Nala - How Do You Spell Love?

Piglet: "How do you spell love?"
Pooh: "You don't spell it. You feel it."

HSSV's Nala "Awesome, smart and happy"

Nala is awesome, very happy and smart dog. She loves people. I am enjoying time spending with her, she is very active, but also loves sitting next to you and experiencing world surroundings.

HSSV's Nala "Experiencing surroundings "

For her and other dogs staying in the shelter is drastic change and a stressful experience. 

HSSV's Nala "KONGS time"

HSSV is making every effort possible to make dogs very welcome, and love. But shelter is still often a place where dogs will be confined, separated from their previous families, and exposed to more noise due to the close proximity of other dogs. 

HSSV's Nala "KONGS attack"

These environmental changes are very stressful for most dogs.  Because of the influence of individual dog personality on behavior, signs of stress can vary. Some dogs will hide in the back of the kennel, be less active or stop eating. 

HSSV's Nala "Selfies"

Some dogs may behave aggressively in response to stress, while other dogs will begin to perform repetitive behaviors, increase their frequency of barking/vocalization, become destructive, and start to urinate and defecate in their kennel.

HSSV's Nala "Experiencing pink"

Stress may also affect a shelter dog’s physical health, causing increased susceptibility to diseases and a longer recovery time from illness. 

HSSV's Nala "Selfies"

Sharing my time with Nala is priceless. With busy lives, it can be hard to find time to volunteer. However, the benefits of volunteering are enormous to you, your family, and your community. The right match can help you find friends, reach out to the community, learn new skills, and even advance your career. Volunteering can also help protect your mental and physical health. 

HSSV's Nala "Measuring benefits of volunteering"

I guess Nala can measure all these benefits in licks on my face. 

HSSV's Nala

Blackberry Aka BBerry The Adventures of One Nosy Dog

HSSV's BBerry "Learning how my favorite people smell"

Blackberry Aka BBerry, she might be shy dog, but the sweetest one. Do you know that the most important point of socialization process is to bring fun, positive energy and not judgment. 

Dogs are in nature migrating animals so exercising dog will get him/her into her/his natural migrating state of mind, which will be great time to bond with him/her.

HSSV's BBerry "It's a Beautiful World"

BBerry loves her walks, she might be tiny and fragile, but once she is in adventurous state of mind she wants to see more and to smell more. It is so much fun outside. 

HSSV's "Let it be!"

Everything smells different, but how different? There are many ways in which people and dogs are similar, but an area in which dogs are much superior is in their olfactory ability, or their sense of smell. 

Dogs can smell 100,000 times better than humans. In tests, dogs have been able to detect a chemical in a solution diluted to 1 to 2 parts per trillion. 

HSSV's BBerry "Memorizing good moments..."

The human brain has a large area devoted to vision, while dogs have a large portion dedicated to olfaction, in fact 40% more of a dog's brain than a human's is committed to smell. 

Humans can smell roses

The average person has 5 million smell receptors, while the average dog, depending on breed, has 125 to 250 million smell receptors. The Bloodhound has an incredible 300 million smell receptors! 

HSSV's BBerry "I am a size of four medium size mushrooms"

Dogs can smell things up to 40 feet underground. Dogs can even smell human fingerprints that are a week old.    

HSSV's BBerry "Week later I will remember this spot with accuracy of my nose"

Can you imagine BBerry will smell my shoes print week later at the same spot.

HSSV's BBerry "Please come meet me at HSSV!"

Bruce Almighty "Velcro Dog"

HSSV's Bruce

Dogs are great, my big come back to volunteering at HSSV crossed with meeting Bruce. I met him twice already. He is such a sweet, quiet, and calm soul. He loves human presence, once he will bond with his human he might be a velcro dog, attaches so firmly and to be in close physical contact with his chosen person. He followed me everywhere already, lucky his new owner to share life with. 

HSSV's Bruce as a Velcro Dog

Volunteering at the local shelter is bringing to my life sweetness and awesomeness of sharing moments with dogs. Adopting dog from your local shelter will safe dog life, and will bring into your life all the best.

HSSV's Bruce Tall and Proud

HSSV's Bruce 

Scribbles and Giggles

HSSV's Scribbles "My real name is Scribbles"

My real name is Scribbles. 

