Adopt-A-Pet: Dogly Do Good Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The money from the grant was used for training for two dogs who had been in our shelter for a very long time. Both dogs developed behaviors on top of bad manners from living in the shelter environment for 6+ months. Both dogs needed extensive training after making mistakes and biting due to someone grabbing their collars or grabbing a toy roughly, or jumping and biting to get attention.
Bethany came to our shelter with her eight puppies. She stayed at our shelter for six weeks while she nursed her pups and weaned them. She developed a fear of children and new men and became barrier-aggressive. She was declining and needed more help than we were able to provide. Bethany went to a three-week training at a trainer's facility. She was able to learn proper behaviors in just one week. Bethany was able to calm herself down and self-soothe and suddenly had no problems with children, men or other dogs. Bethany was adopted and shares her home with another dog whom she adores. While Bethany was away at training, it allowed space for three new dogs to be rescued and adopted.
See below for Theodore's story.
How many pets did this grant help?
This grant directly helped two dogs with the special, intense training. Indirectly, there were five other dogs who benefited from Bethany and Theodore going away to training.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Bethany (first four photos) came to our shelter with her eight puppies. She was a wonderful mom. She stayed at our shelter for six weeks while she nursed her pups and weaned them. She was not a fan of other dogs around her. She was fearful of certain men. While she stayed at our shelter, she developed a fear of children and new men and became barrier-aggressive. She got along great with one dog and not any others. Her emotional health was declining and she needed more help than we were able to provide. Bethany went to a three-week training at a trainer’s facility. She was able to learn proper behaviors in just one week. Bethany was able to calm herself down and self-soothe and worked it out so that she had no problems with children, men or other dogs.
Bethany had a family who became interested. They were impressed with her behavior and training. They brought their current dog to meet her and they hit it off immediately. She was adopted and shares her home with another dog whom she adores.
Theodore (fifth photo) was also a dog who is currently receiving training due to the grant. He has been with us for almost a full year. He was rescued from Detroit, where he had been tied to a tree and starved his whole life. He had some “quirks” and behaviors that we were able to work with. Sadly, he developed new behaviors and fears. The time in our shelter caused him to spin, become aggressive toward other dogs (he wasn’t when he first came), and start protecting items in his room. In addition to the those unwanted behaviors, Theodore also became very nervous and reactive. We knew we needed him to be worked with and called the trainer. He is currently with her for three weeks to focus on working on the undesired behaviors and allow him to get back in touch with himself.
Theodore has a gentleman interested in him but no adoption yet. By him going to training it has opened up his room to allow for more dogs to enter our system for adoption. Theodore’s Petfinder link is https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/33674060.
