Thank You For Walking My Dog

I've always wondered about Athena's time spent in the shelter.  Did she interact much with the shelter staff?  Did she ever go out on walks with volunteers?  How often was she able to leave the confinement of her kennel?  Although I don't know much about Athena's time in the shelter, I am very thankful to all of the shelter staff and volunteers who did what they could to make Athena's shelter life a little bit brighter.

Genie & Smokey

My thoughts about Athena's life in the shelter always get me thinking about how very generous people in the rescue community are.  Those of you who volunteer, foster, and donate to shelters and rescues are truly an inspiration.  I wish that I was at a point in my life where I could give back more to animals in need just as those shelter volunteers did for Athena.  I know that there will be a point in my life sometime in the future when I will be able to regularly volunteer or foster for homeless dogs, but unfortunately the time is not quite right as of now.

Mister & Snowball

During our four day visit to the beach, B and I decided that the time was right to take some time out of our vacation to give back to animals in need.  We called up the local humane society in Long Beach, WA and asked if we could spend the afternoon walking dogs.  The shelter staff were very welcoming to us and were thrilled to have a couple of new volunteers to interact with their dogs.

Tank & Louie

So, B and I took on "little dog walking duty" and walked six dogs during our visit to the shelter.  We enjoyed getting to know each of the little guys (and girl) and talking about each of their individual adoptable qualities and quirks.

Meet the little adoptable dogs at South Pacific County Humane Society:

Mister

Snowball

Tank

Louie

Smokey

Genie

Walking these six dogs at the shelter was definitely one of the highlights of our beach trip.  Not only was it fun to hang out with such fun dogs, but it felt so good to take time out of our vacation to give back as a thank you to all of those who worked with Athena while she was in the shelter.  I know that an afternoon of dog walking is not much in comparison to what so many of you do to help animals in need, but I hope that our little bit of volunteering was a step in the right direction for a lot more to come in the future!