How To Volunteer with DRNT

Some people really enjoy the experience of coming to our weekly open house to exercise, train, play with, and care for the dogs living in our shelter. During open house, they take one dog at a time out of the shelter and give that dog personalized attention. The dogs absolutely love it. Working with a particular dog over the period between when it arrives in the shelter until it is adopted is such a rewarding experience! You can help transform a dog from frightened and suspicious of people into a confident pet, one that has learned that people are fun to be around.

Every week we are asked to help dogs in far away places, and need help getting them to our shelter. We regularly transport dogs from the shelter to the vet and back several times each week. The rescue was given a vehicle so we can loan it to you for local travel if needed. 

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DRNT is in need a newer rescue vehicle for  transporting dogs from shelters and to/from the vet office.  Donated vehicles are tax          deductibleI 

Some people take pride in maintaining the cleanliness of our kennels, the offices, and the grounds on which the rescue is located. This is one of the toughest jobs, and one we are most grateful for volunteers willing to take this one. We have areas with trees and underbrush that need to be trimmed and cleaned up a few times a year so that people can use the shady spaces to get away from the crowd and interact with the dog they are meeting.

Perhaps you enjoy helping potential adopters. You will assist the adopters as they meet a number of dogs that we think might work for them based on their individual circumstances, their level of experience with Dobermans, and their interests. We always have so many dogs in the shelter that meeting them all before making an adoption decision can be over-whelming and makes choosing virtually impossible. Our adoption counselors help by focusing the potential adopter on a limited number of dogs that our experienced volunteers think may work for that adopter.

Some people are more inclined to help in the office, entering data about the dogs into our database, implanting microchips, vaccinating, and treating the dogs with heart worm preventive and flea/tick preventive. None of these are small tasks - we welcome individuals with these skillsets! 

This is a big one! We always need foster homes for dogs that needs one-on-one time with an individual or a family. We are firm believers that puppies, especially, need to be in a home to help them develop into well-adjusted family pets. Similarly, dogs recovering from broken bones need a fairly quiet home where their bones can heal. If you are interested in being a foster, we can provide you with a crate and supplies so there is no, or limited out-of-pocket expense to you. When the dog gets healthy, we will ask you to bring it to open house on Sunday so it has a chance at finding a forever home. But be forewarned, you may find you become very fond of your foster dog and decide to add it to your family. We jokingly call these "foster-failures." Many of our volunteers take great pride in being a foster-failure. I know I do.