Week 2: Pets and People

I volunteered at Pets and People today. Billy and I had hoped to do some work on their website, but the lady I spoke with said they didn’t need any help with that right now. She did say they could use some help taking digital photos of the cats. Sounds challenging! But I could use some practice taking good digital photos, so it sounds good.

Today I just spent time with the dogs though. They started me walking dogs in the puppy room. Cute little things! Some of them weren’t quite sure what to do with a leash. Most of them thought it would be a fun thing to chew on. My favorites were a little dachschund mix, a little Bernie look-alike who liked chewing sticks, and a little hyper dog (Jack Russell mix maybe?) that loved running and even did one of those characteristic jumps. I had just gotten to one puppy that refused to be walked — you know, the type that lays down and just looks at you with puppy-dog eyes when you try to drag it along — when one of the workers asked me to wash a dog that had just gotten adopted. That went remarkably well; they’ve got a pretty good setup and a spot to tie the leash so they little guy can’t escape. Would you believe they’ve even got a dog dryer!? You open the door, put the dog in, set the timer for 15 minutes, and viola — a dry dog! I kept thinking of the cartoons, thinking this little beagle was going to come out as a big fluffball. Billy asked when I got home whether I remembered to put in a dryer sheet… oops! That poor thing will be staticy all day…

Overall, an enjoyable experience. I’m tempted to spend all my volunteer hours there… but I do want to spread my time around some.