I took Little Bo, Schnauzer Face and Mama to HART. After all the time and thought that went into the decision, I admit I was surprised at how quickly and smoothly the actual procedure was. I filled in a few blanks on a short form. HART staff and I took the 3 dogs to the kennels in the impound area. The puppies went into one kennel and Mama into another. That was it.

My first thought was about how noisy it was with so many dogs barking at once. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing - just different than being in a larged, fenced in garden at our house. I thought about how stressful it must be for the dogs just to be in the new environment - especially after all of the stress that had undoubtedly been through already.I had written a few things about each individual dog in a journal - to help us to identify them and to, hopefully, supply information that might be helpful in finding a home best suited to the dog's and family's individual needs and personalities.

The journal entries include a general description with any special markings, weight and the color of the collar I put on each of them. I believe Mama is wearing the red collar that used to belong to the first dog I raised from a puppy. He was a German shepherd mix named "Beau," meaning "handsome" in French.