Dear Friends and Supporters:

On behalf of myself, and all the employees and volunteers at Rondout Valley Animals for Adoptions, I want to thank you for all your recent support and correspondence.

An animal shelter must be more than just an adoption agency for unwanted pets. It must serve as a focal point for teaching and furthering a more humane community. The shelter must be the role model for better ways in which to incorporate animals into our lives. The contents of this newsletter will hopefully reflect this belief. This belief is also the foundation upon which Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption was founded.

RVAA has always served as much more than just a local community animal shelter. We have spear-headed innovative programs to improve the lives of dogs in shelters, with unique housing for shelter dogs and special dog training that is quick, easy, and works to enhance adoptability and stave off the stressful effects of kenneling. We also concentrate on community outreach programs that address the specific needs of the people and animals in our neighborhoods. The documentary showed only one small side to RVAA. We hope in this newsletter to introduce and give you an insider's view into these programs. We hope that, as you learn about them, you will be inspired to introduce them into your own community as well.

With this newsletter we hope to continue the stories that make up the daily workings of the shelter. We also aim to look beyond Rondout Valley and probe some of the larger issues confronting the shelter world. There are so many complex issues having to do with the life and death of each individual dog, and each decision affects the bigger context in which they occur. The decision to hold and work with one dog holds ramifications for other dogs that might need that kennel space.

And, of course, we welcome all your comments and hope to include your thoughts and concerns in the editorial process.

Shelter Dogs

The documentary has served to create a public demand for a decent quality of life for dogs in shelters, particularly those dogs destined to reside in them long term.

The idea of a consumer-driven demand for quality of life for dogs in shelters may be just what the shelter world needs. So many people have written to say that while they never considered the shelter as the place to get a good dog, they are now committed to choosing the adoption option when they are ready for a dog.

Of the hundreds upon hundreds of e-mails and phone calls we have received, the most heartening are those from people previously never involved in sheltering, rescue or adoption who now say they are actively seeking a senior dog to bring into their home, inspired by Agnes' good soul. We have seen an increase in behavioral questions and also behavior consultations after the film--which is great. The sooner an owner contacts a trainer or behaviorist for help, the better the chance for success in working out the problem. The film has spurred a few pet owners into caring enough to have their dogs evaluated by a professional, so I consider it to be a success at helping owners everywhere understand that their dog's behavior is more likely to harm or end the relationship than physical disease or any other cause.

"Shelter Dogs" did a great job in presenting many of the issues I face daily as a shelter owner. And it resulted in hundreds and hundreds of e-mails and letters from viewers it touched mostly in positive ways, and a few in negative ways. The supportive messages were so inspiring to me and all of the employees of Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption. And while some of the negative correspondence was difficult to read, I am encouraged that film has created so much lively dialogue regarding such important issues as temperament testing.

Some important details may have been lost in the dramatic experience that "Shelter Dogs" provided. I think it's important to understand that Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption is an "Open Admissions" shelter. That means we accept any and every dog that comes to our door for surrender, regardless of behavioral history, medical condition, age or breed type.

Many people in our community need the shelter when they find themselves in a difficult financial position--a missed pay check, an eviction due to non-payment of rent, and then they must find affordable rental housing. Often, rental housing doesn't allow pets, or requires more of a security deposit than some can afford. They come to us not because they are irresponsible or uncommitted pet owners, but because they need us to help their pets when they can no longer do so. If you ask for a one-line reason why they are surrendering their dog, you will get a one-line answer: 'moving'. But if you actually talk with people who bring in their dogs, they often have complex reasons for ending up at the shelter. A shelter exists in the community to help people and their pets--help them adopt the right pet, help them train their dog, help them care for their dog, and help them when they can no longer care for their dog.

Now that you have seen the film, I hope it has encouraged you to think about your position on the issues that it raised. I also hope that it will compel each and every one of you to donate time, bedding, toys, money or any kind of assistance you can spare to your own local shelter.

Adoption Story: Samantha and Gigi Zimmer

Choosing to bring a dog into your home is a decision that should not be made lightly. However, the benefits of participating in the dog-owner relationship far outweigh some of the initial challenges inherent to bringing a dog into your home. Adopting can be one of the most rewarding ways to get a dog.

We spoke recently with Gigi Zimmer who adopted 2-year old Samantha, a white German Shepherd dog from Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption in July of 2003.

