It seems life can move pretty quickly sometimes. According to a survey by Catalyst Direct Inc., the emotional support and non-judgmental attitude pets provide are key to surviving challenging economic times. In other words, your dog can provide you therapy, right in your own home.
Dogs don't care if you made a bad decision at work. They don't care if you are overweight or crabby or lost your job. If you worked a really long day and they had to wait in the crate a few extra hours, they don't care. They are still very, very happy to see you. So when life starts stressing you out; take a moment, sit down and rub your hands thru your dog's fur. Rub your face against their soft ears. Throw the ball and watch as your dog chases it with pure joy. Take a walk with your happy furry friend and let the day's stress ease out of your body.
Balance. Life is full of choices. Take time everyday to let your dog give you that unconditional love that we all need in our lives.
Sincerely,
Debi Krakar, CPDT
Executive Director, Austin Dog Alliance
Note: Keep up to date with all the latest happenings on our Facebook page. We post pictures and updates almost daily. To see current pictures on our Facebook page follow the link. |
| Pet Therapy Proves the Point!
Submitted by Sally Pawsat, PMP
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 On a recent visit to University Medical Center Brackenridge with Nola, the house supervisor approached me and asked it I would take Nola to see the staff in the Intensive Care Unit. She said the ICU was extremely busy and staff were having a very stressful day.
Nola and I sat in the staff breakroom and the manager let them know Nola was there. Staff came in as their busy schedule allowed.
One nurse who came in didn't say anything and just sat on the floor petting Nola. When he got up, he spoke, saying "OK, I think my blood pressure is down enough now to go back out there." |
| Phoenix Lost...and...Found!
Submitted by Cassie Weber*
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 Last year, my apartment was broken into. The culprits trashed my apartment, cutting all the cords to all my appliances (TV, vacuum, lamps) and then cutting holes into my couch. They poured two full bottles of liquid detergent all over everything in site and knocked over furniture and even slammed over the rabbit cage, knocking my bunny onto the floor.
When I walked through the front door and saw the shocking mess, I immediately began searching for my pets. Fortunately my rabbit, Aladdin, hid under an overturned table and although shaken, turned out to be fine. I hoped that Phoenix, my super-sweet heeler-mix who I adopted from ADA was safe and sound in her kennel where I had left her only a couple of hours before. I entered the room and was relieved to see her kennel. But my relief was short-lived as I saw the kennel door swung open and only empty space inside.
I scoured the apartment and searched frantically outside..."Phoenix, Phoenix! Phoenix!!" She was nowhere to be found. Then I noticed her collar had been thrown off my back balcony into the wooded area behind my apartment and I felt sick. She was gone. I was heartbroken, but I was determined to find her.
I continued searching for hours. I called and visited all of the local (and some non-local) shelters and put up fliers in my area. Two days passed and I heard nothing. On the third day, I was driving home from another trip checking for Phoenix at the Austin Humane Society when my cell phone rang. It was a number that I didn't recognize and I usually don't answer those, but I had a feeling I should. The call was from a vet tech telling me that she had Phoenix in her exam room. Thankfully, she was not injured. A man had brought her in to make sure she was okay and discovered she had a microchip. The tech handed the man the phone and we made arrangements to meet later that night. Phoenix was even more beautiful than I remembered and I was about to learn how "lucky" I was. The gentleman explained how Phoenix had wandered to his back door...more than five miles from my apartment! He decided to get the dog checked out by a vet before giving it to a home he had already found for her. If not for that microchip, my Phoenix would have been gone forever!
The next day, I took her to my vet to get checked out and the vet noticed Phoenix's "indoor paws" and determined there was no way she walked or ran that far from home. Meaning the vandals who broke in to my apartment transported her to the strange neighborhood before dumping her!
I still don't know who did it or why it even happened. I may never know. But one thing I DO know for sure is that having Phoenix microchipped was one of the best choices that I've ever made. (Actually microchipping is required policy of ADA...I didn't have a choice...smile) Thank You!!!
I learned a valuable lesson from this horrible experience. We never plan on our loved ones getting loose and going missing and we can't always be with them, but a microchip can. A chip can't prevent separation, but it stays with them and at least gives our pets a chance to be identified, reunited, and loved again. It's a little thing, but it makes a BIG difference!
*Executive's Note:
Cassie is an occasional foster and she helps with ADA events. She is a real success story for us. She was really young, still in college when she adopted Phoenix. Although she was younger than our typical adopter, I talked with Cassie and realized that she had a good head on her shoulders. She asked a lot of questions and read a few books before she came to meet Phoenix. Over the first few months after adoption, Cassie would call whenever she had questions or just wanted some advice. That's what we are here for! |
| ADA Book Project -- Do you have a story to tell? |
Does your dog have an amazing story?
Has your dog
inspired you to grow as a person?
Has your dog made a difference in the
community thru your work as a pet partner team?
Has your dog helped
someone?
Austin Dog Alliance is planning to print/publish a
collection of short stories (600 - 1200 words) in a book titled, The
Magic of Dogs. Story submissions must be received by June 1 at
midnight. Selected authors will be honored at a special dinner when the
book is published.
Let's share the amazing stories of our dogs with the
community in a way that will hopefully inspire others to embrace the magic of
dogs. This link has the Guidelines for Submission.
