Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control: Play Group Training Grant Report

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

DPFL Mentorship for Behavior and Enrichment Coordinator Stephanie Moore.

This grant allowed us to send our new Behavior and Enrichment Coordinator to Colorado for formal Dogs Playing For Life training. We had received some training from representatives of DPFL in the past; however, those employees who received the previous training had only experienced abbreviated training here on site and many were no longer employed by us. By having Ms. Moore go to this training, our knowledge has been refreshed and she has been able to pass that knowledge and training on to current staff. Our large, "square-headed" dogs have benefited greatly and our live-release rate for dogs has been holding steady at 92-94%. Adopters and rescues appreciate greatly that the dogs that they take from us have shown good dog skills, or that those skills in which they are lacking have been identified. We also have a Facebook playgroup page that is closely followed by rescues and members of the public, which helps those potential adopters make a decision about adopting dogs from us.

How many pets did this grant help?

Our dog adoptions since October 1, 2019: 531 dogs

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

Bud came to us as stray in mid October, 2019. He had been a frequent stray visitor to the complainant’s backyard and was causing some damage. The complainant was not able to catch and confine him, so an animal control officer was dispatched. The officer was able to catch him and bring him in. Upon intake, it was discovered that Bud had some large wounds that required surgical repair.

After wound repair, Bud spent about two weeks being monitored for pain and proper healing. During this time, while he was on “bed-rest,” it was unknown whether he was friendly to other animals. When he was cleared for increased activity, he was introduced to playgroups. It was noted that he was somewhat shy and fearful of noises and that he was not leash-trained. Given time to meet and observe other dogs, he warmed up to the other dogs in low-energy groups and showed that he was a sweet, friendly boy with a love of cuddling.

In November 2019, Bud was successfully adopted by a woman who had six cats and one dog at home.