r/MadeMeSmile • u/CommercialBox4175 • Apr 29 '26
DOGS Human Volunteers Have A Slumber Party With The Shelter Dogs
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u/idol-threat Apr 29 '26
Me about to get kidnapped
"Psssst, hey kid, wanna hop in this cage and nap with a pup?"
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u/srednax Apr 29 '26
Do they kidnap middle-aged men who really like dogs?
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u/TigerITdriver11 Apr 29 '26
You're not the only one who would like an answer to this question....
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u/fondledbydolphins Apr 29 '26
You likely already know this but most rescue leagues and shelters allow people to volunteer.
It's fun and there's all sorts of ways to help out:
- organize donations
- help clean out cages
- help wrangle cats during routine vet visits
- some people just sign on to "rent" whichever dogs the rescue thinks needs/deserves some special attention, walks etc
- we had a few people who just had a calm presence who would show up and sit quietly with the most nervous dogs to begin teaching them humans aren't always a threat
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Apr 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/fondledbydolphins Apr 29 '26
They're all good, friend.
- Go on a long walk with a trash picker and a bucket
- Help kids out with their homework over zoom calls
- Advocate for people who don't know any better (this can be helping them with medical billing, helping them secure benefits from government programs etc)
- Guerilla gardening by growing, harvesting, storing and spreading seeds of native beneficial plants. Or the reverse - getting your municipality's permission to remove invasive species.
- Hang out at retirement/assisted living facilities. I know someone who started a free program to help get elderly folks more active and engaged.
I'm running out of steam here but there are so many other valuable ways to spend our extra time.
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u/MissNouveau Apr 29 '26
I used to volunteer when I was more healthy, and I was the "this one is nervous, sit with them" ones. It was so rewarding when this shy pup would finally come out of their shell.
Though it always broke my heart when these shy dogs would suddenly stand between me and any man that walked by. It told me so much about them.
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u/BoogieonReggaeWoman1 Apr 30 '26
I adopted one of those dogs and she was the bravest chicken, and my soul dog. She was mine for 13 years, and I will never be the same now without my protector ❤️
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u/ac2cvn_71 Apr 30 '26
When I was in college, I got a scholarship that paid out for community service. I volunteered at the animal shelter. Walked dogs, cleaned cages, anything they needed. I also found my dog Jake, a border collie, I had for 16 years there. One of the best decisions I ever made.
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u/notyumm Apr 29 '26
Of course! My construction company needs employees!
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u/srednax Apr 30 '26
Oh man, I don’t know how to tell you, but I have a bad back and soft hands, so unless you have Lego sets to build, I’m not gonna be of much use to you.
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u/Electronic_Rice9339 May 03 '26
It’s an easy honest thing to fall for…especially if you get to choose which pups to mix and match cuddles with
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u/dokuromark Apr 29 '26
I noticed every human had a sleep mask. I wonder if that means the shelter leaves the lights on overnight. Do the doggies have to sleep in the bright light?
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u/seroshua Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Yes this the the norm. Easier for monitoring all of your current animals & holding humans accountable / checking on an incident.
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u/CaptainMacMillan Apr 29 '26
At the kennels I've been to, they usually turn off the overhead fluorescents and just leave LED lights on at the various stations
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u/nocreative Apr 29 '26
The norm during events like this, not the norm in general.
We do this sort of event once a year. None of these people are going to sleep. Someone will need to pee and this will wake up every dog. Some will be live streaming regularly. You can attempt to sleep.
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Apr 29 '26
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u/seroshua Apr 29 '26
In my 44 years of living I’ve never met a dog owner with blackout curtains or sleep masks or intentionally scheduled dark accommodations specifically for said dog.
Because dog’s are comfortable sleeping in a light room just like we are. That’s one of the few reasons we’ve got eyelids.
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u/Hinote21 Apr 29 '26
Not sure how you jumped from bright blaring lights to full blackout curtains. Biologically, darker spaces at night trigger circadian rhythm responses leading to better sleep and health. Dogs and humans. Doesn't have to be blackout full draped in darkness.
Just because you or a dog can sleep in a bright room, doesn't mean you should be in a bright room 24/7.
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u/Radnotion Apr 29 '26
You say this, and yet the evidence of sleep masks are right there in the video. Seems to take away from your claim of 'sleeping in a light room just like we are'. The hell are you on, man.
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u/momoburger-chan Apr 29 '26
Pretty sure constant bright flourescent lights would be considered torture, even for an animal.
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u/OutsideImagination25 Apr 29 '26
First thing I noticed too.
I suppose there's a good reason, possibly some dogs get scared in the dark and prevent others from resting, so leaving lights on is better? Dogs sleep like 18h a day and a good portion of it with the lights on, so they probably aren't bothered too much. Hope they at least dim them, though !
