I went to my first volunteer orientation on March 3rd, 2011. The volunteer coordinator did a wonderful job at helping us understand, how the shelter is run. She even gave us a volunteer packet to help us. She took us on a tour, showed us the board for the dogs and board for the cats, she showed us how to walk a dog correctly, how to take a dog from the shelter kennel to the outside pens while going through the cat room, how to hold the leach correctly, how to get them in and out of the outside pen, and also how to get them back in the kennel. I learned dogs are more work then cats because the cats only need to have their cages cleaned, given food and water, be brushed/held/cuddled/petted, and check the board by the cat that you or/and any of that stuff too and check what you did. While dogs have to also check the board when they have been walked, they are in a very stressful environment because when someone enters the dog kennels and one dog barks, every dog barks. It is also stressful to the point that all dogs have to go through the cat room to get outside to the pens, which can make the dog and cats very stressed. Dogs need to be given food and water, walked at least twice a day (every dog), given a bath when needed, and given as many treats as the dog wants to eat. Also, you learn to listen to the dog and know its personality and preference on what to do like for instance some dogs like to play/run a lot, some just want to go outside to cuddle/get away from the chaos, and some just want to eat as many treats as you feed them while getting lovings from you.
