PetSafe® Shelter Enrichment Project

By Jim Tedford, Director of Animal Welfare Initiatives and Alliances
Jim poses for a picture with his dog, Henry.

Have you ever lost a favorite shoe or TV remote control as a result of inappropriate chewing behavior on the part of your canine best friend?  When Henry, my now two-year-old Jack Russell, was a puppy, I lost the corners on two baseboards in my almost-new house!  The incident was, of course, not Henry’s fault.  He was a puppy and puppies chew!  Had I not given him the opportunity, my baseboards would have remained intact and I wouldn’t have had some “splainin’” to do when my wife got home.

Chewing is a perfectly natural behavior, especially amongst puppies and dogs of certain breeds.  It is up to us humans to teach our best friends the difference between our Italian loafers and PetSafe® Busy Buddy® toys!  For dogs who find themselves in an animal shelter environment, it is even more important that we give them an outlet for that need to chew.  In a recent blog post, Dr. Emily Weiss of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) explained the critical importance of chewing for dogs in shelters.

The Busy Buddy Squirrel Dude is a great toy for strong chewers!  Many organizations are doing a great job of enriching the kennel environment with toys and treats.

The PetSafe Brand is helping select shelters do just that.  Through the PetSafe Shelter Enrichment Project we are providing partner shelters with enough Busy Buddy® Squirrel Dude™ toys to ensure that there is a toy in every kennel in the facility at all times!  Not only do these interactive, treat-dispensing toys help reduce anxiety by keeping dogs busy and engaged, but studies have shown that simply having toys in kennels increases adoption rates!  Maybe potential adopters are able to better relate to dogs with toys and see them as potential pets?  Whatever the case, we know that offering toys to shelter dogs is a good thing all the way around and PetSafe is happy to be able to help.

Dogs agree, Lickety Stik is doggie delicious!  And, in addition to toys, partners in the PetSafe Shelter Enrichment Project are provided with Lickety Stik® liquid pet treat for all dogs and cats in their adoption centers.  Lickety Stiks follow these animals during their stay in the shelter so that staff and volunteers can reward positive behaviors.  And, when the pet is adopted, the Lickety Stik goes home with them!

The PetSafe Shelter Enrichment Project is still a relatively new program and it continues to grow and develop.  As of this writing we have partnerships with 5 animal welfare organizations across the US with plans to add at least 5 more in 2014.  And, for those organizations who don’t quite make it to the partner list, PetSafe offers extremely low pricing so they may purchase toys, treats and other products at a discount.

Our tagline here at PetSafe is “Protect.  Teach.   Love.™” and we live up to it each and every day.  We are proud to partner with so many fine animal shelters who work hard to make their communities better for animals and people alike.

Source by: http://www.petsafe.net/learn/petsafe-shelter-enrichment-project

How Dogs Show Affection

Love can be defined as "a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward (a person).1 " Most of us have known that same deep and ineffable sentiment toward our pets. And gazing into our dogs’ eyes, we’ve sworn the feeling is mutual. Are canines truly capable of love? Here’s what the experts say.

A family affair

The way dogs relate to us stems from their pack animal roots. In the wild, tight social bonds among pack members are essential to survival. Wolves mate for life and have a very structured family hierarchy. Subordinate wolves approach more dominant ones with respectful gestures such as face-licking, tail-wagging, and a lowered body posture. Rapport among equals is more rowdy, and the excited barking, jumping, and roughhousing are akin to friendship. Pack members protect each other and are very loyal. The entire pack contributes toward feeding and rearing the young. Mated pairs and their offspring might sleep together, snuggled with a paw or head over another’s back. If one wolf is injured in a hunt, the others bring food to it, lick its wounds, and nurse it back to health. Modern domestic dogs are reprogrammed to direct these behaviors towards humans, who are, in essence, their surrogate pack.

Is it love?

We love our dogs, and they seem to love us, but is a dog really capable of such emotions? Is it love as we know it? Or are we just projecting our human feelings onto our dogs?

Some scientists and behaviorists believe that dogs do not feel actual emotions, but rather act on instinct alone. Thus the dog that wags her tail and barks excitedly upon your return is performing a stereotypic greeting for a superior pack member. The dog that stands vigil by the sickbed is only heeding a hardwired instinct towards pack survival. The dog that stares longingly into your eyes is actually just saying "feed me."

