Strayhaven Animal Shelter: Dog Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The Petfinder Foundation Dog Enrichment Grant has allowed us to reach our dogs at a different level. The dogs in our care deserve more than just the meeting of their basic needs. This grant has allows us to reach those levels for each dog by stimulating their minds, and their inner canines!
The Dog Enrichment Grant gave Strayhaven the opportunity to purchase items that mentally stimulate the dogs daily, in and out of their kennels. The grant made it possible for us to purchase items that we would normally not have the extra funds for.
Items such as the Benebone allow the dogs to chew and not injure themselves by chewing their kennels or their beds. The Bouncy Ball Chew bone has given many of our dogs enrichment in their kennels so they don't tug at the kennel door because they are bored. Items such as frisbees attached to their kennel doors and smeared with peanut butter give them a tasty snack and give their mind a break while they lick away! We purchased a tether rope toy to be used outside with our dogs who need more stimulation, such as tug and chew.
We are very fortunate that we were able to earn this wonderful grant so that we are able to help the dogs in our care beyond just providing food, water, and shelter. By utilizing these items to enrich their lives daily, we are confident we will help them find their perfect family.
How many pets did this grant help?
200
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Diego has been with us since he was a puppy. He was left tied to a porch in a busy town where no one claimed him. When he came to us, he didn’t know how to harness his excitement — or his chompers!
We have an outside run with grass in which we let him play, run, and make friends through the fence. Yet he was still showing signs of overstimulation and developed pica; he even started to bite our volunteers. His bite was a consequence of his overstimulation, in the sense that he didn’t realize he was doing it; he would just grab, bite, and tug. He was getting the satisfaction of mental stimulation by physically latching on to whatever he could grab — shirts, pants, hands, etc. — at the expense of the handler.
Once we learned we were able to earn the Petfinder Foundation Dog Enrichment Grant, we were ecstatic! Diego needed an outlet, and it had to be more than walks and stuffy toys. The grant allowed us to purchase items that we could rig to further stimulate him and let him get his excitement out in a healthy way. Handlers were able to work with him on a regular basis, too.
Diego loves his peanut-butter frisbees, Benebones, and his bouncy-ball chew. Outside, he is one of the dogs who loves the tether tug and he will play for quite some time out there on his own!
Diego is showing great progress with the items we were able to purchase and the we now can work with him safely because of the Petfinder Foundation grant!
