Volunteering in Honor of My Lucky Dog Soulmate

16 years ago Lucky Dog paired me with my soulmate dog. We ended up traveling the country and the world together for work. Life brought both amazing times and challenges. We lovingly and loyally stuck together through it all-something I will forever cherish.

A little more than a year ago, Atlas well deservingly retired to doggie heaven. He looked into my eyes and his message was clear: spread the love. A couple days later I reached out to Lucky Dog offering all kinds of donations and asking if they had dogs who needed walks and adventures. Lucky Dog said yes – and that yes turned my 2025 into a great year.

In the past year or so, I walked/adventured with 73 lucky dogs as part of their Dog Day Out Program. My walking buddies included: Claudia, Pongo, Frito, Lacey, Parker, Honolulu, Cloverleaf, Pinocchio, Donnie, Wiggles, Annie, Selena, Percy, Runner, Gemma, Jolly Rancher, Mae, Coconut, Abita, Leonardo, Lolo, Lina, Tana, Pennie, Sheba, Wren, Abbott, Luca, Kringle, Judge, Matteo, Luke, Doug, Riggins, Slim Shady, Sparkle, Novak, Toyota, Daniella, Harper, Willie, Walker, Abel, Maria, Fidget, Shirley, Mabel, Ebony, Marley, Coral, Clarice, Wimpy, Heather, Candice, Sherbert, Laney, Lily, Cameo, Liv, Tripp, Luna, Roscoe, Kimberly, Fleetwood,  Sebastian, Walker, Gabriella, Thatcher, Honeysuckle, Druscilla, Sport, Calvin, and Edward.

Pups, thank you. Thank you for the walks and adventures. For keeping me healthy. For letting me be creative with your photos, videos, and bios. For giving me the opportunity to get to know you and for loving on me. For trusting me and telling me your furever family wishes and asking me to translate for the humans. This is a most wonderful, most meaningful exercise for someone who loves magic human to canine matches. Thank you to those of you I was lucky to have as fosters for several days. We conquered any challenges together so quickly, you did so well. Thank you for asking me to go to adoption events with you and for immersing me in one of the best groups of volunteers and staff in all the land.

64 of the above mentioned pups have been adopted – some by friends and neighbors and some by people we met on walks! (Fleetwood even walked into the 930 club like a VIP and got adopted the next day!) All of the above-mentioned pups spent time in boarding facilities because, as amazing as Lucky Dog is, there are always more animals to save, and we don’t always have enough fosters. Dog daycare/boarding centers all around the DMV are where you pick up Lucky Dogs for Dog Day Outs Monday through Friday 8 am to 5 pm. While our fun boarding partners love our pups, boarding can be intense and our Lucky Dogs need volunteers to take them out for walks, adventures, and relaxing times. They need human friends to give them individual attention and advocate for them to help them find an adopter or a foster. Can that be you? Or a friend?

Make your 2026 as good as my 2025 was – join us! Email [email protected] and our team will get you set up to participate in our Dog’s Day Out Program (we do ask that all volunteers be 18 or older and sign a volunteer waiver – children under 18 are welcome to accompany adults participating in our Dog’s Day Out Program).

Be skilled, be kind. Move. Be proud. Have fun. Know what’s important, and act like it.

This is the essence of what Atlas taught me, and it’s a forever good new year resolution!

PS: Cloverleaf, Luca, Luna, Novak, Willie, Lily, Cameo, Roscoe, Gabriella, and Thatcher … 2026 is going to be the year you find your forever families. Learn more about these amazing dogs at luckydoganimalrescue.org/adopt.