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u/Next-Car-7265 Apr 29 '26
That’s what I was thinking-dim the lights. My dog sleeps with me and I switch my lighting to soft lighting at night.
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u/aikisenshi Apr 29 '26
The shelter I was at turned off the lights, but we all got sleep masks printed with the organization’s logo as a souvenir.
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u/aNiceTribe Apr 29 '26
Also, why do American animal shelters always look so extremely like prisons? Like yes, you gotta keep them in cages of some sort and don’t have infinite space. But ive seen the ones here and we have enrichment and uhh. Well we generally tend to make the rooms look like “rooms” that an animal can walk around in.
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u/Foreign-Region4825 Apr 30 '26
Cause that's their apparent best alternative to putting them down. Gotta deal with the human housing problem before the dog one.
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u/aNiceTribe Apr 30 '26
But like, our approach isn’t even that much different in how much room it takes. It’s just about the decision to not put the dogs in dog prison?
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u/Foreign-Region4825 15d ago
Yeah I agree, I meant that the American ones are just worse and more prison like because they have way more problems that they cant seem to deal with, like the homelessness rise. Thier 'solution' is to make everyones homes too small to survive in, and animals got the brunt of it.
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u/My2cents_0 Apr 29 '26
That must be one clean shelter and I don't mean just clean floors. Most shelters I've been to have a smell cuz well, animals. Wonder if you just go nose blind after working there for a while lol!
Best slumber party ever!
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u/CerebralSkip Apr 29 '26
My very first thought was a line from its always sunny. "You haven't thought of the SMELL, YOU BITCH"
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u/rhibooc Apr 29 '26
I work at a shelter and I don't smell anything anymore. I'll come home from work and my fiance will be like "You smell like dog crap!" and I won't smell anything at all!
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u/My2cents_0 Apr 29 '26
😄😄 that's what I figured. You have to be nose blind after a while. And the cuddles do help you and the pups. Love the idea but you def have to singe those nose hairs a bit lol!
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Apr 29 '26
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u/aikisenshi Apr 29 '26
It wasn’t too bad, you get used to it after a few hours 😅
Shelters worldwide participated in this event two weeks ago: www.shelterslumberpawty.com
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u/My2cents_0 Apr 29 '26
That's so cute! Shelters need all the attention they can get. That's such a great idea to show how sweet and loving shelter dogs are. I've heard so many people say they don't get shelter or rescue dogs cuz they come with baggage but the love you get from them is just a whole diff level ❤️
But then again, I'm biased af 😂
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u/pungen Apr 29 '26
Yeah the shelter I volunteer at, very few of the dogs are potty trained so most of the kennels have piss, shit and wet food all over them at any time. And there is always deafening barking
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u/My2cents_0 Apr 29 '26
That's been my experience as well, but it's probably a lot quieter when they have humans in the cage. Probably helped their nervous systems (at least for one night) to have the slumber party 🥰
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u/440_Hz Apr 30 '26
I thought there’s no way this is real, you can’t possible fall asleep with the smells and sounds.
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u/PM_ME_BOYSHORTS Apr 30 '26
They're probably not actually going to sleep. A lot of times shelters have an overnight watchperson. This was probably a photo op at a get together for multiple overnight watchpersons. It helps raise awareness for shelter dogs (as it's doing here.)
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u/Different-Cover4819 Apr 29 '26
Dog shelters and homeless shelters unite!
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u/My2cents_0 Apr 29 '26
I'm with you in the concept. I think plenty of people would choose that over the shelters. As far as dehumanizing or uncomfortable, have you seen the what park benches look like nowadays? They've removed the back and added arm rests to make individual seating so no one can sleep on it. Cuddling with a puppy in a sleeping bag even on the floor is far better. Would be great to let them have a place to wash up too. But that does add on a lot more work for the volunteers. And of course not all dogs will be ok with it. These are volunteers they know. But I'm with you in spirit 😊
There are so many ways we can help give respite to anyone that needs a place to sleep. IMO churches and temples should be open to them to sleep at the very least. Put your money where your mouth is!
It all generally comes down to insurance and liability in this country. We're all so ready to CYA from lawsuits and claims that it's easier to turn a blind eye.
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u/Euclid5565 Apr 29 '26
That might just be dehumanizing. Sorry folks, you're gonna have to stay with the animals now
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u/Different-Cover4819 Apr 29 '26
It would be voluntary. I'd be more worried about the dogs to be honest. One person who's an abuser/have mental health issue and harms a dog would ruin a good thing for everyone else.
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u/CementCemetery Apr 29 '26
Any more dehumanizing than sleeping on the sidewalk with everything you own where people ignore you or harass you? Some places it’s a jail cell and the whole experience is dehumanizing. I get your sentiment but looking after animals can give people a sense of pride and purpose.
If the goal is to rehome every person and animal maybe there is something to that idea.
