Friends of Oakland Animal Services: Play Group Training Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

Grant for DPFL mentorship

The grant trained our Behavior Coordinator on playgroups. The Coordinator then went back to the shelter and initiated a playgroup schedule.

How many pets did this grant help?

N/a

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Tilly was extremely fearful and shut down in the shelter. She was fearful of people and the environment and hesitant to engage. Once she was brought into playgroup, she was a different dog!

She LOVED dogs and could play with any dog! She was a helper dog who assisted in evaluating other dogs’ behavior and brought out the best in dogs who were selective or fearful of most other dogs.

Being in playgroup made her more marketable for fosters and rescues, so she quickly went to a foster home and then a rescue. She was adopted and now lives a great life with another dog sibling.

PHOTO CREDIT: Kathy Kinnear