The Boss Blog - Life at the Shelter, from inside my kennel

My name is Boss.   Miss Boss.  And, I’ve lived here at ACT for a long time.

I am still hopeful that I will someday be able to go to a home with somebody special; sleep in the quiet and warmth of my own forever bed surrounded by my own family who loves me. But for now, this is my home and it is good.  I get plenty of food, an igloo with blankets and a room with a view!  I am safe and well cared for.  Compared to what some of my newly arrived shelter-mates have been through, I have it great.  

All of us here at ACT remain hopeful that a forever home is waiting for us.  Still, some days we can’t help but feel a little sad.

The hardest part of living in a shelter for most of us is loneliness.  Not having a person to call our own.  That’s hard on a dog.  That’s hard on us.

Sure, none of us are really ever “alone”.  Truth is, the constant barking we hear can be disturbing. In the winter, the cold can be a drag. In the summer some days are so hot and there’s not enough shade. Everyone here helps us, though, so we can take it.  Still, it’s just plain loneliness that gets me and my friends the saddest.  Always looking through a kennel.  Sometimes it just gets to you.

For me, it’s not so bad because I have friends.  Tim who’s glad to take me for long walks almost every day.  Mark who takes me home sometimes.  That is so nice.  I pretend I will stay there forever, even though I know I’ll be going back to the shelter. 

I know my friends will be there to take me for walks, or a drive in the car with a trip to McDonalds – yummy!   I’m not the only one with such good friends.  Moses has Glenda and CJ, Guapo has Stacy, Chuckie has Angela, Klondike has Don, but there are many of us here that can’t count on anyone in particular.

How wonderful it would be if we all had somebody, or a few somebodies, that would come out and visit with us.  A short walk.  A game of fetch in the play yard.  A ride in the car to McDonalds.  A bath and an all over towel rub.  Just imagine how wonderful that would be.  We do.

We all love our life at ACT.  Here we have hope that our own special friend will soon find us.  We are forever grateful for those special friends that help us keep our hope alive.  We need them.  We need you.

It’s what we think about as we look through the walls of our kennels.

Have hope. Give hope.  Be hope.