"Samantha was re-homed twice. First from a backyard breeder and then from a home where the owner decided she could no longer keep a dog. When I first saw Sammy, she seemed terrified." Gigi tells us.

"At first, she was so timid and scared she hardly explored her new home." However, Samantha had been temperament tested several times, showed high sociability with people and displayed no aggressive tendencies."

Gigi understood that while bringing Samantha into her home might require a period of adjustment, it was worth taking the chance as it was extremely unlikely that she would develop into a difficult or dangerous pet.

"Samantha was nervous all the way home and took a while to adjust to completely adjust to her new environment. She would sit and pant for hours and still eats very quickly, as though she didn't know when her next meal will come."

"However, a wonderful, loving personality very quickly emerged in Samantha. She's an absolute pleasure to be around and a caring and attentive pet. Now, nearly half a year later, you can barely recognize her and the scared dog I saw in July is now a happy, well adjusted companion. Very quickly, I made sure that she became adjusted to other dogs as well, and walk her each morning with a group of neighbors.

"It was interesting to see how the other dogs took to her so quickly and seemed to want to help her adjust to her new life, too."

Gigi believes, "There is a wonderful bond between and owner and a dog when you adopt an adult dog from a shelter. Unlike adopting a puppy, an adult dog really seems to understand it has been given another chance. Sometimes when Samantha looks at me, I really get a sense deep understanding and appreciation. It's different from starting off the relationship with a puppy as an adult dog has a history and seems to know that it's situation has improved. They make you feel how thankful they are!"

Dog Ownership is Not a Spectator Sport

Many dogs can go through life fairly unsupervised. They can go for walks, sniff, look about, explore at the end of a six feet leash. They can sit in the back seat of a car and stare out at the world passing by; they can go into a group training class and when not actively being trained, sniff about, look and scan around and except for a leash, be behaviorally unattended for long periods of time. Many dogs can stare at an approaching stranger, uninterrupted, and not bark, growl, lunge or bite. Many dogs can be walked on leash, see another approaching dog, and then either pass it by without another thought, or walk up to that dog, greet it, and aside from sniffing, circling and a possible play bow, never growl, lunge or fight. Many dogs can respond to a visitor knocking at your front door with some barking and jumping, but not growling/stiffening, snapping, biting.

Other dogs are more problematic or serious. Dogs can be a nuisance and sometimes even cause harm. Certainly not every time, but if some dogs are given enough chances, they could cause a lot of trouble.

The majority of dogs need, or would benefit from, some kind of management. They need as much intervention from their humans as possible, in as many situations as possible. Assuming the dog is otherwise a sociable companion, has ample outlets for his instincts, is offered daily opportunities for running, playing, sniffing, exploring his environment safely--then much of his time in public, around other dogs or strangers, should be monitored and crafted to ignore most things but his owner, to create a safe outcome for each interaction.


How Dogs Develop Problems

Dog behaviors are chains of events that tend to unfold in a particular order. Most behaviors we find desirable, or neutral, or even ones to look forward to: for instance, the semi-frenzied greeting ritual we get when we return home from work, or simply reappear after showering; the early morning ritual we attempt where we lay in bed, absolutely still, trying to convince our dog we are still asleep so that he won't begin the "hooray, you're awake" ritual, which effectively ends our chance of any more sleep.

Other behavioral events are more problematic. Other behavioral events become more and more problematic the more often they are allowed to play out. Many behavioral events start out seeming benign, or only mildly irritating, like when your dog barks at guests when they come to the door, but can quickly grow into more serious problems, as practice makes perfect. In a young dog, barking excitedly at the doorway when visitors arrive or the doorbell rings generally doesn't play out over time to conjure anything but barking and excitement at the door. But for some dogs, seemingly benign barking at the door, over time, can lead to more and more excitement, snapping, nipping, lunging, darting forward and backwards, muzzle punching, growling, even biting.

Especially for young dogs and puppies that are literally developing their behaviors, allowing certain sequences of behavior to play out can be a very risky plan. Young dogs who bark or growl at strangers, either in the home and at the doorway, or on the street when meeting passersby, are not exempt from developing into full-blown biters. Pet owners say all the time, "he barks but he wouldn't bite..." Dogs in shelters are evaluated and a determination must be made whether or not, depending on the level of the response and the age of the dog, this particular dog could progress into a biter; how much management and early intervention does each dog need to thrive in a home? Well, give him enough time, allow him enough rehearsals, and the behavior is more likely than not to progress. While not all behaviors develop into aggression, the trick is to know which will and which will not, assume each dog could develop into a problem, and not sit back as spectator and hope for a happy ending.

