Читать книгу Forever Home... - Mike Deathe CPDT-KA - Страница 3

To start this book in the most logical way, I need to introduce myself. My name is Mike Deathe. I am a dog trainer from Shawnee, KS with a BA in Psychology from KU; a professional member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers; and an American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. I volunteer with several animal shelters in the Kansas City Metro, and have seen first-hand the effect of shelter life on dogs and dog behavior. This is the primary reason for writing this book. While there never seems to be enough prospective pet owners to save all the dogs in shelters, there seems to be, at least in KC, no shortage of people who want to help and to become volunteers. That’s the good news! The bad news is…most of the folks who want to help have little, if any, experience of how to train a dog, and nominal understanding of dog behavior in general. In many cases, good hearted, well intending people actually do more damage to shelter dogs than help them, because of that lack of knowledge.

About a year ago I was asked by a local shelter to put together a presentation for their volunteers that covered dog training basics, canine body language and my thoughts of what volunteers should actually be doing with dogs in a shelter. After many presentations and supplemental clinics, I realized that a book needed to be written on this topic. While this book may not ever be a best seller, I feel it is way overdue. Additionally, while its goal is to improve the shelter world, it will no doubt also help folks with their own dogs at home; and isn’t that the end goal? Hell, I have even put video highlights from the presentations up on our Kiss Dog Training website to help those who don’t like to read! I could really care less how the information gets out there, all I know is it needs to spread like wildfire!

My goal in writing this book is to give volunteers (and pet owners) three things:

1 A basic understanding of positive reinforcement dog training.

2 An introduction to the three types of volunteers I believe every shelter needs.

3 A basic primer in dog body language, and how to stay safe in a shelter environment.

According to the Humane Society of the United States, in 2010 alone, 6-8 million pets (dogs and cats) entered animal shelters and only 3-4 million were adopted. You do the math, but my calculations say that those other 3-4 million animals die in shelters each year. I can tell you from personal experience as a dog trainer that many of those dogs ended up in shelters due to behavioral issues. As you read this book, you will hopefully see that if we implement some, if not all, of the ideas found here, volunteers across America will be able to actively take part in making dogs more adoptable, thus helping them find their forever homes. Let’s face it people, isn’t that why we allow dogs into our homes as foster parents, or adoptees or the reason for becoming shelter volunteers?

A final note on this book: I have never, nor will I ever claim to know everything about dogs or dog training. I have no doubt there will be some people who might disagree with my ideas and/or the messages in this book. I simply ask you to read the book, keep an open mind, take only what you like, and leave the rest right here in these pages. My goal is that you love the entire book, but if not, I hope you find something you can use at your local animal shelter or at home with your own dog. It just might be the difference between a dog running out of time and a dog learning the skills that will help him find his forever home! Enjoy the book, get out there, make a difference, and be a better volunteer!