Introducing: Nala!

It's official, I've met the love of my life: sweet, always happy to see me, affectionate, well-behaved and just generally adorable, she's everything I've been hoping for. Meet Nala, the newest addition to the Pinneo family:


I adopted her from the Washington Humane Society's Georgia Avenue shelter on Friday, and, coming from a family of dog-lovers, have spent the last five days adjusting to living with a cat and panicking six times a day that I'm doing something wrong. Thank goodness for Gina and my mom! Soon-to-be-Dr. Gina has been fielding my frantic emails while laughing at me for being "such a new mom" and my own mom, who was in town over the weekend for a belated birthday visit, was a huge help getting Nala settled in.

The general consensus is that Nala is adorable. She runs to the door whenever she hears the key in the lock and meows in greeting as I open it. (And after one heart-stopping experience when she darted out into the hallway - but came right back in when I crouched down and called her! - she seems content to stay inside my apartment.) She stretches out her front leg and paw when she wants to be petted, putting me in mind of a little kid reaching for an adult and saying "Up!" And whenever I'm not in the immediate vicinity, she comes looking for me every few minutes, tilting her head and meowing at me before going back to whatever she was doing, as if to say, "Okay, just checking!"

Like every shelter animal, Nala has a story: she's six years old, and spent five years with a family who adopted her from another shelter. Her "dad" recently developed an allergy to cats and at the end of November, they decided they couldn't keep her anymore. So she spent three months in the shelter, until I went in to look at another cat I was thinking of adopting and fell in love with her instead.

I grew up with purebred Chocolate Labs - big, goofy dogs with lots of energy and hearts of gold - bought from the breeder when they were puppies, so adopting a pet from a shelter was a different experience for me. The second I walked in, I wanted to scoop up half the animals there and take them home with me because they looked so sad - and the next time I'm looking for a pet, I'll definitely adopt one in need of a good home, like Nala.

If you're looking for a new member of the family, I highly recommend using petfinder.com to see animals available for adoption in your area (and thanks to Gina for sending me there!). Everyone from the Humane Society to the smaller, local rescue groups seem to use it, and the postings often give you the direct contact information of the person fostering each animal.

Any reputable adoption program will spay or neuter all animals before you can take them home, ensure that they're up-to-date on shots and vaccinations and some even offer to microchip them for a lower fee than you'd pay in a vet's office.

I'm thrilled to finally be living with a pet again, and I couldn't have found a better companion than Nala. If you're looking for a pet, please adopt one - there are hundreds of thousands of homeless pets languishing in shelters throughout the country, and they need the loving home you can offer. (And, if you're in the D.C. area and thinking about getting a dog, check out Brody at WHS - scroll to the bottom of the page - I can tell you he's every bit as big-hearted and eager-to-please as he is cute!)

Leader of The PACK

What's better than puppies and kittens? Not much! (Maybe kids, but it's a tough call.)

A friend of mine just completely made my day by sending me a link to one of the best ideas for a volunteer opportunity I've ever heard of: The PACK, a recent project of the Washington Humane Society.

According to WHS' website, "The PACK (People & Animal Cardio Klub), consists of a group of volunteers who regularly meet at local parks to run with adoptable shelter dogs from either of WHS's two Adoption Centers." The dogs wear bright orange vests that say "Adopt Me" and many of their two-legged pals wear Washington Humane Society t-shirts.

They run every other Saturday in areas that are popular with locals on the weekends, so the dogs get maximum visibility along with their exercise. Check out WHS' web page about the program, or read "Running With the PACK," a blog post by a WHS/The PACK volunteer.

I don't know about you, but to me this sounds like an amazingly rewarding opportunity for everyone involved: dog lovers (like me!) who otherwise may not have the opportunity to do so can interact with a great bunch of dogs, the local population gets some exposure to the great pets who need homes in their area, and most importantly, dogs get the exercise they need and the attention and affection they deserve.

My training schedule (yes, I'm at it again) may not allow me to do too many runs with this group before mid-summer, but I've emailed AsktheTrainer@washhumane.org for more information, and hope to get involved soon. In my book, Washington Humane Society is the leader of the pack (Laugh at me for my terrible pun/80s music reference, but I couldn't pass it up. Obviously, given the title of the post...) in creative volunteer opportunities that do good in more ways than one.