Kennel Chronicles

News from Heartland Animal Shelter

Kennel Chronicles June/July ‘11 - Volume 1 - Edition 1

Elmer Stops by for a Visit!

In this issue…

Simplifying Kennel Rules 2 Adoption Sign Updates 4 Thank You of the Month 3 Budet Program Updates 5 Sick Sign Updates 4 Hand Washing Reminder 6 Going Home! 2 What‟s New! 6 Puppy Sign Updates 3 Safety Reminders 4 New Safety Features 7 Walk of Love Reminder 7 Accomplishments 8 Elmer‟s Visit 8

Simplifying Kennel Rules We‟ve all been there before… You‟re walking a dog in from a walk when suddenly you spy a child running loose (which in some cases is worse than a loose dog) or people are sticking their fingers in a sick dog‟s cage then proceeding to touch healthy animals. The Sign and Safety committee is working on simplifying the Kennel Rules so that it‟s not overwhelming for families who enter our shelter wanting nothing more than a best friend for life.

We are hoping to boil down the list of rules to a possible four major points (like: wash your hands after touching a dog, please supervise your children) and have those in a visible spot for all visitors to see when they enter the kennel.

This will help everyone stay safe and healthy while easing the minds of several volunteers. Let‟s face it – I don‟t want to babysit your child and I don‟t really care if you get rabies, but it‟s my duty as a volunteer to keep the animals safe, people included.

Going Home!

Kennel Chronicles is a bi-monthly newsletter for kennel volunteers at Heartland Animal Shelter.

Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the writers & not necessarily that of Heartland. To submit an article or an idea, send an email to: paulakristine89@yahoo.com

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Thank you of the month (Below- pile of branches that were removed)

(Above- the cleaned up walking path)

This month‟s thank you goes to Ian S.!

Ian cleaned up the dog walking area by trimming excess tree branches.

To suggest the “Thank you” for next month, please contact Paula.

(Her contact info is on page 2).

Thank you Ian for suggesting this topic, you have earned many thanks!

Puppy Sign Updates Let‟s face it. The puppies are adorable. I can‟t think of one think of anything I find cuter than a puppy. A lot of our visitors feel that way as well. And even though we have about a million “DO NOT TOUCH” signs, we still have people touching them.

The Sign & Safety committee is proposing to have a new sign made explaining to people why touching a puppy is harmful to the dog‟s health.

By giving a reason, we hope to curb people‟s understandable urge to pet the puppies. We hope that this new sign will allow people to understand why we have this precaution.

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Sick Sign Updates “Is this dog contagious? Can I take him for a walk? Why does this dog have a sign that says „Short walks only‟?”

The Sign & Safety committee is working on clarifying all questions about blue carded dogs. Currently improvements have already been made, including signs that say “I‟m not contagious” or “I‟m contagious”.

As a reminder, please read each sign carefully. It‟s up to all of us to keep a dog healthy. If a cage has a “Do Not Walk Me” sign, don‟t pity the dog. It‟s for the health of the animal.

Look for more improvements on this topic as the committee finalizes new ideas.

Safety Reminders Here are a few tips that have come up in recent kennel discussions: Please keep your dog on a tight leash when entering or exiting the kennel. This is to ensure everyone‟s safety. Sometimes the floor is slippery and a dog will haul a poor volunteer down the aisle.

Sometimes more than one dog are going out at once and we don‟t need a dog fight.

Please do not allow dogs outside to drink water that has been left there. It may warm up eventually, which then people may start leaving more water bowls outside, but if you didn‟t put the water in an outdoor run for that dog, don‟t let the dog drink it. You don‟t know if another animal like a raccoon drank it overnight, or if a sick dog drank it in another shift. If you want to let a dog drink water outside, please fill a bowl yourself and bring it out for the dog.

Adoption Sign Updates Yellow signs are everywhere. Some are for dogs who escape, some are for dogs who eat their blankets, some are for dogs who are on a special diet, some are for dogs who are getting adopted. Lost? I know I am.

The color of the “Adoption Pending” sign may change to green since we seem to be over-flowing with yellow signs. I know I get hopeful when I enter the kennel to be greeted by half a dozen signs only to find out maybe one or two of them are yellow ones for adoptions pending.

To continue with signs that may change color soon, the “Staff Only” signs may go from red to a neon color, like hot pink. This is to eliminate the negative psychological connections people have with the color red which may keep people from considering adopting that dog.

