"WAGGIN TAILS NEWS"

Animal Adoption Foundation

A No-Kill Organization

513-737-PETS

www.aafpets.com

 

  

Hello Pet Lovers!

 

Welcome to another edition of the Online Pet Pulse.  We'd like to get you caught up on what's been going on at the shelter and let you know about upcoming events.  Please enjoy!   

 

Upcoming Events!

 

Craft Show...Saturday, November 21st from 9am-3pm at Oak Hills High School. 

Find some neat things for your home at this craft show.  The AAF will have a booth where we will be selling donated items with all proceeds helping the homeless pets at the shelter!

 

Christmas in the Country...Saturday, November 28th at 12PM.

The AAF will be participating in the annual Christmas in the Country celebration in Shandon, OH (located just 10 minutes west of the shelter).  We will be showing off our dogs in the parade which begins at 12pm.  We need volunteers to walk dogs in the parade.  If you can help, you will need to meet at the shelter at 11am.  We should be back from the parade by 1pm.  Let us know if you are able to participate!

 

AAF Volunteer Holiday Party...Wednesday, December 16th at 7:00 PM at the Shelter!

Help us celebrate the holiday season!  We are inviting all AAF volunteers to enjoy a festive evening at the shelter.  There will be lots of great food, festive music and even a visit by Mr. and Mrs. Claus!  You may even meet one of our pets under the mistletoe. And as a special treat to all of our wonderful shelter pets, we will be hanging stockings for all of them to enjoy!  If you plan to attend the party and would like to bring a snack, covered dish or dessert, that would help out a lot!  Hope to see you there.  

 

Pictures with Santa!...Sunday, December 20th at the Petsmart at Bridgewater Falls from 11am-3pm.

Get in the holiday spirit with your beloved pet by having its picture taken with Santa Claus.  50% of the proceeds go to the animals at the AAF!  Nothing will melt your heart more than seeing your pet's picture on Christmas morning and knowing that you helped homeless pets in the process!

 

Waggin' Tails Auction...Saturday, March 6th at 6:00 PM.

Come join us for our biggest fundraiser of the year!  It will be held at Tori's Station (Fairfield Banquet Center).  700 WLW radio personality Bill "The Segman" Dennison will once again be our emcee for the event and celebrated auctioneer Doug Ross will be encouraging you to bid on items in a style that is all his own.  Admission to the event is just $40/person or $280/table of eight.  We are now accepting donations for the auction if you would like to donate or know someone who would like to do so.

 

Pet Pals!

 

The AAF will be a guest on Pet Pals on the third Saturday of each month. Pet Pals is a segment on Channel 9 news on Saturday mornings at 8:15am.  Guests bring dogs that are available for adoption and talk about a variety of pet-related topics.  Please tune in and watch out for your favorite shelter dog to be up on the big screen!

 

Maggie is Simply Amazing!

 

If you've been to the AAF in the last year and a half, you might remember meeting a wonderful dog named Maggie, a black pit bull with a wonderful personality.  We always knew Maggie was a smart dog, having gone through several training classes.  What we didn't know is that Maggie has an amazing ability to focus!  So much so that resident dog trainer Eileen Udry and several other volunteers decided to work with Maggie in regards to Search & Rescue training.  To say that Maggie excelled in the training is an understatement and even had a tryout with the Indiana State Police to work as a S & R canine.  Maggie blew their socks off with her amazing abilities.  We're all so proud of Maggie and want to thank Eileen, Louisa Phillips, Lindsey Kahn and all of the other wonderful volunteers who spent so many hours working with Miss Maggie.  Now we're just waiting to see if a spot opens up with the police department upon which Maggie will start the training program!  In the meantime, Maggie is still available to be adopted into a wonderful home.  Go Mags!!!

 

A message from AAF dog Maggie....

Ever think about how it would be to live 24/7 in a place that can sound and feel like being next to an operating jackhammer? This is often what we shelter dogs are asked to do. Dogs' hearing is far more sensitive than humans and kennel noise is a significant form of stress. It turns out that reducing the noise in kennel areas not only improves dogs' welfare it also improves our adoptability. Potential adopters are most often drawn to calm, quiet dogs.  Fortunately, since August 15th I've seen that there have been some targeted efforts to reduce noise where the other dogs and I are housed. Yippe!!!  Below are 3 quick tips on how AAF volunteers can help make things even better:

1. Make it a point to reward dogs that are calm and quiet. There are "cookie jars" with dog treats in them in each of the two dog kennels. Ignore those dogs who are barking and or jumping up. If you're coming to the shelter to walk dogs, take 5 minutes to grab some treats and "work the kennels" for a few minutes between walking dogs. All of us dogs-even Barney the beagle/hound mix- CAN learn to be quiet- IF we have enough people teaching us the same lessons.

2. Shelter dogs spend a lot of time watching people; after all, we do have a lot of time on our hands, er paws. Anyhow, most dogs have figured out which volunteers are likely to reward calm, quiet behavior and who never acknowledges the work we are doing to stay calm. I read where dog experts call this a person's "reward history" with a dog. So, come on, why not help us dog's build a calm, quiet reward history with YOU! 

3. If you are getting ready to walk a dog, wait until the dog has gotten quiet before you move into or out of the dogs' run or suite. This may initially take some time...but then again, you'll be helping improve the dogs' adoptability if you  do this. I used to be pretty nuts when I saw volunteers coming to take me for a walk and I admit, I'd try to get people to get me outside as quick as possible. But, lately, I've learned so much self control that the volunteers are using me as the "demo dog" during the orientation sessions for new volunteers! Not bad, eh?

Interested in learning more? Sign-up for a FREE session on dog handling. Check out the AAF website under "training". Or stop at the front desk and ask the staff how to get involved.

Gotta go...Someone's here to take me outside for a game of fetch!

 

Orientation Changes

 

Due to overwhelming demand for a second orientation class, we have added another weekly orientation to get you started volunteering with the AAF.  We now offer orientations each Thursday at 4:30pm.  In addition, the Saturday class time has changed and is now 11:30am rather than 12pm.  You should expect orientation to last approximate 90 minutes as we have added some things to the class!

 

We Need Cat Litter! 

 

The AAF is always in dire need of cat litter.  As you can imagine, we go through quite a bit of cat litter each week.  If you live nearby and happen to think about picking up a bag of litter while out shopping, please feel free to drop it off at any time.  The cheap clay litter works the best!

 

After School Programs!

 

Are you involved with any school groups, or maybe the girl or boy scouts?  The AAF is looking to offer some after school programs to youth groups.  The programs would involve educational content as it pertains to working with our dogs and cats.  If you are interested in learning more about setting something up for your group, just give us a call or send us an email.

 

 

Please remember to visit our website and see all of our available pets for adoption at www.aafpets.com.

 

Thank you all for reading and for what you do for all of our animal friends! 

 

Eric Johnson

Director

Animal Adoption Foundation