Woof. A Blog on Dogs: Best Friends

Best Friends Animal Society is my home away from home. It could be magical Angel Canyon embraced by red rock plateaus, the over 2,000 animals that call Best Friends home on any given day, or simply the wonderful staff and volunteers that always greet you with an openhearted smile. If I ever run away, that’s where you would find me.

My mom and I ventured to Kanab, Utah for our fourth annual trip to Best Friends this past June. We could call this the year of faux paws (pun intended). This place had become so familiar to us we forgot a bit of protocol, for instance: signing-up to volunteer before we arrived, remembering what time lunch began and ended, getting to a trailhead in the middle of the afternoon only to figure out the red sand was way too hot on our doggy’s paws while he was sprinting to shady spots, completing “outing forms” when we took a dog during the afternoon, saying to a kid walking by “sure you can pet our sleepover dog” and then watching the same kid approach another sleepover dog only to be told that this was a “Best Friends dog” and therefore she can’t pet the dog (both of the dogs were wearing green collars which means they are good with everyone, and we never truly remembered what the protocol was in this instance), and we even forgot how to get around the grounds. There were several instances of driving in circles on the dirt roads, asking ourselves “Is this the way we came in? Do we make a right here? Does any of this look familiar to you?” Instead of “Keep calm and carry on,” we would get frustrated, take a deep breath, and then “carry on” only to laugh at it later.

Sounds like home, right?

We may call Best Friends a vacation, but we go there to work. We want to help out and give back to a place that saves so many lives each year. The Best Friends website expresses that “In the late 1980s, when Best Friends was in its early days, roughly 17 million dogs and cats were being killed in shelters every year…. Since then, the number of dogs and cats being destroyed in shelters has fallen to  approximately 5 million a year.” Our jobs typically include walking, feeding, cleaning, mopping, sweeping, cleaning water bowls and pools (yes, the dogs get plastic baby pools in their runs), taking dogs on outings and sleepovers, and socializing with the dogs—petting, brushing, playing, loving, and even in some cases—such as in the laundry room—just letting them curl up in your lap.

Each morning I woke up to take a long run through the canyon on the dirt roads, and every night we had a special guest stay with us at the cottage—a sleepover dog. Sleepovers are my favorite. I am the lucky one who gets to snuggle with the puppies in my bed all night long—the same goes in my other home.

On our first night we had Garbanzo—I liked to refer to him as Boopie. When we told the caregivers that we would be taking a sleepover that night, he was the first dog that came to mind. They also told us that every time he goes on a sleepover he is returned with tears in the volunteers’ eyes the next morning. Let’s just say we weren’t an exception to that rule. He was such a great old guy. We lifted him in the car. Gave him the traditional sponge bath. Laid with him on the couch. Walked with him as far as his old geriatric legs would go (which was only about one hundred feet). The next morning all we wanted to do was allow him to stay snuggled up in the cool cottage. The tears came because all you wish is that he had a home and a comfy bed to lay on, but he is old. He may end up calling Best Friends his forever home. His caregivers love him and Best Friends certainly wouldn’t be the worst place, but after such a long and hard life he deserves a real home—someone to call him Boopie and give him kisses on his kissy spots (the flat indented soft parts in front of his ears and on the crown of his head—I loved kissing his kissy spots).

On the second night we took Karina to be our sleepover guest for the night, and in the morning we took this cute little girl for a long hike. She was a doll, but she was also dog responsive, car responsive, bike responsive, and even horse responsive. That poor girl just wanted to bark at everything. According to her caregivers, she was even snowboard responsive. Supposedly her past owners learned that the hard way. They were snowboarding and she ran at them straight on. This resulted in a hip injury, which did slow her down at the end of our hike. I hope that because of Karina’s spunk she will quickly find a good home.

Rocky! Oh boy, Rocky was definitely my favorite dog this trip. He was just the biggest baby I have ever met. He loved giving kisses. He was also a wonderful cuddler. All night he wanted to be by my side in the bed. He would flop his big ol’ paw on my chest so that I would hold it. Yes, I spooned and held hands with this big guy all night long. I didn’t cry when I dropped off Rocky, even though I will always love and remember him. He was a goon, and I just know someone who is looking for a giant dog will quickly fall in love with him.

Butterball, our last sleepover puppy, came from Old Friends. While volunteering that day, my mom went into his run and Butterball gently rolled over and begged to have his belly rubbed—for our last night we had to take Butterball. He was just too precious. Old Friends houses old dogs and special needs dogs, and Butterball was an adorable old guy. He had old man lumps, and walked a bit slower, but he had the cutest puppy dog face. We could just imagine how white his fur would be after a long bath. Butterball was a bundle of love.

Our trips are filled with laughter, tears, and pure bliss. I am so lucky to share this experience with my mom. We may not remember all the ins and outs, but these are moments that I will always cherish.