Sam and Kip go to town

Green Dogs Unleashed participated in a Dog Safety & Education event sponsored by Pampered Pets in Charlottesville on Saturday. I currently have two Green Dogs fosters so I loaded up Sam and Kip and we went to town for their first public outing. I got in a five mile hike in the morning with Sparky and Maya, but it was chilly and it started raining in the afternoon so it was a good day for an indoor event and it wasn't a good day for much else.

Sam had someone coming to meet him so I held him and passed off Kip to a willing volunteer. Kip is a cute, sweet puppy so finding someone to hold him was not difficult and he was happy with all the activity and attention.  I spent a lot of time talking with some folks who were interested in Sam. They liked him and I liked them, so we'll see where it leads us.

It was the first public outing for both dogs and they both did very well. I had no doubt about Kip. He's pure puppy, he loves everything and everyone. The only thing he didn't care for was the stairs at Pampered Pets. They are better and easier stairs than those at our house, which he now flies up and down with ease, but these were new. I suspect his limited vision is part of the fear; he probably has no depth perception. He's also very reluctant to jump into or out of a crate in the van.

I was very happy with Sam. He came from a home where he was reportedly good with people, kids, and cats, but all he's met around here are other dogs. He is certainly good with dogs and he met several new ones yesterday and did so with appropriate sniffs and other canine greetings. He was more interested in the dogs than all the people around, but he would allow anyone to pet him and he really enjoyed some folks who massaged him with their fingers. He's not particularly motivated by ordinary dog treats, but Patty from The Animal Connection was there with some dried liver treats and they were a big hit with Sam. Basically he was calm, cool, and collected. He handled himself very well.

Sam is blowing his coat right now. I gave him a good brushing before we went in, leaving a lot of
nesting material for the birds of Charlottesville, but there's still plenty more where that came from.

 

Kip is cute and he will grow into a great looking
German Shepherd Dog but his ears are just for show.