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9:13pm

Try Volunteering and Fostering - it's fun & rewarding!

Featuring:

Ozzie

I recently began volunteering at Stray Rescue of St Louis's 18th St shelter 3 hours a week since it's so close to my work. I go over twice a week on my lunch hour and once a week after work to help walk/play with dogs and help with minor cleanup as needed. I was unsure at first if it would be a burden or sad to be around shelter dogs, but it's exactly the opposite! I look forward to each visit - it's fun and the dogs are so friendly - time flies by very quickly! And it's a great stress reliever - everyone should try it at least once!

I also tried to foster a dog over the weekend but had to take him back to the shelter. Unfortunately it was a way more stressful experience than I had imagined. My husband wasn't happy and my adopted dog Ozzie was strung out with anxious energy all weekend. But it was a great learning experience, and once we have a fence installed in our yard I'm going to try it again to see if we can find another dog who's more compatible with Ozzie. I'm also going to work on more training Ozzie to improve his ability to relax around other dogs who are in our home. I'm so glad I at least TRIED it, and gave that wonderful shelter dog a weekend vacation!

I urge everyone to try volunteering and fostering - dogs are so full of love and they improve our quality of life!

I decided to try it after seeing so much dog info on ZooToo.com when I was trying to help Stray Rescue earn more points in the shelter makeover contest. I wanted to give back in some way to Stray Rescue as a Thank-You for them rescuing Ozzie.