200 kilograms of dry and canned food were donated by LIDL stores to the dogs of Bogrov and Kremikovtzi on two occasions this month!

Our thanks and regards to our friends at LIDL for always being there for the doggie – LIDL is the only store chain to be involved in animal wellfare charity in Bulgaria – how noble and brave of them!

Another store that has helped our doggies this month is “VKUSEN SVIAT”! They made a charity box and bought food with the money they raised! 100 kilograms of kibble for the hungriest of dogs:

Last, but not least – a generous donation of 200 kilograms was received anonimously from a generous volunteer at the shelter. Thank you!

Finally, the long-awaited moment has come – spring is here! After this horrible, long and freezing winter, we all needed the sun to shine and to wipe away the memory of the last unfriendly months. What a sun shined in the shelter – true dream! 22 degrees in Saturday and 20 real volunteers. All of them so active and energetic, that 10 cages were walked just like that, with no effort whatsoever. Walks, sun baths, smiling doggies! Happiness reigned everywhere : ))

  
You can guess its spring, when there are no topcoats and when all dogs stick their tongues out

On Sunday, with a bit less volunteers, but with the same gut for walks, we finished the rest of the cages, the outside enclosures and the old dog’s nursery. We rested a lot, we caught up on gossips, we spoiled all tail wavers, we took photos of 4 cages and willing or not, we went home smiling in the early afternoon, to escort the warm spring weekend and to get ready for the new working week.

However, for many of you, this is the last working day of this week, and we therefore remind you that this weekend we are trying to gather a spring brigade, to help us with freshening the shelter. And the more people come, the easier it would be to combine the useful and the pleasant and beside cleaning and clearing out, to walk some cages! Therefore, if you still don’t have any plans on what to do this weekend, take your partners, kids, brooms and your mood and welcome to the shelter, so we can join our efforts and make the dog population happy.

What a nice sun! I’m sleeping over here. 

Dear friends, comrades!
Spring is here, and as the Russians have it: “as the snow melts – shit springs up…”
WE INVITE YOU FOR A CLEANING WEEKEND!

WE NEED YOU, MEN!

Looking for all sorts of workforce! To drag metal bars and rocks, stich-up fences, wash windows, scrub walls, collect garbage, do laundry, clean, wash and so on…
The big cleaning needs to happen this weekend 24-25.03. We kindly ask you to please bring your instruments with you.
WE NEED the following things:

• Shovel, mattock, pick-mattock for the cleaning of the outside enclosures;
• Pliers and strong wire to stich-up the torn nets;
• Strong sacks and plastic bags for the trash;
• Buckets, mops, Domestos, window-cleaning solution for the cleaning of the shelter.

Please do write a small note if you are bringing some of the stuff so we know.
YOU ARE WELCOME!

 The shelter is a permanent home for 500 dogs. This means 300 waving tales, 1000 impatient eyes looking at the volunteers and about 2000 paws tramping simultaneously and awaiting their turn for a walk, embrace and love.
If you have ever been in the shelter, you perfectly know what I am talking about. And if you have not – believe me, you cannot even imagine how many dogs and hopes live behind these bars.

Therefore, for us it is extremely important to distribute our time correctly and to manage with the hard task to walk all cages full of unfortunate creatures, only for 2 days! And not only to walk them, but to run with them, to play, to pet, to comb, to calm, to feed with biscuits and etc… overall things that make both them and us happy.

The sacred aim is 18 cages, and in each of them you can find different by size, age, weight, color and character dogs. Everyone who has been in the shelter, leaves with at least 3-4 favorites and has named at least one of them. We have Mecho /from bear/, Sharo, Samy, Drebcho /from small/, Shaggy /from hairy/ and these are not 5 different dogs but just one, with 5 different nicknames =)

There always is one sly dog, which refuses to go back in the cage, winning a few more freedom minutes

This weekend was incredible, like all others – new faces, happy dogs, funny stories and organized volunteers. Many of them! We not only succeeded in walking all 18 cages and to pay special attention to the Kremikovtsi doggies, a large part of which now trust us and walk freely outside, but also, we walked the dogs from the Oldies home and those in the outside cages on the way to the smeller building. Heavenly happiness for all!!!

I remember that during the first months when the shelter opened, there were articles where we were mentioned name by name all present volunteers to thank them, although they were rarely over 10 people. During the last few weeks, I am happy we don’t practice this anymore, since 2 weeks ago we had over 40 volunteers, and this week we had over 20, so I cannot imagine how I’ll sit and write name after name. In spite of that, each one of you is a little sunshine for our inhabitants, and the more of you come, the more you shine and you endow our dogs with the necessary amount of diversity, happiness, warmth, love, gut for life. Thank you, for not forgetting them!

As I promised, the dogs honored the women for the holiday 8^th of March and spread a lot of kisses and hugs

How was the last weekend for the volunteers who dared to cross the doorstep of the shelter?

A real miracle – free SPA package!

I would quote the words of a junior volunteer:

“We enjoyed relaxing mud baths, unique aromatherapy, massage by doggie paws and sports celebration: jogging or sprint depending on the abilities, broad jump (the obstacle was a muddy gulch full of water), weight lifting (the weight was according to the size and weight of the dog which doesn’t want to walk) and many, many other unique bonuses!”

Muddy attack!!!

If you’re very curious what the other bonuses were, I’ll give you a hint. I just don’t know whose bonus this was – a run-away dog from cage 10 and 13 volunteers who were running after it through the huge shelter area for 10 minutes. We admit that, although it was quite funny how this naughty dog was tantalizing us for the first few minutes, before we catch him, we all felt a bit troubled for not being able to get to him. But for all these who weren’t there, I’d like to strongly underline, that it took us so long just because of the heavily rough and muddy situation. It is not easy at all to run with a 10cm higher sole and a couple of kilos heavier

We walked the whole shelter this weekend, joy for big and small! And definitely some of us would remember it for the talents which we apparently possess! Have you ever done flying somersault and have you been part of dog harness? – did I hear “no”!? – Come on, the shelter is open every day, don’t waste any more time. Training should start early enough if you want to be a part of a circus ensemble.

Let’s roll around for health

   
It’s always fun here and it is exactly as in life – falling, getting up, going on, a bit of laughter, a bit of tears from laughter, many waved tails and what not! If you don’t believe it, come over to prove it to yourself, before you know it, you would learn a new trick!

Happy dogs, happy kids

Due to the international woman’s day, this weekend the inhabitants of Bogrov shelter would give out kisses to the volunteer girls even more generously. There’s no escape, our dogs love holidays…

Hypnotized Bonnie