Washington Humane Society Blog

A Day at the Dog Park: Who’s to Blame?

Imagine this:  It’s finally Saturday, and you take your dog on his regular dog park outing after a long week.  The park is pretty crowded, but Fido is really excited to play with his dog friends, so you let him off leash.  Just as you settle in and start talking with the other dog owners, you hear a scuffle.  There’s growling and barking and a blur of fur, and when the dust settles, everyone is pointing at your dog shouting, “It was Fido’s fault!”  Mortified, you grab Fido and head for the exit.  To make matters even worse, the Dog Park Association President stops you, and politely asks that you not return to the park with Fido.  Sound familiar?    

Dog parks have become one of the most popular places for urban dog owners and their pups to meet and socialize, but the park can be a chaotic, high-energy environment.  Dogs of different temperaments and play styles all converge as usually vigilant owners let their guards down.  The dog park can quickly become a frenzied place, where an unpleasant interaction is much more likely to occur.  Incidents can be blown out of proportion, and undue blame can be assigned.  In order to make it a fun and safe place for both dogs and their owners, it’s important to fully understand the dynamics of the dog park.  With the right information, you can learn to identify and avoid a problem before it happens!

So before you take your dog to the dog park, join the Washington Humane Society’s Behavior & Learning Center for their original seminar “Dog Park Behavior 101.”  We’ll discuss decoding subtle body language, identifying play styles, recognizing if the dog park is right for your dog, and much more!  

“Dog Park Behavior 101” is scheduled for Sunday, July 31^st from 10:00am-11:45am at WHS’s Behavior and Learning Center located at 7315 Georgia Avenue NW. 

Registration fee is $15 and pre-registration is required

To register online or for more information visit our events page here and don't forget to bookmark the page! 

 

Inside Dog Tags: And the Winner is…

One-year-old brindle Pit Bull/Boxer mix Sarah is declared the champion of the Dog Tags Canine Games! In last week’s class our students and dogs enjoyed some friendly competition in a class focused on keeping training fun through games. Each student was paired with a dog of their choice and competed in four games. 

First, the dogs and their trainers warmed up with a Puppy Push-ups Competition. A “puppy push-up” is when the dog moves from a sit to a down and back up into sit either on cue or with some additional coaching (or treats) from his trainer.  Sarah came in a close second to Australian Shepherd puppy, Tallahassee, with a total of 24 push-ups in a two-minute period. 

Next came “Musical Sits”. In this game, which is similar to musical chairs, the last dog to sit when the music stops is “out”, leaving the last dog in the game as the winner. Sarah heated up the competition with a perfect performance that resulted in her first win of the day. 

Sarah and her trainer entered the next event, “Longest Stay”, knowing that stay was one of Sarah’s strengths. They easily knocked out the competition with a perfectly focused 3-minute stay.

Last came “The Dot Game”, a canine version of Twister and a test of teamwork between dog and trainer. In this game, colorful dots are placed on the floor. A judge calls out a task such as, “Right paw on green”. The trainer uses luring techniques with treats to guide the dog into position. When the dog gets it right, the dot is removed. The first dog to eliminate all of his dots wins, and the winner again was Sarah! 

Sarah has been with the Washington Humane Society for more than nine months and is still waiting for a permanent family.  During her long stay, she has participated in Dog Tags, the STEPs program, and the PACK. She’s well on her way to a solid foundation of social skills and basic manners.

Come visit our Georgia Avenue shelter today and meet this special dog!

 

 

 

Senior Dogs Get A Helping Hand

 By Lisa LaFonatine, President and CEO of Washington Humane Society

When I look down at Gwennie, I think to myself how lucky I am to still have her in my life. At the age of 11 – going on 12 – she is well along in dog years, and yet she is still up for anything I ask of her. Whether she is greeting the newest in a line of WHS foster animals, or running out the door towards a six-mile hike, she fills my life with happiness and joy every day. Except for the little tufts of gray on the bottom of her paws, and her soft grey muzzle, you would never know that she has been around for so much of my life.

