Please meet this week's Wag Your Tail Spotlight Dog, Bramley!
Bramley's human, Jo S. wrote:
My dog, Bramley, is about a 9 year old male neutered Shepherd mix. What he's mixed with is anyone's guess. He's very fluffy, sweet, has a very enthusiastic full-body wag and a beautiful smile (if there was room for more pictures, I'd inundate you).I first met Bramley at a public animal shelter in Fresno, California. I was working an internship in the behavior department of the Marin Humane Society and was on a run to collect some dogs from this more crowded shelter. Bramley, then "Sparkle", came to the front of his kennel with his big smile and full-body wag, and was an obvious choice to evaluate. I liked him from the moment our eyes met, but he seemed like such an likable fellow, it didn't feel right that I should select him as my second dog. He was microchipped and vaccinated, and we renamed him to "Sparky" for a more masculine sound because there was a lot of confusion with about his gender with those fluffy good looks. He was a very popular dog and was adopted the first weekend he was made available and the returned. And again. And again. I started working with him at MHS to find out what was wrong with him. He was very responsive, seemed very trainable, wasn't reactive to other dogs, could be left crated in the office, alone... so I took him home to find out what was wrong. Needless to say, that while he does like to watch the squirrels out the window, and chase them, given the opportunity (he has excellent recall), I have yet to discover what's really wrong with him. I guess we were just meant for each other. He certainly has an independent streak, but has been a great source of comfort to me since losing my first (soul dog), Shadow, last year to lymphoma. We both love to hike and generally be out and about in the world, but he's very mellow and relaxed in our downtime. 
