New Best Friends: Richard the Cat and Cherry the Pig

Today was a very nice and relaxing day. We started out by cleaning the cat rooms in CalMar, a house for cats with Feline Leukemia. It is similar to AIDS for humans because it is a virus that attacks their immune system and in their bones, but it's for cats, and other shelters euthanize the cats that they have with Feline Leukemia. Contrary to what other shelters think, cats can live many years with this disease, so Best Friends doesn't euthanize them and gives them a chance to live a longer, happier life. After cleaning the rooms, we played with the cats. One of our all-time favorite cats was Richard who was very playful and loved to give "hugs", where he would stand on his hind legs and put his front two legs on you. After working with cats we had a very nice lunch and tanned outside for a while to relax even more. We proceeded to the doggie headquarters and learned how to clicker train dogs. It was a new experience for some of us and a normal practice for others. The trainer that taught us was very knowledgeable about all things dog and was able to answer all of our questions, including Kristina's question as to how to get her dog to stop barking for attention, a very difficult thing to cure apparently, but manageable. Once we all got the hang of the clicker training and all the questions were answered, we went to trail repairing. We went along "The Garden Loop" and cleared the trail so it was void of anything but sand, got rid of all visible dog poop, and made the edges of the trail clear so no one would get confused of where to go. It was a very relaxing day compared to other days of shoveling, raking, and other such tasks. Looking to the near future, tonight is going to be very exciting for all of us because we have a very adorable pig by the name of Cherry, spending the night with us. Everyone can come in and visit, but Ali, Julia, Sarah, and I (Kelsey) have the privilege of having her in our room for the night. Opposite to what most people think, pigs are very clean, very cute, and very well behaved. Attached is a picture of the "CherBear" as we like to call her. We are all having a blast here, but we also can't wait to be home soon!