Ozarks Kat and K9: Dogs Playing for Life Mentorship Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The $1,000 awarded to us through this grant was used to send our new Animal Enrichment Technician to the Dogs Playing for Life Mentorship Program with training in playgroups and fancy footwork, which she attended at Longmont Humane Society in Longmont, Colorado, from June 7-10, 2021.
This generous grant allowed us to expand the education of our employee, who in turn shares her knowledge with our entire shelter staff. This has greatly increased the adoptability of the animals in our care and significantly improves their chances for success in their new forever homes.
How many pets did this grant help?
From June 2021 to the present, this grant has helped 48 dogs.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Our precious lovebug, Jewel, joined us here at the shelter in January of 2021 along with her eight babies who were just 9 days old. She was found, with her newborns, in an old barn on the finder’s property. She was a good mama and all her babies found their new homes quickly. Unfortunately, after moving to our adoption floor, she did not get much interest from adopters. She was protective and she had a hard time accepting strangers or other animals.
Thankfully, due to the tools learned at the DPFL mentorship, we were able to get Jewel involved in playgroup, and she was surprisingly successful. She became our rock star in playgroup. She helped many other dogs learn the joys of playgroup and socialization.
Jewel got a lot of publicity during a visit from Scott Poore with Mission Driven, which brought her into the spotlight of hopeful adopters in the bigger city.
After Jewel had lived at the shelter for 190 days, we finally got the opportunity to transfer her to our good friends at Great Plains SPCA in Merriam, Kansas, where she quickly found her forever home in just a few days!
She now lives happily with two new canine companions, and enjoys frequent visits from her owners’ grandchildren, who all love her as much as we do!
Without the knowledge we gained through DPFL training, Jewel’s story would likely be a much different one. We are so thankful for all the good accomplished through your program!
