Pawsitive Works seeks shelter partner
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| Rhonda Hammerslough and Karen Schumacher |
According to Karen Schumacher, Executive Director and founder of the Pawsitive Works program, animal shelters in Coeur d’Alene, Spokane and Sandpoint have bought in to the concept of pairing probationary youth with dogs in need of training and socialization for the duration of the five week training program, but the shelters in Bonners Ferry are not currently available to provide the dogs necessary for the program to operate.
“We’d be happy to work with any animal rescue organization,” commented Rhonda Hamerslough, Program Administrator and Research Coordinator. “Pawsitive Works has one goal: to get the program in Bonners Ferry in order to help the dogs and probationary youth get together.”
With that idea in mind, Pawsitive Works is committed to providing a participating shelter with marketing materials, fund raising participation and community awareness efforts as well as information needed for submitting grants. These things help in order to make the program viable for any local shelter.
“We’re only talking about four dogs for five weeks,” said Karen. “Trained and socialized dogs are more desirable and more easily adoptable.”
Rhonda pointed out that several Boundary County youth programs, including Juvenile Probation and Boulder Creek Academy, are in line to participate in the program.
The pilot program, which operated in collaboration with Second Chance Animal Adoption two years ago, had a 100% successful adoption rate for the dogs that were trained and socialized by the teen trainers under Karen’s supervision. The second year of the program, which ran in collaboration with Panhandle Animal Shelter in Bonner County, also had a 100% adoption rate for the shelter dogs. All the dogs were adopted during the five week program and were allowed by the adoptive families to finish the five week program before entering their new homes.
Not only does Pawsitive Works help shelter dogs become more adoptable but the at-risk youth involved in the program benefit as well.
According to Pawsitive Works literature, “the program helps struggling youth identify and modify damaging behavior patterns through the care and training of shelter dogs. Each youth is paired with a dog that they train three times a week for five weeks.. Youth are guided through a professionally developed, standardized curriculum in which they learn about dog body language, positive reinforcement training techniques and ways to address difficult behaviors. The youth practice patience, tolerance, communication and concentration when working with the dogs. A strong bond and relationship is formed that elicits empathy in the youth. Helping them recognize how to feel empathy and have an increased self-concept is the key to helping them become productive members of society. The Human-Animal bond facilitates astonishing changes for the youth and the dogs.”
Pawsitive Works, an evidence-based program, uses standardized tools such as pre/post testing to provide quantitative measurements of behavior change.
“The program is already operating in other communities but is jeopardized in Bonners Ferry because one shelter is no longer taking in dogs and the other shelter has denied us access to the dogs,” stressed Karen. “We have a program with the funding and the youth but no dogs. A huge part of our mission is to help the dogs in the shelters. Our motto is “Shaping both ends of the leash” and we have to have the other end, the dogs, to make this happen.”
“We are reaching our arms out to the community,” concluded Rhonda. This is a program that can help kids and dogs. We just need ideas for how to get this program running in this county.”
Pawsitive Works can be contacted at 208-946-3883 or via email at Karen@pawsitiveworks.com or Rhonda@pawsitiveworks.com. Visit the Pawsitive Works website at www.pawsitiveworks.com for more information.