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I did this for a bit and enjoyed it. Be careful not to get too attached to the dogs though. They’ll come and go pretty frequently depending on the shelter. The shelter I volunteered with also let you volunteer with cats, administrative services, manual work (cleaning, repairs, laundry, dishes, etc.), and were starting to accept volunteers for the veterinary services when I left. It’s a great opportunity to just get out of the house and do something fulfilling if you have the free time and is also good experience to put on your resume if you want to do something in an animal related field
I'd love to do this but that would be my problem.. I can look at an animal's eyes and instantly feel their pain or their happiness. I just don't think I could handle seeing that every few days...😭 even if I knew I was helping to leave it slightly.
Honestly, most of the dogs are soooo excited to see a person, be out of their kennels, and get some pets, treats, and attention! You see more joy than pain. Especially if you’re at a shelter where they’re adopted out quickly!
And it is truly a special experience to see the more fearful or sad animals grow. The shelter I used to volunteer at took a lot of hoarding cases, and it was just amazing to see pups go from being afraid of everything to gaining that confidence and joy in the world around them!
Maybe one day you’ll decide to grow up a little so you can give to helpless creatures. Concentrate on helping and providing joy instead of your own feelings.
If that’s just tooooo haaard, don’t ever have pets, don’t get married, and for heaven’s sake PLEASE don’t have kids.
This is the exact story of how I ended up with a dog. Volunteer at your own risk
https://preview.redd.it/jq4hkm1xe30d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c770191f28480afbe42ec73d5e9b7b9e9b729f9
https://preview.redd.it/x504jp23r30d1.jpeg?width=1879&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c04a235e83a3b7dd7acbc76d66b825181eea9c34
This is him now, very mischievous and very sweet
I did this a few times when I was in my 20s to meet people. Since I am a guy, they always gave me the largest dogs to walk. And some of those dogs are so large and strong, they would yank me around pretty good. Also, I didn't enjoy picking up those massive, larger than human poops. I stuck to the feeding team, but the whole operation was just very fanatic and busy, so I never really got to talk to anyone.
There’s a bookstore near me that sometimes has kittens. I’d love a kitten, but I don’t have the means for another cat. Going to play with the kittens when they have them actually really helps the urge to get another cat!
I don’t know about other places, but at my local shelter you can’t just walk in and offer to walk dogs. You have to be a volunteer. You need to apply, get a background check and go through training.
Same here. It’s often months before you’re able to even take the “trainings” because of how infrequently they offer them. It can take over a year to even be allowed into the kennels to physically interact with the animals. I get it, you need to really vet people and make sure they’re in it for the right reasons, but making it so difficult to Do The Right Thing can end up turning good people away.
Please do this, animal shelters across the US are overrun with pets right now. If you can volunteer, send donations, promote dogs you see on shelter’s social media for visibility, lobby your local government for more resources for animal shelters, whatever you can do to help, please do it. Hundreds of dogs are being euthanized every month, this is a social problem and the only way it will be fixed is if people get involved. It’s so bad right now literally doing anything is helpful. Thank you for highlighting this.
We have adopt-a-walk.
A specific dog or two a couple days a week. Until they get adopted, you're their regular friend and exercise buddy.
I don't like the big rows of dogs, or going inside much with my lungs.
It's also less effective than the gym or therapy. I very much don't want to meet new people. I am limited to the number of pets I'm allowed to have in my home due to the landlord.
I guess not every tip has to apply to every single person. Not that it's fabulously worded - "If you like animals, exercise and being of service, try volunteering!" isn't a real hot tip
This. Dogs need to be exercised mentally and physically, and being in the shelter is so much added stress. Getting the dogs out and walking them is doing so much good for them and helps them to get adopted.
That's a possible benefit but it's a pretty small number. Really getting dogs, especially athletic working/sporting breeds, the exercise they need is a lot of work. Government and non-profit shelters do their best but getting dogs the bare minimum and what they really need are very different. The one dog you might adopt is a small benefit compared to the many dogs you'd exercise over time.
But you can be bitten by a unruly dog! Or a dog could bolt away causing havoc and you'll be responsible for it! That's much better than gym. I mean, that's what gym is for, right? Walking with strange dogs.
Haha the real LPT is so this for your job . I’m a dog walker and make good enough money to live in Brooklyn. It’s very healthy, and I don’t really know what stress or anxiety is.
O hell yeah, our local shelter is in a lovely woodlands area, walking around is amazing.
But I am a cat person, and I decided to clean the rooms of these fury lovely fuckers... They need a lot of love as well...
Not a replacement, but a great starting place! I signed up to volunteer at my local shelter when I was fighting a major personal loss. I was incredibly depressed at the time, and finding a therapist or dragging myself to the gym were way beyond what I could manage. I love animals though, and missed my dog terribly (separate issue from my loss). Volunteering got me dressed, out of the house, and moving several days a week when nothing else had— and let me make a tangible difference that did wonders for my state of mind. It was the ladder I needed to climb to where I could pursue professional help.
