Do you live in the Denver area? Do you have a mild to moderate obsession with dogs? Do you enjoy walking and/or running? Would you like a Thursday night activity that keeps you from binge-watching Netflix on the couch with a
I am SO excited for this new program at the Denver Animal Shelter,
particularly because of how welcoming and beginner-friendly it is. As you may
have guessed from the name, the premise is to take a shelter dog for a jog. The
shelter is conveniently located adjacent to the South Platte River trail, which
is nice and wide, paved, and generally quite lovely to stroll along.
Unlike the name indicates, you don’t have to jog, or even run, if
you don’t want to. We take all sizes of dogs out, and while there is a marathon
runner in our midst, there is also me. I am currently walk-running in intervals
while I recover from an injury, and the midsize and small dogs I took out were
perfectly happy with that. The really little guys were just happy to walk
around.
The group is small, so we are hoping to grow. Right now it’s just
five of us gals, so fellas if you’re into dogs and attractive women, come on
down. Just kidding. Sort of. In all seriousness, it’s a small but awesome group
of super friendly women of varying ages (I’m probably the youngest at 25) and
abilities. No one is judgey and everyone goes at their own pace and distance.
You get yourself off the couch, you give a shelter dog the best
afternoon of their lives (seriously, I have never seen a group of dogs that are
so appreciative and happy), and our fearless leader, Melissa even brought us donuts to
celebrate the end of a good day (because we totally earned it…right?). If you’re
really lucky, you will also get some love from the pups you take out.
You do have to be a Denver Animal Shelter volunteer to
participate, which requires you going through a background check. This process
takes a couple weeks, and Lisa, the volunteer coordinator is well aware of how
annoying this is and what a barrier it is to people getting involved. She is
working hard to get it repealed, but we are dealing with the government here
people. Note to the NSA – I love America.
To get involved, contact Lisa Sanchez at Lisa.Sanchez@denvergov.org. She will get the ball rolling so you
can join us every Thursday from 6 pm – 7 pm. The shelter is conveniently located at Alameda and I-25.
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if you fall in
irreversible, head over heels love with any of the dogs you jog with. They are
all up for adoption. I frequently have to tear myself away from my latest puppy
love since we can’t have dogs in our apartment, but don’t let that stop you
from taking one of them home!
