Safe group play for dogs is the goal
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — Shelter operators hope a new training program will help mend behavior problems in dogs that are not being chosen for adoption.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Butler County Humane Society hosted a joint seminar with the Washington Area Humane Society. The two shelters split the cost of bringing in the nonprofit group Dogs Playing for Life for a training program.
Tucker Eurman, the group's director of shelter programs, said the goal is to improve the quality of life for potentially troublesome dogs, thereby upping their odds of being adopted.
“The goal of Dogs Playing for Life is to get the dogs out of the kennel environment out into play groups, where it's a more natural environment for our dogs,” Eurman said. “They can play. They have fun with their friends. We're really trying to change the atmosphere, moving away from being like the pound to being a more positive place for dogs to come to.”
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The Butler County Humane Society closed to the public on Monday and Tuesday, so staff members could spend the day in training. The teachers led shelter workers through classes Monday and demonstrated their model for managing group dog play sessions with misbehaving dogs.
Typically, the shelter staff lets out dogs one at a time into its five outdoor enclosures. Dogs they know get along together go out together, but solo play is more typical.
That means each dog gets less time outside than if they all went out in big groups.
However, the shelter maintains a cadre of dogs that are difficult to place in adoption homes because they struggle to safely get along with other dogs. Those animals have made solo playtime seem like an inevitability, but the Dogs Playing for Life seminar, which is taught nationally, promises that another way could work.
Shanna Best, the society's kennel director, said she thinks the training will help keep their toughest dogs tired and happy.
“We've had dogs out together today that we didn't think could ever be out with other dogs,” Best said.On Tuesday morning, Best patrolled a group play session alongside Eurman. She wore a utility belt on her waist stocked with a spray bottle, a noisemaker and a can of compressed air. There were some growls and bared teeth, but the spray bottle was enough to quickly resolve most conflicts around the doggy playground.Jennifer DiCuccio, the shelter's executive director, said getting the new program was a top priority for the shelter. She described it as an enrichment program for doggy guests.“It helps them coexist,” DiCuccio said. “How we build our playgroups are built on their behaviors.”DiCuccio and Mandy Coombs, kennel manager and humane officer at the Washington shelter, said their organizations' partnerships were vital to putting on the seminar.Coombs said her shelter wouldn't be able to host the event yet, as it's still in the process of building the necessary outdoor enclosures.The seminar costs about $10,000, DiCuccio said. Butler paid its share using money raised at the second annual Garrett Fifield Memorial Mutt Strut at Alameda Park in June.Kristen Cully, president of the society's board, said the switch to opening up play time is a much needed improvement at the shelter.“This is huge,” Cully said. “These dogs don't always get their physical and mental needs met. It's so much more of a life. It's not solitary confinement.”Eurman said shelters tend to see increased adoption rates after their trainings. Seeing the groups of dogs out playing helps adopters visualize the dogs in their lives, he said, especially when compared to the same dogs barking from a line of kennels.The Butler County Humane Society holds an average of about 50 dogs at a time.
WHAT: A Dog Paddle Pool Pawty to benefit the Butler County Humane SocietyWHEN: 1 to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 9WHERE: Alameda WaterparkBRING: A copy of your pet's license and vaccine records, and a dog that loves swimming.
