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All the bark from Pets Lifeline

Hi there soggy Sonoma!    

  The dogs ask, “What is this wet stuff falling from the sky?” And, “Why isn’t anyone coming to see us?”  

  Actually, we have amazing canine volunteers who come rain or shine to walk, train and give our shelter dogs some love.

  At this writing, I have a 3-month-old American bulldog mix snoring contentedly in my office. We take our puppy socializing very seriously around here and I for one will make the needed sacrifice to have puppies hang out in the office (wink, wink). Who doesn’t love a puppy? Shelter life is no place for a puppy, but we are blessed with the task of helping these young innocents get some much-needed exposure to human interaction while they are young and impressionable.  

  It is amazing how much of an impact it can make on a dog’s life when they get unconditional love and are taught proper manners from an early age. And a huge thank you to Sam Morphy for organizing the Rotary of Sonoma last Saturday. A dozen of our community’s business leaders were here bright and early Saturday morning to put in a walkway in our dog kennel area. It included Valerie Pistole, Vicki Whiting, Gary Scott, Marck Zuehlsdorff, Rich Lee, Jeni Nichols, just to name a few. Yet another perk of living in Sonoma.  

  This will allow for more people to safely walk through the outdoor kennel areas. Pets Lifeline has long been dedicated to positive reinforcement training methods with both dogs and cats.

  We do have the distinct advantage of having experienced dog behaviorist around to help us know what to do. Our adoption counselors are very adept at giving new puppy adopters great resources on how to train and work with their puppy. Every once in a while, the romance of having a puppy gets the better of someone and a pup will end up in the shelter after a few months, bigger and with some really bad habits. That’s why as soon as a puppy comes in, we diligently work at socializing with staff until it has been properly vaccinated to interact with volunteers. We love those puppy tail wags.

  Speaking of, Pets Lifeline’s second annual Tailwags and Handbags Ladies Luncheon is coming up on Friday, April 20 at Estate and we need purses. Please clean out your closets for those old designer purses you bought for that one occasion and have not touched since. Or do you have any vintage bags your aunt left you that are tucked away in a trunk somewhere? Well, we need them. Just bring in the purses to the shelter anytime we are open (Tuesday through Friday, noon to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Tickets are on sale now, so call 996-4577, ext. 109, or go to the website to buy them online at petslifeline.org.

  I don’t want to leave the furry felines out of the picture. We are continuing our 2012  “In the Black” special with all black and tuxedos available for adoption for just $25. Kitten season is just around the corner, so we need to make room for what is coming our way.

Our next low cost spay/neuter clinic is Thursday, March 22. Call to register. We take both cats and dogs under 25 pounds. As of today, we still have room, so call now at 996-4577.