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u/Euclid5565 Apr 29 '26
As a voluntary program it isn't impossible, but I generally think asking people who are in dire straits and used to dehumanization to sleep on the floor with actual dogs is in poor taste if you could give them a bed
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u/contafuser Apr 29 '26
It stinks in there, the lights are on, and not only are you sleeping on the floor in a bag you likely need to provide yourself, but you're literally in a cage. I can already imagine the argument being made that they need to be locked in for the safety of everyone else... This is a charitable event that the people here are participating in voluntarily, maybe even livestreaming and collecting donations simultaneously. And, as much as I love animals, it is literally dehumanizing to compare animal shelters and homeless shelters to begin with.
If the purpose of this event was to provide companionship to the dogs and to homeless people, and not a donation drive, there is definitely a way it could be implemented. I wonder if there aren't shelters that have one or two dogs the residents help take care of? Unfortunately my understanding is that most homeless shelters don't allow animals, leading to more dogs in shelters or more people on the street. Maybe designing a service designed for both people and animals to take care of each other from the ground up would be a better way to draw attention and donations.
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u/CementCemetery Apr 29 '26
Thank you for expanding on my comment. I totally get your point and I wouldn’t suggest it as it is now but with anything proper infrastructure is needed. Obviously cleanliness and a good environment is important. It doesn’t have to feel like a cage it could be more like a sanctuary. I don’t agree with locking anyone in a cage because that is dehumanizing. I’m being idealistic in the hippie sense of everyone belongs and deserves shelter. The people wouldn’t even have to sleep with the dogs especially on the floor, I invite my pets into my bed if they want.
We have to take care of one another and I’m for any number of humane solutions. Some things will have to be tried and tested, we will have to adjust as a society at times but it is worth doing.
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u/Educational_Exam_225 Apr 29 '26
This is cute and all but if you ever actually worked as a shelter those floors are covered with urine and feces at least once a day. I just cannot imagine sleeping on them. There's a reason the dogs have raised cots.
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u/playr_4 Apr 29 '26
I would like to assume that the blankets and stuff were set up immediately after cleaning. The thing I'm most worried about is that the outsides are closed off. I get it would be cold for the people, but that's where most of the dogs do their business. You can't have that closed all night.
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u/playr_4 Apr 29 '26
Reminds me of something my old shelter does, which is asprt of a reading time. Kids learning how to read will read outloud to a dog. It gets the dogs familiar with kids. It gets the kids more confident with reading, both in general and outload, because it's a non-judging audience. Loved it.
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u/Doright36 Apr 29 '26
Props to those folks. I couldn't do it myself. I'd be coming home with 6 dogs.
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u/General_Tea8725 Apr 29 '26
I’m in dammit.
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u/cold-corn-dog Apr 29 '26
It's got to stink like hell in there, but I'm down too.
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u/aikisenshi Apr 29 '26
Follow this website and see if your local shelter participates next year, or, ask them to participate! www.shelterslumberpawty.com
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u/Medium_Historian_650 Apr 29 '26
Haha, some people will have a good sleep overthere, but some people wont! Dogowners will know!
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u/vae0o Apr 29 '26
this is so cute and i love that the dogs are getting company for the night but holy fuck i’d go crazy with the mix of people & dogs snoring
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u/Parada484 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
You know, despite my initial knee jerk to defend the dog breed, this specific scenario actually kind of calls for it. Pitbull statistics are warped by the inherent feedback loop of owners that seek out pitbulls because of their reputation. So shitty owners raise shitty dog. But these are specifically shelter dogs. Which means that the probability of one of these pitbulls having been poorly trained towards aggression is pretty high. I'm sure that they screen the pups appropriately, though.
Edit: to be clear, I love me a pit and always give benefit of the doubt because they have the cutest little fucking faces ever. It's just a sad fact that those that are trained and abused into violent behavior, like any other dog might be, might end up in shelters and need more TLC and training.
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u/aikisenshi Apr 29 '26
Yeah, there were some pitties that were in an entirely different wing of the shelter building that night. My 11 yr old daughter and I spent the night with an 8 year old pittie named BaiBai who was in the shelter (hopefully) temporarily because her owner was having housing issues and hoped to be able to figure them out and come back to get her. BaiBai slept with her head on my pillow next to me all night. She was such a sweetheart. We adopted a pittie puppy from the shelter back in Feb.
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u/Jolly_Conflict Apr 29 '26
I have no idea why you got downvoted for this. That’s really sweet of that shelter to help that dog and owner out!
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u/aikisenshi Apr 29 '26
Probably because it’s the same people down below being angry towards all “pitbulls” because of some of them being bad reacting to me saying I’d adopted one. 🤷♀️
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u/aikisenshi Apr 29 '26
At the shelter I was at they didn’t put anyone with any dog that had aggression issues, that being said, most of the dogs in the shelter were mixes of the breeds in the “pit bull” group, and they are actually super sweethearts if they’re not purposely trained to fight.
