Feelings of Happiness

Today was day two in the shelter and what can I say? It’s just incredibly fun and it feels so good to do something good.

At first, I really needed some time to get used to the situation and the 'being alone'. But it gets better every day and the days fly by, and as the saying goes, 'you get used to (almost) everything.'

It’s just lovely to see how openly the dogs approach you and how happy they are when they can get a little petting. And I tell you, they deserve even more love and attention, but there are usually only four of us and there are 100 dogs. So it's almost unmanageable. Some of the dogs can be a bit much and defend their 'personal petter'. For example, I was petting Octavia today while I was refilling the pool... from that moment on, I was basically her property. Any other dog was chased away and growled at. But she is really a great and sweet dog. Even though I seriously wonder if she was born as a cat in a dog’s body. She weaves around your legs like a cat. I hadn't seen anything like that before. It's especially pleasant when Octavia comes out of the dog pool soaking wet without shaking off first.

Phew, and I fear I’ve almost lost my heart to one of the dogs... guess which one it is :). It’s hard to resist. There are really many wonderful dogs in this shelter. Sure, one always thinks 'street dogs have a flaw,' but that's not the case for all of them. Some of them have come to the shelter as puppies and are really great with people and other dogs. Of course, there are also fearful and difficult dogs in the shelter, but I would argue that the 'normal' ones outweigh them. A few dogs are also occasionally rehomed to German animal shelters. Others, however, stay in the shelter until the end - like the senior dogs or couch potatoes as they are called here. They are named Quentin, Kiwi, and Tarantino and are the oldest dogs here.

The beautiful thing about working in the shelter is that no two days are the same and of course that you spend a lot of time with dogs. I don't know when my body last released so many happiness hormones at once. Will that ever be able to be increased again? I don’t think so :D