Post by melonie on Aug 16, 2013 22:56:37 GMT -5
I just got off the phone w/ one of the board members of the shelter I start working at tomorrow.
I feel like I would do a lot more good beating my head against the wall.
I am planning on re-evaluating a pit mix that came in a few weeks back because the evaluation they did is simply stupid.
No one there knows what the eff they're doing. I'm not kidding. Of the three board members, only one has been there since the 'beginning' when Judy was the president. She is not hands on, but she is a great advocate and a level head. The current Pres. and the Treas. are dog owners. They love animals, but they don't know animals.
The pres. is scared of most large dogs, or any dog that isn't a couch potato. The other lady means well, and she tries. She has come to me about the pit mixes that have come in. So that's good. The workers (paid) are animal lovers as well. One is a first time dog owner, the other is a long time dog owner. But she also doesn't 'know' dogs. She usually has 101 questions for me about dogs that are at the shelter.
The other lady learned what she knows from animal planet. Seriously.
So. Talking to the board member tonight, I find out that Romeo didn't get to go to the Rescue who was going to take him. He looked like a lab/vizsla mix. He was high energy, med. high prey drive, and did not like the male dogs in the shelter. He was freaking smart. I had two young boys around 50 lbs each able to walk him alone within about 20 minutes. That was from full on leash pull, to loose leash. He caught on to sit and stay within minutes. He was happy and eager to please. Food motivated him, but just the praise worked well on him too.
There was nothing wrong with him except his dislike of other dogs. He was not HA what so ever. This board member ruined his chance at this rescue by not knowing this dog. Not knowing dog behavior. So now, the smartest dog I've seen in a while is dead. All they saw was a dog that they thought wasn't getting any better. When I had asked the main worker at the shelter what she meant by that, she said he still didn't like a certain dog. I told her that you can't exactly train a dog to like a dog he hates. He acted like a mad man around that dog, but so did the other dog. They mutually hated each other. The other dog is still up for adoption, is dog selective, has an old badly healed broken leg, and as much as I love the dog, he's dumb. He's a scatter brain.
I understand you can't save every dog, and when space is limited, you do what you can. But Romeo deserved a chance at the rescue. The board member said that the rescue asked her if she had any worry about Romeo being a risk, that they wouldn't' take him. He was not a risk. Just because a dog is DA doesn't make them HA!
So, I am going to try and get to the next board meeting. Finding out when that is has been a bit difficult. But I will get to one. I would like to discuss dog behavior, and also dog behavior in the shelter setting. Seriously, it's scary the lack of knowledge they have. I don't know if I can make a difference but I am going to try. What I need are good resources to back up what needs to be said. I can talk it till I'm blue in the face, but if I don't have reliable resources to back me up, it might as well be hot hair.
Please point me in the right direction!! (btw they like CM)
I feel like I would do a lot more good beating my head against the wall.
I am planning on re-evaluating a pit mix that came in a few weeks back because the evaluation they did is simply stupid.
No one there knows what the eff they're doing. I'm not kidding. Of the three board members, only one has been there since the 'beginning' when Judy was the president. She is not hands on, but she is a great advocate and a level head. The current Pres. and the Treas. are dog owners. They love animals, but they don't know animals.
The pres. is scared of most large dogs, or any dog that isn't a couch potato. The other lady means well, and she tries. She has come to me about the pit mixes that have come in. So that's good. The workers (paid) are animal lovers as well. One is a first time dog owner, the other is a long time dog owner. But she also doesn't 'know' dogs. She usually has 101 questions for me about dogs that are at the shelter.
The other lady learned what she knows from animal planet. Seriously.
So. Talking to the board member tonight, I find out that Romeo didn't get to go to the Rescue who was going to take him. He looked like a lab/vizsla mix. He was high energy, med. high prey drive, and did not like the male dogs in the shelter. He was freaking smart. I had two young boys around 50 lbs each able to walk him alone within about 20 minutes. That was from full on leash pull, to loose leash. He caught on to sit and stay within minutes. He was happy and eager to please. Food motivated him, but just the praise worked well on him too.
There was nothing wrong with him except his dislike of other dogs. He was not HA what so ever. This board member ruined his chance at this rescue by not knowing this dog. Not knowing dog behavior. So now, the smartest dog I've seen in a while is dead. All they saw was a dog that they thought wasn't getting any better. When I had asked the main worker at the shelter what she meant by that, she said he still didn't like a certain dog. I told her that you can't exactly train a dog to like a dog he hates. He acted like a mad man around that dog, but so did the other dog. They mutually hated each other. The other dog is still up for adoption, is dog selective, has an old badly healed broken leg, and as much as I love the dog, he's dumb. He's a scatter brain.
I understand you can't save every dog, and when space is limited, you do what you can. But Romeo deserved a chance at the rescue. The board member said that the rescue asked her if she had any worry about Romeo being a risk, that they wouldn't' take him. He was not a risk. Just because a dog is DA doesn't make them HA!
So, I am going to try and get to the next board meeting. Finding out when that is has been a bit difficult. But I will get to one. I would like to discuss dog behavior, and also dog behavior in the shelter setting. Seriously, it's scary the lack of knowledge they have. I don't know if I can make a difference but I am going to try. What I need are good resources to back up what needs to be said. I can talk it till I'm blue in the face, but if I don't have reliable resources to back me up, it might as well be hot hair.
Please point me in the right direction!! (btw they like CM)