Kalamata, Greece

The time has come in the journey for a bit of a change. And when I say change I don't mean a new country. I'm still in Greece and have decided to travel to a small town just outside Kalamata to assist the good folks who run the DASH dog shelter http://phok.eu 

I've seen dog shelters before but not anything like this.

I really don't know where to start.

Let's go with the people first. The team is tiny when you consider all the work that needs to be done.

Their dedication, devotion, drive and work ethic is off the scale.

I get tied just by watching them.

Secondly there's the dogs. Not a few dogs. Not even lots of dogs. There is an entire city of dogs. At the moment the shelter is providing care and sanctuary for around 300!

It's unbelievable ordered chaos.

There's nowhere you can go without there being a dog. Not even the toilet. 

I cant believe how well all the dogs get along with one another. They are so well behaved. Most of the time.

My first job was to assist with helping to build a timber deck from a caravan to the washrooms. The area is about 3x3 metres, not to big but the real challenge is working around the dogs.

Picture this. We're the laying floor bearers and affixing the decking while being smothered by about thirty dogs all equally keen and eager to help out. They're on my lap, under my arms and in my face.

Sure it's difficult but I wouldn't change it. I actually love it.

The shelter itself requires heaps of work. There's loads of things to build and erect not to mention the multitude of daily tasks and duties in just caring for the dogs. There's no doubt I'll be kept very busy while I'm here so the blog posts may be a bit light on for a period.

I've no photos now but I'll post some soon.