KC DOG BLOG

Update on Boom-Dog

It's been a long time since I've posted an update on Boomer. Some long-time readers of the blog will remember Boomer -- some of the newer folks won't.

Boomer was one of several dogs that were rescued froma major hoarding bust in Kay County, OK -- in what was as bad of living conditions as you can imagine (I have a few pictures of him in his digs in Kay County here). 

Boomer came to us as a frightful, shut down dog - scared of almost everything. We eventually got him up playing with the other dogs -- but he was always destined to be a bit of a special needs dog.

But Boomer found his forever home - and it was a perfect home at that -- with a family that has embraced his needs, and have really helped him grow. So, below, is an update from Boomer's new family -- with some updated photos  - that his new family sent me late last week.

You can also find a Boomer update on MABBR's webpage -- MABBR, along with Bad Rap, were the two organizations primarily responsible for helping save Boomer and the other dogs from Kay County.

Thank you, thank you to Boomer's new family for all the  love and care they've given him -- he's come a long, long way. Check out by personal page on Facebook -- I'm going to try to post some of his videos over there so you can see him in action.  It's amazing the progress he's made -- and to realize that this is a dog that many would never have give the chance -- and there are many that are greatful for the chance he's been given.

From Boomer's 'mom':

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Last night, while playing on my husband’s laptop, I found where he saved Brent’s story about how we adopted Boomer in his web browser. He saves it, because he loves to tell people Boomer’s story Forever Home.

And with every story, especially Boomer’s, I thought a few more pages needed to be “written” for the Boomer fans out there.

It’s been a year and a half since Boomer went on his 12 day “camping trip” last year. He disappeared last June when something startled him and he bolted out our front door while my husband was trying to get our Bassetts leashed to go outside. Let me tell you, those were the worst 12 days ever. He and I both felt horrible, because we had just adopted Boomer in April, and now he gets away from us in June. Add to that, as you know, Boomer is very “special” in the sense of his PTSD…so not only was he lost in a foreign area to himself, but having no sense of being able to defend himself, scared of every noise, every leaf that blow in the wind, and every tree branch that moves – we were beside ourselves.

Long story short, we were able to find him, and if it wasn’t for the determination and help of yourselves, and a bunch of Boomer family, friends, and fans, we may never have found him. Since he’s been home, I have seen some really great changes in him.

We’ve had to make a few changes ourselves.

I have to be cautious of our flag that hangs on our porch. Not because Boomer is un-patriotic, but because it hangs higher than the level of his head, and the slightest breeze makes it move. This makes him very, very nervous. BUT – After introducing it to him, and putting it down on his level where he can sniff and investigate, and us humans walking outside ahead of him (on a leash, of course) – he is now used to it and doesn’t duck for cover as soon as he sees it when the front door opens.

The dog leashes hang on a shelf against our wall. As long as we “talk” to him and tell him that he is ok, and he knows they aren’t going to fall off the wall and get him somehow…he sleeps more comfortably in his kennel. He is now aware that the ceiling fan in the living room isn’t going to jump out and get him, either.

Along the way, we have discovered that Boomer eats best if he can eat in his kennel, with the door closed. This eases his “flight” fear (I don’t think he has the “fight” mechanism in him at all) and he doesn’t worry about my two Bassetts stealing his dinner. They’ve done it before, ever so politely, and he just let them have it.

So we had to make an alternate plan. My Bassetts are hogs.

He has become more adventerous around the house as well. Primarily, Boomer never leaves our front room or dining area. We have a 3 bedroom house, but he won’t go in any of those rooms unless the Bassetts, and the humans are in there. And that takes some serious coaxing. In the living room, he can park himself up against a wall, and see everyone coming from any angle. Or, he likes to loaf in the recliner with my husband and either watch football or NASCAR. (“Man time.”)

He still does not like going outside, because of being “open and exposed.” BUT – I am sooooo glad to say that over the last few weeks, he has proactively gone up to the front door with the Bassetts to go outside. This is stunning and I am so excited about this! He only does it when he really, really needs to go outside, and still stands there and shakes, but he swallows his fear and stands at the door.

In fact, over the past three months or so, Boomer has started to actually GREET PEOPLE who come to visit at our front door! But it’s only a select few, such as myself, my husband, and my mother…who is a huge Boomer fan and loves hearing about his adaptations and “improvements” in her grand-dog. (Plus, it never hurts that “Nana” brings cookies when she comes to visit…Ha ha ha.)

