My life is dedicated to helping dogs while remaining compassionate to the wide variety of dog owners.
I began walking dogs last fall at the Natural Pet Center in Fargo, which also keeps dogs from 4 Luv of Dog Rescue. The sad thing is, although I haven’t been there since Thanksgiving, some of the same dogs still sit there, waiting to be walked every day. These dogs waited in their kennels all winter, getting out for a few short walks here and there.
Take Georgia, for example. She is a pitbull mix who was saved from being euthanized during her last hours at a pound in the state she was named after. But now Georgia has been living in Fargo, waiting for a home since May 2007 (1/26/11 edit: Georgia has been adopted).
There is something rewarding about any kind of volunteer work. I wish I volunteered more often. It is always a goal to mine, but seems to remain a goal. Even walking one dog a week for a half-hour makes a difference for that dog on that day. Every time I am at the pet center, the dog I choose to walk bursts out of his kennel and pulls and pulls during the entire walk, so the walk isn’t even pleasant. But I know it’s just because of the energy and frustration the dog has built up over the weeks and months. I should take a shelter dog for a run once a week. It would do us both good.
If you can spare some time or money, I recommend volunteering or donating to an animal shelter in your area. If you are like me and unable to foster a pet, donating is a good way to go. It will make a difference in at least one dog’s life.
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Very, very cool!!! Thanks for taking the time to help out with those little guys and encouraging others to do so as well!
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I totally agree. Done lots of shelter dog walkin’ myself, but not in years. I’m going to think about starting that again. It’s tough on the heartstrings but it’s so good for the animal. When I see people on Craigslist criticizing animal shelters, I always suggest that they get involved and do something like this to help, one dog at a time.
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one of our goals, when we get a bigger house and one of us is a stay at home parent is to do foster parenting for dogs! I think we will look into walking shelter dogs. thats a good idea.
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