Blog 5

       Well before enrolling for this class, I had scoped out the PSPCA on Erie Ave. I had never visited it, however I wanted to volunteer there so bad, but I never had the means of getting there or the time to do it. That is why I view this class as a blessing because it enabled me and almost gave me an excuse to go volunteer, as horrible as that sounds.  Volunteering at the SPCA not only helped me in the sense that I got to play with and walk dogs all day, which was a dream come true being so far away from my own dogs, and dogs in general. I love dogs so much.
       It also gave me such a great perspective of just how often dogs come in and out of shelters. I have volunteered at a shelter in Arizona, the Marricopa County SPCA, so it was not my first experience in a shelter environment. However down in Arizona, the general shelter dog is a lab, a retriever mix, a lot of Chihuahuas and smaller dogs, and the occasional pit bull mix. This was something I truly appreciate having had experienced; becoming accustomed to and working with pit bull mixes. I learned from this class much more about pit bulls than I ever would have outside of this class. And the best part is that it is all factual evidence and advice, which I have been able to reciprocate to other people, including my mother. She is very uneasy around them, having grown up in a community in rural Ohio where there have been well known  incidences with pit bulls, all tragedies. However my experiences and what I have learned has gradually altered her view towards them and I have even convinced her to let me foster one when I move back home this summer!
       We learned a lot about dogs in general in this class; their behaviors, their perception, their language both verbal and non verbal, and most importantly, we learned how to better understand them. I would have never known that the best way to tell what a dog is thinking or feeling is through watching its mouth. Thanks to Nicole Larocc and Uli for demonstrating this so well! A lesson I will definitely keep with me and that has also come very in handy at the shelter. One of my 'favorites' that has unfortunately been at the shelter for too long in my opinion, her name is Sage she is an all white pit mix and just amazingly beautiful and overly friendly. When i approach her cage even before showing the leash, her tail wags ferociously but the thing that I always notice which I have pointed out to others is what she does with her mouth. She almost smiles which I have learned from Nicole that even though it looks like she is showing her teeth, it is a nervous and excited thing that dogs do sometimes and it comes from stress.
       The SPCA also influenced my reading as well, in a more imaginative sense. When it came to Timbuktu for example, when imagining Mr. Bones, and how he was described and depicted, I had my own vision of him as not one but a few dogs from the SPCA. His traits of obedience, patience, friendliess, and overall understanding of what was going on, really linked him in my mind to a dog at the shelter, Lucy one of my previous 'favorites' before she got adopted! YAY for Lucy! I am an extremely visual as well as tactile learner. So when I can link one thing to another from visual experience, that is how I connect and learn the best. And this would not have been possible having not volunteered at the SPCA.