Sarah + Laura: Do it for the dogs!

So I mentioned in a post the went up a few weeks ago (here) that while in Boise for a wedding Laura and I signed up to do See Spot Walk, a charity walk raising money for the Idaho Humane Society.

It's not an organisation that we had ever heard of or seen much about until Julia - Laura's school friend - donated a art work to them to promote the walk. We loved the t-shirt design so much that we were happy to sign up just for the t-shirt.

In signing up we got reading about the great work the Society does and wanted to find out if we could help on the day. It turned out that they needed dog walkers to accompany the dogs that were available for adoption so we signed up.

In all honesty I had no idea how the day would go, part of me feared that I would want to leave with the dogs and part of me feared I would spend the day in tears. In fact both those fears came true but I pushed through knowing that the money we donated and the time we were giving were benefiting the Society and therefore the dogs.

We picked up Rudy from the dog carrel. He was sweet, excitable and desperately wanted to be friends with every dog and human he could find. Compared to Bisbee, Rudy was a big dog. Where Bisbee struggles to reach my hip Rudy had no issue reaching my face. By the end of the 2 mile walk I was exhausted.

We walked with Laura's school friend Kelcie and her dog and even with 3000+ other dogs around Rudy stayed close and well behaved. He was clearly happy to be out and about and won us over quicker than we thought. He had two tricks that he insisted on performing - sit and lay down - for treats and when I had to walk him on stage for the adoption mutt strut he added 'smother me in kisses' to his repertoire.

When it was announced that any adoption made that day would have the fees covered both Laura and I burst into tears - unfortunately it happened just as I was about to go on stage. Sadly we don't know if Rudy found his forever home that day but we did see a few other adoptions agreed. We are planning to stay in contact with the Society to follow Rudy's story. If we were based in Idaho we know we would have taken him home in a heartbeat. I think Bisbee is secretly relieved there is an ocean separating us.

To anyone who has adopted a shelter dog - thank you. We had always planned to rescue a dog until Laura was bitten by a dog in Thailand, that changed things. Understandably Laura gets nervous around energetic, bigger dogs and we wanted to know exactly where our first dog had come from so we could be confident from the start. Who knows when it comes to our next dog we may be able to do things differently. Until then we will support and donate in any way we can.

While we appreciate that many of you reading this live no where near Idaho we wanted to highlight the cause of dog protection. We understand there are many situations that lead to a dog needing to be re-homed and are grateful to everyone who volunteers in some way - you are stronger that Laura and I.

By the end of the walk we sat in the car and cried for a full 5 minutes, feeling somewhat helpless that we could do no more and sad that Rudy would be heading back to the shelter. We are terribly emotional dog owners - poor Bisbee often has us crying on her declaring our undying love.

Even the MASSIVE cinnamon bun didn't make me feel that much better.

I mean even this advert made to make you smile brought a tear to me eye.... a happy tear but still. I need to get a grip!

Do you volunteer anywhere? Or have a rescue pup?

We donated our first fivers (the UK launched a new plastic £5 note and you donate your first one to charity) to Birmingham Dogs Home and the Dogs Trust. This is a short video from them full of feels.