july | august 2010
pasadena humane society & spca
Blue Ribbon Dogs If you visit the kennels on Wednesday afternoon after 2 pm, you will see a member of our behavior team placing blue ribbon stickers on the kennel cards of some very proud dogs. The Blue Ribbon is the highest award given at Shelter School, our latest enrichment program that teaches basic commands to dogs before they are adopted. Only a few dogs earn it each week. Just before one pm on Wednesdays, volunteers and staff from all depart-
ments bring their chosen dog to the training center and take a spot behind visual barriers. Space is limited to 15 dogs and this is one class they are eager to attend! School starts promptly
with a PHS trainer demonstrating the sit command. As in any classroom, students vary in their ability to concentrate. Some canine students bark loudly and are so distracted that they need a time out in another room. Others are very studious, and are able to block out all of the other dogs. Some dogs learn the commands quickly and move from sit to down and then to stay. Each dog and personal trainer is visited and coached by behavior staff. There is even a refreshment break when a bowl of cool water is offered to the hard-working class attendees. Dogs and trainers work steadily for an hour. Most dogs head back to the kennels, and will “study� more during the (continued on back)
compassion and care for all animals
leader of the pack The animals need your help. Despite our aggressive spay neuter platform, pet identification programs, and training classes, pet overpopulation remains a tough opponent as we try to reach zero euthanasia of adoptable animals at the Pasadena Humane Society. But we are committed to developing a solution to this problem by emphasizing sterilization, placement options, community education, outreach, and behavior enrichment programs. Through educational and community outreach, PHS is stemming the flow of animals into the shelter. Classes on good pet care, early training classes for your new dog, and fun and games classes for your pet strengthen the human animal bond and keep companion animals in their homes. Our spay/neuter clinic is booked weeks in advance as the need remains strong. We prevent over 2,000 unwanted births in a 4-year period by spaying one female and neutering one male dog. An unsterilized pair of cats and their offspring will produce 11,800 kittens in a 5-year period. Spaying and neutering dogs and cats is a solid, effective defense against overpopulation. Our adoption department and rescue coordinator have discovered placements for animals on the East Coast, in the Southwestern US, the Pacific Northwest and even Canada. These searches underscore the difficulty in finding local homes and suggest that our community is saturated.. Staff from our behavior department interacts with the cats and dogs every day, bringing interesting and unusual activities to enrich their stay at PHS. The department has begun Shelter School, a program specifically for dogs in the shelter to learn basic commands. This program helps dogs remain engaged with the surroundings and involved with people, and gives staff a chance to work with their favorite pooch. Everyone benefits! Our solutions to pet overpopulation are creative and effective. But we need your support to advance these programs. Together we can stop euthanasia caused by overpopulation. For the animals,
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Steve
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Community heroes On June 13, 2009, Mike Outhouse, a retired Parole Unit Supervisor and dedicated PHS volunteer, suffered a heart attack. After just two weeks of rest, Mike was anxious to get back to volunteering. Upon his return, Mike was given an article about a Wyoming humane society that implemented a dog walking program for recovering heart attack patients. Inspired, Mike set out to develop a similar program to benefit fellow patients and dogs waiting for adoption at PHS. Thanks to Mike’s hard work and dedication, the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA and Huntington Hospital have partnered to develop the Step Up: to Cardiac Health program. The program allows patients in Huntington Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program to walk select dogs around Central Park, just north of the animal shelter. “The fact that he saw a need in the community, for people and animals to get more exercise, and then acted on that need is very special,” said Sandy DeMarco, Vice President of Volunteer Services. “Mike really got this program going and he’s such a wonderful volunteer. He took the initiative to contact the hospital’s administration and regularly goes above and beyond to show how much he cares,” said Drew Marsden, Behavior Supervisor at PHS. Marsden oversees the program and both he and Mike provide training for new participants. “I’m amazed how quickly people have signed up. They are very enthusiastic and consistently put in a lot of hours,” said Mike when asked about the program’s success. In just its first few weeks, Step Up: to Cardiac Health enrolled 10 participants. Mike is hopeful the program will continue to expand to allow more people to improve their health while improving the lives of homeless pets. Mike will tell you that Step Up: to Cardiac Health is the result of a team effort, and we thank everyone involved in the process, but we believe Mike’s special dedication to helping both people and animals makes him a community hero.
The Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA is NOT part of the ASPCA. When you donate to PHS you are helping animals here in Southern California. The ASPCA does not distribute donations locally. Each spca in the country is legally separate from all of the others. Donate to the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA and help the animals in your community http://www.pasadenahumane.org/donate pa g e 3
wild things
Living with Deer If you live in the foothills, you have probably seen the California Mule deer. They get their name from their large mule like ears and black tipped tail. Male Mule deer start to grow a set of forking antlers each spring and shed them in the winter. A large buck may weigh up to 500 pounds but most are 150-300. Does are smaller at 125-175 pounds and they do not grow antlers. Mating season, also called “rut�, occurs in the fall. During this time males may become more aggressive as they seek to compete for females. Gestation lasts about 200 days and the fawns are born in the spring. Fawns will stay with their
Very few facilities can take in orphaned fawns, so we must avoid any possibility that a fawn may be rejected by its mother. If you find a fawn and think it is in need of help, stay back and call a wildlife rehabilitator for advice. Remember that it is illegal to feed deer and doing so is punishable by a fine and/or jail. Deer are grazers, foraging on shoots and leaves in the morning and evening and may be considered a nuisance by residents if deer frequent their gardens. To keep deer out of your yard, pick up backyard fruit and consider deer proof fencing and commercially available deer repellent devices. Deer find certain plants distasteful so you may want to consider using these plants in your landscape. They include olive and fig trees, mint, California poppies, and lavender.
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mothers throughout the summer and into the fall. It is normal behavior for a doe to leave her fawn while she forages for food. Do not touch, try to feed or remove a fawn from their resting place.
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The foothills around Glendale and Pasadena are filled with varieties of wildlife. The Pasadena Humane Society is available to assist you with any wildlife question you may have. Contact our wildlife officer at ext. 110 or online at www.pasadenahumane.org.
behavior & training Q A Tips and Myths about Pets Q: M y dog barks when I am not home and my neighbors are complaining, what should I do?
A: Barking is an innate behavior. It is both normal and practical for dogs to bark here and there, just as people make noise when they are excited about something. However, continual barking for long periods of time is a sign that your dog has a problem that may need to be addressed. First you need to establish when and for how long your dog barks, and eventually what is the cause of the barking. Finding out the cause of the barking is half the battle. Sometimes simply “expanding your dog’s world” will help alleviate barking as they no longer feel threatened by things they have previously encountered. Ultimately, hiring an in-home trainer who can further evaluate the barking and its cause may be the best alternative.
Q: I want my dog to walk nicely on leash. Does she need to know how to “heel?”
A: The goal of the Heel cue is for the dog to immediately assume a focused position at the handler’s left side and remain there, whether the handler is walking, standing still, or running. It is important that the Heel cue not be confused with loose-leash walking. Loose leash walking is used when the dog can investigate his/her surroundings visually without pulling on the leash. Keeping the leash loose is the dog’s job, not the owners. Utilizing the “stopand-go” method or “turn abouts” can easily help train loose leash walking. Just remember no training happens over night, it is a life long process.
Q: I ’ve recently moved and my dog has started to go potty inside. He was housebroken before I moved, is there something wrong?
A: Dogs, just like people are easily affected by moving. These emotions and breaks in routine can often cause dogs to digress in their training. While it may be true that your dog has gone through some emotional or transitional disturbances, it is still important that he knows this is bad behavior. Once you have both gotten settled and your routine is reestablished, start retraining your potty routine. While this may mean that you have to go back to puppy-hood housebreaking rules, the timeline will be immensely shorter. If you continue to have issue you may need to consult your vet as there could be something more serious than just his behavior.
For more tips and information please contact the Pasadena Humane Society & SCPA’s Behavior & Training Department at (626) 792-7151 ext. 155.