A behavioral model of canine affection suggests that dogs learn to "love" us because we unwittingly teach them to do so. We actually train them to wag, lick, bark and make silly faces for us by rewarding them with snuggles and a treat. Our human habit of investing other animals with our emotions then leads us to interpret their behavior as love. Veterinarian Fred Metzger sums up this line of reasoning:

"Dogs probably don't feel love in the typical way humans do. Dogs make investments in human beings because it works for them. . . . The more 'cute factor' they give us, the more we feel like they love us. This makes it more likely that we will give them more attention, food treats, outdoor access—all based on how much of a show they put on for us.2"

Steven Budiansky, author of The Truth About Dogs takes it one step further. He suggests that dogs, by virtue of their intensely hierarchical social system, are instinctive brown-nosers who know just what it takes to get ahead. Thus, according to Budiansky, dogs have unleashed their uncanny abilities on humans in a survival-of-the-fittest sort of way, thereby winning our hearts, our homes, and a life of luxury that is unheard of in the rest of the animal kingdom.3

Does love conquer all?

But what of the dog who sits loyally by the sickbed? Or the dog that repeatedly performs an altruistic rescue-at-sea? Must there always something in it for them? All cynicism aside, it’s tempting to believe that a dog’s affection is real, at least on some level.

Says Dr. Ann Marcario, a veterinarian and dog lover in New York:

"[My dog] seems to know when I am feeling down and gives me more attention at those times. She lets me know when she doesn't like something and when she's having a great time or if she doesn't feel good. She is obedient when I give her directions. She recognizes her "friends" (both people and animal) and greets them enthusiastically."
If it’s not exactly love in the complex human sense, certainly the connection and deep attachment are real. And in most cases, a dog’s loyalty is unconditional. She doesn’t care if your hair’s not washed or if you’re having a bad day. You can ignore, scold, or even forget to feed your dog and he won’t hold a grudge. He’s just happy that you’re you. This type of pure, non-judgmental bond is precious in our jaded and cynical world. Is it love? Or something even better? In the end, the question of whether a dog’s love is real may be nothing more than semantics.

Source by: http://www.doghealth.com/how-and-why/how-dogs-show-affection

How Dogs Show Affection

Love can be defined as "a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward (a person).1 " Most of us have known that same deep and ineffable sentiment toward our pets. And gazing into our dogs’ eyes, we’ve sworn the feeling is mutual. Are canines truly capable of love? Here’s what the experts say.

A family affair

The way dogs relate to us stems from their pack animal roots. In the wild, tight social bonds among pack members are essential to survival. Wolves mate for life and have a very structured family hierarchy. Subordinate wolves approach more dominant ones with respectful gestures such as face-licking, tail-wagging, and a lowered body posture. Rapport among equals is more rowdy, and the excited barking, jumping, and roughhousing are akin to friendship. Pack members protect each other and are very loyal. The entire pack contributes toward feeding and rearing the young. Mated pairs and their offspring might sleep together, snuggled with a paw or head over another’s back. If one wolf is injured in a hunt, the others bring food to it, lick its wounds, and nurse it back to health. Modern domestic dogs are reprogrammed to direct these behaviors towards humans, who are, in essence, their surrogate pack.

Is it love?

We love our dogs, and they seem to love us, but is a dog really capable of such emotions? Is it love as we know it? Or are we just projecting our human feelings onto our dogs?

Some scientists and behaviorists believe that dogs do not feel actual emotions, but rather act on instinct alone. Thus the dog that wags her tail and barks excitedly upon your return is performing a stereotypic greeting for a superior pack member. The dog that stands vigil by the sickbed is only heeding a hardwired instinct towards pack survival. The dog that stares longingly into your eyes is actually just saying "feed me."

A behavioral model of canine affection suggests that dogs learn to "love" us because we unwittingly teach them to do so. We actually train them to wag, lick, bark and make silly faces for us by rewarding them with snuggles and a treat. Our human habit of investing other animals with our emotions then leads us to interpret their behavior as love. Veterinarian Fred Metzger sums up this line of reasoning:

"Dogs probably don't feel love in the typical way humans do. Dogs make investments in human beings because it works for them. . . . The more 'cute factor' they give us, the more we feel like they love us. This makes it more likely that we will give them more attention, food treats, outdoor access—all based on how much of a show they put on for us.2"

Steven Budiansky, author of The Truth About Dogs takes it one step further. He suggests that dogs, by virtue of their intensely hierarchical social system, are instinctive brown-nosers who know just what it takes to get ahead. Thus, according to Budiansky, dogs have unleashed their uncanny abilities on humans in a survival-of-the-fittest sort of way, thereby winning our hearts, our homes, and a life of luxury that is unheard of in the rest of the animal kingdom.3

Source by: http://www.doghealth.com/how-and-why/how-dogs-show-affection