JOIN US THIS SATURDAY - JUNE 20 over at SF/SPCA

Rescue Recycle Renew Adoption Fair



Come look for our table


have a great time with all

of us! Cats, dogs, birds, bunnies, other small mammals . . .

and YOU!

San Francisco SPCA invites you

Rescue, Recycle, Renew

Free Adoption Fair

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

11:00 am - 3:00 pm

201 Alabama Street
(in the courtyard of The SF/SPCA’s Leanne B. Roberts Animal Care Center)

FREE parking available

♥ Variety of Rescue Groups (adoption fees apply for each group)
♥ “Second Chance Sale” of new or gently used pet toys, outfits, bric-a-brac, supplies & more
♥ Education on recycling: garbage vs. compost vs. recyclables
♥ Tours of the new SF/SPCA Leanne B. Roberts Animal Care Center
♥ Maddies Pet Adoption Center
♥ Foster Care Program with kittens, and Fospice (Foster/Hospice) animals

Participating Bay Area Groups:

California Chins
Copper's Dream Animal Rescue
The Dog Spot Rescue

Give A Dog A Bone

Golden State Greyhound Adoption
Grateful Dogs Rescue

Hopalong and Second Chance Animal Rescue
Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue
The Milo Foundation

Muttville
Rocket Dog
San Francisco Animal Care & Control

Save A Bunny
Toni's Kitty Rescue
Wonder Dog Rescue

Meet some really cool animals and bring your kids

- the next generation of adopters.

Adopt a homeless animal and save a life! Join The SF/SPCA and Bay Area rescue groups for a free Adoption Fair featuring cats and dogs of all ages, birds, bunnies, and other small mammals!
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Participating Vendors ...

Dress My Pooch
Greenhome

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Sponsored by ... PetCo Foundation - thank you, PetCo!

SEE YOU ALL THERE !!!!

De-stressing your dog

It is easy to forget that dogs, like people, need very similar things to thrive. Your dog follows your routine, your eating habits, exercise habits and more. It is time that we thought about our own routines, and how they can impact the life of our pet. Dogs don't just need "dog food" and a ball to chase: each dog has something special and unique about them that should be honored, and it is up to you-- the owner-- to find out what it is!

In order to live, humans need the basics: food, water, and shelter. In order to thrive, however, we need a stable home environment, whole and nourishing foods, regular exercise, touch, love, community, strategies for managing stress, and a positive outlook on life. It would seem, to me, that we can say the same things about our pets.

At Give A Dog A Bone, we may work on a tight budget, but Corinne and her volunteers try to tackle the physical, emotional, and mental health of the dogs. One thing in particular: STRESS is not just our enemy, but an enemy of our pets as well. Although in some cases, prescription medicine is a necessity, these days, it is fun to play around with some of the extremely effective holistic and all-natural stress-busting options. Corinne has come up with some all-natural remedies that are worth sharing for de-stressing the dogs at the shelter:

1. Lavender spray bottle: Lavender has been used for ages as an herb to combat depression, anxiety, insomnia and a variety of other conditions. It works by having a calming effect on the body and thereby reducing the body's stress response. At the shelter, Corinne has a spray bottle filled with filtered water and lavender essential oil. Sprayed in the air around the dogs, they are noticeably intrigued and calmed by the smell. It is worth trying at home if your dog is having a barking attack, or noticeably agitated. 

2. Bach's Rescue Remedy: A long time holistic health staple, rescue remedy is a combination of flower essences developed by Edward Bach to be used in times of stress. Everyone from celebrities, to health professionals, or just your Average Joe can keep this in mind when stress arises. (Some EMT's even carry it around in their medical bag to use when patients are presenting with signs of shock!) The combination of flowers works synergistically to reduce stress, calm the mind, decrease anxiety, and even goes so far as to decrease panic symptoms. 

3. Diet: Dogs and people are sensitive to food. We may not know it, after all of the processes and refinements have taken place, but food definitely effects how we behave. Refined white sugar, for instance, spikes the blood sugar, causes mood imbalances, cravings, anxiety, and weight gain. Instead, it has been found that complex carbohydrates: quinoa, brown rice, millet, and protein: fish (high in protein and omega-s), chicken, lean meats have a profoundly calming effect on the body and mind. If you are up for it, make your dog breakfast of salmon, quinoa, and steamed veggies with olive oil to see how they respond to an all-natural and nourishing meal!!!

