I waved to Zoe and Frida, and then Emma, Jessi, and I followed Lynn, along with Coach Flores and the other girls on the team who wanted to walk dogs. We walked across the grounds of the shelter, a sprawling complex of three one-story concrete buildings. Lynn led us into the one where the sound of dogs barking was coming from.

“The dogs get very excited when they get visitors,” she told us. “It might be hard to hear me, so stick close!”

She opened the door and we followed her inside. The sound of the dogs became almost deafening as soon as they saw us. Each one was in its own small pen with wire fencing on the doors. The room led out to a small fenced-in outdoor run.

Lynn stopped in front of one of the doors, where a big dog with silvery-gray fur was barking excitedly. Lynn picked up a leash hanging outside the door and stepped inside the pen. Then she clipped the leash to the dog’s collar.

She came back out, leading the dog, and handed him to Coach Flores.

“Coach Flores, you can take Billy,” she said. “Please take him outside and wait, and I’ll send the rest of the girls and dogs out. Then you can all walk together.”

“Got it!” Coach said, and she and Billy jogged outside.

In the next pen sat a little black-and-white dog, not barking, but looking at us with hopeful eyes. My heart melted.

“This is Angel. She’s a Boston terrier,” Lynn told us. She leashed Angel and then handed her over to Emma.

“You are an angel, aren’t you?” Emma asked the pup. “Come on, girl.”

Emma and Angel headed outside as Lynn put the leash on the next dog, a huge, shaggy mutt with floppy ears.

“You can take Sam,” she told Jessi, handing her the leash.

“Cool name, Sam,” Jessi said. “Let’s go!”

Inside the next pen, a little white fluffy dog was jumping up and down and yipping.

“How you doing, Honey?” Lynn asked as she put the leash on the dog. “It’s time for a walk!”

The little dog spun around in circles, twisting up her leash. I laughed.

“Why don’t you take Honey?” Lynn asked, and I took the leash. The little dog started to run down the hallway at rocket speed, and I raced with her. I was worried at first that I’d lose her, but my legs were a lot longer than hers, so it was easy to keep pace.

I caught up to Emma and Jessi outside, and we waited for the other dog walkers to join us. Emma’s dog, Angel, was sniffing the ground and making a funny snorting noise, and Emma was cracking up.

“She’s like a little potbellied pig!” Emma said. “Adorable!”