I adopted Claire in 1999 after she was returned two times from prior adoptions, for behavior problems that ranged from fearful aggressive barking at people to just normal nine month old puppy training issues like chewing, cat chasing and housebreaking. I was an adoption counselor at the time and had helped with several of her adoptions, and when she was returned that last time, I knew it would be me that would be taking her home next. In total she'd spent two and half months of her puppy life in our kennels, and though she appeared friendly and loving in the shelter play yard, she was quite a training project once she came home. With help from our Adoptions and Behavior staff, a big strong crate and a few months of obedience training, Claire stopped chasing my cats, tearing up the furniture, and barking and growling at people - well, most of them! For many years she was the eyes and ears of my very old dog Truman, and also came to work at the shelter with me every day as part of her ongoing socialization. Though I had trained her not to chase my cats at home, when I first took in a litter of underage kittens to foster in my office, that was another matter. They lived safely in a crate for the first week while Claire watched them very very closely. Gradually I introduced her to them, and soon she had taken on the role of their foster mom. You can see from the photos - she would sleep with them, lick them, and if one was mewing in distress she would go over and make sure everything was ok. All her foster babies turned into lovely temperament kittens - well, except for her one foster puppy, who turned into a handful of a loving dog!

I think Claire is a nurturing soul - she watches out for me, my house, the rest of our furry family (and my roommate) at home, and those little kitties are so helpless and needy, she watches out for them too.

A good story and one of my favorite memories is about one special kitty, the one named "Itty Bitty Cactus Kitty" I think she is in some the photos named as such. I was out walking my dogs one evening, and Claire started trying to pull me across the street. I told her "no" and tried to make her keep walking, but she would NOT listen. I assumed it was a dropped hamburger or something similar, but she would not give up. I mean, she only weighs 50 lbs but I had never seen her be so determined and not listen to me like that. So I made her sit, trying to get her attention, and that was when I heard this tiny "mew mew mew" coming from across the street, in the tangle of cactuses that had grown up there. We went across and I could hear the tiny kitten meows of distress, but I couldn't see or get into the vegetation... but Claire could! She searched and searched and searched and within 5 minutes she led me right to Itty Bitty Cactus Kitty, who had been abandoned there at only 4 weeks old. She fit right in with my other foster kitties at work though, and was definitely one of Claire's favorites.

Claire is beautiful, athletic and makes me laugh with her playing and "talking" - I'm so lucky to have found a "Claire dog"!

Jennifer, Webmaster & Pet Adoptions