Saturday, March 19

A sure sign that spring is here is when the American Goldfinch get his spring yellow on.

And the Rose-breasted Grosbeak has his rosy red breast to attract all the females.

It has been an exhausting week and I am finally home and catching up on some March Madness. Today was Docent Training class, we are training a new group of volunteers. I spent Thursday and Friday at the Franklin County Fairgrounds cleaning dog crates and feeding dogs. Yesterday we were at the fairgrounds at 7 am to load the 60+ dogs that were shipped out to various shelters in Pennsylvania, New York, Washington DC and West Virginia. Another 30+ dogs were slated to go out this morning to Atlanta. The good news is that the number of dogs left should be around 90. Not too bad considering that there were 360 dogs there 2 weeks ago. The big news is that although I resisted for the entire week, yesterday I met a dog that stole my heart. I had not been assigned to clean the cages in the stall where she was until yesterday. When I opened her crate she came out and immediately began licking my face. What a sweet heart. She is a Newfoundland/Labrador mix, so as you may have guessed, she is a large black dog. She has medium long hair but she isn't quite as heavy through the body as a full blooded Newfoundland. The vet said she was at least a year old and in very good health. She was assessed by the behavior team as a P+ or perfect placement. She has a very sweet disposition and shows no aggression towards people or dogs. I hope she likes cats! I am a little nervous since it has been over 2 years since we've had a dog but I think it is time. I will have a picture tomorrow, that's when we pick her up. (we aren't allowed to take pictures of the dogs in the barn) Right now I'm trying to come up with a name for this big lovable fur ball. Some names that I have come up with:

Sophie (sweet/German) Chena (river/Eskimo),

Kiska (pure/Russian) Brita (strength/German),

Brynlee (burnt meadow/English) Eska (creek/Eskimo)

Misu (rippling brook/Native American) Newfie (I'm sure Matt would like this one!)

Maybe I should have a naming contest like they do at the zoo. The winner could watch our dog while we are on vacation!