My last day as an adoption counselor

When I first began this job I honestly didn't think that it was going to last as long as it has. There were so many things that I really had to adjust to when I first began over a year ago. I have to say it was more the pay than anything else that took the real adjusting, the poop and manual labor was pretty easy to get accustomed to.

It has been an amazing experience to work hands on in not only taking care of the animals but more importantly helping them find their forever homes. It has certainly been a roller coaster with a lot of tears shed and even more smiles smiled.

I have seen everything and every type of dog there is to see. I was amazed at how much I actually learned in the past year or so working in the kennels. I gained a better appreciation for the volunteers that spend their time with the animals and also for the kennel staff themselves and how much work actually goes into maintaining a working shelter.

There are a lot of things that I am going to miss moving into my new position. It's hard to actually name just a few because this job has to be one of the most rewarding there is. From hanging out with the animals and loving on them to making sure that they are healthy and feeling well. Selfish me of though is going to say that I will miss adoption out the dogs the most. The feeling that I got when one of these animals found their new home was a new high for me. It was amazing to know that I played a part in making sure that the rest of their life was going to be the best one that it could be.

With all of this came those down times too. The days where all you wanted to do was lock your self in a kennel and pet a dog all day long. Those days were few and far between but when they came they came with force.

Closing out, I have learned more at this job than almost anything else I have done professionally. I have grown as a person by leaps and bounds working with these amazing animals. You might ask why I am no longer going to do it and I have a pretty simple answer. I think that I can help more animals in a new position that would bring more awareness to our shelter as well as more funding. I know that there are going to be those days that I wish I could just go back to the kennels and hang out and maybe I will but my focus now is letting everyone in our community know how special our rescue is and how we have now been doing this for fifty years. I will try and continue to blog even though it's not as exciting as getting animals adopted but I have a feeling there are going to be some highs worth sharing. Thanks everyone for all of the comments and support that you have given me. I look forward to you comments and of course reading your stories about all of the good work that you do in your area. Oh yeah, the picture up top is some of our senior one eyed dogs that all love to play together, not to many places you get to see that in life!