Boomer has also grown when it comes to going for walks outside. In one video, he has actually started to ease up in his defensiveness…and will actually wag his tail a bit when we’re outside.

He has even proactively approached a few fenced-in neighbor dogs on a few occasions when we’re out, too. And wags his tail when he does it.

My husband has been gone since June for school with the Air Force, and just got back two weeks ago. I was so worried and afraid that Boomer was going to go in reverse in acclimating to him being home again. Instead, he has surprised me, and warmed back up to my husband. I am so thankful that my husband is a patient, understanding man with Boomer and his PTSD.

Boomer is exceptionally special to us with his condition. I say this because several of our close friends are Air Force and Marine Vets who have PTSD as well. Whenever THEY come over to visit, they ALWAYS ask how Boomer is doing. They have shared with me things about their conditions, which in turn helps Gordon and I work with Boomer through his.

Humans and animals with PTSD usually have very similiar symptoms…which is why Vets usually do so much better with PTSD service dogs. So, I got to thinking one night…why not figure out how to become Boomer’s “Service Humans?” We’re trying our best.

Anyone who comes to my house knows Boomer before they even walk in our door. They know about his personality, and are heartbroke by his startings in life. They know that they need to get down on his level and let him proactively approach them. They know that when he comes outside to join us on the front porch in the summer evenings, that when my husband or I open the front door, everyone needs to be still and give him a chance to acclimate and get comfortable on a lap somewhere.

If we need to have someone come by and let our dogs out for us, we give them a complete run down on how to approach him and keep his leash tight when letting him back in the house…otherwise, he panics and will try to go crashing through it. They’re given a complete lesson in the ‘World of Boomer.’

Oh! And I’ve been working on getting him to “speak” for meal time. I wanted him to learn to bark to communicate. He has learned exceptionally fast, and can *almost* do it entirely without being asked to. Sometimes, he’d just prefer to “sing” for it instead. And I’m ok with that…cause it’s one of the most awesome songs in the world.

You never get a secong chance to make a first impression

In all walks of life, we put our best foot forward at first. As the old saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression."

Advertisers know this. They spend a great deal of time and money on photography to make sure their food products in their advertising look as tasty as possible so we are encouraged to buy them. Or show their stores in perfect order even though often clothing racks are disheveled.

Online dating sites are flooded with beautiful pictures of people who are dressed nicely, professionally and clean-shaved in order to capture someone's eye -- even though they may seldom wear makeup or even get dressed -- particularly on weekeneds.

When we invite people over to our house, we spend the entire day cleaning so people can see how nice our place is without all the clutter -- heck, when someone calls to say "they're on their way" we're still likely to pick up some major items that we've just left out during the course of our normal day.

With all of the due diligence we give in the rest of our lives to first impressions, don't our shelter pets deserve the same? Many adopters start their search for a new companion online -- through a shelter's website or Petfinder. Many will fall in love with a pet just based on its picture and well-crafted bio -- which is the adoptable pet's first impression.

Bad Rap had a GREAT post yesterday about the value of adoption photos -- with many great examples of the good and the bad. Please go read it here. Showing pictures of dogs looking at you instead of looking away, showing dogs being loved and embraced by humans instead of alone in their cages, getting dogs out of their cages into natural settings -- the nicer the surroundings the better.

Which dogs on the page are you likely to adopt? 

If the dog is in your shelter, why not put its best foot forward. Give him/her the glamour shot they deserve so they get that "wow" or "awww" first impression. It will give them a better chance of catching someone's eye -- and being the pet someone wants to adopt. It increases their chance of getting adopted, getting into a great home, and getting out of your shelter -- and isn't that why we all do rescue in the first place? 

If you ever want to get inspiration -- go over to "Pound Dogs".  Fred takes absolutely amazing photos of dogs that really captures their personality. I think he does an amazing job of capturing the personalities of the individual dogs so scroll through and take a look, for some of my favorite examples, take a look at Shandra, Tulip, Patou, this unnamed Rottweiler, Chanel, Crumpet,  Audi, and Angus.

Our adoptables often rely on us to make their first impression for them -- so let's do right by them and make a great first impression.  Their lives may very well depend on it.

Photo Credit: Pound Dogs

When has "rescue" become accomplished?

Shirley over at YesBiscuit! is working her butt off trying to find the whereabout of 44 dogs that were "rescued" by the Humane Society of the United States from an apparent hoarding operation in Alabama.

