A Night of Puppy Breath and Wagging Tails

Last night I had my second volunteer training session at the humane society; it was so much fun. I was the only trainee there, so the instructor and I basically played with the dogs all night. Time well spent.
Meet Titan, a 5 year-old lab mix and a sweet boy. He knows "sit", "down" and "shake" and doesn't jump to greet. He is house trained (bell trained, actually--he rings a bell to go out, read more about this here and here) and of good temperment. I haven't actually walked him, but he was good with a Gentle Leader going through the loud and distracting dog kennel.
If I didn't have two of my own already, he'd have gone home with me last night. He enjoyed playing a bit of fetch and getting his belly rubbed. I enjoyed twirling his soft ears and getting kisses. If you or someone you know in in the Minneapolis metropolitan area and looking for a great dog, check out Titan.
Other than Titan, I also visited with Foxy and Cooper. Fun dogs. Foxy has the same personality as Q--demanding Velcro dog with energy. And I spent time with two black lab mix puppies. The sweet smell of puppy breath. The little wrinkles of loose skin. So endearing. They will find a home soon. I just hope whoever adopts them knows that they will be HUGE and energetic. That's part of my job though--educating potential adopters. Reminding them that a well behaved dog doesn't happen by chance and that the 8lb puppy they are in love with will grow to be an 80lb dog all too soon.
As much as I wanted to stay and play with the dogs all night, the humane society staff wanted to go home. I thought about Titan all the way home. I want him to get a good home. I want his family to be as excited to see him at night as he will be to see them; to be as excited as I was to see my dogs. I spent the rest of the night with Q and Carter--rubbing bellies and getting kisses.