Sometimes I wonder, if something terrible were to happen and Gwen were to end up in a shelter for adoption, could a stranger see what I see or would they walk right past her looking for a younger pup? At WHS our doors are open to all animals, regardless of age or condition, and we know all too well what it is like for an “older” dog to be looking for a second chance.

Far too many people don’t realize the benefits of bringing a senior dog (or cat for that matter) into their family. For starters, these animals have already learned so much about being part of a family. They almost always have a basic understanding of proper manners in the house and will let you know when they need to go outside. They rarely test your boundaries in the way that younger dogs do. Most importantly they look at the world with experience, wisdom and understanding. It saddens me that people don’t always recognize these positive qualities and assume that older dogs are carrying baggage.

The Washington Humane Society is committed to educating adopters on the benefits of adopting older and wiser dogs, and helping people make the perfect match regardless of a dog’s age. We are thrilled to report that our efforts have been noticed! The Grey Muzzle Organization, a group dedicated to helping older dogs that have found their way into shelters, has awarded the Washington Humane Society a $4,000 grant to help make the adoption of these wonderful animals a little more attractive. To help potential adopters consider a senior pet, the grant will help sponsor a portion of the adoption fee for all senior dogs through the “WHS Senior Companions Program”. The grant will also provide basic initial veterinary care in foster homes and at its shelters to help dogs prepare for finding their forever homes.

We can’t thank the Grey Muzzle Organization enough for their support and understanding of our work in this area. We look forward to helping more of our senior friends who are loving, wise – and a little bit gray – find new forever homes.

To learn more about the grant WHS recieved read our recent press release

 

Inside Dog Tags: Meet Sgt. KariAnn Uecker

Like many high school students, KariAnn Uecker’s plans for her future started with a college education.  But before she completed high school, KariAnn’s plans were derailed by injuries sustained in a serious car accident.  Burdened with a long recovery process that caused her to become completely dependent on her mother’s care and miss many high school classes, KariAnn saw her plans to attend college fade away.  At age 17, upon completing her recovery, she decided to enlist in the Army, which she hoped would provide her with the independence, structure, and discipline that her injury had deprived her. 

Now 26 years old, KariAnn has achieved the rank of Sergeant, having served in the Army for more than eight years, including two tours in Iraq in 2003 and 2009. 

“I like the sense of purpose it gives me,” KariAnn said of her Army service. 

Following her second tour in Iraq, KariAnn became a patient at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) and other injuries.  During her past 15 months at Walter Reed, KariAnn began looking for opportunities to acclimate to life outside the hospital.  Having participated in two other internship opportunities that proved to be a bad fit, KariAnn heard about the Washington Humane Society’s Dog Tags program and became intrigued by the idea of working with shelter dogs. KariAnn has a long history of working with animals, having spent most of her life on her family’s 400-acre farm in Mayer, Minnesota, caring for cattle, pigs, horses, dogs and cats.  

 KariAnn says the Dog Tags program has proved challenging in light of her PTSD and other injuries, which have made concentration and working in large groups more difficult. But KariAnn says that Dog Tags appeals to her because of its small class size, which offers her a low-pressure environment; its division of classroom time and hands-on training, which allow her to practice concentrating without becoming overwhelmed; and, of course, the dogs.  

“The dogs cheer me up and make me feel calm and comfortable,” KariAnn said. 

In September, KariAnn will be medically retired from the Army, at which point she intends to return home to Minnesota and start the college education she had to forego as a teenager.  KariAnn plans to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in sociology while residing on her family’s farm, where her two Beagles and Golden Retriever are awaiting her return.

