TEN CHEAP WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR DOG RESCUE

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

Whether you have 2 dogs or 200 dogs, your rescue dogs all need the same basic requirements. Rescue dogs may need more than your own pet dog that has had a happy life and is a valued member of the family. Often a dog you rescue has been abused in some way and abandoned, rarely I find, due to the dogs’ fault and mainly due to some human being throwing away an unwanted burden. 

Both rescues and pet dogs can benefit from a few of these ideas.  

TEN  CHEAP  WAYS  TO  IMPROVE  YOUR  DOG  RESCUE

1. Feed your dogs not just in bowls but also in stuffed Kongs or in hollow huge bones, so as to make meals last longer. Your dogs will also have more to do. If you feed dry food, put some round the enclosure rather than just in one bowl. They will be occupied finding food and not bored. If you don't give a dog a job he will go self-employed!

2. Give dogs something to chew - large raw marrowbones. Chewing is an important stress reliever for dogs and most dogs find kennels very stressful. If there's nothing to chew they may even chew the bars, beds, blankets, walls the list is endless!

3. Put some dry food or treats in a pouch on each kennel where adopters walk past, they can then give one or 2 to the dog. This will help dogs feel positive about the people walking by and will also help adopters notice the dogs. Teaching the dogs to sit for a treat will show adopters that the dog can be trained. Or put a toy for them to play with the dog through the bars. 

4. Tie tug toys on the side of the pen so that the dog can take out its frustration on the toy. This is particularly good for terriers that like shaking toys.

5. Place dogs together not alone, if you can find a compatible pair. You need to choose your dogs carefully otherwise you can find an injured traumatised dog in the pen. If you aren't dog wise don't do it or stick to dogs that come in as a pair. Remember two bitches together are most likely to fight. Don't put a problem-free dog with a problem dog. Sod's law  says that you will soon have TWO problem dogs, since the new dog will quickly imitate the problem behaviour. MAKE sure all dogs are neutered. You must be aware of an unspayed bitch in season and take steps to keep her away from unneutered males. You don't want to be responsible for filling up your own shelter!

6. Have a chill-out area for overstressed dogs to get some rest and quiet. This could be a storeroom or even an office where they cannot see the passers-by. Senior dogs really appreciate a soft bed and a quiet room.

7. Encourage dog walker volunteers to spend time inside the kennel as well as on walks with a dog. Time in the kennel with a dog keeps up the dogs' skills with people. Teach basic commands such as sit and down. Colour co-ordinate volunteers with dogs, yellow perhaps for a new volunteer with a good dog working to red for very experienced handlers and problem dogs.

8. Give toys. Change these regularly. An appeal for unwanted dog toys would probably get into the local paper so it need not cost too much. The local pet shop might put out a donation bin for them too as well ad food and equipment donations. Always use harnesses or flat collars to walk the dogs NEVER choke chains. 

9. Put a brightly coloured bandana on a dog that is being overlooked by adopters. Some ugly mongrels often need help to sell themselves. Teach the dog to do a little trick and put a label saying he will do this. Put up a blog about each dog detailing where he came from, good with kids, cats etc or not as the case maybe.

10. Add some kind of platform in the pen so that a dog can sit on top of it. If it is hollow he will also be able to sit underneath it. Kennel enrichment is a major welfare consideration. Dogs will go mad and manifest in behaviours that can be the cause of an early death for some dogs.

Animal Welfare

The animal welfare laws were updated in the UK in 2007. Anyone who is found to be cruel or does not provide for an animals welfare can now be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20,000 and/or sent to prison. It has always been against the law to be cruel to animals but now owners must also ensure that their animals welfare is looked after properly.

IN HOMES AND SHELTERS I BELIEVE THAT EVERY ANIMAL IS ENTITLED TO;

A BED - clean, dry and comfortable.
TOYS – To chew, encourage play and to relieve boredom. Stuffed with food or designed to be destroyed.
A NAME – numbers are cold and give the impression of an institution. A name shows an animals personality and gives the public a humane caring impression of the shelter.
TO BE CLEAN AND DRY – No animal deserves to live in it own urine, faeces and soiled bedding.
HAVE THE LIGHT OUT AT NIGHT- Dogs and cats need to rest, sleep and de-stress.
To be petted with kind human contact, with soft words and love EVERY DAY.
To see the sun, hail or rain and dogs to enjoy a sniff on a walk EVERY DAY.
To be kept in a home environment, when possible, and spend time indoors EVERY DAY. 

