Samson's outing

Today we drove to Harrisonburg to a VGSR adoption event. It was a beautiful day and I should have been home mowing the grass, which will soon exceed the mower's ability to cut it.

Instead, I drove half way up the Shenandoah Valley, ate too much fast food, and came home with a sore back and a bad attitude.

But I did get to see a few rescue friends, and we got some great new pictures of Samson, shown here.

He was a bit anxious about the whole affair, including the travel. I started out with him in the open area in the back of the van behind the crates. That only lasted as far as the McDonalds at Zion Crossroads. He was too vocal and too jumpy back there so I moved him into one of the crates. The space restriction has the happy side effect of calming and quieting an axious dog.

I don't think this dog has been out much in his life, but he handled the store, the strangers, and the other dogs very well. He was good with children. He wasn't terribly attentive to anyone except me, but I think that's just a function of it being his first outing and him being a German Shepherd.

I can't say that we saw any good prospects for him, but that's not really my goal or expectation for a first outing anyway. The crowd was the usual mix of decent folks and a few alien mutants. He didn't work the crowd well, and I certainly don't, so it was pretty much just a get acquainted experience for both of us. It was actually the most one-on-one time I've spent with him since I got him. I need to start doing some walks with him this week.

I do have someone interested in him, however, so he may find a new home soon. That would be best for him, of course, and for the two other shepherds I have waiting in the wings at the SPCA.

Teddy came along too, against his will. I'm going to need a different approach with that dog. Someone suggested T-Touch, which could help. I may have to try an animal communicator, exorcism, or voodoo.