Today my gentle, shy, beautiful girl Lolly is 5 years old! Here she is a couple of weeks before we brought her home, in her official shelter photo. Just a little black bear:
And on her first day at home:
She's an old soul, this dog. I swear she has the kindest eyes I've ever seen on any animal, humans included. When she was brought into the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City five years ago, she and her sister were so terrified that they needed to be held by the kennel attendant for long amounts of time, just to stop their nervous shivering. To this day, the strangest things freak her out--packaging tape (so every time I wrap up a sock dog, she's out of my office and running up the stairs), the click of the TV being turned on or off, hail on the windows--and yet, once she's outside, she's a crazy girl; running and playing and chasing Ava around mercilessly. At the same time, she's so patient with Sophie, and I trust her completely when they are alone together. I've watched, and if Sophie does something Lolly doesn't like (like accidentally stepping on her tail), Lolly responds by licking Sophie away. It's hilarious--no growling, no biting, just a few well placed slurps to the face. Works every time.

I was already volunteering at the shelter when I met Lolly--but once she entered my life, my commitment to the animals there grew tenfold. I had fallen in love with this dog and grew to know the worth of all of the homeless dogs and cats even more than I had before. I wanted to do even more to help them, and that's how Original Sock Dogs was born. I often wonder what life would have been like for Lolly had I not met her, or had she not been lucky enough to end up at a no-kill shelter. It crushes me to know that there are so many dogs like her out there who may never find a loving home. So please, in honor of Lolly today, hug your pups and your kitties, and send a few kind thoughts (or a small donation of time or money) to your local no-kill shelter. They do good work there.