Gulf Coast Humane Soceity: Play Yard Renovation Grant Report

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

This grant allowed us to replace one old shade sail that was not more than a strip of tarp attached to some fencing and provide another shade sail for one of the other play yards, too. These two new shade sails have been much appreciated by staff and our dogs. They both provide a dramatic amount of shade and allow us to have our three play yards open to dogs throughout the day.

Our certified dog trainer constantly uses the play yards to test dogs' temperaments and to asses if they are dog-friendly or not.

How many pets did this grant help?

960

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

One dog we were able to help with funding from this grant was named Hyacinth.

Hyacinth was a shepherd/retriever mix who was very shy with humans when he was brought into our shelter (first photo). It was quickly recognized that he would need socializing with people, and he was put on a behavior plan with our certified dog trainer.

Our trainer was able to utilize the play yards to help socialize Hyacinth with other humans and dogs. Once Hyacinth saw that other dogs were comfortable with humans, he started to loosen up, too (second photo). It quickly became apparent that he just needed to be met with patience, treats, and love.

After our trainer worked with him in the play yards for months, Hyacinth finally found his forever home. Not only was he able to be adopted, but he had gotten over his social anxiety towards people so much that he was able to be adopted at an off-site adoption event. He was then brought back into our shelter to get his free vetting, and both he and his human companion seemed very happy with one another (third photo)!