If you enjoy Steve's contribution to our conversations as much as I did, please find out more on his website and YouTube channel.

Steve's 3-part seminar: Strategies for Introducing Socially Challenged Dogs is invaluable. You can access it here.

Summary

In this conversation, Jonathan Mecham and Stephen De Bono discuss the importance of playgroups for shelter dogs and how to overcome challenges in integrating hard-to-adopt dogs into playgroups. They emphasize the value of socialization and supporting dogs with behavior issues. They also highlight the barriers that keep dogs from getting adopted, such as historical and current behavior, medical issues, physical traits, and shelter policies. They discuss the need for shelters to actively promote and showcase dogs to potential adopters, and the importance of providing ongoing support to ensure successful adoptions.

Jonathan and Stephen discuss the importance of handling experience and the challenges of working with different types of dogs. Steve emphasizes the need for practice and lower-stakes situations to build skills. Handlers and trainers are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of dogs. Steve advocates for the responsible and ethical treatment of all animals. His view is that prongs and "shock collars" are unnecessary. Steve shares how the use of such tools can be harmful to dogs and their relationships with humans.

Jonathan discusses the need to bridge the divide between different training approaches and labels, and the importance of problem-solving and understanding individual dogs and their environments.

Stephen recommends the book 'The Obstacles is the Way' by Ryan Holiday as a valuable resource for problem-solving and encourages reading outside of dog literature to gain a broader perspective.

Takeaways

• Playgroups are crucial for the socialization and well-being of shelter dogs.
• Integrating hard-to-adopt dogs into playgroups requires dedicated time and resources.
• Shelters should actively promote and showcase dogs to potential adopters, focusing on their positive traits and providing support materials.
• Barriers to adoption include historical and current behavior, medical issues, physical traits, and shelter policies.
• Support for adopters is essential to ensure successful adoptions and help dogs overcome behavior issues. Handling experience is crucial for working with different types of dogs
• Practice in lower-stakes situations helps build skills
• Handlers and trainers have a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of dogs
• Self-reflection and learning from mistakes are important for growth
• Bridging the divide between different training approaches and labels is beneficial
• Problem-solving and understanding individual dogs and their environments are key
• Reading outside of dog literature provides valuable insights

Sound Bites

• "What can I do to make this dog more interesting?"
• "You have to examine your policies to make sure you're not excluding people that would be good adopters."
• "You take a dog where it's a life or death situation, you better know what the hell you're doing."