The less frequently a dog is able to play out his sequences, the less familiar the behaviors will get. His practice makes perfect. The less he practices, the weaker these behaviors.

The earlier in the sequence you interrupt and stop a behavior, the better the chances are of actually preventing, improving, thwarting, and diminishing the frequency of unwanted behaviors.

The most successful owners are the ones who direct and re-direct behaviors and produce acceptable endings. They don't wait around to see what will happen.

Your Dog's Behavior when Meeting New Dogs

Hidden within the phrase, "sometimes he's fine when meeting other dogs, but sometimes he's not," is a spectating owner handler. Most of us let our dogs' behavioral sequences play out on their own, and watch, often in desperate hope, that everything goes well. For instance, take the dog that occasionally meets and greets a strange dog and ends up starting a fight. MOST of the time, he can meet and greet a strange dog, they can sniff, stand over each other's shoulders, and then either erupt in play or simply disengage and go about their merry ways. But EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, he will approach, sniff, stand over each other's shoulders, and then start a fight, and have to be dragged away, clawing and scrabbling lunging growling and barking to get at the other dog. We desire to fix the problem, cure the dog of his problem, wanting to fix the times when the dog acts out.

It is important to realize that your dog does not have to go up to and meet and greet every dog it encounters. Just as you would not want to have to go up to every passer-by and say hello and shake hands, or kiss them on each cheek, so should your dog not have to meet and greet every other dog. Most dogs don't like all other dogs. Knowing ahead of time, which dogs your dog will like and which he will gripe at, is near impossible. So it's best to teach your dog to mind his own business, have a few close friends (dog and human) and ignore the rest of the world.

Since almost everyone with a dog either says outright that their dog is 'friendly' with other dogs, or knows that his dog is not, but will allow your own dog to approach just 'to see' if he will get along, it's really best to teach your dog to ignore and walk right past other dogs.

Dogs spend much time existing, if not thriving in, a void; often with bad, unwanted behaviors. A dog's undesirable behavior can survive endlessly in its own void. Let's say your dog barks when he hears a noise in the hallway of your apartment building. You, in bed, try to quiet your dog. You hold its muzzle shut and whisper, 'Shhhh'. The barking is temporarily quieted, the noise in the hallway disappears, you let go of your dog's muzzle, but your dog's suspicions survived the void of silence. And as soon as his muzzle is released he begins again his huffing and woofing.

Behavioral voids like "be quiet" "stop barking" "stop lunging" "stop pulling on leash" "stop jumping up" are very much a human concept. Dogs merely fill them with a continuation of their original behavior, or they fill them with other, often not very appealing behaviors (pacing, digging, chewing, excessive licking, whining, etc.) "Be quiet" is a prime example. A dog might accidentally be quiet--but hoping for silence when you interrupt your dog from barking is pretty hopeless. Dogs need an active behavior, or a brand new activity to fill their void or the original behavior will come crawling out, revive itself, and continue stronger than before.

Filling the Voids: Anticipate, Intervene, Interrupt, Work Them Hard

One behavior DOES fit all: The most important component to controlling undesirable behavior is to create an intense, strong, fun, interesting alternative behavior to interrupt and take the place of bad, unwanted behaviors and fill that void.

In order to train in this alternate behavior, your dog should be really keen, almost edgy for food treats. Your dog should be aroused, alert, intensely focused, and working as hard at doing something acceptable as he would working at the unacceptable behavior. There is a time and a place for a calm, relaxed, suppressed and mildly inhibited dog, and then there is a time and a place (and a need) for an intense yet controlled and contained behavior to compete effectively with those equally intense yucky behaviors we want to interrupt.

The 'Sit-Front' or 'Come Fore':

