Pig News

This week's Pet-of-the-Week this year at the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is Lavender, a one-year-old Siberian Husky mix, was found running along a busy mountain road in Felton along with her similarly fuzzy, but all-white partner, Lewis, who is also available for adoption.

They were actually found by one of the shelter's staff members, who managed to get them safely contained in a yard until our Animal Control Officer Gooding could get there. They were initially a little worried, and the pads of their feet were worn and sore, so they'd apparently been running for quite some time. After their stray hold was complete and no one came forward to reclaim them, they'd settled down and started showing more friendly behavior, so now they're available for adoption. Although they came in together, Lavender and Lewis are not required to be adopted together - taking two large adult dogs who seem to have spent a lot of time together to a new home together would likely be too challenging for all but just the right home. They don't seem to be dependent upon one another or very strongly bonded - they like to play together sometimes, but both seem to quite enjoy getting individual attention, play and exercise time.

Here's what the shelter has learned about Lavender – she is sociable and generally quiet and attentive. She's met some dogs at the shelter and appreciates a slow, thoughtful introduction when meeting dogs - no random, quick nose-to-nose encounters, please! After meeting another dog-savvy female husky, she was able to coexist in the exercise yards with her and hang out. It's recommended that if you have a resident dog, they should meet at the shelter prior to adoption to see how well they communicate and whether they seem to like one another. Since she came in as a stray, they don't have any history of how she does with children or cats.

As with every dog adoption the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Foundation will provide "Pawsitivity Bucks" to Lavender's adopters. This $200 training voucher is a way for newly adopted canines and their guardians to connect with a local positive reinforcement trainer to help get their relationship started off to a positive start!

For more info about Lavender, Lewis or any of the great dogs up for adoption, listen to Pet-O-Rama Thursday's on the pig at 11am or visit the shelter, located at 1001 Rodriguez St. in Santa Cruz and open from 11am to 6pm every day. 

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