My Story

 

For the last 8 years I have been raising money for Rescue Village through Woofstock. This year I am raising the stakes and want to raise more money than ever.  For me to do this I will need everyone to donate just a small amount.  So I have come up with a little formula to help you decide how much to donate.  But before we get to the scale here is how I ended up at RV.

When I graduated from law school I remember at graduation being told that where ever I go everyone will want free legal advice, and the best advice is not to give it.  So I worked for years as an attorney and yes people did ask for advice and I of course would give it, why not who is going to sue an attorney for bad advice.  

Over 8 years ago Howard and I walked through the doors of Rescue Village looking for a friend for Stogie.  After adopting one of the best dogs in the world I decided that I wanted to help other people find their perfect dog and give back to the place that gave us Nutmeg.  I began to volunteer so that day we not only found Stogie a friend but a new career for me. This career was slow in the making, I did not go to school and sit in a classroom and study.  I started slowly learning about dogs.   I remember my first shift I showed up 3 months pregnant  and all excited to walk the dogs. First I had to remember everything I was taught in my training, sign in, clip the cages, check to see if the dogs should go for walks or play in the pen.  What door to go out how many feet do I need to stay away from other dogs on the trail.  

A month later I advanced to 3/4 now I was able to walk almost all the dogs in the shelter. During my training I was told about Homeward Bound but being pregnant I could not commit to 8 weeks of classes especially since I would be giving birth during that time.  By the summer I was ready to commit and learn more about dogs.  I was looking forward to my Friday afternoons and they were the highlight of my week.  Everyone who knows me knows I love a challenge and that's what this was going to be.   Within a year I went from not knowing the right way to enter a cage in a shelter to training shelter dogs.  I realized over that year that not only do I love dogs but they actually really liked me.  

After three years of training the dogs I became a Certified Professional Dog Trainer.  The pressure was on to pass the test.  How could I fail, I passed the bar and that was 3 days long and this was 4 hours, I truly felt the pressure.  Now over 3 years later I can say with 100% certainty that I am asked more questions regarding puppies,dogs, kittens, cats and birds than I ever was about the law.   I am so happy to answer these questions that most of the time I give enough free advice that I talk my way out a new client.  

So now 8 years have passed and so many things have changed, Stogie is no longer with us, we still have Nutmeg the dog we adopted that fateful day.  We have added two more dogs to our home from RV since 2003.  Aphikomin and Schmoogee (Stogie's namesake).We also had two more children, all three love RV and enjoy their trips there to visit the dogs and cats.   Kylie's first trip was when she was 9 days old.   

So how do I expect to raise so much money this year? I have come up with a scale of what to donate based on all the free advice I have given out over the years. 

*anyone that has ever asked me behavioral advice regarding their own pet donate at least $ 20,

*anyone that has asked me any medical advice regarding  a pet donate at least $ 18, anyone that asked me about adopting an animal donate at least $ 16,

*anyone that has asked me to check the shelter for a certain type of dog or cat donate at least $ 14,

*anyone that has asked me to help them rehome a stray donate at least $ 12,

*anyone that has asked me a question for a "friend" donate at least $ 10,  

*anyone that has asked me to look for a missing or lost dog donate at least $ 8,

*anyone that has asked me help them get an animal in the shelter donate at least $ 6,

*anyone that has asked me if I know a dog walker donate at least $ 4,

and the number one question..... Anyone that has asked me "don't you want to take home every animal in the shelter donate at least $2.

By using this scale I should have no issues raising the $1000 goal that I have set for myself.  And if you asked for a friend feel free to ask that friend to donate too!