The list can go on forever, and it is fun to play around with your own stress busting ideas: Meditation, Yoga, massage, long walks, doing something fun with someone you love, watching a movie. Whatever your tactic is for stress-relief, try to get your dog in  on the action as well!

Wonderful wishes for a beautiful spring- the perfect time of year to enjoy a sunny patch of grass at the park with your furry friend.

 

Agility on a budget

It is one of the many perks of non-profit work that when recessions hit, you normally have a pretty good idea already of ways to save money. In an effort to make sure you can still get the most joy out of your time with your dog, we can show you how to do agility on a shoe-string. 

When looking for inexpensive thrills for your pet, look no further than some of the training equipment we use here at Give A Dog A Bone. Trust us, it doesn't take fancy toys, equipment, or high priced training sessions to make your pet happy (although I guess that never hurt, either). As any dog will tell you, they prefer your old shoes or stuffed animals to any of the other high priced toys you can find at the dog "boutiques". 

And why not let the pictures speak for themselves? The first thing you think when you see these pictures is, "My Gosh! That is one happy puppy!" Again, big thanks to Sylvia Spiro (our wonderful volunteer photographer) for being able to capture a puppy smiling and exuding pure puppy joy. You know, what we see in the pictures is not a picture-perfect puppy on a picture-perfect agility course; but rather, a sweet little guy with a patch of demodex (treatable mange) and a beautiful spirit making his own real-life agility course. Using a chair, a cone, a frisbee, and a fire hydrant (although we are not expecting you to have well-placed fire hydrants in your back yard:)), this puppy is in heaven!!! Using household objects: a broom handle, plastic chair, step stool, frisbee, rope, and any safe combination you can think of, can prove to be just the agility course your dog needs. In fact, using objects like cones and plastic chairs (cheap thrills!) is a wonderful way of getting your puppy used to objects that may seem "scary" or "strange" to its young mind. If you are looking for fun ways to socialize your puppy and get them accustomed to the big world out there, an at-home agility course could be just the mental and physical exercise they need to grow into strong, confident dogs. So look around your house today, and get experimental with your pet's agility course, they will thank you for it!

Life Behind Bars

It isn't always glamorous at the animal shelter, but there is some serious work that gets done while the animals are "behind bars". When animals are not being taken out for exercise and love, they spend the majority of their time inside of their kennel looking at life behind metal bars. Through no fault of their own, these dogs have ended up at Animal Care and Control, and it is through the effort of dedicated volunteers, like Corinne and her staff, that they end up with any human interaction at all. 

But don't despair yet! Where others might see a dead-end, Corinne and her volunteers see another opportunity to enrich the lives of the dogs. They strive to give their dogs the emotional support and mental stimulation they need in order to keep sane, even with a metal fence between them. In fact, Corinne once told me that every single time she enters a run she tries to acknowledge each dog she passes by. 

The photos above are taken by a wonderful volunteer, Sylvia, who uses her gift of photography to capture some of the wonderful day to day moments at Give A Dog A Bone. While in the cage, Corinne (seen above) is practicing "Ups" with one of her dogs. Treats abound in these training sessions, which Corinne stresses to me, keeps the dogs mentally stimulated and engaged, even when they can't be taken out. It seems that everything in life works from the inside out. Even when inside of their cages, Corinne and her volunteers begin putting behaviors on cue that will help groom these animals into well-behaved, loving dogs. Each time they pass by they have a kind word, a delicious treat, or squeaky toy to make each dog feel special.

At Give A Dog A Bone, no dog is too hopeless to be worked with or too sick to be loved. Every volunteer knows that each animal comes to the shelter with a unique set of circumstances and behaviors. Even dogs that are confined to their kennels because of aggression are not excluded from Corinne's remarkably positive training sessions. It may seem a small victory, but an animal deemed "vicious" or "aggressive" taking a treat from your hand, and doing "ups" for the volunteers, is just one of the many reasons that volunteering at Give A Dog A Bone is a worthwhile and enriching experience. 

