And. Done.

Today was a very sad day.

It didn't help that it was raining, hailing, and cold pretty much all morning.

Some good news: Honey Bun and Fargo got adopted out of Maggie's yesterday. Also, Effy, Buddy Holly, and Viola got adopted out of the Fairway. I don't think I mentioned it, but Thomas, the cute kitchen chihuahua at the Fairway also found a home earlier this week.

For my last morning shift, I was at Maggie's. I finally got to work with the caregiver, Jackie, there (usually I'm there on her day off) and she is awesome! There was another volunteer there today and I received some good news from her. We were talking about the internship and she asked who my project dog is. When I told her it was Sharkey she got really excited and told me she ran into the lady who took him on a sleepover last night. When she asked that lady how she was, she replied with, "completely in love." She adored Sharkey and is seriously considering adopting him! I'm so happy for him and I really, really hope it works out. That would really be the best ending to my internship.
Since it was my last day, Jackie asked me which dogs I wanted to walk/take for outing and I didn't hesitate to respond with Sherlock and Jingles.
First I walked Peek-a-Boo. It was still nice outside so it was a very pleasant walk.

Then, Sherlock and I went for a car ride/walk outing. Sherlock always looks so excited when he sees me pull my car around to the back because he knows that means outings. This is how he waits for me-
It's not a very good photo, but he has the cutest intense look on his face like, "I'm ready!"

It was a good drive until it started raining and hailing.



When I got back I took Jingles for a walk. It was pretty miserable, I'm not going to lie. The hail hurt me a lot and it was sooo cold. Not quite the way I wanted to spend my last time with Jingles, but she didn't seem to mind too much.

After Jingles, I took Lugar to Tara's Run to throw a tennis ball around. He is obsessed with tennis balls! Not in the way Sharkey is obsessed with them though- he doesn't rip them apart. Lugar really, really enjoys playing fetch and will continue to play for hours if he's allowed. We had a really good time though. At the end of the session I traded him some really high value treats and put the ball away and he calmed down really quickly. I told him it was time to go and led him to the door and he seemed fine with it - not dwelling on the tennis ball he lost. I was impressed.

It was very hard to leave Maggie's. As I was walking out, I realized that is the last time I'm going to see those dogs (unless I move here, which is very much on my mind). All of the dogs were inside because it was still raining but as I got to my car I realized Jingles had ran to the back of her run to send me off. It was so heartbreaking. 

It's very easy to get attached to these animals which makes leaving them absolutely horrible.


The interns had a pizza party at the Bunkhouse during lunchtime. You could tell everyone was starting to get a little sad.


I scheduled my very last shift to be at the Fairway. I got there today and Kathy asked me if I'd like to let Raisin's run out into the x-pen again. Raisin really comes alive and seems like a completely normal dog when she's in the x-run. She prances and plays with the other dogs and it is great to see. So we did that and then worked on recall with her. These x-runs are really, really long with a lot of turns and trees and etc, but Raisin did marvelous with her recalls. It is so much different from when I first met her. I can now pet her and leash her up. I am so thrilled with the progress she has made and I'm very proud of her.

I let some other runs out into the x-run and then helped feed. The shift was cut short because we had an hour and a half reflection period to present out projects instead of the normal one hour.

It was really hard to say goodbye to the Fairway as well. The caregivers are my friends and the dogs almost feel like children.


The reflections definitely had a different air than normal. Everyone had a sad day. It was nice to see how far we have all come though. For the last reflection, Leesa reads through our initial applications and asked us to compare where we were then to where we were now. A lot has changed for me, along with everyone else.

 This really was the most amazing experience of my life and no words will ever be able to describe how much I've learned and grown. I know I will be back to Best Friends eventually.


Jackie told me this morning that she knew I would make a difference and that is exactly what I intend to do.


Goodbye for now, Best Friends! You have changed my life in so many ways.