-
Shelter question
Hi All! I know I ask a lot of shelter questions but scenarios pop up that I need clarification from experienced trainers.
‘Here is a short background: The shelter where I volunteer has 3 dog parks or fenced areas where the dogs can run off leash. We have 3 groups of dogs and each volunteer takes their group in their assigned park one at a time. Park 3 is currently closed due to Giardia infection, therefore those dogs can only be walked on a leash without park time for now.
Adjacent to the shelter is a large field about 1 acre we use to walk the dogs through surrounded by woods where we have made trails to walk the dogs in addition to the free time in the parks. Since the dogs I work with are assigned to park 3, I have been walking my dogs in the trails and running them on leash with me through the field for more exercise until park 3 opens back up again.
‘The volunteers just received an email from the lead trainer there not to run with the dogs in the field because it apparently reinforces the dogs to dart out of the trails into the field and the dogs want to pull more on the leash. Some volunteers can’t physically handle the dogs pulling and she thinks the dogs associate excitement with the fields. Personally I have never witnessed or experienced this with my dogs realizing being a Catch graduate I know what to do if I encounter high arousal levels. And there are very few of us jogging with the dogs.
Do you agree that a dog should not run alongside a volunteer in a field if the volunteer can handle it? I’m having trouble accepting that reasoning. These dogs are confined to a kennel 23 hours a day. I believe that is it more that than allowing them to occasionally run with a volunteer. Our volunteers change daily since most people volunteer once a week.
As always, thank you for your input!
Jackie Congdon
-
5 Replies
-
That’s interesting, @JCongdon . May be a moot point if the lead trainer has decided folks are not allowed to run with the dogs. But if there was wiggle room on that topic, I’d be looking at some things like:
- Can the dog begin a field walk with calm WALKING, before being specifically invited to jog? (This way, the setting itself is not the contextual cue that it’s time to run.)
- Can the dog maintain a loose leash both when walking and jogging?
- Can the dog easily switch speeds to adapt to the walker’s pace, without pulling on leash?
- Can a particular dog easily adapt to having some walks that are exclusively at a walking pace, with no jogging, even if they’ve experienced jogging on another day?
If the answers are ‘yes,’ then I personally wouldn’t see some jogging to be an issue. But again, you’ll have to follow the guidelines set forth by the shelter. I’m sure they gear their guidelines to match the most novice and/or least robust of their volunteers in order to minimize issues.
Walking, especially if the leash is 10′ long or so, can be a lovely way for a dog to meander and sniff and explore in a way that can so very enriching, as well as tiring.
-
Wow, I would def struggle with that rule myself, I like to pace myself to the dogs that I volunteer to walk with my local shelter and lots of them really love to jog or run, it’s great exercise for both of us. I wonder if they would be willing to work with you since you are more of a trainer as well. Maybe they would be willing to let you run with the dogs since it helps you to train them to pull less of the leash?
-
You’re in a tricky spot, @JCongdon and so is that shelter trainer. Volunteers are needed and come with different levels of ability. It can be really hard to make rules that keep everyone safe.
In the shelter where I was a behavior program manager, we had dogs color-coded and handlers had skill-training for the various levels. It worked most of the time. It did hold some well-meaning handlers back until we could rally to “test” them, but it also weeded out people who just wanted to walk with the dogs instead of handle the more difficult dogs (and get into trouble).
The shelter is lucky to have you… and change is really, really hard for people. If you intend to continue volunteering there, the best advice I have for you is to toe the line as best you can, doing what they ask you to do… and make friends with the shelter trainer. Listen to them. Brainstorm by asking questions, not by telling them what you know. I recommend reading The Human Half of Dog Training to get better at communicating, if you haven’t already.
Remember too, that brain games can be as tiring as physical excercise (Both are needed!) so perhaps see what impact you can have with that idea. And long lines (with handler training, because physics!) are a dogsend for shelter dogs.
Good luck, and thank you for being these dogs’ advocates.
-
Thank you for all of your input – I really appreciate it. I will check out your recommendation Catherine!
-
Happy to help, @JCongdon – let us know how it goes!
-
Log in to reply.