Dog o' Day
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Shelter dogs are greeters at hotels in Maine and California

By Wesley Coburn

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 25: Scooter the Dog attends Refinery29 And VCA 'Pet Friendly' Series Premiere Party With Director Whitney Cummings At The Jefferson at The Jefferson on July 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Refinery29)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JULY 25: Scooter the Dog attends Refinery29 And VCA 'Pet Friendly' Series Premiere Party With Director Whitney Cummings At The Jefferson at The Jefferson on July 25, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Refinery29) /
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Hotels in Maine and California using shelter dogs as lobby greeters.

Hotels in Maine and California are using shelter dogs as greeters in the lobby, according to The Today Show.

The Inn by the Sea, a resort near Portland, uses dogs as greeters, and all of them are adoptable, through a partnership with the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.

148 dogs have been adopted by guests, according to Inn by the Sea Rauni Kew, Inn by the Sea public relations manager.

“We care for the dog and give it a temporary home here until somebody falls in love and adopts the dog,” Kew told The Today Show. 

The resort offers a special dog-friendly area for dining for with humans, and they also have a gourmet dog menu.

In California, the Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage, near San Diego, has a similar program that they call the Dog Samaritans Adoption Project, which is a partnership with the nonprofit group Animal Samaritans.

There’s a little doghouse in the lobby where dogs can hang out and entice guests to play with them, while the program is designed to teach the dogs that people can be safe and friendly.

The Dog Samaritans Adoption Project has found homes for 137 dogs, according to Raquel Wood, Westin Hills executive assistant to the general manager.

“Our dogs have been adopted all over,” Wood told The Today Show. “It’s just great to see.”

Each August the hotel hosts a reunion of adopted dogs, with the puppers enjoying peanut butter cookies and the humans enjoying dog-themed cocktails during Yappy Hour.

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August 1 is considered the birthday for all shelter dogs, according to National Today. It is an unofficial holiday called DOGust 1st.

Nebraska police officers have been known to take shelter dogs on ride-alongs, and Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl spinoff, the Dog Bowl, also spotlights adoptable dogs.

For more information about dogs used as hotel greeters, see the Inn by the Sea and the Westin Hills websites, and please be sure to help out your local animal shelter if you have the time and/or resources.

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