More broadly, can you imagine what that would do for the world, if instead of turning a blind eye to others who need our help, we took the time to acknowledge each individual's beautiful and unique existence? We may not always have the answer to a problem, but taking the time to acknowledge what is around us is one of the most thoughtful things we can do.

So this is a big Thank You to all of the volunteers at Give A Dog A Bone, and to San Francisco's Animal Care and Control who make it their passion to acknowledge every dog, and give love, toys, treats, and affection to the dogs "behind bars". 

Do you have a type?

You can like them lean and handsome, scruffy and wise, young and nubile, or edgy and dark. Dogs, like humans, come in all shapes and sizes. No doubt most of us love all dogs unconditionally, but is there one certain type that goes straight to the soft spot in your heart?

An obvious start would be the big dog vs small dog battle that seems to divide most of us, but there may be more to it than that. Do you like big fluffy dogs with brown hair? Or small dogs with spots and sassy attitudes? The list continues with young dogs, adolescent dogs, old dogs, parti-colors, brindles, wire-haired, short-haired, bossy, laid-back...oh my!

While shadowing Deb (one amazing lady and volunteer!) I got to take a peek at her daily interactions with the dogs, and in the process, discovered her type! While we were taking the dogs out for some exercise and love, there was one adolescent puppy in particular who had captured her heart. Hunter is a gorgeous black pit-bull puppy, heading into his adolescent phase, and with lots of love to spare. Watching them work together, I saw a lot of the depth of emotion that passes between each of these volunteers and their animals. Despite how long they are in the shelter, or whatever the outcome may be, GADAB volunteers treat these animals like their own, with all of the nurturing and love that the animals can handle.

As I watched them together, and saw such genuine affection pass between them, I got to thinking about my own "type". I'd have to say that I'm a sucker for fluffy black and white dogs with goofy personalities, but I still manage to fall in love with animals of all shapes and sizes. Type or no type, these dogs are loved to the maximum capacity of each volunteer, and let me tell you, these volunteers have pretty huge hearts.

Squeaky Faucet? Nope, that's just Squeakers.

One of my most favorite things about volunteering at Give a Dog a Bone is finding the very thing that ROCKS a custody dog's world! Sometimes it's just hanging out in the park offering some TLC, for other dogs it's fetching a ball and learning a new agility trick.

This last Sunday, we found Squeaker's very favorite thing--so simple, so refreshing...the water hose!



Squeaker is a red Merle and LOVES to chase and bite the water straight from the hose. Now, doesn't that look like fun? Yay Squeaky Squeaker McSqueakerton!!

Update: Danni the Great

Now, this is a happy ending.

Do you remember Dandelion? She's the adorable girl who came in to Give a Dog a Bone under some unfortunate circumstances. She was instantly a favorite...and how could she not be? All love, this little girl wanted nothing but affection, attention, and to crawl into a lap. She was very lucky to be fostered by some very kind and patient foster parents while she was put up for adoption through Grateful Dogs Rescue.

I just so happened to be Dandy's biggest fan, and sent out an email to friends and coworkers, touting her adorableness (is that a word?). A very good friend of mine from Sacramento happened to share this email with her friend/coworker, who just happened to be looking for a 3rd dog to join their family.

A few days later, Barbara was on her way down to San Francisco.

Now, no story doesn't have a few bumps, and there were a few little bumps when Dandy, now deemed Danni, joined her new family. The dogs all had to adjust to the new dynamic. But, because they were committed to making it work, Barbara and her husband took the time to learn how to make all of the dogs comfortable in their roles in the family. And soon, the dogs were doing great, and Danni was even going to doggie school, and from what I hear, was the best dog in the class.

Plenty of exercise, dog companions, loving owners...this girl hit the jackpot.

"I am so excited to have her, she brings such great energy to our family," said Barbara in an email to me, and I have to say...it makes me a little verklempt every time I think about Danni, starting out behind the bars of the shelter, and now...well, look for yourself...







So, thanks to Corinne for running a program that allows such happy endings to occur, and thanks to Jordan and Ellie for being great foster parents, thanks to Grateful Dogs Rescue for putting Danni in their program...and thanks to Barbara for giving the girl a chance...and for making a special little pittie's dreams come true!