Cyan's Private Garden Rescue: Orvis Dog Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
We are very grateful for this grant opportunity. It allowed us to build up the quality of life that the rescues receive here by supplying many items the dogs needed to enrich their lives. We started out with a new baseline heater to keep the rescues nice and warm. The one they'd had was aging and needed to be replaced for safety reasons. We also updated the plastic crates with new, shiny clean doors and added two new extra-large wire crates. We then rotated all the dogs to enhance their comfort while in confinement. New blankets and tarps were purchased. We enhanced their health and vitality by adding supplements to their daily food and dental treatments and dental products to keep their breath smelling clean and fresh so potential adopters will be impressed with their smiles. Long-lasting enrichment toys and brain-treat toys were added to keep them busy and occupied. Dogs love the great outdoors and exercise, so we hired WAG dog-walking service to help train and socialize our dogs while giving them the attention they crave! Gentle Leaders were purchased to train the harder-to-walk dogs so they would be more suitable for adoption. And, of course, vet care for the dogs in need.
This grant helped us provide security and safety for our rescues. It reinforced our interactions with the dogs and their temperaments by adding training tools and toys to make their care easier. It cut our costs on vet care by supplying preventive joint supplements and skin and coat supplements. It helped us manage our rescues in a cleaner containment system. We can now go out in our play yard and use long-lasting play toys to build good social skills with other dogs. We have a great new preventive dental-care routine added to keep the rescues' teeth in great shape.
How many pets did this grant help?
8
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Brownie (first photo) came to us on New Year’s Eve. She was freezing to death, and so emaciated that she was hunched up into a ball when she walked. She would have died in a few more days. Brownie had been abused at the hands of humans. She had an open, infected wound on her front paw and hundreds of bite marks all over her feet and back. They were not from a normal dog fight — so we know that someone held her to let other dogs bite her. She was also newly pregnant and had an infection in her uterus. She was so malnourished, her body was absorbing the pups back into her system. We spayed her and found her to be heartworm-positive. This grant came at a time when she was ready to start heartworm treatments. We purchased nutritional supplements to help Brownie gain weight in a healthy way. We were also able to start her on heartworm treatment. Because of this grant, Brownie is now ready to be adopted! Meet her: www.petfinder.com/petdetail/41206155
Peanut (second photo) was an adopted dog in a home for over three years. When the adopters changed living arrangements, they could no longer provide a safe environment for him. Peanut was returned to this rescue, as we require our adopters to do if they find themselves no longer able to care for their pet. Peanut was used to his freedom inside the home and daily walks out on the leash. He became depressed back in the rescue and longed for something more. He would stand and stare behind the gates, looking for his owner to return. When we hired a dog-walking service to come and take him for long walks around the neighborhood, all that changed. He became a happy, playful dog again who is able to be more friendly with the other rescues here. Meet him: www.petfinder.com/petdetail/38639656
