a big round of cyber applause for... Animal Care staff!!

October really started on a high note because on the first of the month, Pickle, star of that box office smash "Pickle's Playhouse", was adopted! Just like the title of this post reads - let's give a big round of cyber applause to ARF's Animal Care staff, who helped make her time here with us not just bearable for her, but downright enjoyable! The photo above shows Pickle, now "Pepper", in her new home.

As nice as our facility is, the whole experience of being sheltered can be tough on dogs & cats. Some aspects of sheltering can be overstimulating for our four legged guests, while other aspects are understimulating. Here at ARF we are lucky to have our awesome Animal Care staff, who play a huge part in ensuring that our critters time here is as stress free as possible. As well as seeing to all of the animal's basic needs, the AC staff also find time to do stuff like: take a dog on a trail walk, run playgroups, teach dogs to use the agility equipment (Salty Dog and Suze are agility superstars!), play fetch, work on training cues, quietly socialize with the shyer cats, and play with the livelier ones. It's not just our modern facility that makes our shelter a nice environment for the critters - it's down to the hardworking folks who keep it running too - cue cyber applause now! 

Other news to report:

Shelter trainer Lindsey had her baby, a wee boy, named Cassius, I've seen photos of him, and the lad is a looker! Covering for Lindsey during her maternity leave will be fill-in trainer Ana, who just started, and will be working full time. She's a friend of Lindsey's, as they were classmates at the Academy for Dog Trainers last year. Her very lovely Portuguese Water Dog, Dara, is coming to work too - herself and Jethro are already fast friends!

Well, we are absolutely delighted that another ARF dog, wee Henrietta, has made the journey up to Dogs for the Deaf in Oregon, to begin training as an assistance dog! I'm sure she'll thrive on having a job to do, and what a difference she'll make in somebody's life!

The APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers) conference is being held in Oakland this year, and there is an entire day devoted to issues surrounding working with shy/fearful dogs. Like many shelters, we see our fair share of shy critters, so it should be a really helpful and informative day altogether.

Raider Nation Cat Celebration

ARF's second annual Raider's Nation Cat Celebration is off to a great start sending home some wonderful older and overlooked cats. From September 24th-October 25th ARF waives the adoption fees on all cats over one year courtesy of the Oakland Raiders. 8 year old Lela and 5 year old Waffles have found new, loving homes. 3 year old calico sisters Touchdown and Coach went home together. 3 year old Quarterback and snuggly staff favorite Slim have also left the building for their forever homes. But the highlight of the Celebration is shy and gentle Helen who lived at ARF for a year and a half and is now in a home of her own. So at the end of the first quarter that's a total of 14 adult cats who have scored loving homes thanks to the Raiders!

happy beginnings...

It's always great to hear follow up stories about our former shelter guests or see photos of them in their new homes. As a member of the intake team here at ARF these follow ups are made all the sweeter because I can't help but remember where these critters came from and how they started out. Seeing and hearing about these dogs and cats living out the happy endings they so richly deserve never fails to make everyone's day here at ARF, as every single one of us has had a vital part to play in their journey from homeless animal to homeward bound. By and large, our shelter alumni are now enjoying being cherished companions and family members, but recently one of our shelter dogs was selected for some very special duties:

Marcus, is a 1 year old wirehair terrier mix we pulled from the Madera shelter back in August. He recently made the journey up to Dogs for the Deaf's training facility in Oregon. He was hand picked by one of their trainers, Erik, on a recent visit to ARF, and drove back up there with him the following day. Apparently Marcus really enjoyed his roadtrip, and soon will begin training to become a Hearing Dog, learning all the skills he'll need to be able to assist a deaf or hearing impaired person. This is kind of like a "happy beginning" for Marcus, as I'm sure he has a real adventure ahead of him! How awesome is it that a wee homeless dog from the Central Valley is going to get the chance to make such a difference in someone's life? And how awesome is it that we count him as one of our ARF alumni? Pretty awesome if you ask me.

Foster Socialization Training for Shy/Fearful Critters

Last Thursday evening, we had a great turnout for our Foster Training for Shy/Undersocialized cats and dogs. We had over 15 volunteers/families sign up to help our dogs and cats blossom into wonderful companion animals. The volunteers are now trained on how to make a dog or cat more comfortable in their foster home and out in the world, which will in turn help them to get adopted. What a great asset to have a team of core fosters who can help with specific behavioral needs! Welcome Socialization Fosters!