 

Inside Dog Tags: Each Dog is an Individual

The students of the latest Dog Tags class started their second week of training by applying their new knowledge of how dogs learn in hands-on training sessions with four Washington Humane Society (WHS) shelter dogs. This week, Rico, Colette, Wally and Sarah all had a chance to learn some new skills. Well, perhaps not Sarah. Having resided at the shelter for more than 6 months now, Sarah has participated in several training programs and used her opportunity in this week’s class to show all of the new dogs how it’s done! The students and dogs practiced the cues “watch me”, “sit”, “down”, “stay”, and the release cue “take a break”, which lets the dog know the exercise is over and it’s time for recess! All four shelter dogs that participated in the class picked up the skills quickly, though it was clear that each dog learned at their own pace and by a different motivation. The students used their knowledge of different rewards learned in week one of the program to figure out how to motivate each individual dog.

 

Working with shelter dogs can be both rewarding and challenging in a group class environment. The students of Dog Tags have the wonderful opportunity to be exposed to a variety of different temperaments and breeds. This exposure will be invaluable both when using the skills acquired in class with their own personal pets and when considering a potential future career in dog training. However, there is also a quick turnover of animals in a shelter environment, and the students will often be working with different dogs at each lesson. Furthermore, some of the dogs that come to WHS have been abused and neglected or under-socialized. These factors can sometimes make it difficult to get a dog comfortable enough to train in a class environment. This week, Rico seemed to have the greatest challenge overcoming his environment and learning the new skills. Though very smart and food motivated, Rico found the Dog Tags class a little overwhelming. The students working with him often found it very difficult to keep his attention on the task at hand. Instead of choosing a different dog to work with, the Dog Tags instructors incorporated Rico’s behavior into the lesson. Students were instructed in how to stand and approach a fearful dog. Often times, a little change in posture and approach is all you need to make a dog feel more comfortable. Once the students learned how to stand and move in a way that Rico found less intimidating, Rico responded to the training and by the end of class he had mastered the “down” cue. The students learned a lesson in how to manipulate your style of training to fit a dog’s individual needs, an essential skill for all dog trainers. If you would like to help WHS continue programs such as the Dog Tags, please consider making a contribution today by clicking here

WHS would like to wish Rico the best of luck in his new family. He was adopted shortly before this was submitted!

Submitted by Jordana Todd, WHS Animal Caretaker

 

Washington’s Animal Rescuers – No Obstacle Too Big or Too…Foul?

The call came in on Tuesday from the Blue Plains waste treatment facility. The caller,  deeply concerned, reported that 2 geese had crash landed in the waste water and were stuck and slowly sinking. WHS Animal Control Sergeant Ted Deppner and Animal Control Officer Shawn Covington got the call and rushed to the scene. Time, was not on their side. 

Workers at the facility kept a close eye on the animals that were sinking deeper and deeper into the muck and slime. Upon arrival, the first thing the officers noticed was that the smell was overpowering, but the officers would not let that slow them down one bit. When they got to the animals, they had already sunk down almost completely and were struggling to keep their heads out of the sewage. The officers, knowing that with one wrong slip they too could fall in, quickly used nets to reach out and scoop the geese out of the muck. While their lives were saved, their journey was far from over. At the scene, they were given a brief rinse down but needed to be fully decontaminated quickly. Back at the shelter, Animal Control Field Services  Director Hughes and Animal Caregiver Genevieve Hannan, dressed in full biohazard protection suits, set up to help clean the birds of the hazardous material that was all over them. With some scrubbing and a lot of warm  water, the geese were cleaned and given antibiotic cream in their eyes, and their nostrils cleared, which as expected the geese did not appreciate at all and were continuously trying to bite their  rescuers. 

Once the cleaning and triage was complete, they were placed outside into a confined pen. The warm sun began drying them off and they were soon a bit more relaxed. Shortly thereafter, they were placed into the care of a licensed rehabilitator and they will be released back into the wild where they belong, all thanks to Sgt. Deppner, Officer Covington and the kind-hearted people at Blue Plains who set into motion another successful animal rescue in DC. 

 If you live in Washington, DC and see an animal in need of rescue, contact Washington Humane Society/ DC Animal Care and Control at 202-576-6664, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No call ever goes unanswered.