Pooches, Pumpkins, and Poison by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

Author:Carolyn Ridder Aspenson [Ridder Aspenson, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Magnum Grace Publishing
Published: 2019-10-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

“Mr. Morring, what a pleasure to see you.” Allie pushed her ears down and back and kept her body low to the ground. She was clearly not a fan of the man, and I trusted her judgment completely.

He nodded as a slick smirk appeared on his face. “Always a pleasure, Mrs. Kingston.”

I grabbed my messages from my small box in the main office and went on with my business while Max, Rick and the shelter manager, Mary Aberdeen chatted.

Max followed me into the back room and handed me my coffee. “I had no idea he’d be here.”

I nodded. “I didn’t think that you did.” I took a small sip of the hot liquid and thanked him. “This is perfect.”

Sara, the front desk person that morning stepped into the back room with us. “Missy, we’ve got three volunteers here to train. Where would you like them to go?”

Bandit barked. He loved coming to the shelter, probably because he knew he wouldn’t stay long, but he could visit and play with his buddies. “Here,” I handed the controller for their collars to Sara. “Give this to them, tell them not to play with it, and have them take Allie and Bandit back to the covered turf area. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Thank you, Sara.”

Max smiled as he watched her leave. “They really like what you’re doing here, don’t they?”

I gathered up a stack of collars and controllers for the other dogs and told him to follow me. “I think so, or at least I hope so. We’ve had great success with the dogs, and our adoption rates are through the roof. One day last month we were actually at capacity, so that’s a good thing.”

“To be at capacity is good?”

I held the door to the dog area open for him as we received a welcome barking chorus fit for royalty. “Max, we’re usually well past our capacity, and desperately begging for fosters. It was a big thing, believe me. The dogs are adoptable for many reasons, but the training makes a huge difference, and the fact that these people take the time to invest in the free training for them to learn how to work with their adopted dogs is huge. It means they’re committed, and when they’re committed, they don’t return dogs to shelters.”

He nodded and spoke loudly over the dog chorus. “I knew we had a problem, but I didn’t realize how big. I’m glad you’re doing what you’re doing. Can you show me how you train them?”

“We’re heading there now.” I pushed open the door for the turf area and greeted the volunteers. One of my regular trainers was there, and she went and got three more dogs so each dog had a handler.

“It takes time to work with them all, and some aren’t ready yet. They’re either too sick, haven’t been evaluated, pregnant, or we’re not sure how they’ll behave with the group yet. It’s a long process, but it’s the best we’ve got.” I handed him a controller from the small table in the area.

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