Dogs have been a part of my life since the very beginning. My parents first brought me home to a motherly pitbull by the name of Halley who treated me as one of her puppies. Later, sixteen years of my life were spent with our nosey beagle, Rosie, until she passed away while I was in college.

After that, my mom got a little lonely at home and started fostering dogs through Lucky Dog Animal Rescue. Not too far into that, she foster-failed Bella...and we've been a happy family ever since.

And somehow, during all of this, a couple of cats slipped in. While they've all since moved overseas with my mom, I've kept feeding my love for animals by volunteering with Lucky Dog.

I'm not quite sure exactly when I got into volunteering with Lucky Dog.

My mom occasionally asked if I wanted to help out when I came back during breaks, and I was always more than happy to do so. After graduating, I started helping out a lot more by going to events when I could and finding other ways to help when they needed able bodies. Now I'm a master handler at a lot of events...pairing up with Lucky Dog's pups that require special attention so that they can enjoy the events while trying to find homes.

What started out as something to pass time on holidays turned into something that has become a very important part of my life. I love every moment that I put toward Lucky Dog as we work together towards finding these animals happy forever homes. Even the grimy times like cleaning crates after bringing dogs off transports turn into good times when you know there is a happy ending for someone.

I talk about Lucky Dog a lot, probably a bit too much sometimes, and I always tell people what a wonderful time you can have helping animals in need. Living in the DC area, I come across a lot of people who aren't in a position to make a pet commitment right away and I always try to point them towards Lucky Dog or something similar that they may find as rewarding as I do. Whether you are spending a few hours every weekend handling dogs at an adoption event or housing them as fosters while they search for a forever home, everything that you do helps make their lives a little bit better. To learn more about how you can volunteer with Lucky Dog, visit www.luckydoganimalrescue.org/volunteer or email [email protected].