Hello! I'm kind of new to Fiction Press so I'm not entirely sure if this is much like Fan Fiction. I've been on the sister site for over 2 years and I've got an idea for an original story that I want to post here. So, yeah I hope you guys enjoy it! At the end of each chapter, I will give information about a dog that resides in our shelter.

This is partially based off of a personal experience of mine. The place used is a real place and donations are accepted always!!!

WARNING: Contains mild language and dog violence.

Summary: A no-kill dog shelter located in a small town in North Carolina gets most of its student volunteers in the summer when school is out. Most dogs will kill each other if put in close enough range. A few volunteers are experts, while the new ones have much to learn. We get several dogs a month coming in with every disease you can think of: Ringworm, mange, heartworm, fleas and ticks covering every inch of their body. It also isn't uncommon to have a couple dogs a year needing amputations. But we make a commitment to help these unwanted dogs feel loved and show that humans are not something to be afraid of. Overflowing at 190 dogs, we do all we can to get dogs adopted into happy, fenced homes with loving families. And to save the dogs that otherwise would have been left to die on the side of roads and abandoned farmhouses, maybe even neglected puppies tossed into a cooler and thrown into the middle of nowhere. This job may seem easy, but it is not for the faint of heart. We are For the Love of Dogs.

For the Love of Dogs

Ringworm Pups

Hi, my name is Katie. This is my second time returning to For the Love of Dogs for the summer. There are over 190 dogs here at the shelter. They are separated into 3 different buildings: the Main Building/Clinic, the Sanctuary, and the House. The Main Building is where the volunteers go the most, the clinic is used for operating and checkups, as well as where we put the dogs in need of quarantining. The Sanctuary is a small walk away where all the more aggressive and anti-social dogs are kept. A few volunteers go in there for special reasons. The House is where the owners of the land live and keep the most social and trained dogs we have. Only on rare occasions do you get to go there.

A friend of mine who volunteers and who I have known for years is Olivia. I had her father as my 5th grade teacher and we know each other from various other things. She is one of the younger volunteers here because her older brother was a legendary volunteer. Anyway, it was sometime in July I believe, when her father brought 4 young puppies that he found with their mother in the woods, to be examined and bathed. When he arrived Olivia and I were put in charge of them.

Mrs. Laurie, the one in charge of the student volunteer program, called all of us outside to see the 4 puppies all curled up in a box.

"Okay is everyone out here?" She asked the group of 5 or 6 people.

A nod from us signified that we were all here. She continued, "Okay, so Olivia's father has brought 4 puppies to be given a check up and have them be updated on their shots and all of that sort of stuff. Now Olivia, will of course be in charge of looking after the pups. Katie, you can help her. So both of you will be on puppy duty today, okay?"

"Yes ma'am." The two of us said in unison.

"Now I will tell the rest of you what you will be doing. Kristen is Kennel Captain today, Nic is working the right side, Jamie is working the left side, and Grace and Jaycee can start walking dogs. After that…"

Olivia and I went over to the car where the puppies were. Olivia picked one up as did I.

"You can tell that two of the pups have a bit of mange." She pointed out to me, "But other than that, they are just in need of a good bath!"

I smiled at the puppy that was squirming a little in my arms before finally settling down, "How old are they, do you know?"

She shook her head, "I have no clue. If I had to guess, probably 5 months old."

Mrs. Laurie led us in the kitchen with the puppies. The kitchen is where all of the towels, cleaning supplies, dog food, and the bathtub are. And also the refrigerator is in there so that we can put our drinks in there for when we need them. Normally, Spice lives in the kitchen as well. She is highly dog aggressive and can't be in a kennel with other dogs. So she has a special place in the kitchen. But when we bring in dogs to be bathed, she gets temporarily moved to a dog's kennel that is currently outside.

We placed the box down on the floor and took a couple puppies out to hold them. Mrs. Laurie took the pup with the most mange to be inspected by the veterinarians first. Olivia and I started talking as she told me each of the pup's names.

"This one," she held up a plump one in her hands, "is Bear. The one you are holding is Brandy. The one Mrs. Laurie just took is Beau. And the last one is Baxter. My stepmom decided she wanted to name them all names that start with the letter B, apparently."

"Is your dad keeping all of them?" I asked, keeping one from escaping the box.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "Yes. My stepmom will literally kill him if he doesn't keep every single one of them. And I know Della and Max won't approve of that."

Della and Max are the owners of the land For the Love of Dogs is on. They also run the facility as well as take care of all 190+ dogs when we volunteers aren't here. The two of them are retired doctors and pretty much are in charge of everything.

Mrs. Laurie comes in the room quickly, breaking our conversation, "Put the puppies back in the box. Have you two been handling them all this time?"

We both nodded. She sighed, "The puppies have ringworm. It's highly contagious to humans. The three of us need to scrub down in bleach and throw away our shirts now. We are officially in quarantine."

Cinda

Every summer, each student volunteer chooses a dog to be their "special project". They work with that dog the most out of all the others. It is also your main priority to find that dog a perfect family to be adopted into. My special project this summer was Cinda. Cinda is a Black Labrador Retriever Mix. She is a very beautiful dog with a frightening history.

Cinda was rescued along with her two daughters after neighbors complained about seeing very emaciated dogs going through their garbage. They were first sent up to New York where we send many dogs to get adopted easier. But something happened with Cinda and her pups. We don't know all of the details, but when they were returned, they were emotionally scarred. All three of them were brought in to For the Love of Dogs. Both of her pups found loving, happy homes and now mama needs a home. Cinda is uneasy around other dogs and was deemed unbrushable for she would snap at anyone who tried to.

So I hope you find this interesting enough to keep reading because I enjoyed typing it. I shall see you next time!