Day of Caring

Splashed with ketchup so it looked like blood on his white hair, yet not even his dignity was injured. River just wanted to get at the French fries that had hit the ground. Huddling in my arms, Noche was oblivious to the potential culinary treats and the tired puppy was not enjoying the auctioneer's patter blaring from the loud speakers above our heads.

We were at Clipper Stadium, our second activity of the day, helping to staff the KPETS booth at the Breast Cancer Awareness event. We had started at Conestoga View nursing home, along with other KPETS teams and Kisses From Kaden volunteers. Amanda, River and I visited with a few residents of the 3rd floor in their sitting area and eventually were joined by another KPETS dog,Bailey, a Cavalier, and his handler and some Kisses/Kaden kids and adults and 2 tiny dogs that they had brought - a Chihuahua and a Yorkie. The residents seeemed excited to see still more dogs and we took a group photo, too.

Then we dashed home to grab a quick bite of lunch - I am trying to stay on track with my food choices this last week of the Take It Off program. Picked up Noche and drove to the stadium for the last hour of that event. Of course, both dogs got quite a bit of attention - all puppies are cute, and tiny ones have an extra "awww" factor - and River is such a unique breed. "What kind of dog is that?" is easily the most asked question, besides "can I pet your dog?" Other dogs there included River's buddy Bailey and a sweet 8 year old collie, Jazz, and a husky mix, Diego - and of course, the costumed mascot Kip - well acted by a 17 year old volunteer.

Our job that morning was to visit with the nursing home residents. It always surprises me that even those who are initially negative about petting the dog, often change their minds after observing him and ask to see him closer and visit and they share stories about the dogs in their lives.

Our job in the afternoon was to let the public know about KPETS and the dogs are such effective ambassadors. Our personal agenda was also giving Noche some socializing experience. Not eligible to be registered as a therapy dog and certainly not ready yet, he can't go on visits, but he still benefits from the attention while hanging out at the KPETS booth - and puppies also attract attention, so win/win for everyone.