Archie

Today could be a big day for one of my favorite dogs, Archie. 

Archie is a ten year old Yorkie mix, and is by no means a supermodel. He has hair loss, is blind in one eye and needs some major attention in the nail department. He came in about a month ago, and after snapping at some staff members, his cage card was emblazoned with the words "WILL BITE" in bold red lettering. I first met Archie on one of my two hour weekend cleaning shifts and used caution with him while feeding and cleaning his kennel. However, on Sunday he greeted me with a wiggling butt and excited little barks. I gave him his food and he let me pet him and fuss over him, seeming to enjoy it. Many dogs who come into the shelter may act aggressively at first, and with Archie, that behavior really wasn't surprising. He didn't know where he was, didn't know all the strange people around him and was surrounded by a bunch of yelping, loud puppies. At this point, I started to really like Archie.

The day I fell in love with Archie was a Tuesday night. He had been with us for a little while, and with the craziness of the holiday season, hadn't yet received enough grooming attention. My coworker Kelley and I had some spare time one night, so we decided to devote a little love to old Archie. We were concerned about how he would behave in the grooming room but knew that with his dry skin issues, we needed to at least try to work on this guys appearance. Lucky for us, Arch was a perfect gentleman. It became obvious that he had spent some time on a grooming table before. Kelly painstakingly cleaned his face and eyes up. We even used a medicated shampoo that had to stay on for ten minutes and this guy was totally fine with it!

The moment Archie stole my heart was after we had bathed and dried him. Kelly and I put a leash on him and took him back into the office to show our coworkers how much better he looked. As soon as we put Archie down on the floor he came to life. It was like we had freed a puppy trapped in a senior dog's body! He wiggled and pranced and generally acted like the total sweetie that he now is.

This blog is going to give a lot of focus to the "lost causes" like Archie. I think one thing that shelter work has taught me so far is that there really is no lost cause. Yes, Archie is older. Yes, he has a few health issues. But I am proud to work at a shelter that doesn't believe in throwaway dogs. I have contacted rescues, searched for an adopter/foster..so far with no luck. However, today I have a woman coming in who is interested in possibly taking Archie home. Hopefully it works out, but I know that if it doesn't I will continue to do everything I can for this little guy. Age is just a number, and that never resonated with me more than when I started working in the shelter. Here's hoping ol' Arch makes a good impression.