Wednesday, November 12, 2008

S, M, L

There's quite the mix of dogs at Toronto Animal Services right now - all sizes and from all over.

This little poodle comes all the way from Nunavut via Montreal. I'm not sure what the story is but I bet Toffee is glad to be here in balmy Toronto rather than up north for the winter. This pooch is more suited for riding on a sled than pulling one.


This gentle and loving, mid-sized black Cocker Spaniel came from the Montreal SPCA. Charlene's travel mate, a golden Cocker Spaniel, was snatched up in no time. While waiting for her chance at a new home, blood started showing up in her urine so some tests are being run. Hopefully, everything'll be alright and Charlene will make it onto the adoption floor again before too long.


Vadar is a large local boy. This beautiful brindled Mastiff was found wandering the streets of Parkdale and remains unclaimed after more than a week so he is now up for adoption. He's a super affectionate dog who would love to crawl into someone's lap if he could but since he's 80 pounds (my estimate) and should be 20 pounds heavier, that might be hard to do.

I think Vadar should get a name change. The name's too menacing and a dog that looks the way he does has enough stereotyping problems to overcome. So, any suggestions?

I've met such a vast assortment of dogs in my time at TAS, that it amazes me anyone would still make pet store or backyard breeder purchases before checking out what's available in the shelters or rescues. Ill-informed buyers, I suppose, and of course that's partially our fault for not getting the word out better.

Here's to getting the word out.

5 comments:

Caveat said...

Nice looking dog. If he were my dog, I might call him Chodmondley (pronounced Chumley), Sherlock or Topper!

Anonymous said...

I`d just morph Vader into Tater so as not to cause too much confusion in his life.
Just tell people he likes potato chips and that`s how he got his name.

Anonymous said...

If you want to stay with Star Wars, how about Obi-Wan? Or, if you want a comment on his size, there is Jabba.

Me, I'd name him Rajah. The brindle coat is also called tiger-stripes, and that leads one to Rajahs on elephants. Some of those Rajahs were near as heavy as the elephants!

House of the Discarded said...

I agree with Ian - I like "Tater"! Who can resist a big sweet face with a name like that? :)

Fred said...

Great name ideas so far. I'll pass along the suggestions to the powers that be and see what they think. And any that don't get used for this guy will have to be saved for any future unnamed newcomers.

Susan, if you'd like to discuss dog description display options at TAS, send me an e-mail and we'll talk.