Walkin' The Dog
While watching a Dr. Who marathon on December 25, 2019, I had an epiphany, of sorts. You see, I had celebrated Christmas Eve in my faith tradition with dear friends; Christmas day itself was routinely quiet. I couldn’t help but think of the previous Christmas, when I walked sweet Mitzvah at a favorite park. I took a video of her, with the wind from the lake ruffling her scruffy black-gray fur.
But this current Christmas, as I was enjoying the parade of actors playing incarnations of the eponymous Dr. Who, it struck me: I should do something better than this next Christmas. Since I no longer work full-time, I have looked on-line for various volunteer opportunities. Lord knows that there are many, many needs; all sorts of worthy causes seek volunteers. I explored several options, but nothing seemed to be the right fit. For whatever reason, while watching Dr. Who’s then-current hero, I thought: I bet animal shelters need people to walk their dogs; maybe next Christmas I could be doing that.
After stirring myself from the sofa, I visited the website of the shelter where I had found my beloved Mitzvah; the shelter has a dedicated group of dog walkers, but they naturally can use all the volunteers they can get. It’s a no-kill shelter. Certainly dogs at kill shelters need walks too, but, frankly, my emotional well-being couldn’t take that.
On Dec. 26, I emailed the shelter to ask about how to volunteer. Receiving an immediate response, I filled out the paperwork to join their ranks. Then I had to wait a while for a training class to be scheduled, but now I am fully vetted, with a T-shirt to prove it.
Once a week, I am at the shelter for about 75 minutes, walking available dogs for about ten minutes each. This gives them a chance to enjoy the outdoors as well as the time to socialize with a friendly human. There are old dogs and young dogs and many dogs rescued from Puerto Rico’s latest disaster, the earthquakes. To name but two dogs, I have walked Dusty, a young black lab mix, who was at first afraid of grass, and Brownie, an aging Chihuahua mix with glaucoma in one eye, who proudly bears the nickname “Mr. Happy.” My biggest concern was that I would fall in love with all the dogs and want to bring them home with me. So far, I have managed to appreciate each dog yet not feel that I must adopt him or her. Well, except today. What a cute little rascal Rocky is! A long, low-slung gold and white shaggy terrier mix, Rocky and I had a lovely walk. The next time I went past the kennel he currently calls home, he had a purple toy, shaped like a dog bone, in his mouth. He looked at me with sweet brown eyes that seemed to say, “Let’s play!”
Oh! I am in love. But I steeled my resolve: my near future has significant travel. Now is not the time to adopt a dog. There are so many needs and what I am doing is a small contribution of time and energy into various dogs’ well-being. Nonetheless, it is good for them and it’s good for me. I am so glad this opportunity worked out!
The illustration is by the talented Pradip Chakraborty, from the forth-coming Mazel Tov, Mitzvah!