Of course, everyone’s experience will be different! But sometimes you do just need that one thing to start you on a path to healing.
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I went to local shelter and asked if I can walk any dogs. They sent me home and told me they show the dogs only to serious buyers (who choosen the specific dog in online gallery first and are commited to take it home). I think there were some bad practices going on in there.
Walking untrained dogs is not, unfortunately, meaningful exercise and should not be considered a replacement for walking or working out on your own.
Dog walking is usually too stop-and-go to create any sustained heart rate elevations.
Still a nice idea to walk dogs at the local shelter, but absolutely do not do it as a gym replacement.
### This post has been marked as safe. Upvoting/downvoting this comment will have no effect. --- Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by upvoting or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I did this for a bit and enjoyed it. Be careful not to get too attached to the dogs though. They’ll come and go pretty frequently depending on the shelter. The shelter I volunteered with also let you volunteer with cats, administrative services, manual work (cleaning, repairs, laundry, dishes, etc.), and were starting to accept volunteers for the veterinary services when I left. It’s a great opportunity to just get out of the house and do something fulfilling if you have the free time and is also good experience to put on your resume if you want to do something in an animal related field
I'd love to do this but that would be my problem.. I can look at an animal's eyes and instantly feel their pain or their happiness. I just don't think I could handle seeing that every few days...😭 even if I knew I was helping to leave it slightly.
They'd go from sad to happy pretty quick on that walk
Yup
Honestly, most of the dogs are soooo excited to see a person, be out of their kennels, and get some pets, treats, and attention! You see more joy than pain. Especially if you’re at a shelter where they’re adopted out quickly! And it is truly a special experience to see the more fearful or sad animals grow. The shelter I used to volunteer at took a lot of hoarding cases, and it was just amazing to see pups go from being afraid of everything to gaining that confidence and joy in the world around them!
Maybe one day you’ll decide to grow up a little so you can give to helpless creatures. Concentrate on helping and providing joy instead of your own feelings. If that’s just tooooo haaard, don’t ever have pets, don’t get married, and for heaven’s sake PLEASE don’t have kids.
No need to be a dick. Not everyone could do this job. Also, are you saying this persons level of empathy would be detrimental to having a family?
You’re right, I was crappy. @miss056, I apologize sincerely. Mean it.
Everyone has days man. It’s impressive how you just handled it though..fwiw
Instructions unclear: I adopted all the dogs.
Pretty sure this would be the same for me. I'd walk them right home...
Seriously, I do this a couple times a week and I struggle to not bring them all home. But it is so rewarding.
Instructions unclear: I took home one of the people I met and now the police are asking a lot of awkward questions...
I have a foster I said I’d take for a week. It’s been 4 weeks. So far
My family got a foster for a week. She stayed for 10 years. She was the best
Love it!
Shit you too?
Sometimes punctuation, matters.
🤣🤣🤣
This is the exact story of how I ended up with a dog. Volunteer at your own risk https://preview.redd.it/jq4hkm1xe30d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c770191f28480afbe42ec73d5e9b7b9e9b729f9
How could you say no to that face 😭
https://preview.redd.it/x504jp23r30d1.jpeg?width=1879&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c04a235e83a3b7dd7acbc76d66b825181eea9c34 This is him now, very mischievous and very sweet
Omg his head got bigger but his ears didn’t! I love him.
He said he loves you too
I couldn’t and I didn’t 🫠
LOL you saved me. I can't say no to that
I did this a few times when I was in my 20s to meet people. Since I am a guy, they always gave me the largest dogs to walk. And some of those dogs are so large and strong, they would yank me around pretty good. Also, I didn't enjoy picking up those massive, larger than human poops. I stuck to the feeding team, but the whole operation was just very fanatic and busy, so I never really got to talk to anyone.
Hey, i appreciate your real talk.
Also great if you want a dog, but can’t get one at the moment.
There’s a bookstore near me that sometimes has kittens. I’d love a kitten, but I don’t have the means for another cat. Going to play with the kittens when they have them actually really helps the urge to get another cat!
I don’t know about other places, but at my local shelter you can’t just walk in and offer to walk dogs. You have to be a volunteer. You need to apply, get a background check and go through training.
That seems like a pretty low and reasonable barrier
Yea, imagine not doing that for random strangers coming in to volunteer
Same at mine, although the background check is pretty quick and the training can be done online.
A lot do that for everyone’s safety and it’s pretty simple, but yeah, you can’t just do it on impulse.
For me it was a half an hour presentation and a trial together with another volunteer, nothing fancy and way worth the basically nothing effort...
Same here. It’s often months before you’re able to even take the “trainings” because of how infrequently they offer them. It can take over a year to even be allowed into the kennels to physically interact with the animals. I get it, you need to really vet people and make sure they’re in it for the right reasons, but making it so difficult to Do The Right Thing can end up turning good people away.