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Happy Tails
A Barrel Full of Love Everyday, dozens of people visit the Pasadena Humane Society to find the right pet to adopt. But for Diana and Monroe Tinker, it was Barrel who found them. Barrel, a seven-year-old American bulldog and pit bull mix, was a stray picked up roaming the streets of Pasadena. Despite the fact that he was an affectionate and well behaved dog, he was overlooked by many potential adopters. Barrel—named by a volunteer because of his robust figure—remained at the shelter for more than a month while our dedicated adoptions staff searched for his new forever home. Kevin McManus, Adoptions Supervisor, observes that this is often the case for older dogs, but knew that
bulldog in need of being rescued they quickly changed their minds. As their hearts opened up to the idea of welcoming a new pet into their home, they got the news that the bulldog was already adopted. Diana remembers the day when she first laid eyes on Barrel, “Since I had already prepared for another dog, I went online searching for dogs. That is when I saw the video of Barrel on the Pasadena Humane Society website. I showed my husband and we took a trip to Pasadena to see him. Now mind you, we have quite a few shelters near us, but we had to go visit him. He was too adorable!” Though they were a bit wary about getting an older dog at first, this gentle bulldog mix made it easy for them to change their minds. They immediately returned with their two dogs to make sure they would all get along and Barrel, renamed Big Dadi, had a new home that very afternoon.
“the right people would come along eventually.”
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Diana and Monroe, a couple from Sherman Oaks, were not looking for another dog—with the recent passing of their adored bulldog, they did not think that they were ready. But when a friend alerted them about another
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Big Dadi feels right at home with his new family and loves to play and take naps with his new canine companions. Diana and Monroe could not be more pleased with the new addition to their family, “Big Dadi has made us so happy! He is such a great dog. We thank Kevin for all his help in making sure we met him.”
event round-up “ Doglegs, Birdies and Eagles: Get on the Ball!” a Huge Success On a beautiful April morning, guests gathered at Angeles National Golf club for the 11th annual “Doglegs, Birdies and Eagles: Get on the Ball!” golf benefit. The event featured 18 holes of golf, followed by an exciting helicopter ball drop raffle and awards dinner. Tank the Skateboarding Dog, Violet our resident opossum and bugler Jay Cohen from Santa Anita Park greeted golfers as they came off the green. The event netted more than $124,000. Proceeds will help provide nourishing food, shelter and veterinary care to the thousands of animals that come to the Pasadena Humane Society this year.
above left: helicopter ball drop. above middle: roslyn deforest, santa anita park bugler
jay cohen, and georgia coye. above left: wildlife officer ashley hermans, liz baronowski, steve falk and violet the opposum
IT’S
WIGGLE WAGGLE WALK TIME!
Sunday, September 26, 2010 at Pasadena’s Brookside Park You can make a difference and help save the lives of innocent animals! Now is the perfect time to start your own personal fundraising campaign to support the Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA. Visit www.wigglewagglewalk.org to register, create your custom webpage and get great fundraising tips. Come back often to follow our “fundraising thermometer” as we climb towards our goal of $330,000! For more information, please call Nicole Ring at (626) 792-7151, ext.167 or email events@phsspca.org
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Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage
PAID Pasadena, CA Permit No. 1142
361 South Raymond Avenue Pasadena, CA 91105
Blue Ribbon Dogs (continued from page 1) week. The few that have managed to learn all commands stay for the final test. With much encouragement, applause and support, the dogs are put through the commands by PHS trainers. Blue ribbons are awarded to the dogs that have learned the commands well.
Like any school award, this goes on their record and is shared with potential adopters. Although only a few dogs earn an award, every dog (and handler) learns something new in Shelter School.
events PHS is closed on Sunday, July 4th for Independence Day. Fetch tips on keeping your pet safe and happy during the celebration at pasadenahumane.org. PHS is hosting a public low-cost vaccination clinic on Wednesday, August 11 from 6:30 to 8 pm. For more information, see pasadenahumane.org.
Facility Hours Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri 9 am—6 pm Sat 9 am—5 pm Sun 11 am—5 pm
Adoption Hours Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri 9 am—5 pm Sat 9 am—4 pm Sun 11 am—4 pm
www.pasadenahumane.org 24 hour Emergency Service please call 626.792.7151 Glendale residents please call toll-free 818.240.9100 The Pasadena Humane Society & SPCA is a private, non-profit, open door, animal welfare agency serving the communities of Arcadia, Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre and South Pasadena.