I had an interesting conversation recently with my dogs' Vet regarding Rescue Dogs in Portugal. Have you ever wondered where these dogs come from? Some are abandoned on the streets others surrendered to the Municipal Kennels or rescue centers for various reasons. Lucky ones are adopted, they arrive into the new home but in many cases the dog starts displaying unwanted or even dangerous behaviours. New owners start making excuses for the behaviours (It's because he is a Rescue or he's had a tough life) Vets are seeing many behavioural problems after the dogs have been adopted, some are medicated, some sent to trainers and some are returned to the rescue center or passed on to someone else. What if this could be changed, wouldn't it be great to adopt a dog who already knew how to walk on a lead and sit calmly instead of jumping up. Introducing Project SUPER
I've been involved in various aspects of animal welfare in Africa for many years and have now embarked on a Training and Enrichment Program with Cadela Carlota called Project SUPER. The aim of this project is to make the dogs more adoptable and keep them in their new homes.I was shocked by how many dogs had been in the facility for months and even years. Confinement for people is difficult, the lockdowns demonstrated that. Well imagine being a dog confined to an area, the frustration and boredom must be overwhelming. Confined dogs start displaying unwanted behaviours or shutdown becoming depressed. Its time to Get The Dogs Out!!!The 82 dogs were assessed and the amazing team of volunteers are on board with the project and are already seeing improvements in the dogs' behaviour. All volunteers and future volunteers will have an Orientation Session to empower them to help the dogs. The project is divided into various areas such asDog WalkingEnrichmentBasic TrainingCalmness and FocusConfidence BuildingMore volunteers are needed to make this project a success. Please get in touch if you want more information, Let's Get the Dogs Out!!
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Gail SkinnerAwesome-Dogs.com(00351) 917758404
