My Most Recent Act of Kindness

One of the organizations that I volunteer with is called The Monster Milers, (formed and run by the wonderful owners of The Monster Minders) and we run with shelter dogs so that they can have regular exercise, lower their stress levels, and get adopted more quickly! The Milers operate at 3 different locations- PAWS Grays Ferry, PAWS Old City, and STAR on 2nd Street. As a result, many high energy dogs in the Philadelphia shelters have been adopted by runners, and they both have found a perfect fit.

Personally, I volunteer at one of the PAWS locations, and despite being a long distance runner for over ten years, I have found that being a Miler has tremendously improved my running. The dogs help you keep a faster pace than you would on your own, and they're often far more reliable than my friends are about getting together to work out! Since I often spend time at the shelter with the dogs, we occasionally foster for the shelter when it's a good match for our monsters (Ellie the cat and Izzy the dog).

One of the foster puppies!

Following a recent run, the volunteer coordinator suggested that I check out the cute puppies that they had just rescued, and mentioned that they might be an easy foster. PAWS is a no-kill shelter, but it pulls directly from a high-intake city shelter that does euthanize, so fosters are essential to the organization and create space to save more lives. Puppies are great because they are adopted pretty quickly, don't take up too much space (an essential for apartment living), sleep most of the day, and are just so stinking cute. So I took a peek at the three pups- three sisters, all brindle mastiff mixes- and said that I'd talk to my boyfriend about it.

We came in to pick them up on Sunday afternoon, and they've been at our house since! I'd forgotten how funny puppies are- one of them jumps up and down in excitement over just about anything, and another one tries to play tug of war with your socks in the morning. We've gotten a tremendous amount of interest in them from friends and co-workers, so I have no doubt that they'll be adopted as soon as they have all their shots and are spayed. Until then, we're giving them lots of large breed puppy chow, socialization and love.

If you're considering adding a pet to your family, I urge you to consider adopting from a shelter (like ACCT Philly, PAWS or STAR) instead of buying from a breeder- even better, I encourage you to adopt an older animal. Chances are that they're already house-trained and much lower maintenance than a puppy or kitten would be!!! I chose not to take a picture of the mountains of laundry these puppies generate, but trust me, it's one thing that you wouldn't miss.

Hope you're having a great week!