Sometimes Penny wrinkles her forehead when she watches people. It’s almost as if the sweet, cuddy dog is trying to analyze the situation, the potential friends’ feelings. After all, Penny believes that she misunderstood before. The bronze dog feels that she must have made a mistake, must have disappointed her people.

Otherwise, Penny reasons, they wouldn’t have taken her to the shelter. But Penny had tried so hard. For instance, her humans taught Penny, as a pup, to be a lap dog. That was Penny’s favorite role, even after her body was a little too large to completely fit.

Of course, Penny, whose house broken, leash trained, spayed and loving, never made mistakes. Yet, until she’s allowed to love someone new, Penny won’t understand that.

Ten-week-old Bianca cuddles into her blanket. The eight-pound, Shepherd mix doesn’t have the strength or courage to lift her head. Bianca’s been through too much, in too short a time. A week ago Bianca was probably with her mama. Then last weekend, the people who found the puppy said, someone abandoned her on the snow-covered ground.

It’s hard to imagine how the puppy survived, in snow deeper than she is tall. Yet, Bianca got to the shelter, a sanctuary, a place where she has a chance to live. Bianca also has a chance to learn about love.

Of course, that’s more remembering than learning. Like most puppies, Bianca only needs to be reminded about the puppy – person bond. Bianca just needs her own forever friend.

If a human had been betrayed, neglected and mistreated the ways that Ember was, the human wouldn’t smile hopefully at strangers. A human would be distrustful of the species that hurt her. And, if her body had been used almost to death, a human wouldn’t find the attitude and energy to invite someone to play.

Yet, three-year-old, now-spayed Ember greets people with her play bow. It’s the universal position that every dog and many humans recognize as one of the friendliest of canine messages.

And this is Ember’s heartfelt message, even after her people made her have litters of puppies repeatedly, even though they almost destroyed her body. It’s what Ember offers new people, even after her other people moved away, leaving Ember to die.

Some cats learn to love people early. Evidence indicates that Thelma Lou, a long-haired, tuxedo cat, with a “floofy” tail, was loved, for a while. As a tiny ball of fluff, someone found Thelma Lou irresistible. That’s not always a blessing. Some people take kittens home impulsively, like a Teddy bear. But the reality of pet care changes impulses.

When she was one year old, her person shoved Thelma Lou out a door, from either a car or house. The little cat didn’t know how to survive outdoors. She knew only loving people. So, Thelma Lou wandered to an apartment complex. She went door to door, pleading for help.

That got Thelma Lou to the shelter. She still needs help to find her forever home.

Other cats in the Shelter’s cat room, a large room where cats move freely, showing people their real personalities, know that Cat Cat is a mellow soul. The one-year-old, spayed cat is also a bit shy. Even sweet, social cats are overwhelmed by the unfathomable changes in their world.

So, Cat Cat spends time in her cat-tree cave. Cat Cat feels safe there, but the sweet girl is really harming herself. It’s the cats who hurry to see people who go home quickly. Lap cats, who long to love their one special person heart, body and soul, are overlooked.

That’s why it’s important to visit the cat room and stay a while. Then little ones, like Cat Cat, work up the courage to meow hello.