ANYTHING LESS IS JUST WAREHOUSING ANIMALS

THE 5 FREEDOMS

Behaviourists and welfare workers all believe every animal in our care is entitled to the 5 Freedoms. This is the standard to which we all aspire to providing for our abused and abandoned rescues as well as the well loved family pet.

1.    FREEDOM FROM HUNGER AND THIRST
2.    FREEDOM FROM PAIN, INJURY AND DISEASE
3.    FREEDOM FROM DISCOMFORT (temperature, hard bedding etc)
4.    FREEDOM FROM FEAR AND DISTRESS
5.    FREEDOM TO EXPRESS NORMAL BEHAVIOUR

The 5 Freedoms make us think about all the things that can affect how animals feel. The 5 freedoms remind us every day that we are caring for living breathing creatures. Use the 5 freedoms to assess the quality of life for your own pet. Is he well fed and healthy? But is he cold and does he have a comfortable bed? What about no.5? Why does the freedom to express normal behaviour matter?
Think about circus animals, do the Tigers express NORMAL behaviour? When you really look close you can see stress, fear and anxiety. Other circus animals are not allowed to freely express how they would normally behave. Elephants kept chained by the leg swaying back and forth slowly going mad. Think about yourself. If you were healthy, comfortable and had every whim catered to BUT you were not allowed to meet or speak to anyone else, could you be happy? Some behaviour is so important to animals that if they cant perform them they will suffer emotionally and may result in physical problems too. These are called behavioural needs, and each species of animal has a different need to another. Cats have many different needs to dogs or parrots or rabbits. Also if we look at the various dog breeds, we are responsible for, behaviour needs vary, different breeds have different needs. Border Collies need to chase, round things up, catch balls. Bassett hounds need to follow a good scent for miles but wont win a sheep trial. Terriers need to dig but your Greyhound needs to run. 

SO WHY ARE BEHAVIOUR AND EMOTIONS IMPORTANT WHEN TRAINING?

Animals rely on their emotions for survival. The 5 F’s - Flight, fight, freeze, faint or fiddle, are all survival strategies based on emotions. So when training or dealing with an unwanted behaviour we need to look at the overall life of the animal we are dealing with.  
Animals that are showing signs of one of the 5 F’s or are denied any of the 5 Freedoms cannot be in a state of mind to learn.  Pain, stress, hunger, etc will all cause an animal to ‘shut down’ and trying to teach that animal any kind of behaviour is verging on impossible. This is when some owners become frustrated and resort to bully tactics. Pushing the puppy into a sit or a down can be stressful and no one wants a bully for a teacher.
At COAPE (Centre Of Applied Pet Ethology) we use the EMRA (Emotion Mood Reinforcement Assessment) code to evaluate how an animal is feeling and what is reinforcing the unwanted behaviours. What can we do to improve that animals lifestyle or pleasure budget.  
Quite often by changing our behaviour and the way we deal with our pets behaviour the problem behaviour can be easily dissolved and by teaching the pet to offer an alternative behaviour will result in reward and positive attention. What is reinforcing the unwanted behaviour and how can we change it to result in fading the bad stuff and encouraging the good stuff?
Chock chains, shock collars, and ‘yank and yell’ methods have been used for years to bully our dogs into compliance and are still being used today by traditional trainers. I do not ever use nor condone the use of this outdated equipment and, to my mind, dog abuse on a daily basis. 
In the last 10yrs or so much more reward-based techniques have been used to turn around training with a much better understanding of how emotions have a huge impact on our companion animals.
So if you want to get the best from your pet think about how your behaviour impacts on his.

A NATION'S GREATNESS AND MORAL PROGRESS IS 
SHOWN BY THE WAY IT TREATS ITS ANIMALS 

Mahatma Ghandi 

Bev Truss DipCABT 

Edited by Socket - 02 October 2008 at 1:57pm