A Typical Day

It is about 5:30a when Lucky and Louis start pacing and whining - telling us that they need to go out to smell what the day brings...they want to check for the Paper delivery guy...They love to greet him with bark and squeels - much to our neighbor's dismay.

It's hard to be a rescuer in suburbia... We spend much of our time learning the schedules of neighborhood deliveries, such as the paper, mail, oil and garbage pick-up in an effort to keep the noise level down.

David makes coffee -- puts Louis and Shasta in their crates...then it is off for the first walk of the day with Lucky and Otis.

This is my opening to bring Brandy, our elder Dalmation, downstairs and out for her morning outing. Brandy cannot handlethe stairs anymore, and the other dogs want to take piece out of her because they sense that she is weak, so we have to make sure that the coast is clear when we carry her down the stairs from our bedroom.

While Brandy prances around the yard -- I fix breakfast for the dogs - in an effort to distract them when I bring Brandy back inside and up the stairs. I have about 10 minutes to complete the morning frenzy before David, Lucky and Otis return from their walk.

Once the feeding and walking is done - David leaves for work and it is back to bed for the dogs until the rest of the neighborhood heads off to work. I have to keep them quiet until the neighbors are gone and it is once again safe to enter the yard. Boy do I need the Home Makeover crew to build me a sanctuary in the middle of nowhere...

I check my email - I usually receive between 15 - 20 pleas for help during the night for rescuers across the United States, begging for the lives of the dogs on the euthanasia list the next day. Sometimes I read them and try to help a dog or two - sometimes I cannot even look.

The rest of the day is filled with rotated dog walks and outings, trips to the vet, to the dog park...responding to adopter inquiries, home visits for prospective adopters, scooping poop, cleaning crates, emails to past adopters checking up on their new family members, and sending out a pleas of my own for funds, foster homes and help dogs that are in danger.

Brandy has to go out every 3-4 hours because of her age - which means crating the rest of the crew each time she is due for her romp.

I am fortunate to have such a loyal group of supporters. My past adopters and their friends and family come through time and time again for my "urgent" need of the moment.

Our day usually ends around 11:00p...at which point I look around and realize, once again that the laundry has not been done, the clean laundry from weeks ago is piled up on the table, the bills have not been paid, and I have not spoken to my family and friends in months...I promise to do better tomorrow, but in the land of the dogs, the dogs come first and everything else falls to the wayside.