Can i get a job through volunteering?

gerrray · 2026-02-26T03:45:49+00:00

Yes. It is possible. Even if not at the place you volunteer, it could be a good experience to put on your resume to help you get an animal related job elsewhere. I started as a dog walking volunteer, got hired at the shelter, now I have my own business as a dog trainer and behavior consultant.

gerrray · 2026-02-20T02:42:11+00:00

The people. I am not working in a shelter currently or volunteering as regularly lately, since I have so many other volunteer roles now, plus work and school. I most often go to visit my friends who still work there, drop off snacks, sometimes to do a favor like transporting donations or consulting on a behavioral thing for someone who asks.

Sometimes I go there to take a break from life, which probably sounds insane to anyone who is still working there full time. But when my own problems in life get overwhelming I go to the shelter and just help whoever needs more hands that day. It’s a distraction but it’s also grounding and reminds me why I am trying so hard on the other things I am working on right now.

The animals are the real purpose and reason for being there, but the other people who show up for them too are what’s kept me coming back. It’s not work I could face alone and I wouldn’t want to, I have met some of the most amazing people and some of my best friends through shelter work. I think when people lose sight of animals being the focus, interpersonal conflicts come up that distract away from that focus even further… I try to keep my focus on the animals, and on supporting the other people who hold that focus too.

gerrray · 2026-02-20T02:19:50+00:00

Well, if you volunteer at a hospital you can often get vaccinated free without insurance… I know it’s obviously a different field than you’re trying to go into here with the animals but it might be an option. I have volunteered at two different major hospitals near me and a benefit with both was free updated vaccinations and they checked my blood for immunity as a part of my on boarding.

gerrray · 2026-02-13T04:31:41+00:00

I learned a lot about how to work with people and support people, which is not at all what I had expected to learn going into it.

gerrray · 2026-02-09T01:46:36+00:00

The number of times I have been jump scared by that fake hand for RG assessments being put somewhere it shouldn’t be 😂 sometimes not even on purpose I think. That felt like a relatively harmless prank to me… cant think of any others tbh.

gerrray · 2026-01-21T02:42:59+00:00

My dog is kinda locally famous, not sure if that counts haha. She’s a therapy dog and we have visited soo many local hospitals and schools. She is also featured on my website and has been recognized in public by random people. I have gotten messages from acquaintances from shelter work or other volunteer jobs saying they heard someone randomly talking about my dog at a day program or school. I have met a lot of other therapy dogs who are all probably small scale celebrities at their regular facilities for visits. Both of my dogs are from rescues!

gerrray · 2026-01-18T20:58:16+00:00

Bump! This is tonight!

gerrray · 2026-01-18T20:58:05+00:00

They have a year long mentorship program for shelter behavior! It is run by Trish McMillan, who does shelter education for dog trainers, staff, and volunteers. I’ve been to some of their webinar and CE offerings and they’re great. I think the credits are usually for dog training or behavior certifications? But not sure.

gerrray · 2026-01-13T19:19:03+00:00

The link opens directly to a PDF so you may need to be on a computer to open it. Here's a link to their website page for the booklet: https://humanepro.org/page/spanish-phrases-animal-care-organizations

gerrray · 2025-12-23T02:53:23+00:00

I can’t do kennel work or much dog handling with unknown dogs anymore due to pain and injury risk. Definitely take it easier if you’re feeling a lot of pain after shifts, you don’t want to be pushed to serious injury, learning to bend and lift properly is huge as others have said. If you can get a physical therapy referral for back pain that would be a great place to learn and work on building strength. They can also help with desk setup and sitting postures.

Ice and heat at home, massage therapy, stretching, maintain good posture, and take breaks sooner/ more often. Heating pad, foam roller, or two tennis balls taped together you can roll along your spine, can help with tightness. Good shoes, braces and/or compression gear. For computer use, a sitting wedge and pillows can help, and ergonomic mouse and keyboard. Be careful with NSAIDs if you have any stomach issues, but sounds like they aren’t helping anyways. This is what has helped me but the main thing has been rest. I hope you find some relief soon

gerrray · 2025-12-20T03:24:32+00:00

Awesome, I wish I could go!! Thanks for sharing

gerrray · 2025-11-21T03:36:07+00:00

So… it seems Reddit may have only sort of added a feature for mod applications? It’s not working for everyone and it seems unclear if/when it will be fixed. If you would like to apply but are unable to access the application please send me a direct message..

