Pet Rescue: Perkins Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Creating a sensory playground for dogs rescued from [open-admission] shelters to help them adjust to life with a family, in a home and in a community. We want to desensitize our rescues to the visual and auditory stimuli in a suburban area, to stimulate their brains and to teach them to follow basic directions.
As we know, dogs need mental stimulation as well as physical activity. Our dogs are walked alone and in packs, are given time in our different fenced-in playgrounds and paired with other dogs for supervised play. All of the dogs at the kennel interact with the volunteers, but it is still a kennel. The new playground, although not totally finished due to weather conditions and a needed repair to a water main, has given the dogs a new place to learn more sophisticated skills. They have learned to maneuver around a variety of obstacles, walk on new surfaces and, most importantly, to follow specific directions, understand the body language of humans, and develop the confidence to go out into the world. It allowed the volunteer dog walkers and trainers to provide activities to teach specific targeted behaviors.
How many pets did this grant help?
At any given time, Pet Rescue has at least 15 dogs and as many as 40 at the kennel, with about 25-40 in foster homes. Within the last three months, all dogs that came through our doors were able to interact with the equipment and volunteers -- approximately 40 dogs.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Tilly (first and second photos) was rescued with her sister in September 2015. Her sister was adopted within a few months, but no one seemed interested in the very beautiful cream-and-tan pit mix. After months of waiting, she was adopted by a young couple, but returned a week later. She just was not ready to be in a family home. Tilly was walked and taught specific skills, but needed to have the experience of working with the trainer on the equipment and actually figuring out what worked and in what order. Having this job and the high-quality equipment to work with made the difference. She was adopted to a trainer and her family has been so impressed with Tilly’s intelligence and willingness to work hard.
Rover (third photo) was another long-term resident. He was a local street dog who was fed by neighbors for a year but would not let anyone approach him until he was found, seriously injured, hiding behind a dumpster. Pet Rescue provided all of the medical care and follow-up therapy to get this boy back on his feet. He was so shy and fearful that, even after months of gentle care, he could only be handled by the most experienced volunteers. A volunteer made it his mission to connect with this beautiful, leggy boy. Daily work on specific skills, working with him on the equipment, and helping him gain confidence brought the two close together. Rover was now able to face the world, taking car rides and making visits to local stores. Rover will be going to his forever home within the next few weeks with his new best “cousin” (fourth photo).
