Hi Sheila,
We color code our dogs based on their ease (or lack of) of handling. Green, Blue, Yellow, Red.
Greens are "Grandma's dog" doesn't do much and will cover any errors (IE: won't dart out of a kennel). They're basically the perfect dog. We don't often have too many of them.
Blue- easily correctable. If they pull, if you do a U-Turn, they'll come right along. If they jump and you tell them off/no they listen. Good walker on a leash. Minimal pulling.
Yellow- No manners. Either never leash walked or pulls on a leash
Red- A consistent identifiable behavior we are working on / could also be a staff walk only - leash biting/pulls like a sled dog etc.
For the volunteers- we start them out with BLUE dogs. I tell them where to find everything and we go for 2 walks with 2 Blue dogs. Show them how to use the portal.
From there, they can come anytime and practice with Blue dogs. If they want to move up to yellow, we have a pass/fail interview with kennel staff where they handle a pully dog, a jumpy dog, and another "yellow" behavior that would be indicative of the "average" yellow dog. If they want to "study" prior to the pass/fail interview, I have several volunteers who will let them shadow (they walk yellow dogs with the volunteer they're assigned to) until they are comfortable to go for the interview. If they fail, they have the option to "study" and can re-take as needed. I haven't had anyone fail yet. ** This allows people with previous experience to move ahead too with some oversight.
I go over "fire extinguisher moments" IE: things to do if they get in trouble. I try to keep large carabiners on the end of our leashes and tell the volunteers to look for these leashes. This way if the dog is too jumpy/ pully they can clip the end of the leash to a chainlink fence or around a tree and use their walkie talkie to call for help. Other things are dump the treat pouch on the ground and clip the leash to the fence/call for help. Get into an empty dog yard for loose dogs etc.
All dog walkers are required to take a walkie talkie and our staff at the front desk and kennel staff have them in case they get in trouble/need help. They were inexpensive on amazon. We limit the amount of walkers per hour to 5. One blue dog walker and 4 yellow dog walkers. We can adjust up or down as needed for dog population. I do not always have dog walkers every hour so this gives them flexibility to come out on their schedule.
Also, it was important to me to build a program where there wasn't a huge barrier for volunteers. My thought process is that we would adopt these dogs without putting the adopter through hoards of training and protocols, so the average person should be able to reasonably handle these dogs. That being said, there sometimes is a handling differential, and I feel our program covers that well without being too burdensome or limiting to the volunteers. Some of our RED dogs are handled by 100 hour volunteers only and must see a staff member prior to walking so they are aware of the issue that is being worked on. We don't often have red. Most of our dogs are yellow.
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Kristen Little
Sarasota County Sheriff's Office Animal Services
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Original Message:
Sent: 12-16-2022 12:49 PM
From: Sheila Segurson (she/her)
Subject: How do you train dog volunteers?
Hi everyone,
What do you use and how do you train your volunteers about dogs? Do you use something that's available online? Do you have something that you've developed that you're really proud of?
I'm looking for ways to make it inexpensive and easy for shelters to train their dog volunteers (with a focus on basic skills like leash handling, communication and safety)...
Sheila
#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
#PeopleManagement(includingVolunteerIntegration)
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Sheila Segurson, DVM
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
Director of Outreach and Research
Maddie's Fund
9258608284
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