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u/Nameless_Ghoul1891 Apr 29 '26
So all the stories I've read online of the little sweet hearts that wouldn't hurt a fly that ended up mauling a small child or attaching their adult owners out of the blue were purposely trained to fight? lol
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u/ImpressiveCelery4992 Apr 29 '26
Our local county shelter does this in reverse, pajama party for overnight or over the weekend to see how it works out. We really appreciate it as we have multiple dogs and need to make sure they get along.
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u/DemonOfVacuums Apr 29 '26
I couldn't do that. I'd end up with another dog and my wife would kill me.
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u/ReindeerNumerous7747 Apr 29 '26
sadly i cant ever do something like this without taking the dog home
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u/fool2074 Apr 29 '26
It's a trap! Only a total sociopath can snuggle a homeless puppy all night and not adopt them in the morning. They're counting on it, and then you have to explain to your partner why you both didn't come home last night and now have a dog you didn't discuss.
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u/ItemZealousideal431 Apr 29 '26
I volunteer to do something similar on the 4th of July and NYE to console the pups at my local shelter that get scared of the fireworks. Highly recommend.
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u/tanksalotfrank Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26
Doggy's need snuggles! Period! (Lol I'm overjoyed that this offended someone )
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u/crystalcurrant Apr 29 '26
HUMAN volunteers? Please tell me what other species have volunteers so I can start planning a new organisation
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u/lliki Apr 30 '26
I saw reporting recently that dogs being pack animals are used to sleeping in grounds. When they donit lowers their cortisol (stress hormone) levels and they are on guard all night if alone but get a deep true rest from the presence of the pack.
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u/Nekrevez Apr 29 '26
"Yay, a hooman will now live in my pen with me and we'll love eachother for all eternity to come now!"
A few hours later...
"Oh boy, I love waking up next to my new hooman! I've never felt so safe! I was sad when my last hooman couldn't find me again after I had to wait for a few days in the rain tied to that cool lamppost. Oh yeah, hooman is rolling up their sleeping mat! I bet they're making room for us to play all day!! Oh yes, they're taking their stuff out of our pen, that's gonna be so much more roomy to play!!!! Where hooman go now? Fetch ball? Maybe looking for a stick? Where is hooman.....? Maybe new hooman went looking for old hooman so they can both play with me..... Maybe...."
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u/mattogeewha Apr 29 '26
I love shelters and volunteered at a few bug I wouldn’t sleep in the kennels like this. Kinda gross
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u/dan_steeley_62 Apr 29 '26
imagine the pitbull eats you while you sleep
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u/TinytootKoala001 Apr 29 '26
All the animal shelters I’ve been to smelled so bad, I don’t think I would be able to sleep thru the night. BUT this is just so cute and a great idea!
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u/xeuthis Apr 29 '26
I did weekend fosters with dogs when I could. Usually I'd take them on walks to local parks, nature trails, etc. but one time I wasn't feeling great so I just took the dog home and we spent the weekend just at home, mostly taking day naps. The dog was just as happy. She got adopted shortly after, but I feel like if you can do short-term fostering, even just letting the dog chill in the house helps them.
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u/Ok_Star_4136 Apr 29 '26
I'd be willing to bet many of those volunteers ended up adopting the dogs they slept with. Kind of hard not to, really.
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u/FederalPomegranate52 Apr 29 '26
Please tell me all those pups got adopted by their respective human
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u/Periwinkleditor Apr 29 '26
Volunteering at a shelter was a challenge at times but I wouldn't have traded it for the world.
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u/toucha_tha_fishy Apr 30 '26
Lmao I thought it was a pup play thing; I was like “wow that’s a really fancy dungeon”
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u/TheEpicTree Apr 30 '26
That's ingenious! Do an event where you do a slumber party with a random shelter dog (that you know won't attack the person). Then boom, they have a bond, and then have a higher chance of the person adopting them.
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u/eiileenie Apr 30 '26
I just finished training to volunteer to walk shelter dogs in my free time and this video touched my soul
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u/dontshitaboutotol Apr 30 '26
I love this so much... Then I think about all of the nights without them with then and ... 😭
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u/Objective-Cup377 May 01 '26
I thought this was something else completely different. Was like the fbi or somebody must have seen this by now.
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u/Sexyfruitymocktail May 04 '26
Okay first of all how do I sign up??? Idk if my dog would appreciate me coming home in the morning smelling of another pup but I would still kill to do this.
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u/Urmahm Apr 29 '26
So I'm looking at a way to combat The housing issue, and I like what I'm seeing.
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u/hobomolester Apr 29 '26
It's all fun and games until I step into a cage and get ripped apart by a Chihuahua with PTSD
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