Let’s face it. It is NOT cute being pushed around or bounced off of by a 70 pound drooling dog or having the food bowl knocked out of your hands before you’ve even had a chance to set it down! It’s rude as all heck and it could even result in injury, so it’s important to nip naughty behaviors like this in the bud while Hazelnut and our other dogs wait to be adopted. It will also help her and the others GET adopted to be able to show off that she’s got great manners to begin with! The exercise we’re working on here is to sit or lay patiently and quietly until she’s given the green light to eat. Once the bowl is placed on the floor and Hazelnut offers good eye contact, she’s released with a hand gesture to enjoy her meal! She caught on to what was being asked of her exceptionally quickly and this whole process goes a little smoother each and every time. Good girl, Hazelnut! 🐾❤️
There are two types of dogs.
We are constantly looking for more and more ways to improve the quality of life for our shelter animals. Just because we are an animal control shelter and are but temporary housing for these guys absolutely does not mean we shouldn’t aim to be as physically and emotionally comfortable, low stress, mentally stimulating, skill building, and confidence boosting as we are able to achieve. Frankly, we feel that we OWE it to them to put forth that effort; that’s part of the role we have taken on!
One of the more recent tools we’ve placed in our enrichment toolkit is PLAY! More specifically, inter-dog play groups and inter-cat play groups. The benefits of these play groups for animals who enjoy participating in them are multifaceted and endless. Not only can play groups be a HUGE energy and stress release, which can help animals remain both physically and mentally healthy, but they can also help coax shy/fearful animals out of their shells; ALL of which can decrease duration of stay. We sometimes see such a massive transformation when we introduce a play buddy to a timid, withdrawn animal that we are able to determine the shy guy really needs to go to a home with an existing animal in order to be a happy, healthy, well-adjusted pet.
Play groups can also provide ample opportunity for us to witness a multitude of behaviors that we might not otherwise see in other contexts. Knowing that an animal exhibits a particular behavior can aid us in more appropriately matching the animal to an adopter, or to perhaps even decide that an animal needs a bit more work in an area prior to being placed, or just to be able to pass all of what we’ve learned on to an adopter so that they can avoid and eventually work through a potential trigger. On the flip side, we might also notice REALLY AWESOME qualities or skills that we can brag about to potential adopters. You never know what special bit of info will draw someone to their new best friend!
Play groups allow us to observe i
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN! Seems like Indigo and Aster missed us a little bit, huh?
Yes, sadly this does in fact mean that their new home did not work out. 💔😢
Folks, we always stand by our animals. Not only do we want our animals back if an adoption does not work out, we REQUIRE it. Our adoption contract states that should circumstances change, for whatever reason, the animal comes back to us, no questions asked. We love our animals and would be horrified to learn if one was given away or abandoned and ended up in a precarious situation. That is why we will never shame or disparage folks for returning an animal to us. While it of course hurts our hearts anytime an adoption falls through for one of these guys, we are truly grateful that the effort was made to return them somewhere familiar, loving, and SAFE.
All that being said, we do want to gently remind/strongly encourage folks to do plenty of research and have realistic expectations of what bringing a new pet into an unfamiliar situation entails. It’s common for even the friendliest, most outgoing animals to experience anxiety, to hide, or to perhaps even be a bit defensive for a while. That’s all perfectly normal, par for the course behavior! Depending on the animal, it can take months to TRULY settle in and feel safe and comfortable. While there is plenty you can do to support a new animal through this, there’s nothing you can do to force or rush it, and nor should you try because you’ll likely end up traumatizing the animal and prolonging decompression.
We do encourage folks to come equipped with tempered expectations and a general gameplan for welcoming a new pet into an environment that’s as low stress as possible, but do keep in mind that things are only going to progress on that animal’s clock and not a moment quicker, and obstacles are very likely going to pop up that you’ll have to find productive ways to navigate. It’s all simply part of the process of adopting an animal. Acc
Check out how wonderfully Violet’s training is going! This is just session number three with trainer Haley, who is so generously providing her services to our dogs free of charge! ❤️
Violet is SUCH a smart, super trainable gal, and SO gosh darn eager to please. She is an energetic pup who wants and needs interactive things to do, both for her mind and her body. She would be a perfect pup to get into dog sports like dock diving, obedience, trick training, Fast CAT, or agility; even just for funsies. The possibilities are endless for this cutie!
Haley will be doing some extensive dog and kid testing with Vi shortly, so while we expect no aggressive from our little goofball, we will update on what would be best for her in that regard soon.
To learn more about Violet, you can check out her Petfinder profile here: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/violet-beauregarde-65000246/ct/wallingford/wallingford-animal-control-ct227/
Our wonderful new dog trainer very generously began volunteering her time working with some of our pups earlier this week. Her absolute FAVORITE is the vibrant Miss Violet, who she gushed about! She said that Vi is incredibly smart, eager to learn and please, and picks up on things SO quickly! We totally agree. 💜 While Violet is a higher energy pup, after some good ol’ fashioned physical exertion, guidance, AND mental stimulation (just as important!) she chills out quite nicely.
Violet has been here since she was five months old without much serious interest. She’s a gorgeous sweetheart of a dog and with just a bit of polishing, she is truly going to be one heck of a gem of a companion!
For more information about Violet as well as instructions on how to begin the adoption process, please click the following link!
https://www.petfinder.com/dog/violet-beauregarde-65000246/ct/wallingford/wallingford-animal-control-ct227/
Violet is spending her afternoon working at this giant pupsicle, chock fullllll of all sorts of fun surprises!
Show us how your pets are enjoying their time today! 🐶🐾
Saturday morning shenanigans with Winkin and Blinkin ❤️🐭🐈⬛🐈⬛
These silly little boys are looking for new digs!
This right here is why we are so emphatic that folks shouldn’t discount sassy cats when looking to adopt! Sure, some kitties are just plain rude, BUT many of the cats who come through the shelter are simply afraid and defensive between being essentially cornered without escape when approached in a cage, and being flooded with so much stimuli. Sometimes all it takes for those cats to become comfortable and actually show their true temperaments is removing the cage from the equation. This was the case for little miss Anita here! Anyone who had previously met her can vouch for the fact that she was pretty horrendous to deal with!
Recently we were able to give Anita her own little, much more comfortable, space and over the next couple of weeks we watched her flourish into an affectionate, much more confident, curious, and playful little cat! In fact, she has changed so much that we have to completely edit her Petfinder profile!
We’re so proud of this cutie and we are VERY excited to be able to announce some upcoming changes and improvements to our cat housing in the not too distant future!
Wallingford Animal Control is proud to serve the animals and community of Wallingford, Connecticut. Wallingford Animal Shelter is located at 5 Pent Road.
