Hawk Creek Animal Shelter: KONG Toys Grant Report

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

We use the Kongs for in-house dogs. When the shipment came, we advertised on our Facebook and our Instagram. We used peanut butter with kibble and also filled them with water and kibble and froze them. All of the dogs that were on our adoption floor and in our intake area were very happy and content, and it really relieved the stress of being in their kennels. We have enjoyed having the Kongs prepared and in our freezer to give the dogs something to do; they really do de-stress the brain and provide an enrichment element to cut down on the amount of barking. That in turn helps the decibel level in the kennel space.

This grant helped us provide Kongs for dogs that we otherwise would not have. It provided an enrichment element that we do not have funding for, and it brought the animals joy and still brings them joy. It also gave us a teaching tool to help people know proper ways of stuffing a Kong, what a Kong is, and how beneficial one can be.

How many pets did this grant help?

8-10

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

It’s hard to choose one specific dog, as many of the dogs were very content having the Kongs, and they really provided a great deal of mental exercise for the dogs. If I were to choose one, I would choose Sergeant (first photo), a dog whom it took a gentleman five and a half weeks to even get a leash on in order to bring him to the shelter. After coming to the shelter, Sergeant had a hard time in the first couple of weeks, but he really blossomed and showed us how sweet, fun and smart he was. The Kongs were a very fun treat for him and really made a difference. He did get adopted!