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Special Friends – Volunteer Program
 Some of our dogs are looking for Special Friends – friends who will help them get adopted! We are looking for volunteers who are willing to work one-on-one with a dog who could use a little "coaching" to help him/her get adopted. If you are interested, you must have come to Beagles and Buddies as a regular volunteer at least 3 times before you can join the Special Friends program.
Beagles and Buddies is a no-kill shelter. That means that sometimes a dog can be at B&B for years before the right person comes along to adopt it. The Special Friends program is all about helping these dogs find that special person a little sooner.
As a Special Friend, you would:
 Commit to visiting your Special Friend for 1 hour a week for a 3 month period.
At the end of 3 months, you may continue to visit your special friend, or you may choose to move on to a new special friend.
 Try to help your dog overcome any bad habits.
One volunteer found that her Special Friend, a 1 year old poodle mix, couldn't get a home because she would bite people when she wanted to play. The dog wasn't being aggressive-she was young and didn't
understand she was doing anything wrong. The volunteer watched a number of youtube vids by trainer Zak George in order to learn how to train the poodle out of this, and it worked! Soon after all her bad behavior had been resolved, the
poodle got her forever home.
 Learn all about your Special Friend and pass that information on!
You can add information to your Special Friend's regular kennel folder, such as: likes to play ball, likes to be scratched behind its ears, is good with cats or small children; or walks well on a leash. This is the kind of info that can help these dogs get adopted.
- Spread the word. If you are an Internet-savvy person, you might even create a web page about the dog. Or take some great pictures of it that we could put on the B&B web site.
 Take care of your Special Friend.
Once a week, you would assess its health, checking for things like ear or eye infections, puncture wounds, fleas, lumps, etc. By being an extra set of eyes and ears, you can help the B&B staff make sure that all the dogs are in good health.
If you have already volunteered at least three times at B&B: you can join the Special Friends Program. Either come to B&B during our open hours, or send email to . Then we will match you up with your own Special Friend.
Just some of the dogs who could use extra attention are little dogs Kershaw, Bobo, Toni, and Betty; and big dogs Boris, Tiger, Hansel, and Rain.
We also rescued a large group of beagle mixes who are unused to people. We could use volunteers to just sit with them. Some of those who would appreciate a friend are Ariel, Martini, Solitaire, and Moneypenny.
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