Paws for Life Rescue: Orvis Dog Enrichment Grant Report

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

Grant funds were used to purchase supplies to make flirt-toy poles for the foster dogs in our care. Funds were also used to purchase harnesses needed for the dogs to be on-leash during flirt-pole activities. Our foster dogs benefit from behavior training with flirt poles before they can be adoptable.

Volunteers were organized to help make the flirt poles from donated and purchased supplies. All poles and harnesses can be used for future foster dogs in the rescue. We made more than 30 poles, which will benefit hundreds of dogs, as we will reuse them for years.

We know that the mental stimulation and exercise using flirt poles can provide much-needed enrichment for many of our dogs awaiting adoption. Many of the dogs we pull from [open-intake] shelters are high-energy and highly reactive. During the cold winter months in Michigan, these flirt poles can be utilized indoors to exercise dogs when they're not able to go outside in extreme temperatures. Both long outdoor poles and short indoor poles are used for the dogs. They are a great training tool for our behavior-challenged dogs who need to work on impulse control, manage energy levels, and practice training commands both on-leash and off-leash. This training tool will help hundreds of dogs to be more adoptable!

How many pets did this grant help?

30 current foster dogs and many future dogs

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

Rosa (pictured) is a sweet, fun 3-year-old dog who loves to be rewarded for learning new things. She is eager to train with the new flirt poles, especially with a plush, soft toy at the end of the rope! She is available for adoption through Paws for Life Rescue and you can learn more about her here.