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| Training Tip of the Month
by Debi Krakar, CPDT |
Leadership. Dominance. Pack Leader. Alpha.
These words come up often when training students about their dogs. For me, the biggest challenge in dog training is teaching students how to be the pack leader. Once a student grasps this concept, everything else falls into place. Resource guarding, fighting between dogs, ignoring cues, all of these issues subside when the student grasps the leadership concept. In the book Living with Wolfdogs, author Nicole Wilde does an excellent job of explaining pack leadership. The following is an excerpt from her book:
"In your pack, you should always be the alpha - the top dog, the big kahuna, the undisputed leader. But good leadership does not involve yelling or being physically harsh. In fact, it is the middle-ranking members of a wolf pack who skirmish and jockey for position. The alpha has nothing to prove. Alpha is a state of mind, a confident control."
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Upcoming Training Classes
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This month we are introducing a few new classes: Tracking and Nose Games, Managing a Crazy Dog and Dog Manners for Deaf Dogs. Our Sunday class offerings have been a big hit, so we will continue to offer both Saturday and Sunday options for the basic classes: puppy and dog manners. Summer camp enrollment is still open. The first two weeks of camp are just about full, we only have one spot left in each session.
All of our trainers are Certified Proffesional Dog Trainers who only use positive training methods. For a complete schedule, please see our website. Highlights of some of our new and more advanced offerings are listed below.
Advanced Dog Manners II - Does your dog forget all obedience skills when he or she walks out the front door? Does your dog sometimes ignore you? Is it impossible to recall your dog if he or she is chasing a squirrel? If you answered yes to any of these questions, come to this intense class to take your training to the level where your dog will still listen to your cues, even in exciting and distracting environments.
Every Wednesday for 1 hour starting 4/7/2010 at 7:45 pm
Instructor, Sandra Nelson, CPDT
Dog Manners for Deaf Dogs - This is a class specifically designed for DEAF dogs! In addition to the material covered in our regular Dog Manners 1 class, you will learn how to communicate with your deaf dog using sign language. In this course, you will learn about the special care involved with owning a deaf dog.
Every Saturday for 1 hour starting 4/10/2010 at 11:15 am
Instructor, Carolyn Honish, CPDT
Pet Therapy Seminar - Learn more about pet therapy. Bring your dog for a preliminary assessment.
April 10th for 2 hour 30 min starting at 1:00 pm
Instructor, Carolyn Honish, CPDT
Leash Walking 101 - Does your dog try to pull you down the street? Does your dog weave back and forth, nearly tripping you? Does your dog bark at other dogs or growl when strollers or bikes or other people walk by? If you answered yes to any of these, come learn the secrets to a nice, controlled leash walking experience.
Every Wednesday for 1 hour starting 4/14/2010 at 6:30 pm
Instructor, Sandra Nelson, CPDT
Pet Therapy 6 week Class - This class will prepare you for volunteering in a variety of pet therapy environments with your dog. This class is unique in that we are not just going to refine your dog's obedience skills, but we are also going to help you and your dog become a team and feel confident in a variety of challenging situations.
Every Wednesday MORNING for 1 hour starting 4/14/2010 at 10:00 am
Instructor, Debi Krakar, CPDT
Every Tuesday EVENING for 1 hour starting 4/20/2010 at 7:30 pm
Instructor, Debi Krakar, CPDT
Tracking and Nose Games - With a keen sense of smell--100,000 times stronger than humans--dogs are often used to find lost people and animals, drugs, avalanche and disaster victims, and even to detect cancer. AKC Tracking is a canine sport that demonstrates a dog's natural ability to recognize and follow a scent and is the foundation of canine search and rescue work. In tracking, a dog is completely in charge, for only he knows how to use his nose to find and follow the track.
Every Saturday for 1 hour starting 4/24/2010 at 9:30 am
Instructor, Sandra Nelson, CPDT, is the current lead trainer for the Travis County Search and Rescue Team.
Managing a Crazy Dog - Are you looking for more activities and games that you can play with your crazy dog? This four week class will teach you how to love, enjoy and manage the high energy, high drive type of dog. Our instructor, Sandra Nelson works with high drive dogs as part of her job as lead instructor for the Search and Rescue Team. She will teach you how to turn your dog's drive and energy into a benefit to training. She will teach you how to train your dog to settle upon command.
Every Wednesday for 1 hour starting 4/28/2010 at 6:30 pm
Instructor, Sandra Nelson, CPDT
For more information and to register, please see our website at AustinDogAlliance.org or call the Training Center at 335-7100. | |
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Austin Dog Alliance is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, with the mission of making dogs an integral part of our community through the use of science-based training methods and the human-canine bond. This special bond improves the lives of families and benefits the community through hospital and nursing home visits, reading dog programs, and educational programs that enhance the self-esteem of our children.
Austin Dog Alliance is funded by the revenue generated from our training classes and donations by individuals and corporations. All donations are tax deductible. Please donate today! |
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| Contact Us |
| Board of Directors
Executive Director
Romp N Run Ranch
Leadership Team
Adoption Application Manager
Adoption Support and Newsletter
Office Manager
Mary Pomeroy
Intake Team Leader
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Red Hot Opportunity
of the month:
"Sneakers"
I'm a young athlete, smart, good-looking and modest :) .
I don't want to toot my own horn so read what my foster family says
about me here!
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