About Harry the Dog

Though we met just seven years ago, I suspect Harry and I have known each other for a very long time…by 2002,I’d already had several wishes  granted to me by the all-powerful www.craigslist.org, so naturally I looked there when restlessness made me crave different work. Lo and behold the nearby East Bay SPCA in Oakland, CA, where I was living, was looking for apprentice dog trainers! I took a bite of the ad because my best friend and only perceived ally as a kid was the family dog, a wily mutt we named ‘Rascal,’ and even before he arrived in our house I had always felt a deep bond with animals. I would look into their eyes and go somewhere. Where is this going? I better get more Border-Collie-like and focus! I answered the ad, was interviewed and subsequently hired. After the humbling mornings of cleaning out dog kennels, we fierce young urban-would-be world-changers learned about training dogs in basic obedience. This was a program the SPCA started to make their dogs more adoptable. Obedience is a must, but I used to really love teaching Rascal tricks and making him perform them for that bite of hamburger or tummy rub – so when I had time I taught a few of my charges at the shelter a trick or two. Confinement takes a toll on the animal spirit and brain games are good!

After just one month there I came in to work one day, accosted by the usual odor of dog kennels in the summer heat, and as I walked past the row of cages and sang to the doggies, I stopped short when I saw this pert, bright-eyed black and white pup sitting in the corner farthest from his mess. He  looked as if he were waiting patiently for something much better to happen to him and was ready for that next chapter to begin. He locked eyes with me and it was love at first sight. He was a cartoon right then and there and there was a giant light-bulb over his head…