Annual meeting

Tomorrow, May 10th, is the annual meeting of the membership of LPCHS. It will be held here at the shelter from 10:30 until noon. This is a chance for those of you who are members to participate in electing new board members, here the annual report on the shelter, and meet folks who share your passion for supporting LPCHS.
This may not be what you had in mind for a Saturday, but it is important. If you are a member, than you already care enough to support the shelter and what we do. Why not participate in helping to shape the future of our organization. You can do this by joining us and helping to elect three new members of our Board of Directors.
Many years, we have struggled to find enough folks to run for these important positions, but not this year. We have 6 great candidates running for 3 spots. Each Board member serves a three year term, and is part of the leadership of our organization. These folks will be making decisions that shape the future of LPCHS, and as a member I am sure you want to be a part of the process.
I hope to see you all on tomorrow.

What's My Name

Just finished up with another play yard session and it was great. Every dog in the kennel got to go out for some social time and to burn off some stress. The new program is running great, but we still need some more volunteers. While in the yard, Rachel and I were having a conversation about one of our dogs named Toast.

Toast is a little mixed breed pup around 8 months old. He came to us with 2 of his siblings from the Valencia County shelter in Los Lunas, New Mexico. They were all shy at first, but started to warm up in a couple of days. They were all neutered, and within one week the siblings were adopted. Toast however is still here nearly 6 weeks later. The question is why?

He is a great little dog, with lots of redeeming qualities. He plays well with all the dogs in the yard. He has been roommates with 4 or 5 other dogs, and is easily paired. Being 8 months old, he is very energetic, and would make the perfect trail dog for any Durango resident. It is hard to understand why he is still here.

I think the answer lies in his name.It's just not a great name. Can you picture yourself in the back yard calling out "TOAST, come here TOAST". The neighbors would think you had gone bonkers. If I heard someone hollering for toast, I would yell back "go make your own breakfast". Not to mention the word toast has other meanings in our society. Saying something is toast, implies that thing is done. For example, If Peyton Manning gets injured, we might say" the Broncos are toast without Peyton".

So we are giving him a new name. Rachel has been saying he is as cute as a rubber ducky. I am not sure what that means, but it actually fits him. He is small, cute, and sort of yellow, just like a rubber ducky. He also bobs around the play group like he is caught up in the tide, like a rubber ducky. So it is official, the dog formerly know as Toast, is now Rubber Ducky. RD for short.

If my theory is correct, he should get adopted in a day or two. So if you hear  your neighbor in the back yard calling for their rubber ducky, you don't need to call the authorities. It probably means that they fell in love with this cute little dog and took him home.

Fingers crossed for little RD, and more on naming animals at the shelter in my next post.

Taking Our Dogs to Utah

On April 25th and 26th, we will be in St. George Utah at a super adoptathon sponsored by Best Friends Animal Society. Last year at this event, over 150 animals were adopted in 2 days. We are hoping to empty out our kennels, and take around 20 dogs with us. This is a great chance to get them seen by people who normally wouldn't see them, and find them their forever homes.

The trip however, won't be inexpensive, it is a 7 hour drive to St George, and we will need a place to stay for a couple of nights. Best Friends has given us $200 to start a fundraising campaign to help cover the travel costs. This is where you guys come in. I am asking for your help in funding this opportunity to find some local dogs a chance at a new life. We need some fuel cards, or cash donations to help cover the cost of getting there and back again. Remember, every little bit can help, so donate $5, $10 or $20 dollars and we will soon have enough to cover expenses. Follow the link below to donate, or stop by the shelter and make a donation.

One more thing, while we are on our way to Utah, we will pay it forward to dogs in need at other shelters. We will transfer in at least as many dogs as we take if not more, from one of the shelters to our south. Remember, these other shelters are fighting a daily battle against overpopulation, and many of the animals there are in need of transfer. So please help us get to Utah, and help other animals in need at the same time.

DONATE HERE

Come Be A Part Of Our Successful Play Yard

I just got in from spending time with some of our dogs out in the play yard. It is a wonderful experience to say the least. Watching 20 dogs playing and socializing together, and burning off the stress from the kennel, is a lot of fun. The play yard is fast becoming one of the most valuable enrichment tools for the dogs in our care, and for the shelter staff. In the morning, we are able to get all the dogs out of the kennel, which greatly reduces the time needed for cleaning, and provides the dogs with a chance to burn off some built up energy from the night before. We need the help of volunteers to make this work to its fullest potential.

  Starting on Tuesday April 8th we will be emptying out the kennels every morning and afternoon. This is where the volunteers play a vital role. It takes us around 30 minutes to get the dogs out to the yard, and we need volunteers to act as runners to help get them to the yard. We are looking for at least 2 people every morning at 8 am and 2 more at 1 pm to help get the job done. After we get all the dogs out, stick around and join us in the play yard, or take one of the dogs who isn't ready for the yard for a walk. If you would like to help, and are already a volunteer, then follow the link below to sign up.

 https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/?FROM=45889

If you are not a volunteer, and would like to become one, check out our website or give us a call at 970-259-2847.
Please join us in the play yard, and help all our wonderful dogs enjoy their stay at the shelter. It is just like summer camp for dogs.

Kele DNA Results

The contest is over, and its time to reveal Kele's DNA results. As we only had a handful of entries for this contest, we have chosen two winners to purchase their own DNA kits at Half price. The winners were Danielle Story, and Caroline Eastburn. Congratulations to both of our winners. Each of them were able to guess that Kele is part Boxer.
As Kele's owners, Marcy and I were both shocked by the results. We both had thought that our little girl was a mix of Jack Russel terrier, Husky, and maybe Heeler and Pit Bull. As you can see from the results below, we were way off. Thanks to everyone for playing, and remember we have plenty of DNA test kits for sale. If you want to find out the true identity of your dog, come to the shelter and purchase a DNA kit. It is fun to do, and a great way to help support the homeless animals of the Four Corners.

Last chance

I had promised you all one more clue in the contest to guess Kele's breed. I was supposed to get that to you on Friday, with the deadline for entries being Sunday. Well, Friday afternoon turned into a very busy time here at the shelter, so I didn't get you the clue. As I am a man of my word, I will give you a couple final clues and extend the entry deadline until this Wednesday at midnight.

Here is your final clues, and remember the winner gets a half price DNA kit of their own.

Send entries to chris@lpchumanesociety.org

Even though Kele is not a very large dog, their are no small breeds in her DNA results.

At least one herding breed is present in her DNA results.
Good luck.

Clues

In my last post, I promised you a clue for our latest DNA contest, so here you are.

These DNA tests, tend to show up with a lot of older, more established breeds of dogs. In Keebler's test, we saw that he had Ibizan hound in his lineage. I doubt there is an Ibizan hound within 500 miles of where Keebler came from, let alone is he a direct descendant of one. So when guessing this time, ake into consideration that little Kele may look like a cross of a well known breed, but she may have lots of DNA from some of the older breeds.






Here are some of Kele's stats.

She is 21 inches tall at the shoulder.
She is 36 inches long from the tip of her nose to her tail.
She weighs around 35 pounds.

More clues to follow on Friday.
Remember to email your guess to chris@lpchumanesociety.org