Of the 44 dogs, 10 went to Lincoln County (NC) Animal Services -- a gassing shelter with a high kill rate. Three were killed almost instantly.

Four went to the Humane Society of Charlotte.

Three went to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg shelter -- whose problems are well documented.

Ten went PAWS in Atlanta.

Seventeen are still unaccounted for -- although some likely went to a humane society in Nashville.

As she goes through looking for the dogs, I think it poses an interesting question -- such as, when does 'rescue happen'?

1) Does it happen the second the animals are removed from a horrible situation?  Even if they are then shuffled on to high-kill shelter facilities?

2) Or does it only happen once the animals find homes?

I think one could make an case for either (or both) being "rescue" -- although I would think that the general public would answer #2 -- given that most "animal rescue" organizations focus almost solely on #2.

This isn't of course the first time that HSUS has claimed that they 'rescued' animals from bad situations only to then either promote or place the animals in equally bad situations.

When HSUS raised money after the rescue of the Mike Vick Dogs, they simultaneously lobbied to have them killed.

Earlier this year, HSUS helped "save" nearly  200 dogs from a 'puppy mill' in South Dakota -- but then left town, leaving the overwhelmed local rescue to handle all of the dogs on their own, which ended up leading to at least 28 of the dogs getting sick and dying.

And following Hurricane Katrina, literally hundreds of dogs that were "saved" in a makeshift rescue facility in Gonzales, LA were shipped to organizations around the country and ended up dead in those shelters - -while HSUS raised money for their rescue efforts.

So while technically they did "rescue" the animals from horrible situations, were the animals really 'rescued"?  And how much responsibility does HSUS as an organization have in positive outcomes for the animals -- or does that responsibility rest solely on the organization that takes in the animals?

I think it's an important conversation to have in light of how much money the general public gives to HSUS for the 'rescue' of these animals....

So go over to YesBiscuit! and join the conversation...I think she's working on a really noble cause in helping find out the truth about the final outcomes of these dogs.

 

 

Where do people get their pets (& where do they plan to get them?)

This isn't a new study -- but it's new to me and I thought interesting.

The study was done by GfK Roper Public Affaires & Media and interviewed 1,112 pet owners selected at random. 

According to the study, 13% of people had gotten at least one of their pets from a pet store; 26% from a breeder, 30% from a shelter and 53% from "Other" (other studies would note that "other" likely is made up mostly of from friends/family members, or found as strays (this is particularly high for cats).  The numbers are higher than 100% because people may have multiple pets from different sources.

When asked where people are likely to get their next pet, only 8% say they are very likely to get their next pet from a pet store -- and only additional 10% are "somewhat likely" to get their pet from one.  82% are not likely at all to get their pets from a pet store.

For breeders, 23% of people said they are very or extremely likely to buy their next pet from a breeder -- with 19% saying that they are "somewhat likely to get one from a breeder. 58% are not likely to get their pet from a breeder.

Meanwhile, 54% of people are very or extremely likely to get a pet from a rescue or shelter -- with another 28% of people who are "somewhat likely" to get a pet from a shelter or rescue. Only 18% of people are unlikely to get their next pet from a shelter or rescue.

So looking at the data, the majority of people are already leaning toward rescuing their next pet -- with another 28% of people who are "swing voters" if you will - -could or could not get their pet from a rescue or shelter.

With some 22 million people likely to get a new pet next year, that is a LOT of potentially adopted shelter animals.

As a rescue community we need to bring in these potential adopters and in particular these swing voters and be sure they adopt their next pet. We can do so by making the process fun, the shelter inviting, and the adoption process enjoyable. 

You can read the entire study here.

The information here is fairly consistent with information from similar research from Petsmart Charities.

h/t: to Petdocs on call for the link to the study.

Friday Fun Foster Photos

This is the dynamic duo.

Let me introduce you to Edith (fawn) and Bart (dark brown).

Edith and Bart are the most recent fosters brought into our household.  They're quite the pair.

The duo are two of 200 dogs that were surrendered to HSUS early last month after authorities raided a property in Ohio.  The owner surrendered the dogs to authorities.

The dogs obviously came from less-than-ideal circumstances but are showing few signs of any long-term problems.

Bart is a little shy when on his own, but LOVES other dogs and realy perks up when other dogs are around. 

Edith is a happy-go-lucky dog that doesn't know a stranger -- loving all people and dogs. 

As a pair they're quite amusing.

