Tarkin, a fun-loving 3-year-old Pitbull, loves to see Molly Clark holding a leash coming to his kennel at the Kitsap Humane Society’s animal shelter.

It means the pooch is going outside to sniff and enjoy wooded trails around the shelter’s campus.

“As I walked to his kennel today, Tarkin looked at me, and his whole body changed. His eyes softened. His tongue rolled out of his mouth. He was wagging his tail so hard it was making a U-shape and his body was moving side to side,” smiled Clark, a volunteer in the shelter’s dog walking program.

“He gets so excited when I arrive. There is a bit of barking but mostly he whines – like he’s saying, ‘Lets go!’ You can’t get the leash on him fast enough and to get him out the door.”

The dog walking program does more for shelter dogs than provide a potty break. Outings also help make dogs more adoptable by providing them exercise, mental stimulation, and opportunities to socialize and bond with humans, said Chris Russell, volunteer manager at the shelter in Silverdale.

“When the dogs are taken outside, they can explore using all of their senses…Also, the dog walkers do behavior sessions and active training with the animals. Dogs learn skills that allow them to more successfully transition into a home. They learn leash skills and good walking skills like ‘sit’ and ‘lay down,’” Russell said.

Clark, of Bremerton, has been a volunteer dog walker there for 11 years. “I love dogs. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always wanted one. Every holiday I’d ask, ‘Can I get a dog?’ And the answer was always no. Then one day in sixth grade my very best friend moved away. I was so distraught mom finally let me get a dog because she knew I needed someone. That sealed the deal,” she said.

Today Clark is “mom” to two pooches – “Sunny,” a 1-year-old German Shepard/Boxer, and “Thomas,” a 4-year-old Pitbull/St. Bernard mix. The 48-year-old also has seven guinea pigs, all adopted from the shelter. Over the years, Clark has fostered kittens, gerbils and hamsters. Her job even deals with dogs. She works at Alder Creek Pet Lodge in Poulsbo, which cares for pups while their paw-rents are out of town.

Clark and the other volunteers walk several dogs during their shifts. Each of the facility’s 30 dogs gets two 15-minute walks daily on the half-mile of forested trails. The property offers the animals plenty of trees and bushes to do their business.

Walkers can also sign up for “enrichment time.” That gives animals extra time outside at area parks or at the “play yard” on campus. “The play yard has tennis balls and big kick balls they can play with. There is also a little kiddie pool that they like to play in. I had a dog last week, as soon as he got there, he just sighed and took a nap in the sun for 45 minutes. He was so happy,” Clark smiled.

Clark said she when her dad died she began to lose her way, so a friend suggested she volunteer at the Humane Society. “The friend said sometimes it’s hard to heal yourself, but healing others tends to heal you,” Clark recounted.

“I went in for orientation, and I saw this dog – it still makes me cry – and her face showed she had lost everything. She was so sad and scared and shut down. I completely felt the same thing that dog was feeling. I didn’t want to see that in her eyes and I told her I will make sure you are going to be OK.

“It gives me so much joy being there. I feel like I get so much back from those dogs. Just taking them for a walk, letting them get out of that kennel, or hugging them…,” she said.

The days she comes to walk her four-legged pals are the best. “I’m ecstatic,” Clark admits. Driving to the shelter she often blasts the 1980s-hit “Walking on Sunshine” to celebrate. “I hope I am giving them as much as they give me. Seeing those dogs makes my whole day better.”

Volunteer opportunities

The shelter is looking for more walkers. The program could use an additional 75 for the summer, Russell said.

Applicants go through a brief e-training, followed by an hour of “Snout School,” on-site training where they tour the shelter and walk a pooch with staff. Volunteers work at least one two-hour shift a week. Novice walkers start off with easy dogs and work their way up to more challenging ones. Anyone age 13 to adult can sign up, though those 13-15 require an adult to accompany them on walks.

Russell has one warning: About one dog walker a month gets so attached they end up adopting the tail-wagger.