Who wants to go for a walk?

WE DO...WE DO!!!

Happy for an hour walk (once a week)

When I was in Los Angeles I was a volunteer with "Love on 4 Paws".  When Augie(0ur pug) was alive he was my companion and we would visit sick children at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.  They loved dogs there and would welcome them on the beds if the kids were OK with it.  We did that for 3 years and loved every minute of it.  At the end Augie would be in the wagon because he was old and it was hard for him to walk around for 3 hours.  After Augie retired, Dashell and I would visit the kids and it was so rewarding and wonderful to make a sick child smile.  They all loved the dogs.

We were also volunteers with NorthStar Foundation, we are puppy raisers for them.  Fun and rewarding and amazing to see the dog move to become the partner of an autistic child.

So when I came here I knew I wanted to volunteer and knew that it would be with animals. Through 2 lovely women, who will be our dog sitters while we are away (they also make/deliver amazing indian food) I found the Les Cheins de Figeac rescue.  I donated a large bag of dog food and we are sponsoring 2 dogs each month (for 10.00).  We decided to go up (it's only 30 minutes from our house) each week and help walk the dogs.  They have about 140 dogs at the rescue, they are all in very good condition and their living conditions are very clean and humane too.  They will never put a dog down, but some of these dogs have lived their whole lives at the refuge.  The dogs don't get much exercise unless they have volunteer walkers.  It's great to help and something we'll do every week.  

We went up and met Michelle, who runs/started the shelter and she is amazing.  She loves dogs and takes very good care of them.  Nicci, who has volunteered for almost 5 years was my contact and we met her up there to walk some of the dogs.  We spent 2 hours there and each dog got a 1 hour walk, so we made 6 dogs very happy.  Most of these dogs only get walked once a week which is very sad.

The first walk I was paired with UGO.  This is an amazing pointer, he is 4 year old, calm, doesn't pull on the leash, not a barker, very loving, very sweet.  I instantly fell in love with him. I have always wanted a pointer and this guy is wonderful not the typical crazy pointer, which is why he might have been dumped (his owner might have wanted a hunter and he's just not that into it).  But we have 2 dogs and just can't take a 3rd.  This guy just wants a loving home.

UGO - an amazing pointer

Bruce was paired with BROWNIE, who is a french breed.  He's super cute, lovable, doesn't pull on the lead and would be a great dog in any family.

Brownie - sweet and fun

The second walk I got COLL, who is cross between border collie/english setter.  He's beautiful and does pull on the lead.  I brought our "gentle walker" which is sort of like a harness but instead of clipping on the top it clips on the chest and it stops dogs from pulling.  2 of the french volunteers and Michele who runs the rescue had never seen anything like it and thought it was going to hurt him or it was upside down, but we told them it was fine.  Then they saw him walk on the leash and noticed he wasn't pulling anymore.  Yes!  He just needs a good home and someone to work with him, he'd be an amazing dog as he just loves people.

COLL - a beautiful dog

Bruce got ALIX, she's amazing.  She's only 3 but completely off leash trained.  She stays right next to you.  She a bit overweight and need some trimming down, which we'll do with many walks.  She's beautiful and sweet and would make someone a loving companion.

These dogs are available here in France, but they will get pet passports in case someone from England or another country wants them.  None of these dogs were dumped because they are hard to handle, aggressive, crazy dogs.  They are all amazing and just would love a good home and a 2nd chance.

If you could pass the link around to anyone you might know it would be greatly appreciated.