They'll be up for adoption soon -- along with some 200 other dogs that were surrendered during this raid that are with various rescues around the country.  The raid also illustrates a changing attitude at HSUS about ' pit bulls' that come from raids such as this.  Just 18 months ago, HSUS's official policy would have been to kill all of these dogs -- including Edith and Bart. In this particular case, they actively evaluated all of the dogs and have been working hard with other organizations to try to find placements for all of the dogs.

This is certainly a great step for HSUS (and for the dogs). It is a great and lasting legacy from the Mike Vick case that there is a realization that many of these dogs can be rehabilitated and function nicely in homes. 

And Bart and Edith will need very little rehabilitation.

For more info about the case you can read some about it over at Change.org .  

I'm thrilled that Edith and Bart have been given a second chance at a good life - and they have already shown to be more than up to the challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

"Free Cats" saves lives (and makes money)

I mentioned this in the weekly roundup this week -- but I think it is worthy of a post on its own.

Animal Haven, one of the no kill shelters in the Kansas City area began, in June, offering free cat adoptions for adult cats in the shetlter.

During the summer months, Animal Haven nearly doubled the number of cats adopted from the shelter during the summer months. Because of the successs, the shelter decided to extend the program. Also, because there was more space available at the shelter, Animal Haven has been better able to help out with overflow situations at other area shelters as well as pulling 28 cats from a hoarding case in western Kansas.

The shelter usually adopts cats for $75 for one cat, $100 for two. The fee includes all vaccinations, microchipping, spay/neuter, flea/tick treatment and more. The shelter continued to offer all of these services even when the free cats -- but at no cost to adopters.

Financial suicide, right?

Well, not so much.  Turns out that around 50% of their adopters opted to give the shelter a donation for the adoption even though it wasn't required.  And in addition to this, the shelter has (deservedly) gained a lot of positive publicity.

I have discussed before the potential value of pay as you wish pricing -- this is yet another shining example of the increased number of lives that can be saved with a little bit of inovation in your sheltering approach.

Bravo.

"Boom-dog" finds his forever home

Boomer has found his forever home.

Many of of you may remember Boomer's story.

Boomer was one of over 100 dogs that was found abandoned and abused on some rural acreage in Kay County, OK.

While many of the dogs were not given a second chance, the good folks at Bad Rap and with Mid America Bully Breed Rescue went down to help these dogs, and several made it into these two rescue groups.

Over the course of the last 18 months, Boomer has spent a lot of time at my home as my wife and I have alternated fostering duties with another MABBR volunteer.  The new experiences were good for Boomer -- who got his name from a contest on this blog.

Boomer made remarkable improvements over time -- while still skittish, he is now able to enjoy spending time with other dogs and with his people.

And the transformation has been fun to watch.

The little guy has been through a lot -- and has come out in great shape. His new owners have two other dogs (pictured with Michelle and I left) who were also abuse cases that they've worked with to make them very well balanced dogs. They have a 2 year old dog that has already fallen in love with "Boom-dog" -- which is pretty cute.

If you want to read more about Boomer's story you can check it out here - and MABBR has pics of their Kay County dogs at training classes and Donna has a good report of the original situation down in Kay County.  MABBR also has a photo galary of the dogs as they were found in Kay County.

But I won't dwell on all of that now -- because Boom-dog is in a great spot right now -- and enjoying time with his new family. Every dog deserves a fair evaluation and a chance at finding his forever home.

Improving Customer Service Imperative to Increasing Adoptions

Most people in the animal shelter/rescue business are not marketers....and most don't even like to think of themselves as marketers.

However, it's becoming increasingly clear that they need to think of themselves that way if we hope to increase adoptions and get our communities to No Kill.

According to most projections, about 20% of the people across the country get their pets from a shelter or rescue. If we were able to increase that number by 2 percentage points, it would be possible to adopt out every healthy and treatable animal in the country.

However, there is a lot of competition for that last 2 percent. Breeders, commercial breeders, pet stores, etc all via for the same "market share".  And in many cases, shelters and rescues are losing out because they don't do the basic things any other business would do to increase their market share: greet people warmly, make the "buying" process fun and easy and provide good customer service.  In fact, sometimes it seesm we go out of our way to make the process more difficult for people and drive them away.