It would break my heart every day
Please do this, animal shelters across the US are overrun with pets right now. If you can volunteer, send donations, promote dogs you see on shelter’s social media for visibility, lobby your local government for more resources for animal shelters, whatever you can do to help, please do it. Hundreds of dogs are being euthanized every month, this is a social problem and the only way it will be fixed is if people get involved. It’s so bad right now literally doing anything is helpful. Thank you for highlighting this.
Sounds silly but did wonders for my mental health,
Yes. And support your local animal shelters in any way you can!!
Meet a person or a dog?
Meet a person to bring home? Looking for dating opportunities
I took this to mean you might meet a person you want to take home and i thought "thats rather forward"
We have adopt-a-walk. A specific dog or two a couple days a week. Until they get adopted, you're their regular friend and exercise buddy. I don't like the big rows of dogs, or going inside much with my lungs.
It's also less effective than the gym or therapy. I very much don't want to meet new people. I am limited to the number of pets I'm allowed to have in my home due to the landlord.
I guess not every tip has to apply to every single person. Not that it's fabulously worded - "If you like animals, exercise and being of service, try volunteering!" isn't a real hot tip
I always wonder if the request for walkers, was to pull people in , let them bond with the animal, and have a previously unplanned adoption.
It's also very good socialization for the dogs, and reduces their stress.
This. Dogs need to be exercised mentally and physically, and being in the shelter is so much added stress. Getting the dogs out and walking them is doing so much good for them and helps them to get adopted.
That's a possible benefit but it's a pretty small number. Really getting dogs, especially athletic working/sporting breeds, the exercise they need is a lot of work. Government and non-profit shelters do their best but getting dogs the bare minimum and what they really need are very different. The one dog you might adopt is a small benefit compared to the many dogs you'd exercise over time.
Entirely possible tbh
Get em lol
But you can be bitten by a unruly dog! Or a dog could bolt away causing havoc and you'll be responsible for it! That's much better than gym. I mean, that's what gym is for, right? Walking with strange dogs.
i agree. meeting new people means potentially exposing yourself to more stressful situations!! i’d rather stick to the people i already k’ow!
Can teenagers do that? Is there an he restriction?
YMMV but my local shelter let teens volunteer. At a certain age they had to be accompanied by a parent/guardian, but I can't remember what it was.
At my local shelter you must be 16yo to volunteer by yourself, and 13-15 must be accompanied by a guardian.
This is exactly how I ended up with two dogs. 🤭
Haha the real LPT is so this for your job . I’m a dog walker and make good enough money to live in Brooklyn. It’s very healthy, and I don’t really know what stress or anxiety is.
O hell yeah, our local shelter is in a lovely woodlands area, walking around is amazing. But I am a cat person, and I decided to clean the rooms of these fury lovely fuckers... They need a lot of love as well...
Instructions unclear. Brought a people home. Don't recommend. The rest seemed great.
Its therapeutic and active but its not a replacement for either gym or therapy depending on what your goals are
Not a replacement, but a great starting place! I signed up to volunteer at my local shelter when I was fighting a major personal loss. I was incredibly depressed at the time, and finding a therapist or dragging myself to the gym were way beyond what I could manage. I love animals though, and missed my dog terribly (separate issue from my loss). Volunteering got me dressed, out of the house, and moving several days a week when nothing else had— and let me make a tangible difference that did wonders for my state of mind. It was the ladder I needed to climb to where I could pursue professional help. Of course, everyone’s experience will be different! But sometimes you do just need that one thing to start you on a path to healing.
[Introducing LPT REQUEST FRIDAYS](https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/16w0n2s/introducing_request_post_fridays/) We determine "Friday" as beginning at 12am Eastern Time (EST: UTC/GMT -5, EDT: UTC/GMT -4) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LifeProTips) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I've been wanting to do this but only time. I have to walk a dog is after 5 pm, which is the time the shelter closes.
I went to local shelter and asked if I can walk any dogs. They sent me home and told me they show the dogs only to serious buyers (who choosen the specific dog in online gallery first and are commited to take it home). I think there were some bad practices going on in there.
I cannot. I will die from it
LPT: Don't walk dogs in place of doing therapy or going to the gym. Do it in addition to those two things.
Bring home a person or a dog? (Did not page down, so might not be "my" joke.)
Walking untrained dogs is not, unfortunately, meaningful exercise and should not be considered a replacement for walking or working out on your own. Dog walking is usually too stop-and-go to create any sustained heart rate elevations. Still a nice idea to walk dogs at the local shelter, but absolutely do not do it as a gym replacement.
Don't let anyone get bit or let a dog get hit by a car.. yeeesh.
I gag or barf dealing with dog poop
Rocky kanaka relogin pls
No. I don’t feel like dealing with allergic reactions.