How Scribbles ended at the shelter I don't know or just don't care. I just treat her like my new bubble friend.

Life at the shelter is full of surprises everyday. Everyday dogs can meet new person, dog volunteer, potential daddy or mommy. 

Scribbles is six-year-old Beagle-Bull. She knows how to find things on command, sit, down. Would love to come when you call her name.  She would love to work for tiny pieces of yummy treats, chicken, jerky, cookie. 

Sunday noon I dressed up in HSSV's volunteer shirt, slipped into my Converse shoes, grabbed bag full of yummies, jumped into my car and drove to my volunteering destination. 

Dogs value the companionship of the others in their "pack" and are sometimes distressed if they are separated from it. Typical reactions when a dog is separated from the pack are barking, howling, digging, and chewing. These activities may distress humans when they need to leave dogs alone for a period of time. However, this behavior, called separation anxiety, can be overcome with training, or at least decreased to the point where it becomes manageable.

HSSV's Scribbles "Taste"

I met Scribbles for the first time, so protocol is the same first we go for a relaxing walk, we just sniff watch, smell, lick, taste, and touch.

HSSV's Scribbles "Lick"

Second we do some training like sit, find it, watch me, come...

HSSV's Scribbles "Treat for sit"

We sniff a bunch, because it changes dogs brain, and makes a dog soooo tired and relaxed

HSSV's Scribbles "Smell"

We listen, and it is amazing how sensitive could be a dog to sounds system offered by nature.

HSSV's Scribbles "Listen"

Scribbles energy it makes me giggles.

HSSV's Scribbles "Scribbles and Giggles"

HSSV's Scribbles "Beautiful in and out"

Donut - Peekaboo In The Grass

HSSV's Donut "Peekaboo in the grass"

On Thursday evening I had a hot date with Donut. I grabbed treat bag full of yummy goodies, dressed in my volunteer shirt, got my comfy Converse shoes and there you go ready to meet Mr Cookie I mean Donut. 

HSSV's Donut "Did you say cookie?"

We took off for an evening walk, we practiced sit, watch me and recalls. Dogs are amazing creature they can do things with total stranger, and sharing uplifting energy.

HSSV's Donut "Follow me"

HSSV's Donut "Watch ME"

HSSV's Donut "Sit"

HSSV's "Donut Come!"

HSSVs' Donut as a good listener

HSSV's Donut sharing his uplifting energy

HSSV's Donut enjoying fresh grass delicacy

HSSV's Donut "Oh my darling..."

HSSV's Donut "Let's go..."

HSSV's Donut "Enjoying KONG after hot date, next day on Friday he was adopted"

Porky (Porkchop)

HSSV's Porkchop "Have we met before?"

Yesterday I stopped at the Bubble and check out our Bubble Dogs. Porky or Porkchop got my attention, when I walked through a corridor he was sitting quietly and watching me passing by. I made a round to check all boys and girls, I haven't been here since December, so all dogs are new to me. I stopped by at the white board and check out who needed most attention. One of dogs needed attention was Porky. So I read about him other volunteers feedback, and sort of knowing him little bit more, grabbed the leash from his cube, and went to room 136. When I opened a door he slowly approached me, he never met me before, so I turned my back and let him sniffed me, chicken jerky melted all his doubts. After short introduction we took off for corporation evening walk. 

HSSV's Porkchop "I need a family to adopt! Would be mine?"

Sunset was just gorgeous, orange-red light was everywhere, and air was fill out with freshness and breeze.

HSSV's Porky "Evening light is the best for an evening's shots"

For a short moments we sat at the grass and were watching cars and people going home after work and getting ready for dinner.

HSSV's Porky "I am 8-month-old puppy and love squeaky balls"

 We chew one squeaky ball.

HSSV's Porky "So what next?"

And went to check out ducks, cranes and blooming mustards field. 

HSSV's Porky "View was fantastic!"

View was fantastic, bad you weren't there with us, because we are not sharing a picture with you, it is our little secret :)

HSSV's Porky "What are you hiding behind your back Bubble Mom?"

After hour walk we back tired, hungry and ready for the good night rest.

HSSV's Porky "Oh My it is a Kong! I got over excited so Bubble Mom needed add some twirl on the picture ;)"

Hugs and Love...

HSSV's Porky "Hugs and Love"