Today was a wonderful day at the shelter. It started about 7:10 a.m. about 30 degrees and clear, with deer outside the perimeter fence teasing the dogs. I think the deer were saying ” Come out and play”. But maybe not!!!!!
At 8:00 a.m. the first of our work party started showing up. This work party consisted of 11 active duty military men and women, stationed temporarily for schooling at Fort Huachuca, AZ. they come from bases all over the world.
Fort Huachuca is a U,S, Army Post located just outside Sierra Vista, AZ about 25 miles from Tombstone. The shelter has been very fortunate to have these wonderful young people come help us out. The first thing that they did was to take all our dogs out for a run/walk. This is so great to have these dogs be able to get needed exercise and bonding time with new people. And the dogs were all on their best behavior.
After they came back from their walks the dogs were kenneled and the scheduled work bagan. For the next 4 hours 7 tons of gravel was hauled into the 4 small dog play yards. The gravel that had been there was pretty thin and when the rains come we have mud holes. So this was a wonderful fix. They also removed all the fallen leaves from the whole shelter.. We had lots of leaves.
When the East side of the complex was completed and everything put back it was on to the West side. Here they broke up piles of gravel that had been left on the far side of the large two play yards. Then these yards were all leveled in preparation of dividing the two large yards into four in the coming months. In the mean time another team worked tirelessly figuring out how and solving the problem of escaping puppies from the puppy run.
When all the work was completed the dogs were again taken out for play time and run/walk time.
The shelter looks fantastic, and everyone seemed to have a great time. I am sure that there will be a lot of sore muscles tomorrow. Hauling and spreading gravel is not your usual weight training!!!! This is the second group of soldiers that we have had the pleasure of working with in the last few months.
All of us that volunteer at the shelter say THANK YOU, THANK YOU. This is the kind of teamwork that makes it all possible. Safe journeys to all of you, and Merry Christmas.