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Budet Program Updates First of all, let me explain to the best of my ability what the “Budet” program is. Heartland is allowing interested volunteers to buddy a dog for a period of time so that we all can learn more about the dog. Budets find out all kinds of information about the dog, what they like to play with, how they walk on a leash and takes time to train them as well. This is so that they can write an informed biography on the dog to help all the other volunteers learn more about their personality and habits.

To the right, we have a list of the current Budets and their chosen dog. If you are interested in becoming a part of this program, please talk to Christy Rivera during one of your volunteer shifts.

The Sign & Safety committee briefly discussed how interested families may contact the Budets. Below is a form that we may use. Empty forms will be located in convenient spots around the kennels and there will be a designated spot for completed ones that Budets can check during their volunteer time. An interested family would fill in the name of the dog, any question they had about it (Even “we would like to learn more about him/ her” would suffice) and the best way to contact that family. A Budet would be responsible for checking the completed forms drop box to see if they have any information requests, at which time they would take the form home and contact the family.

This would be used for serious inquiries only. Also, if a dog was not listed on the Budet Program list, a family could still possibly use this form because a volunteer may know a specific dog very well without being a Budet.

Current Budets

Previous Budets: Christy & Joann with Reed Jessica with Chase

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Hand washing Reminder Contagious or not, we should all wash our hands between touching dogs. However, going from kennel 19 all the way to the sink and back can be quite a distance.

The Sign & Safety committee proposed to leave more hand sanitizers around the kennel so that it will become common practice to clean up before touching dogs.

Remember: even though a dog doesn‟t have a blue sign, it doesn‟t mean it isn‟t catching something or recovering from a recent illness. Let‟s all do our part to keep every dog healthy!

What’s New! The shower is now equipped with hooks to hold everything. If you take something, please put it back on it‟s hook. This keeps the shelter clean and tidy! Thank you Mary H.!

The leashes have now been organized and sorted. There are less leashes to choose from but this keeps the shelter looking more orderly.

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New Safety Features Please look for upcoming editions of Kennel Chronicles so that you may familiarize yourself with our policies for the use of the air horns, the emergency cow bell and the emergency whistle.

Currently the whistle and the outside bell are for use in case of a dog fight.

They will be used to alert staff members.

Although there is not a written policy for these materials yet, if an emergency arises, use them. A drill video on what to do when that bell or whistle has been blown has been proposed.

Please use the bell or whistle for now until our air horn policy is approved.

Hogs for Dogs Reminder Save the date! September 18th is the day of the fifth annual Hogs for Dogs! Donâ€&#x;t miss it!

Hereâ€&#x;s everything you need to know: Cost: Adults $25 n advance/ $30 day of event Kids $10 in advance/ $12 day of event (Adults are anyone over 12 years old.

Kids under 3 are free) Group package (over 5 riders) $20 per person in advanced Time: 9:30-10:30 am meet the bikers 10:45 am first bike out Location: Heartland Animal Shelter 2975 Milwaukee Ave., Northbrook, IL Notes: All vehicles are welcome!

Ride ends at Side-Outs Bar & Eatery 4018 Roberts Road, Island Lake, IL (Free food to registered attendees)

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Elmer’s Visit On July 1st, Elmer (now named Max) decided to drop by Heartland and say hi to all his old friends.

Greeting kennel attendants Tom and Christy, Max wiggled and kissed showing that even though he is graying around the muzzle, he still has a lot of love left to give.

Elmer was one of our longeststaying residents, but eventually he found a great home with adoptive mom, Noel.

He keeps the neighborhood safe by laying on top of a couch in front of the living room window, barking whenever someone goes by.

He visited us to get checked by a vet so he can go vacationing with Noel‟s mom. First stop: Kitty Hawk, NC.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS This section will be used for all Hearltand alumni dogs to get recognized for their accomplishments. Whether an alumni has completed the AKC STAR Puppy program, a local PetCo training class or even just learned to sit at street corners on walks, I want to know what incredible thing your dog has done lately! It‟s awesome to hear about how many Heartland alumni go on to do great things!

And to start this section of the newsletter, I‟d like to share that my own Heartland alumni, Logan (AKC name: Logan Square Express, CGC, TDI) has just been certified as a therapy dog! Below is a picture from the night we brought her home (at just 33 pounds) in November of 2007 and what she looks like today.

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