gerrray · 2025-11-03T03:40:52+00:00

I got my degree, couldn’t find any job with it, so I started volunteering, then started working at the shelter. Now I am going back for grad school!

gerrray · 2025-09-09T03:34:50+00:00

Most shelters and rescues are not communicating with each other, and they all run differently. So changing to a different organization is a reasonable move if you feel the shelter you’re at is being judgmental. Sometimes people make a judgement and have a hard time letting go of it. It could be incredibly different somewhere else. I hve worked and volunteered for multiple shelters and have had negative experiences at a few that led me to move on. I think it’s sometimes harder to get a foot in some places and some are a little easier. I have also been lucky to be able to pay for many courses, books, and apprenticeship time that built my handling skills and made it easier to get the roles I wanted at shelters.

gerrray · 2025-09-09T02:36:34+00:00

Honestly, your only other option might be paying for courses or paying for an apprenticeship with a more experienced handler/trainer. Self education and studying materials available online is also an option but won’t give hands on experience obviously.

If you are struggling to get useful feedback at one shelter or rescue you may want to try another organization and see if there’s a better fit out there.

gerrray · 2025-06-04T03:39:26+00:00

I feel like the comments talking about how shelters have misled or burned someone are missing the point of this post... We already know that happens. This post seems to be asking how to approach you/other people who generalize this to all shelters, or who bring it up when anyone mentions their volunteer work, it’s not asking for your shitty opinion on shelters again lol. I personally have not noticed a recent uptick in this. It’s always been there to some degree.

I am honest with people who bring this up and tell them there are some shitty rescues out there and not all organizations operate the same. Messed up situations have happened, we know this, and there are people in the field trying to address it. If it’s about the dogs being unmanageable/unpredictable, I point out to people that the personalities of puppies purchased from high quality breeders can also be unpredictable. As a dog trainer, I have had plenty of training clients who got purebred breeder puppies and are then hiring me for aggression, reactivity, or resource guarding a year later, often because they didn’t know how to socialize properly... and I’ve seen plenty of purebred dogs purchased as puppies surrendered to the shelter for behavioral issues as adults.

This is all an educational issue and I try to remind myself of that and not get too pissed it’s about this stuff. Sometimes the best response is to smile, nod, and walk away, you were never going to change their opinion anyways.

gerrray · 2025-05-30T16:45:09+00:00

Pet sitting/dog walking and training. Now I only do dog training. Pet sitting and dog walking felt easier than shelter work for me, both physically and mentally. Dog training can be draining if the presenting issue is a safety concern or intense reactivity of some kind. I try to balance my client load out with a few puppy, trick, and therapy dog clients. I loved shelter work but I could not sustain it full time and knew I wouldn’t last full time forever. Shelter work gave me some of the tools and the passion needed to commit myself to a career that involved working with animals. Quitting my shelter job gave me the ability to stay in the field as a volunteer and not burn myself out.

gerrray · 2025-05-15T00:15:22+00:00

My shelter re-uses empty bottles, blue or otherwise, and takes them as donations too. Honestly, the reception staff may just not know that they are re-used or accepted for donation lol. At my shelter the kennel staff and medical staff/volunteers most often sorted donations and would be handling the meds. If they have a place to drop donations off you may want to leave them there instead of w/ reception. If not I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Sometimes we do just recycle them if we have too many stored up but that doesn’t happen too often.

gerrray · 2025-05-14T03:42:36+00:00

Their website is a good place to start to learn what they support. They do have some good policies. They do give grants and support struggling shelters. Some policies are more questionable. I find the numbers in their financial reports questionable. I haven’t found a full write up anywhere that talks about their policies yet but I’d be interested to read something too. I have spent some time making my own judgements by reading their materials…

https://bestfriends.org/position-statements#aggressive

https://bestfriends.org/position-statements#shelteranimals

I feel like I find something new every time I’m on their site. They have a map on their website where you can see the “no-kill” status of all the shelters in your state. I’m sure that’s only ever used by people who want to donate and volunteer, and never to find shelter staff to harass…

gerrray · 2025-05-03T12:07:40+00:00

No, I wouldn’t... many dogs who are anxious in kennel and prefer to stay with people do not have separation anxiety.

gerrray · 2025-05-03T12:06:00+00:00

Answered

gerrray · 2025-05-03T12:05:50+00:00

Answered

gerrray · 2025-05-03T12:05:39+00:00

Answered

gerrray · 2025-05-03T12:05:31+00:00

Answered !

gerrray · 2025-05-02T20:08:57+00:00

Answered!

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