One Goal

It was truly a wonderful and successful week at the Southampton Animal Shelter. As part of the Center for Shelter Dog’s Match-Up II Reliability Study, we evaluated fifty dogs in three and a half days of nonstop evaluations. I know, amazing, right?

As a longtime volunteer at the Animal Rescue League of Boston, this was my first trip with the Center for Shelter Dogs’ staff, and my first time experiencing another animal shelter. It was definitely nerve wracking at first for me, as I was in the role of second handler and was responsible for getting the dogs to and from their kennels and to the evaluation room, helping Naomi with certain sections of the evaluation.

The first day there, being in an unfamiliar shelter with over fifty dogs was intense to say the least. But the Southampton staff were all so incredibly generous to us,  and so passionate, patient, and dedicated to the wellbeing of the animals. The Southamption Behavior team, Mike, Matt, Kevin, Josh, and a wonderful volunteer, Joey, were all so warm and beyond helpful as I navigated through the kennels and got the dogs safely in and out. And their knowledge of each dog was tremendously helpful.

And although at first, this was a challenging experience for me, what I realized is that I had all of my ARL and Match-Up II training to rely on.  After we moved through several evaluations and I was more acclimated to the Southampton shelter, I could focus on the dogs and the task at hand, and it evolved into such an enriching experience for me, and I’m pretty sure I can say, for all of us.

I definitely miss some of the dogs already!

Thank you to Seana, Kim, Carol, Anastasia, and a special shout out of thanks to Naomi for her unwavering patience working with me and all those fifty dogs! What I’ve taken home is invaluable in so many ways, and I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity.

– Mal Malme, Dedicated Mod Squad Volunteer