It’s time for yet another edition of Blog the Change for Animals. This time around, I thought I’d talk about dog socialization and the ways in which shelter dogs can benefit from being socialized. Sometimes, socialization at the shelter can make a huge difference in the life of a dog.
I was inspired to write about this topic today because of a program that’s currently going on at Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA), a local no-kill shelter (and the reason I have a Tavish snoring by my side). FOHA has started play groups for some of the dogs – they get together weekly to work on socialization. The play groups often result in fun videos like this one:
I love that FOHA focuses on dog socialization. It’s a great way to get the dogs out of their runs and to let them learn how to interact with people and other dogs in a relaxed setting. While this type of group might not work for every dog, it can help prepare some dogs for their future adoptive families. Structured play groups can enrich the lives of dogs while they are in the shelter. In addition, these type of groups can be useful for training and assessment. Finally, they can give shelters a chance to show off some of their adoptable pups having fun and being adorable (like the dogs in the video above).
I’m far from an expert on this issue, but I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you have any experience with shelter play groups? Would you be interested in implementing this sort of program at your local shelter? For more information about play groups, check out Playing for Life!, a training and behavior program focused on this issue.
I’m not the only one blogging the change for animals today. Check out these other great posts:
Great post and I love that video. The shelters near me do this and I think it makes a huge difference for the dogs. Happier shelter dogs makes them appealing to potential adopters!
Sue at Talking Dogs recently posted..National Feral Cat Day | Not So Wordless Wednesday
That’s great!
This looks great for so many reasons! The shelter we adopted Theo from had Theo and 2 other dogs “working” in the office and I know he was happier for that.
Beth | Daily Dog Tag recently posted..Pawsitively Amazing: Beagle Freedom Project
The shelter where I volunteer started doing this about 2 years ago. I’ve been there about 7 years. We used to be able to take 2 dogs out at a time (if they were “cleared” to play together). But then the shelter hired trainers to be on staff, and they organize BIG play groups every day. It’s great! The dogs get such better exercise playing with each other than they would with us, and the socialization part is so important! Of course, not all the dogs get to (which is a bummer, and the trainers work with them individually) but it’s great that most of the dogs get to join.
Jackie Bouchard recently posted..Wordless Wednesday: A Pup in the Grass
Yay!
Although I have no experience in this area, I can’t see why this wouldn’t work and shouldn’t be rolled out to other shelters (so long as it was done properly!) I think a lot of people under value socialisation which causes huge problems later in life (and in that case I am talking from experience!)
Lauranne recently posted..De-nile…not just a river in Egypt
Oh I love this idea. The more we can do to help dogs be more adoptable the better!!
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