I posted a little collage image I did of Snoopy a few days after he visited my studio, but I really should have told you a bit more about him.

After years of procrastinating, I finally jumped through all the hoops to volunteer at OKC Animal Welfare. One of the many things volunteers can do is “flash foster”. There’s a list of dogs that need a bit more attention for one reason or another, so we can “check out” that dog for a few hours or the whole day. Just like the library, but with dogs! If there are none on the list, any of the adoptable dogs can be flash fostered.

Snoopy was my first flash foster.

He was so excited to be out of his kennel, and he pulled so hard on the leash! He’s a 65 lb pit bull terrier mix, and I worried about keeping him under control, but we made it to my car. Once there, he hopped in happily with zero hesitation about the car, or the fact that it already smelled a lot like my own shelter dog, Bonnie (to his nose anyway, I don’t THINK my car smells that strongly of dog, LOL).

We got to my house, and the first order of business was a walk. I wanted him to have an opportunity to shake out his legs and move a little before we got into the studio for ‘work’. Here, in my neighborhood, away from the shelter, Snoopy was AMAZING on leash! A total pleasure to walk with, stayed right by my side, didn’t get excited about other dogs, or lunge at birds–he was pure perfection on a leash. I was so proud of him, and thought maybe he could teach Bonnie a thing or two about leash manners, LOL!

It’s just a mile walk that I usually take with Bonnie, so that’s what Snoopy and I did too, and we went into the studio afterwards, after a brief stop to terrorize the cats. It turns out my play yard ‘gate’ that keeps Bonnie out of the living room was no match for Snoopy when he decided to chase Goldie. Woops! Okay, lesson for next time, cats need go in my bedroom BEFORE the flash fosters come in. Seriously, I didn’t see Goldie for two days after this. Nobody was bitten, scratched, or clawed, and she has since forgiven me.

Let’s get to work.

I grabbed a few treats from the kitchen and took Snoopy to the studio, closed the door and removed his leash. Freedom! Or 200 square feet of it anyway. He wandered and sniffed, to get the lay of the land while I turned on flashes, triggers, and camera. Testing each flash allows me the opportunity to see how a pet will react to the bright lights. They all worked, and he didn’t even care so it was time to get to work!

I guided Snoopy up onto the stage with the lure of a cheese cube, and he complied easily. Then a few attempts at convincing him to stay on the stage while I moved away to pick up my camera. “I mean, c’mon lady, you’ve got cheese in your hand, I can see it! Do you honestly expect me to stay up here?” Lure back onto the stage. Command to sit. Slow compliance. Reward. Move off stage. Repeat ad nauseum. So far, every dog that’s come to my studio has caught on quickly and Snoopy was no exception.

He did a fabulous job!

He gave me some super model poses and looks, plus the great and goofy treat catch shots that I just love. The dog had fun, I had fun, the pictures look great, and he got a few hours out of his kennel. What could be better?!

Twenty minutes, I was completely out of treats, so I took him to the backyard for a bit more freedom. I brought Bonnie out to get them each some socialization time in a closed, observed environment. Bonnie’s smaller than Snoopy, and played you-can’t-catch-me for the first five minutes, sniffing at him, then dashing away. Before long, they were playing chase and tag through the backyard, just having a grand time!

A new adventure.

We only had a little time left before Snoopy had to return to the shelter, and we had plans. We drove up to Paw Park on Grand Blvd for a little dog park time. I’m not really wild about dog parks because things can break bad quickly. But it was practically deserted in the middle of the day! There were maybe three other dogs there when we arrived. Two were a matched set with short brindled fur, taller than Snoopy, and narrower too. Their two humans had a ball and launching stick, and they were getting some nice running in for their dogs. Snoopy showed no interest in ball chasing which would have been a great chance for him to really stretch his legs, but there’s no way to command a dog to instantly like something.

It was a little awkward when the humans began asking about my dog. I was able to cover the basics, age, breed, name, etc. But then they asked how long I’d had him! Honestly, just a couple hours! I worried that they wouldn’t appreciate me bringing a dog I didn’t even know to the dog park. I had concern for him too, not knowing anything of his history, or how he might respond in various situations. But it worked well. I told them about the flash foster program at the shelter, and they were more understanding when things got weird.

And here’s where it got weird.

Snoopy started barking angrily at the male human with the ball chucker. At first, we three humans thought it was a game, but Snoopy didn’t let up.  His hackles raised and that was enough body language to let me know know he was serious. I got a little anxious that he would actually bite the guy, and then a new thought occurred to me. “Put down the stick, see if anything changes,” I asked–well, told the guy. He tossed it aside and sure enough, Snoopy settled down, but also proceeded to ignore the guy completely, despite his attempts to get back into Snoopy’s good graces, holding out his hand as a peace offering. Totally ignored. He was no longer a threat but also unworthy of Snoopy’s attention.

I concluded that at some point in Snoopy’s life, he’d been beaten, probably by a man with a stick.  Previously, I felt sorry for the shelter animals, but I realized he had probably been in worse situations before. His brief stay at the shelter was a short stop before a better life.

With that situation managed, Snoopy started mounting the smaller of the two brindle dogs, who didn’t enjoy this at all and turned around to show teeth and snarl at Snoopy. This continued for a few failed attempts on Snoopy’s part and I began to imagine a full on dog fight. How awful would it be to take him–my first flash foster–back to the shelter with gashes and open wounds? No, it was time to go, so I said our goodbyes to the two humans and we headed back to the car.

In pre-rush hour traffic it was about a 20 minute drive back to the shelter, and Snoopy took the opportunity to settle his fairly large frame in my passengers seat for a break. I loved on his ears most of the way there. Despite his excellent behavior on leash during our walk, when we arrived at the shelter, he went back to pulling hard at the leash toward the building! I was stunned! Surely the shelter would be the last place he’d want to go? I expected to have to drag him through the front doors, but he was even happy to get back into his kennel! I guess home is where it smells familiar, and you know the neighbors?

Time to do it again.

That was my experience with Snoopy and my first real session volunteering for OKC Animal Welfare. It’s been a month since then and I’m sure they’re wondering if I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. The trick is, if I don’t actively put it on the calendar, free time doesn’t passively appear for me. So I scheduled a few days over the next month to go out and work with 2-3 dogs. As it turns out, there’s a holiday coming. Since I have nothing planned, I blocked off another day for some foster time!

Now, I realize this account is fairly long, detailed, and maybe even boring.  I’ll try to keep any future flash foster posts a little shorter, but I thought I could give details on how the process works, for both dogger and for me. If you’ve always wanted to to volunteer at OKC Animal Welfare, they host offer a Volunteer Orientation fairly often. Watch their Facebook page for announcements about orientations.  There’s an initial orientation, a form or two, online training, followed by hands-on training, and then they set you free to do good deeds and love on animals!  What are you waiting for?

If you are interested in adopting Snoopy, he is at OKC Animal Welfare, under ID #302758. I have not heard yet whether or not he has already been adopted.