As straight as you'd find during a perfect performance in the competition obedience ring is what you want to strive for, as it's the one position in which you create the most obstructed view of the dog's world and where he can best concentrate on his owner's world. You're striving for relentless attention. To get this you'll have to fire off treats like missiles. If you're going to use food, use food. Rapid fire, a treat from the left hand, a treat from the right hand, a treat from both hands, a treat from behind your back, left hand, right hand, both hands, one after the other. Feed feed feed. Fill the void. Say 'down' and fire off a new, intense volley of treats for the 'down'. Ask for a 'sit' and again, treat rapid fire. Lure your dog in a half circle or "C" shape at your side so that he ends up in a right side 'heel' position with attention, feed feed feed feed, then another 'come-fore', which means you'll lure your dog back in front of you, facing you, as close as you can lure him, as straight as you can make him; feed him from both hands, one treat after another; then lure him around your back, swap treats and leash behind your back to get the dog into a left side heel position; keep his attention. Then another come-fore, since this is the best position in which to be your dog's only view. You're only luring, practicing, and teaching tricks; you're not really training incompatible behaviors that will one day be there for you when all your hard work in training pays off. This is management, where the truth about most dog training lies. Most good dogs are highly trained, well-exercised, and expertly and often MANAGED. They are distracted or lured out of trouble. That is okay. They can't smoke a cigarette or take a drink or call a friend or meditate and clear their minds when stress strikes. They need help occupying themselves until the stress passes.

BLACKIE'S FUND

RVAA is establishing the Blackie Fund to promote and enable spay and neutering programs in communities touched by our Training Wheels® Program. Before we tell you about the fund itself, you might be interested in reading how the fund got its name.

On a recent Training Wheels® outreach trip into the local community, we encountered a family with a large black and tan mixed breed dog named Blackie, who had a behavior problem. Blackie kept getting loose and running away. In Blackie's neighborhood, we visited with two separate families dealing each with a pregnant dog. One of these dogs was about to whelp, working on her second accidental litter. Both families of the female dogs were eager to accept RVAA's Training Wheels® help with spaying and transport to the veterinary hospital following the delivery of the dog's respective litters. Additionally, we were able to educate all the family members in the importance of spaying and neutering and the problems of over-population. It was a great day for Training Wheels® and a perfect demonstration of the program's community value.

Blackie's family, although very grateful for the donation of a secure steel cable runner and advice on preventing running Blackie's escape episodes, were opposed to neutering. The Training Wheels® offer of free pet supplies, free dog training, free pet behavior advice, and an invitation for Blackie's owners to bring him to our low cost Rabies vaccination clinic, established a trusting relationship between pet owner and shelter. When Blackie's family brought him in for his Rabies vaccination, one more conversation was had about the benefits of neutering and another offer was made to pay for the procedure. The father of the family agreed, and set up an appointment.

With one visit from the Training Wheels® van, a productive, education and long lasting difference was made in one neighborhood in our community, and countless litters and future surrenders to our shelter were averted. Setting up a spay neuter fund specifically for low income pet owners, and by targeting them in the community rather than waiting to intake all their future progeny, we are truly making a difference.

We see the Blackie Fund as spending money now that will save money for the future.

Any contribution you can make to the Blackie Fund would be greatly appreciated. We have established a special link directly to RVAA's secure, online payment system, hosted by Pay-Pal. Any amount you can spare is most welcome and we guarantee that all monies contributed through the link below will be ear-marked to The Blackie Fund.

Future newsletters will include updates on the Blackie Fund including amounts raised to date and a running overview of the Fund's successes.

Click here to donate to Blackie's Fund.

OPEN HOUSE

Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption is pleased to announce a special open house on Saturday July 3rd, 2004 from 11 AM to 3 PM. A rain date has been set for Sunday, July 4th.

Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption founder, Sue Sternberg, notes, "We thought an open house day at the shelter would be a fine way to thank all our wonderful supporters. It's a great chance to visit our facility and to learn more about what we do and how we do it."

Friends, supporters and doners are encouraged to bring their congenial dogs along to the open house event. In making the decision whether or not to bring your dog, please consider your pet's comfort level with other dogs in playful situations.

In addition to an informative tour of the Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption shelter, the open house will include organized fun and games for visitors and their pets. The activities will be specifically tailored to be both entertaining and informative. Scheduled games and activities will include:

• Pet Tricks
• Agility
• Fun and games
• Bobbing for wieners

The event will also include a picnic with refreshments for both pets and their people.

Following are driving directions to Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption:

From NYC:

Take the George Washington Bridge to the Palisade's Parkway. Take the Palisades North to Exit 9W (NYS Thruway towards Albany). Take the thruway to Exit 19. Follow the traffic circle around to the right to Route 209 South towards Ellenville. Take 209 South for approximately 13 miles. We're on the right.


From Route 84:

Take exit 7S (NYS Thruway). Take NYS Thruway North to Exit 19. Follow directions above from Exit 19.

For more information contact Jane Kopelman by email, Jane@SueSternberg.com or phone at RVAA: 845-687-7619.