YEAH !! Bear was adopted today - to a couple who have had a Golden Retriever and a Mastiff before - I'm sure they can handle Bear. He is such a nice dog - I hope it is a good match.

Valentine's Day -- Today was a dog adoption day and we adopted out four dogs and one cat. YEAH!! One was a Valentine's Day present - the gentleman did a really nice job setting everything up; the lady was so happy to get to choose a new member of the family!

I'm feeling so good because all of the cat cleaning volunteer times have been filled now and hopefully we will be running smoothly for awhile. Although, as I said to JoAnne, our record for having all the volunteer slots filled during the past two years has been TWO WEEKS. Yep, that is IT. Well, I'll enjoy it as long as it lasts - and maybe this time it will last longer and we'll have a new record. Hope springs eternal.

Also, Amelia is back in my bathroom. You may remember her - she is the sweetest cat but she hates (and I mean HATES) other cats. As soon as I got into the store and saw the blanket across the front of one of the cages with a big sign "STAY BACK - DO NOT APPROACH" I asked the volunteer, "Who is in that cage?" and I knew before she even said anything that Amelia was back. You may recall that Amelia was adopted out to a no-other-cat-household. Well, it turns out that Amelia was an absolutely wonderful cat there and the lady just loved her but when she told her husband (who had been gone and was getting ready to return home) that Amelia follows her around and snuggles and loves sleeping on the bed the husband said: That cat has to go. So -- Amelia came back. JoAnne was frantic trying to find a foster home that didn't have any other cats. I told her - "If you can find someplace for the six cats that are still in my bathroom, I'll take Amelia home again. She is a great cat when she is by herself." JoAnne called me back 20 minutes later - she had placed all six of my foster cats somewhere else and could I please get Amelia out of the store as early as possible the next day. So - Amelia is back waiting for another chance. Sigh.

Bear is still here with us too. Unbelievable, I thought he would find someplace really fast because he is just such a fun, goofy dog. He was almost adopted once but JoAnne just couldn't do it. The people were great but they didn't have a good fence and the lady was very petite and there were lots of kids from extended family. Bear is a bull in a china shop - he is a bouncy baby boy himself and I don't think anyone in that particular family except the husband would have been able to walk/exercise him. If they had another dog so the two could play and Bear would be TIRED - well, that would be ideal. Bear is such an absolute sweetie...but, he still bounces up against people. Yeah, we're working to stop that. The people who raised him from a puppy must have played "hand" with him a lot because he absolutely LOVES to play the hand game. It's OK if you are used to dogs and recognize it as the "hand game" but if you are not familiar with the game, it is a bit of a shock to find your hand in the jaws of a dog. Bear doesn't bite, he just holds your hand and his eyes sparkle up at you. It is quite a fun game with the little puppies but by the time they have grown to 50-60 lbs, well, let's just say if I hadn't recognized it as part of the game, I probably would have screamed the first time we were walking and he just casually reached over and grabbed my hand and walked with it in his mouth. As it was, I just said "Uh-Uh - release" and he spit out my hand right away -- but he looked so crestfallen that I wouldn't play that later he conned me into a BRIEF game of "hand". Puppies are so hard to resist.

Someone was interested in Bear today -- but they had a ten year old female terrier mix with them who looked up at me with soft, calm brown eyes and gently swayed her tail -- I just thought "Bear is twice your size and loves to pounce - you will have a miserable year until he grows up a little bit"...and also there was a frequent 3 yr old visiting child and Bear is 50 lbs -- I told the person - "It's no reflection on you and it's no reflection on Bear but - I just can't see it working -- unless you have another dog or activity to exercise Bear. Otherwise, Bear will be too much energy for your situation." I'm sure the right home will come along for Bear.