Commitment

This morning, when my alarm went off at 5:30, I really didn’t want to get up. Sometimes it’s hard to get out of bed, but the dogs don’t care: they have to be taken care of; they need to go potty and they need their food – rain or shine. And early in the morning. We get to the shelter at six in the morning, which means that the dogs have been in their kennels for approximately 12 hours. Most of them keep their kennel clean, which is amazing to me, because I can’t hold it for 12 hours. And also, the dogs don’t care if it’s a weekday, weekend or a holiday – they need to be taken care of. Being a dog shelter volunteer means above all one thing: commitment! You really have to be committed to get up this early every single day. We are many dedicated volunteers, so not everyone has to be there all the time. For example, I don’t go to the shelter every morning. I’m only there two mornings a week and three afternoons. Kathy, Becky, and Donna on the other hand get up early every day. I admire that. On holidays we are usually a little short on staff, because some volunteers leave town, but the show must go on.

This was last year Christmas morning. I wasn’t able to go and help, because I spent Christmas with my family in Germany, but thanks to Becky, Aaron, Kathy, and Lori the dogs were taken care of. And, as you can see, heat or snow, the dogs need volunteers to take care of them. Not every volunteer has to commit to several days every week to come to the shelter. We have many dog walkers who “only” come once a week. But we couldn’t do it without them. They take time out of their busy schedules to walk the dogs and spend time with them. I want to thank all the volunteers out there, because without you those dogs could not be rescued!

Here Auggie and Beth are walking through the deep snow after Auggie’s yard time. I bet he would prefer having that snow instead of the unbearable heat that’s going on right now. :)