Follow iwantapounddog on Twitter


Mitchell barks ferociously from within his kennel when he sees me. It's not his turn yet so I take out one of the other dogs first. When I come back, Mitchell sees me and starts barking again. It doesn't sound like a "pick me" bark. It sounds like a "you better not come near me" bark. I take out another dog and return. Mitchell starts barking again. "Don't you dare touch me," I think he's saying. But this time it's Mitchell's turn to go out.

I walk up to his kennel, stand in front of the door. He looks at me. I look at him. He stops barking. I open the door. Mitchell immediately runs to the back of his kennel, turns away from me and lowers his head. He starts to shiver. I turn my side to him, try not to confront him straight on, to not be so intimidating, try to coax him to come near me but he won't even look at me. I gently noose him with the leash and for a moment I think he's going to snap but he doesn't. I slowly get him outside of his kennel. I take him out of the general adoption room. I take him down the stairs.

He realizes by this point that I'm not going to hurt him. One of the staffers helps to find him a coat. He doesn't complain when she puts it on him. He covers her face with kisses. He looks at me. I see it in his face, relaxed now. He's okay with me. Out we go.



2 Comments to “Mitchell - Parson Russell Terrier”

  1. Anonymous says:

    is this adorable puppy available?

  2. Fred says:

    Sorry, adopted. Check http://tinyurl.com/gvfps for up-to-date info on who is available for adoption.

Leave a Reply



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------