Of Mutts and Muck

Yesterday Mom did some volunteering at the Humane Society, where she found me. She came home with pictures of a super cute Basset/Rottweiler Mix.







Mom said she was very tempted to bring him home! But hopefully, someone at our park will adopt him. Then, I’d get to play with him at the park, but yet keep my house to myself and mom. I’m a bit overly protective of my food, treats, and toys. And anything that belongs to my mom. Once, I got mad at my buddy Gizmo at the park for even coming over and sniffing my mom’s folding chair that was laying on the ground.

So, anyway, we got to the park early, since it was such a nice day.



But no one showed up for a half an hour!



Mom would play hide and seek with me. Which I normally do not like when other people are around. I tend to freak out when I can’t find Mom. Even when I’m clear on the other side of the park, sniffing or digging (Shh, don’t tell Mom), I always keep Mom in my line of sight so I can look up and check on her every few minutes… or seconds. But Mom thought it’d be fun to hide from me a couple times. To get me running. It worked. Mom said it helped me get some exercise while we were waiting on other dogs to show up. Well, it was kind of fun finding her. I sure was proud of myself when I found her!

But then, I was back to waiting.



FINALLY other dogs showed up, including Sandy my best bud. Well, the park was really wet after all the rain we had. I wasn’t getting as wet as some of the other dogs, but I did get wet from playing with them. And you know how I like sitting on my perch in the mulch around the trees… and how I like to roll… well mom wasn’t too happy to see this.







Yes, that’s a mixture of slobber and mud on my face. Mom was thankful to have a towel in the car! She wiped me down well before she let me back in the house!

Ready to curl up on Mom’s lap and sleep the night away…

Mutt Strut

Mom and I are going to participate in Mutt Strut this year! Check out our cool page here: http://register.indymuttstrut.org/goto/angela_and_laney

It's a fun way to benefit the Indy Humane Society! 

And want to hear something cool? This year, it falls on my Adoption Day!
Mom thought that was very neat, since she adopted me from a neighboring Humane Society last year on the same day! Mom will probably be full of happy tears that day. And me? I'll be busy meeting all kinds of new dogs on our walk around the race track. And the best part is we'll be helping out other dogs, just like me, find their forever homes.

I’m Famous!

Well, famous amid my old Humane Society workers, volunteers, and supporters. Mom and I got asked to share our story for the annual holiday fundraiser for the Humane Society along with several other dogs and cats. A lot of the dogs and cats were rescued from abuse, neglect, or severe illness. They may have had sad stories, but we were able to celebrate them getting adopted by loving, forever homes! My story, that I was found in the road, represented the many strays that are found and brought in to the shelter. Mom didn’t make it past the lobby of the Humane Society before finding me and taking me home! Anyway, they shared our stories with pictures and words on a PowerPoint slide show, set to several songs. On the last song, one of celebration, all of us animals paraded in with our moms and dads. And a wonderful gospel choir from a local church joined us as backup.

Then, we were led through the crowd, back to the Green Room. Actually, it was just a room with crates for all the dogs, but there was green paint on the walls. So calling it the Green Room makes me sound more famous. Mom left me crated with the other dogs while she went and had dinner with the rest of the humans, but she said she wished she could have brought me to the table. I would have been good! But I guess it wouldn’t have been fair to the other pups.

Here are some pics of me and the other dogs in the Green Room. And one of mom and I (notice my festive bandana!) right before we went on stage.

Do I have something on my face?

Mom always laughs when I look up at her when chewing on my pig ear, and it just happens to stay there under my lip.

In other news, last night mom left me home alone for about an hour for, get this, a dog walking class! She said she had to go in order to volunteer for the humane society. But come on, mom, you know how to walk dogs. Even stubborn ones like me! Turns out, it was just going over the rules for walking dogs at the shelter. But I still don't understand why she'd want to go walk other dogs when she has me at home! I'm willing to go on walks any time of day or night!

Laney's Adoption Story

After my 31st birthday, I started joking around with my mother that I was thinking about getting a dog. Always a cat person and growing up with them, I was never crazy about dogs. To say the least. But one day, my mother and I decided to just go check out the dogs at the local Humane Society. I had no real intent to adopt a dog, I just wanted to see what was out there. I own my own home and had recently had my roommate move out. Most of my neighbors own dogs. And I began to think about a canine companion. Meanwhile, over several weeks, I began looking around online to read up on different breeds and if I were to get a dog, tried to figure out which breeds would suit me.

On my first visit to the Humane Society, I met a cute medium-sized mutt who was very sweet, but clingy and nervous. I decided to go home and think about it for the night. Over the next couple days, I had pretty much talked myself out of that dog, if not the whole idea of getting one. But my parents came down that weekend again, and once again, my mother and I decided to go to the Humane Society to look at the dogs again to check them all out again.

Instead, I didn’t even make it to the back rooms where the dogs were kept this time. Out front, there were a couple dogs that caught my eye right away. One was a really cute puppy, and the other was a quiet small-to-medium sized dog whose info sheet read that she was a stray, already housebroken, and had basic training. Then I noticed that this 2 year old mix was part Shar Pei, which was the one dog breed that I’ve always admired because of those cute wrinkles. She was mixed with a Beagle, so according to the one of the workers, she wouldn’t have the health problems that many Shar Pei’s deal with, such as annoying skin conditions. The office worker told the volunteer to have me walk the Shar Pei/Beagle mix first, whom they had named Mai Tai.

I knew within minutes that I was falling for this dog. I asked about her adoption price, and what it would cost to put a “hold” on her. Meanwhile, I had assumed my mother would then try to talk me out of getting “Mai Tai.” But instead, with tears in her eyes, she said, “I think God put this dog here just for you.” And I knew then that she was right, and started tearing up myself. And so, I adopted “Mai Tai” (whom I immediately renamed “Lois Lane,” but ended up nicknaming “Laney”) on April 26th of 2008.

Little did I know how much love I could feel for a dog. She’s my constant companion, loyal, sweet, obedient, playful yet calm, smart, loves people of all ages, loves other dogs, and has the cutest wrinkles. My world seems to revolve around Laney now. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.