Animal Friends Alliance: Dog Enrichment Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

Thanks to funding from the Petfinder Foundation's 2025 Dog Enrichment Grant, Animal Friends Alliance was able to purchse 35 Woof Pupsicles and refills to add to our rotation of dog enrichment items. Enrichment is very important to our organization, as we believe it is essential to keeping our shelter dogs happy and healthy.

The Woof Pupsicles have expanded our enrichment options and, as you'll see in the story about Mortiki below, have made a tremendous difference for some of our more challenging pups. We are so grateful to have received this funding. Thank you!

How many pets did this grant help?

600

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Meet Mortiki (Tiki for short)! Tiki is a special 6-month-old border collie mix who began spinning and obsessively chasing her tail shortly after arriving at our shelter. She was started on medication to help manage her compulsive behaviors and was placed into a foster home with one of our staff members.

Through her foster experience, we discovered three key things that helped Tiki break her patterned spinning behavior: moving from the shelter into a quieter home environment, engaging in play with other dogs and toys, and, most importantly, ENRICHMENT!

Tiki is an incredibly smart girl who loves solving puzzles and learning new tricks. But the enrichment that truly helps her emotionally regulate and cope with stress are activities that encourage her to sniff, lick, and chew. Her absolute favorite? The Woof Pupsicle.

Whenever Tiki became over-excited or stressed, her foster would give her a pupsicle. She would happily engage with it, licking until she relaxed completely and drifted into a deep, restful nap. Today, she rarely chases her tail and, according to her foster, is now the “easiest, happiest pup ever.”

We are so grateful to have access to enrichment items like the Woof Pupsicle. Whether our dogs are in foster homes or in the shelter, this simple snack helps them relax, stay engaged, and self-soothe. Time spent in shelters and transitioning between homes can be incredibly stressful for dogs, and enrichment plays a vital role in keeping them calm, happy, and emotionally supported.

Thanks to the 2025 Dog Enrichment Grant Program, we were able to provide Pupsicles and refills for every dog in our care, both in the shelter and in foster homes. We truly believe that enrichment saves lives.