing him home. Like a new mother, I am tired from midnight play-fests, but I am so blissed out on puppy kisses I've hardly noticed.

Tags: Pets, adoption

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Comment by mombat on January 26, 2009 at 11:06am: What a lovely boy. We had an Aussie that looked like him when I was kid. She was a great dog.
Does he still have that puppy breath smell?

Comment by bonnie on January 26, 2009 at 11:37am: How cute! I also adore my adorable and genius puppy (she's still technically less than 1 year old) from the Socorro shelter. She was clean, healthy, and well taken care of despite Socorro not having quite the resources we do here in the big town. And they refunded my spay/neuter costs quickly. If you don't want to drive quite so far, consider the Valencia pound (they're also on petfinder).
So, what's his name?

Comment by Kiss~a~bully on January 26, 2009 at 12:34pm: Congrats on the new rescue pup!! I also suggest checking out the Los Lunas (Valencia county), Las Vegas, Artesia, and Clovis shelters.. They have a high kill rate, and some still use the gas chamber method for euthinasia. *puppys are euthinized by the dozens*
Fostering is also amazing and sveral groups around Albuquerque are allways looking for people to take in pups too young for the shelters, and the big guys who need that extra care.
www.dogsindanger.com is another site to check out.
<3 Kassie
www.burquebabesandbullies.com

Comment by Aeaeae on January 26, 2009 at 1:03pm: Puppy breath= yes! We named him Kai as we thought it would be easy for him to learn and also that it was cool that it occurred in so many different languages with different meanings.

Kassie, I was wondering about that but could not find any data after a quick search. I was presuming that the more rural shelters in particular had lower success with adoptions. As Bonnie notes, the Socorro shelter was very clean and they had tons of great looking pups (and older dogs too). It's so hard to walk in there knowing you can only take one home...

Comment by Kiss~a~bully on January 26, 2009 at 1:24pm: It also dosnt help that the rural areas dont spay or neuter.. A law I wish could pass on a federal level..So, these towns end up over-run with litters of mutt dogs that have slim chances at life from the get-go.
I foster on a regular basis and deffinatlly understand the "you can only take one", it is soo hard to not get attached to such cute little faces and kisses. : )

Comment by Kiss~a~bully on January 26, 2009 at 1:29pm: Ohh, these are my 2 little men.. Bruno is the brown guy, and Austin (the cow pants) is available for adoption : ) Although I dont know how I am going to separate the two..

Comment by IrishRider on January 26, 2009 at 1:42pm: I second the less frequented shelters. We adopted our puppy from the huge holiday adoption fest they held on the Westside so if you are worried about driving a long ways, they hold those a few times a year. I believe another is coming in Feb. Our little girl came from the Espanola shelter and oddly enough, she looks like a smooth haired version of your adorable pup. Enjoy her.

Comment by bonnie on January 26, 2009 at 1:51pm: hooray for speckled genius dogs from rural shelters!

Comment by BRenee on January 26, 2009 at 3:02pm: I would like to adopt another dog from a shelter but have some family members who are allergic to dogs and cats. We have a dog now that we got from a shelter that does not affect my nephews’ allergies, but since I don't know what breed of dog she is (she is a true mutt); I think we just got lucky. Any ideas on what I should look for if I have people who are normally allerigic to dogs in my house? Is hairless the way to go? Or is it all about grooming the dog often?