Olivia followed Tess outside. There was a small parking lot, then a fifty-foot section of ground that backed to a row of trees and scraggily shrubs. The area had been divided into a few fenced pens and a large gravel island.

“That’s what we call the Island of Many Smells,” Tess said, pointing to the gravel area as they passed it. “Once the pointer is out of quarantine, it’ll probably be his favorite place to scent mark.”

Patrick was outside one of the fenced areas that contained a small agility course and was packing up tools into a toolbox. “This area is our newest addition out here. It’s used for basic training and agility. There’s a one-dog-at-a-time policy for this pen. The other two are the play areas. The big one up front is for adoptable dogs, and the smaller one in back is for quarantined dogs and has a similar one-dog policy.”

Olivia looked over the pens, nodding appreciatively. From all the enrichments in the cat and dog kennels inside, the fun kitty play area, and these pens for the dogs, this place wasn’t like any shelter she’d ever been to. And she couldn’t escape the feeling that she’d found just the place where she needed to be.

“You ready for us, Patrick?” Tess asked.

“Yes. I’m seventeen minutes behind schedule, but the loose section of fence is repaired.”

“Great. I’ll tell Fidel and Megan that it’s back in business. I know there’s a handful of dogs who could still really use some work today, time permitting.”

Feeling a bit like a kid who was being shuffled between babysitters, Olivia followed Patrick around for the next ten minutes, doing her best to commit to memory his concise and literal instructions. While she’d been around dogs her entire life, there were so many things she’d never thought of before. Not only did the shelter have established protocols on how to approach the dogs, but each animal had an individual care plan. Some dogs were fine with collars, while others needed a variety of different harnesses. Some dogs could be walked with others, some needed to be walked alone, and a few needed to be walked in the presence of two volunteers or staff members at a time due to health issues or questionable temperament.

It was a lot to take in, but there were directions at each kennel for each dog, and Olivia was happy to know she wouldn’t need to rely on memory while getting used to everything. In addition to handling instructions, there was a short bio on each dog. Olivia loved scanning them as Patrick led her around the kennels, pointing out things she needed to know before they took the dogs out.

When they got to quarantine and Patrick finished giving her the rundown of its specific procedures, she washed up and knelt in front of the pointer’s kennel.