A few months ago, my wife received this email from a friend of hers -- who wanted to get a dog and ended up getting one from a breeder. Knowing that my wife was involved in rescue, she felt she owed her an explanation. Here is her email -- the bolded part is added by me for emphasis:

I know this may sound weird but... I feel I owe you an explanation. You know I am getting a new dog next month from a breeder. I felt this strong urge to explain to you why I am not getting one from a rescue group or shelter. I looked for this specific breed and could not find one in a local shelter. I looked at rescue groups as well but none of them would let you adopt any available dogs if you had children. Also, all the available dogs were from puppy mills and needed special care and training that I am not familiar with. I would have loved to gotten this dog from someplace like that but it was actually not possible. I figure the breeders dogs need loving homes as well. This was basically my only option. I hope you understand. I hope all is well with you.

It seems more than a few rescue groups have a variety of criteria that restrict who can adopt a pet that make it very difficult for people to get pets. Blanket fencing requirements, not adopting to people with children, income restrictions, etc all drive people to the competition instead of getting people who WANT to adopt a dog from a rescue.  I wish this email were an unusual story - -but it's one I've heard probably a half dozen times just in the past year.

Meanwhile, I also feel like many rescues (at least locally) don't do a great job of using experienced foster families to work with the pets to overcome some particular bad habits that may make them less adoptable for an average pet owner.

The problems many people have in getting approval to adopt has actually hit the mainstream -- and it is becoming a bit of a joke among the general public. Just last week I caught this clip of a comedian talking about the adoption process. I think even more disappointing than the comedian's jokes, themselves, is the fact that the woman in the audience that he keys in on is so adamently agreeing with him about the hoops that she had to go through for adoption. Watch the video - -it's only a couple of minutes long.

Jokes.com
Greg Fitzsimmons - Adopting a Puppy
comedians.comedycentral.com
Joke of the Day Stand-Up Comedy Free Online Games

 

I know that each of us wants to find the best homes for the pets that are entrusted into our care. However, it seems that our approach needs to more resemble taking average (or even good) homes and providing the education necessary to make them great homes, vs finding reasons to deny them and force them to go to pet stores or breeders for their dogs. 

If the image the general population has of shelters and rescues is that they are hard to deal with, it may be impossible for us to overcome the final 2 percent and become truly a no kill nation. We need to treat this a little more like a business, and provide great customer service, if we expect people to choose us for their dogs vs the competition.

For a great read on sort of a similar topic, read For the Pits: The difference an approach makes

Sad news about Fay

In some tragic news, Fay, one of the most badly abused dogs confiscated from last summer's major dog fighting bust, passed away.

Fay became very popular earlier this month when HSUS sent out an email solicitation asking for donations to their "Aninal Survivor's Fund" to help "dogs like Faye" even though they were not caring for Fay. After much negative publicity, HSUS bucked up $5,000 for Fay's first surgery.

After about 3 rounds of surgery, Fay seemed to being much better under the care of the fin folks at Mutts & Stuff, but sadly passed away. No specifics on a cause of death -- although no doubt, years of abuse and a month of complex surgeries took its toll on Fay.

While I'm sure those that cared for Fay in her final months are devastated and heartbroken, at least Fay, who had known nothing in her life except abuse, spent the last few months of her life knowing what it was like to be loved.  Godspeed.

Update: Thoughts from Gina over at the Pet Connection

Update: A Sad Day -- from the Mutts Blog.

Update: Rest in Peace Sweet Fay -- via Our Pack

Lives Saved = 159

After this past weekend, the number of animals adopted from Animal Haven's Pet Adoption Center in Oak Park Mall is now at 159. 

On November 20th, Animal Haven opened up their satellite adoption center in an empty store front in Oak Park Mall to capitalize on holiday traffic at the mall.

With the retail location they have been able to increase the exposure of the animals, and 159 have found homes - which is a pace of about 5 adoptions per day.  The storefront will remain open until December 31st.

I can't express enough my excitement and support of this program and how Animal Haven has thought like a retailer and taken the animals to the people vs waiting for them to come to their shelter.   It is innovative thinking like this that helps them save the lives of the animals in their care. I still think this is a wonderful opportunity for other rescues around the country to take advantage of the poor retail environment and taking advantage of the empty store fronts.

In answer to a couple of questions I've gotten about the program. Apparently the animals that are at the mall are not 100% representative of the animals they have at the shelter. Because of some restrictions the mall has placed on them, many of the larger breed dogs have remained at the shelter (although they are promoting them at hte mall location) and any vocal dogs are also staying at the shelter because the mall has some major noise concerns.  So the mall location has a lot of smaller, less-vocal dogs and cats that are finding new homes. 

Either way, it is a great deal.