New Hobby

Well, I have mentioned before that I have done some volunteering for arizona beagle rescue. And I have gone to the dog park on the beagle playdates. But with my job being so stressful, I decided I needed my own hobby, my own outlet for my love of dogs/beagles.

Say hello to the newest row walker for the west side animal care and control. That's right, I get to walk the shelter once a week, and identify any beagle or beagle mixes. I think this is going to be a very hard part of rescue, because going to the pound generally gets me kind of upset to begin with. But knowing I could possibly be helping beagles in need will definately help.

My life goal is to walk the shelters and pull any dogs off the E-List, (not breed specific) and have my own rescue set up. But we're talking like a decade from now.

This will be a good start. I need to start thickening my skin when it comes to rescue. It's a heartbreaking, gut-wrenching hobby, but in the end, it's for the greater good.

I'll post pics of any dogs I pull, and let ya know how I handle it!

Aww, good for you!! I would have a very hard time working that side of rescue.

Glad there are caring people out there like you that help animals.

I do a lot of dog evaluations at shelters for work, and it is very exciting - but not easy. Usually I'm fine while I'm at the shelter (you learn to just choose not to see the sick dogs, aggressive dogs, filthy conditions, and other bad stuff), but a few hours afterwards I almost always get a stomach ache and migraine.

But let me tell you, there is NOTHING as rewarding as pulling a dog out of a shelter! It makes it all worth it.

Does your rescue do any behavioral evaluations, or do you just automatically pull every beagle?

I think I should be okay knowing I am helping without filling my house with howling beagles!

Thanks!

I believe what I am going to do is just send a list of all the beagles. Then someone comes down, does the evaluation (which they want to teach me to do as well,) and then they pull the dog. If I am there and a dog has already been evaluated, i can always pul it to the rescue site as well.