Meet Rebecca Wheeler, one of our Hampton Roads volunteers, and her pup, Delta!

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐠!

Hi, I’m Rebecca, a newly retired Professor of English Linguistics from Christopher Newport University where I taught for 25 years. My doggie, (originally named “Angel”), came to me from LRGR, now 5 full years ago – She’s 6.5 now! This doggie was in a shelter in North Carolina, after Animal Control had removed her from a family who had neglected her, leaving her alone, outdoors in a kennel.

It was Summer 2019 – I had just started volunteering as Owner Surrender Coordinator, and my friend, Ashley Hutcheson, who was not yet a volunteer with LRGR, but who now is our dynamo Shelter Intake Coordinator, sent me a pic of this sad black lab girl from the Bertie County Animal Shelter. As I was looking for a black lab, I quickly jumped on the Shelter info, and got permission from our LRGR President, Christine Wilson, to go evaluate the pooch. It was love at first sight. I signed up for Foster to Adopt, and adopted the girl within the week. I renamed her “Delta” because delta is the mathematical symbol for change–and there was lots of change in both her and my life!

𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫.

I began serving as Owner Surrender Coordinator in January of 2019, after having been charmed by the LRGR Facebook postings the previous Autumn. I so enjoyed and admired the LRGR Facebook posts that I contacted LRGR to see if I might volunteer. The answer was “Yes, please!” I’m in my sixth year now and going strong!

Volunteering with Lab Rescue of Greater Richmond is really important to me. I’m a total dog person. Now 72 years old, I’ve had a dog every minute of my life, and in particular, I love the sheer joy of Labradors. Serving as Owner Surrender Coordinator allows me to help both dogs in need and their families.

The process for serving as Owner Surrender Coordinator has very clear steps. When a family submits an application to surrender their doggie, we screen the app for a few key components: The dog needs to really look like a Labrador, and it needs to not be aggressive. There’s more, but those are key.

Once we pass that step, I phone the family for a 30-minute conversation where we learn more about the dog, and the owner learns more about our process. I always share my appreciation of the owner for their love and commitment to pursue a rescue and not just take their dog to a shelter. People confront hardship and changed circumstances in life, and LRGR is here to help find their doggie a new, well-suited forever home.

After that conversation, we then arrange an in-person evaluation with a same sex dog to get to know the doggie even better. And then it’s time for advertisement – we will look for a foster, or a foster-to-adopt, or an adopter. It takes time, and all rescues need more fosters. However, the Owner Surrender Coordinator job pretty much concludes at the point the doggie is evaluated. Then others take over to gentle the pooch to adoption.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫?

I am proud to serve with LRGR. I savor telling owners about how careful our process is – in vetting our fosters, in vetting our applicants, in matching dogs with appropriate homes, and in our follow-up assuring that the dogs are doing well. I feel elated to know that I’m helping convey a dog who is having rough times to a life of companionship, walks, toys and love. Quite often, the owners who are surrendering out of hardship are comforted to learn how thorough and careful we are at Lab Rescue of Greater Richmond. It brings them peace to know that we are caretakers and match makers for their pooches.

This is why I am committed to serving as Owner Surrender Coordinator – it’s for the love of doggies!

If you’d like to learn more about the role of an Owner Surrender Coordinator or apply to become part of the Owner Surrender Intake Team, please visit: https://www.labrescue-richmond.com/volunteer