People for Pets: Play Group Training Grant Report

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

The money was used to send one of our regular volunteers to the Dogs Playing for Life Mentorship program in Longmont, Colorado.

She came back with a lot of new knowledge that has really improved our confidence and ability to have dogs socialize and meet one another in a much safer fashion than what was previously done here. We have happier dogs during their stay, as most are now able to interact with others for play and socialization! The shelter dogs would normally have been alone when let out, which was done for safety, but was not necessary in most cases. It also allows us to observe dogs with one another and be better able to inform potential adopters on how the dog plays and what types of dogs it will interact better with.

How many pets did this grant help?

Endless. We typically have 15-20 dogs in the shelter, but this training will continue to help all the dogs that come through the shelter.

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

Jazzy was a Lab mix who came to our shelter from a domestic-abuse situation, where she was apparently very protective of her female owner. This created some issues with Jazzy’s trust of humans and other dogs, as she came off as aggressive based on the anxiety she displayed behind her kennel door and also her demeanor when outside. After implementing the training skills we had learned through Dogs Playing for Life, we decided it was time for Jazzy to interact with another dog and she completely opened up. She played and ran and was much less tense around the handlers at the shelter. We think this definitely helped in the lead-up to her adoption, as we had a happier dog, and the adopter felt good about letting Jazzy meet her own dog. The meeting ultimately went wonderfully and Jazzy now has her forever home!