All about the doggies

Hello, dear readers)). I hope everyone's doing okay. This long awaited (by me) entry is going to be about the dog shelter I mentioned in one of my previous posts:
https://mybluggles.blogspot.com/2020/03/after-pandemic.html?m=1


First of all, I'd like to point out the fact that I'm afraid of dogs. People don't believe me when I tell them (especially since I tend to go about petting every single doggie in my sight), but I can assure you I am. Trust me on this. Regardless of that unhandy fear, I have spent the past few months paying visits to volunteer at a dog shelter in my city.

I first found out about the shelter when a good friend of mine offered to take me there with her for a day of volunteering. I agreed without any hesitation, because the idea appealed to me quite a bit. Now, I was warned that it would be noisy at the shelter, but no warning could have prepared me for the amount of noise you experience every time you set foot inside. To give you a slightly better understanding, I'll insert a short video clip I took:

Another thing I was most certainly not ready for was the myriad of dogs that surround you as soon as you enter the gate. I will admit, I am exaggerating a bit here, but the first time it really did feel really did feel like the hyperbole itself.

Once we arrived, we were greeted by the lady in charge of everything, who was very nice and friendly. She was exceptional at remembering in detail the story of every dog in the shelter (which, mind you, there are over 200) and naming any given one within seconds too. For the next few hours, the three of us have baths to all the dogs that required them.

During my next few visits, I made an effort to take different friends with me in order to show them the shelter. We helped out with things such as:

- Washing the dogs
- Feeding the dogs
- Changing their water bowls
- Removing ticks
- Rebandaging wounds

One time, a small group of us offered to do (and followed through with) a bit of cleaning for one of the areas.

Needless to say, not all of my friends who came along had a very pleasant experience, as it does, at times, get v
overwhelming. I guess it just falls upon individual views and interpretations of every person.

Personally, I feel like I've formed a bond with the shelter. I admire the hard, non-profitable work of the staff, and I enjoy feeling the accomplishment wash over me after completing a particularly lengthy task: for instance, on one occasion, a friend of mine and I spent around two hours washing and drying 11 puppies. I think that the short time I spent volunteering at the shelter taught me that hard work really does pay off.

Oh, and of course all the doggies are very friendly and adorbale too. And that, I think, is a massive plus :)

Check out the shelter's page right here: https://hopeforstrays.org/dog-rescue-donations/

Have you ever volunteered at an animal shelter? If so, what was/were your experience(s) like? If not, do you think you would like to?