The subject of fear (and working with shy critters) is near and dear to my heart. Two of us behavior lasses have shy/fearful dogs in our homes and continue to work them on a daily basis. Working with these dogs is a labor of love, but it's well worth the kisses and tail wags at the end of the day.

Sibley (Lindsey's dog) is pictured below- happily hanging out in the truck as others are working!

We both frequent the Shy K-9's Yahoo Group: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/shy-k9s/
and enjoy the resources of one of the members at http://www.fearfuldogs.com/. Check them out if you have a shy dog.

If you are interested in fostering (shy critters or medical need critters), please contact Erika at ekleoni@arf.net.

Rural Dog Syndrome

The majority of the dogs at ARF come from shelters in rural central California. Most adapt quickly to life in their new suburban or urban Bay Area homes. Others may take a bit longer because of what we have been calling "rural dog syndrome." I'll explain using my foster pup Jethro as an example.

We came across little Jethro in a kennel on the adoption floor of Madera County Animal Services. He was the first pit bull we had seen in their new adoption building so we figured he must have caught staff's attention to be lucky enough to make it up there. Turns out he came in as a stray covered in hundreds of ticks. While the patient shelter staff carefully pulled off all of the vile bloodsuckers little Jethro fell asleep on the table. When I met him in his kennel he showed me what a softie he was when he climbed into my lap to give kisses. Needless to say, he won himself a space on the truck.

Fast forward to Jethro in foster in Oakland. Whatever socialization he received in the rural town of Madera during his first seven months did not adequately prepare him for the change of scene he now finds himself in. He's quite noise sensitive, leaping up from a deep sleep to run to a window at the sound of a shopping cart full of cans and bottles rolling by. Everyday things can send him skittering away. This morning on our walk a gull the size of an adolescent pterodactyl swooped low over our heads and Jethro hit the deck. Walking up the stairs and over the pedestrian walkway spanning the train tracks is a trial that I've never given a thought to before now with Wilma, my well socialized dog who grew up in Berkeley.

It's not that Jethro has "bad" or "negative" associations about all the new sights and sounds he's encountering, more likely he has no associations or experience of them, so has no ability to process all the new stuff in his world. Finding ways to make Jethro think that all this new stuff rocks is ultimately what will enable him to thrive in more urban surroundings.

My job now is to help Jethro go from "country mouse" to "city mouse"- he absolutely loves people and that, and having a relaxed and easygoing sister dog helps him realize that things aren't really as scary as he he once thought. With patience, treats, and lots of positive experiences with the things he's never seen before, Jethro will be a happy boy, comfortable living in the busy Bay Area.

Introducing Shelter U

We're now on Week 3 of Shelter U and the volunteers and dogs love it! Through Shelter U, volunteers get to work with the dogs on the adoption floor to give them a bit of training before they find their forever homes while providing mental stimulation. The volunteers are learning training skills to train current and future dogs here at ARF. As a bonus, they learn skills to use on their own dogs at home. Today, one volunteer reported that her dog loves training with the clicker. She is using it to pass "squirrel city" near her house with quite the success!

Thus far we've worked on sit, down, watch, go to your mat, wait at doors, touch, and leave it. Many of the dogs attending class are new each week, but we also have a few repeat clients. They sing the praises of our volunteers efforts and look forward to class each week.

Here's a clip of shelter dog Suze at the very first class - Suze says "Learning ROCKS!"

Play it again, Sam - dog play styles!

I remember reading about a study that pointed out that even though people think they form friendships with a wide variety of people, the truth is that we befriend those that think like us!

So what does this fact have to with dog's play styles?

Just like us, dogs like to engage in play with dogs that have similar play styles to their own. If a dog's preference is to chase and be chased, he will benefit from being paired with a dog that chases or likes to be chased. This realization is very valuable for professionals in the field as well as dog guardians. If you play close attention to your dog's play style you can match his play style accordingly, resulting in highly rewarding play and less scraps.

Keep in mind as well, that in order for an interaction to be considered playful in the context of play, all parties must consent and welcome the interaction.

Below you will find a list of typical dog playing styles. See if you can identify your dog's play preference. Bonus question: Can you identify the play preference of Pickle and Jethro in the video? Let us know what you think!

Mouth Wrestling, Neck Wrestling, Chasing and Being Chased, Body Slamming/ Hip Bumping

Note: Several of the above may be part of a dog's play style repertoire.