I have never wanted a dog soooo bad....

And it's not even my 'type' of dog!

We have this guy at the shelter. He's an absolutely GORGEOUS 8 month old spitz mix of some sort. He's 35 lbs, creamish/white, with a big fluffy curly tail and cute little button ears. He's the sweetest thing, loves to just be petted. He's a nice outgoing guy, greeting every person that walks by his kennel with a wagging tail. He's so goofy and silly and fun! He loves toys, loves balls (though he's not big on fetching, just catching). He loves to go outside and wrestle and run. Just loads of fun all around. He is kind of noisy (He doesn't bark, just 'talks') and he does shed a bit of course being a white spitz...

No one looks at him though! He's been there a long time. They found him on the side of the road and he has a collar, but no one has come looking for him. Usually if the dog isn't a hound or a lab they get snatched up so quick. Huskies and spitz usually never last. I don't know why but no one asks to take this guy out. No one spends any time in front of his kennel. Every dog got taken out today except him and the rott with mange... So we felt bad and took him out several times. I don't know why in the world no one seems interested. It seems the best dogs are always the last to go. We used to have this kind of homely looking herding dog mix named Pebbles that was the sweetest, most laid back thing that took forever to get adopted.

Seriously, this dog would be perfect for me.... if I had found him a year from now! I know he's a far cry from a BC but there is something so just plain COOL about him.

*sigh*

On another note, the other neat dog we have is a female pit bull x aussie mix. (Have you ever seen a pit x aussie?) She has a tattoo on her thigh but no owners showing up of course. She's just plain weird looking. Big old pit bull head, stumpy 4 inch tail, longish/medium hair and marked like your typical sable collie. Very sweet girl.

We had a lot of adoptions today. The mean chihuahua got adopted right away of course. The nice chi and adorable chi mix didn't. The pom with the underbite got adopted. the yorkie that came in was adopted within 30 mins (can't blame them she's really cute). Adopted out a lab pup and a black and tan pup as well as a smooth dachshund and one of the two pyrs. And the lab x with the blue eye got adopted.

The catahoula got taken out several times and actually let himself out. That dog is too smart for his own good! And he's an escape artist (sound familiar Voodoo?)

It just baffles me that no one looks at this spitz guy. I hope he gets a good home soon. He tugs on my heart like no other.

Aww, if you love him and are able and ready to take on another dog, I say go for it. Just from your description he sounds sort of like a smaller white Boo. Except Boo doesn't catch... just chase.

But really, if he's your type of dog, I say go for it. And for all we know, he may end up being just as happy to do dog sports as a BC would be (but if he's a spitz, I wouldn't count on unquestioned obedience!)

I want to see a picture! Any from the shelter?

-GoingNowhere

No, no pictures unfortunately. I can't take another dog until I'm out of the apartment! When I get out in a year I'll be looking for something just about his size, though! I wish I could take him. I already tried pawning him off on my dad, lol! Dad keeps talking about how weird it is with just three dogs and how much he misses having more. He's a bit bigger than my parents want though.

wow--sounds like that's a pretty active shelter--lots of adoptions!

I agree--we need a picture of your little spitz!

I might have to go try to take pics. I have a couple on my phone but I don't know how to get them on here.

For now I suppose I'll keep telling everyone how fantastic this dog is! All the workers can see it, but none of the visitors seem to notice. I'm trying to think of ways to make him more noticeable....

Saturdays are when everyone comes in to adopt. Some of those dogs got adopted today and some just got picked up. (We hold them a few days to try to weed out the flakey adopters. You'd be surprised how many people apply and get approved then never come in to pick up the dog) Lots of people looking, a couple people looking for lost dogs too, but we didn't have them. I felt so bad, there was a dad and two kids looking for their yellow lab and coming in to see if the ones we had were theirs but they weren't.

Maybe if you work on your dad a little more . . .

Keep working on your dad! Remind him it's not forever, just for a little bit...and from the sound of it he's about the size Nikki was? So he's really not *that* big...c'mon dad!

Hehe, he's quite a bit bigger height wise. I bet when he fills out and stops growing he'll be just shy of 50 lbs. I'm trying but they're in puppy mode right now and are looking for a small, big eared puppy not a teenage spitz! It's a shame really, he's so fantastic.

Another weird thing? I'm pretty sure he's an american eskimo dog mix. If you don't know, Eskies are probably my least favorite dog breed just because of a ton of bad experiences with them. I can't believe I've fallen for an eskie, lol!

Pictures??

Chihuahuas were one of my least favorite breeds, because of bad experiences, and then I fell for one.... Be careful!!

There is a pit/aussie that comes to the dog park! Shes a beautiful girl!! (I have pictures, but it would take forever to find them on my two PB accounts!)

Does your shelter have a petfinder?

No, they have a site but they haven't updated in a long long time so all the dogs listed are already adopted. I'll go on Monday and get pics of him if I can. I just hope he finds a great home. I've got to figure out a way to make him more adoptable...

Well, when I worked in a kill shelter for a month and a half, there was a black spitzy type dog there named Drake who had been overlooked by adopters. The kennel manager liked him so much that they kept him as the shelter's dog and her daughter taught the dog all sorts of things. Adopters would see how well behaved he was up front with them and they would get offers to adopt him. Someone even offered them a $500 donation to adopt Drake, and they refused (which I think was rather stupid and selfish of them to keep him in a run like that when they had adopters!). They did eventually adopt him to someone though.

But you could try something like that, take the dog up front with you to the desk and show adopters how sweet and well behaved the dog really is. Bandanas help too.

I was going to suggest a bandana too, Sweet

And make sure his fur smells good. Smells will capture the memory better than anything else.