Matchmaking at Muttville Senior Dog Rescue
When I arrive for my morning shift at Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, I never really know who will be there to greet me. The older dogs that come through the doors are from many different backgrounds. They are in various stages of emotional and physical health. Some dogs pass through quickly, bunking in the doggy loft only a couple of weeks, other dogs get scooped up and placed in a foster home or adopted before I see them.
Whether a dog is there a day, or years, all of the dogs become part of the Muttville family. They are loved by everyone associated with the nonprofit. Maybe that is why I never really feel bad when a familiar dog disappears from the group? I know with certainty they are in good hands.
Muttville is by no means a perfect place, but it is an important haven. I used to see it as a halfway house, but now I believe it is more than just a temporary shelter for older dogs. It is a place of opportunity.
Muttville and the people who work and volunteer there are in the matchmaking business. We get the pleasure of discovering all the loving features a new dog has, while reminding them that they are needed. As we learn about a dog, we share their attributes far and wide until their person or persons is uncovered, then the magic happens!
Seeing a match made between a dog and a person is magical. You are fitting a missing piece into a family puzzle.
Older dogs have so much love to give. Every week, when I return to the Muttville doggy loft, the dogs show me what they have to offer. They dance, give sleepy looks, offer their belly for a rub, and take any opportunity to burrow under your arm for a soft snuggle.
When Muttville matches an older dog with a new family, I believe the result is more than saving a dog's life. They are creating a new love story. They are offering the world another example of what love and compassion looks like.
As we finish the year, it warms my heart to know there will be more love in the world thanks to Muttville matchmaking and older dogs.
Adopt. Foster. Volunteer. Donate.
[Note: The handsome dog shown is Bandido. He is showing off his beautiful grooming a volunteer finished in time for his flight south to his new forever family.]