County Roads Rescue: Dog Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
This grant provided us with an agility course to begin training our long-term residents. At any given time, we have a minimum of 25 long-term dogs who have waited more than six months at our facility for a home. This time in the kennels can be stressful and, without enrichment, can cause behavioral problems that further hinder the dog’s chances of a successful adoption. With this agility course, we are now able to provide a fun exercise for the dogs that not only provides mental stimulation, but also increases their adoptability. The dogs quickly show an increase in confidence and a reduction in anxious behaviors, and begin to allow their personalities to shine!
How many pets did this grant help?
25-50
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Teddy and Kyrene are the best representatives for how helpful this grant is! Kyrene (first three photos) is a high-energy older puppy who has had no interests from adopters in the five months we have had her and has had quite a bit of kennel stress, which negatively impacts her behavior. She now is settling down, energy-wise and is able to show a specific drive for training, and her anxiety has been significantly reduced. All of these things increase her adoptability while also decreasing her stress in her current environment.
Teddy (photos 4-7), on the other hand, is an older male who is quite stubborn. He was difficult to train and was showing signs of depression in the kennel environment. We couldn’t figure out a way to make him come out of his shell. Turns out, he loves the agility course! Now he has a pep in his step and he is excited for playtime. He’s now more interested in human connection, which will make him more adoptable in the long run.
