Dog days are fun days on trips away from the shelter with volunteers

Associated Press

MADISON, N.J. (AP) — Want some doggie time, but can’t take care of one full-time? Animal shelters around the country will let you take one out for the afternoon, kind of like borrowing a library book. In New Jersey, the St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center plans to send 1,000 dogs on day trips this year; they’re about halfway there so far. Getting out of a shelter even briefly reduces the dogs’ stress, and increases the likelihood they’ll be adopted. Dennis and Diane Meyer of Warren, New Jersey, recently took Finlee, a 1-year-old mixed breed, for a walk in the park, and were rewarded with dozens of wet doggie kisses.