What is Give a Dog a Bone (GADAB)?
Who is involved?
Who are the dogs?
What would happen to these dogs if there were no program?
What can be the disposition of custody dogs?
How many dogs are we talking about?
What behavior problems are commonly seen in custody dogs?
How do you work with these dogs?
What else do you do besides training?
What equipment do you use?
What do you not do?
How do you track the dogs?
Suggested Volunteer Requirements
PLEASE NOTE
How did GADAB get started?
Some suggested trainer/authors
Volunteers
Click here to download the GADAB FAQ's (Word document 168KB)

What is Give a Dog a Bone (GADAB)? GADAB is a nonprofit program that provides environmental enrichment for dogs in forced long-term shelter care at the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control, an open admissions shelter. Give a Dog a Bone is dedicated to improving the quality of life for dogs in extended confinement through physical, behavioral, mental, and emotional stimulation.

Who is involved? The program consists of Founder/Director and Primary Dog Handler Corinne Dowling along with a team of volunteers. We interface on a daily basis with both the Animal Control division and the Animal Care division.

Who are the dogs? There are two categories of dogs included in the program.

• Custody dogs come in for multiple reasons. There are dogs held as evidence for a pending court case in which the owner has been charged with cruelty, neglect, abuse, or dog fighting. Court cases are often prolonged, resulting in an indefinite stay at the shelter. Some custody dogs are being held for a hearing under California’s Vicious and Dangerous Dog laws, resulting, for example, on a complaint of biting another animal or person. Additionally, we hold animals whose owner has died, has been arrested, hospitalized, evicted, been the victim of a disaster, such as fire, or has sought haven from domestic violence.

• Also in our care are dogs in medically necessary quarantine. These can be available dogs with contagious medical conditions, such as kennel cough, mange, or ringworm or other currently unidentifiable medical conditions that may prove to be contagious. Some are stray dogs with severe cases of mange or ringworm stemming from periods of long neglect. Some of these dogs are also awaiting disposition of a court case, usually cruelty cites.

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What would happen to these dogs if there were no program? Both categories of dogs may need to be housed at the shelter for weeks, months, or longer. They are the invisible, the dogs that the public never sees or hears about, with the exception of high profile cases. They are the unloved, the used, the hurt - the most harshly victimized animals in the shelter world. We give them a name and thus an identity, give them the love that many of them have never experienced, and we address the behavior problems that have inevitably arisen from traumatized lives. We foster animal/human bonds that have been broken. We address their needs holistically.

Without GADAB, these dogs would not receive much human interaction, socialization, mental stimulation, exercise, or outdoor activity. Although provision for the physical and psychological needs of the entire dog is in the spirit of DACC mandate, the animal care division’s duties do not allow time for much more than environmental basics of food, water, and kennel cleanliness. They would live in their kennels 24/7 and deteriorate mentally and emotionally at an alarming rate. We improve the quality of their lives, prevent mental/physical deterioration, and in many cases, get them re-homed. Each dog is treated as an individual.

What can be the disposition of custody dogs?
• They may be returned to their owner, with or without restrictions. There may not be a prosecutable case, or the court determines owner redemption.

• They may be euthanized by order of the court, for medical reasons, or humanely put to death for behavioral reasons (officially deemed vicious and dangerous, or failure of temperament testing).

• They may be moved into the available section and put up for adoption.

• They may be adopted by a rescue group. What can be the dispositions of isolation dogs?

• Some dogs may be euthanized.

• Treatable dogs are treated and temperament tested.

How many dogs are we talking about?
• In fiscal years 2000-2002, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003 we worked with over 350 dogs each year. We also worked occasionally with other species.

• In calendar year 2004, we worked with 271 dogs. Of these, 55 were adopted (20.30%), 122 were redeemed (45.02%), and 94 were euthanized (34.69).

• Calendar year 2005 statistics will be available by the end of the first quarter 2006.

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What behavior problems are commonly seen in custody dogs?
• No attention span: Some dogs are highly aroused with no attention span. These dogs know no boundaries, jump up, nip, spin in their kennel, have glazed eyes, and pant. They are constantly frantic, bark non-stop and are mouthy.

• Undersocialization: These dogs have lived in confinement (a garage, a backyard, a bathroom, a junkyard, etc.). They are unsure or fearful in new surroundings and react with uncertainty, fear, or (fear) aggression to sounds, smells and locations. Usually these dogs come around, gain confidence, and become socialized.

• Fearfulness: Fearful dogs have been physically abused and do not trust humans. These dogs will not approach a human. They flinch and cower at hand movements, body movements, etc. Many of these dogs become socialized after re-establishing trust in humans; gaining confidence as we work with them.

• Depression: These dogs are shut down. They will not stand up, eat, or move out of their beds or corners. They have no interest in treats or toys. With enough time, these dogs usually respond and gain enough confidence to rejoin the world.

• Aggression towards dogs: Upon seeing other dogs, or reaching a certain physical proximity to other dogs, some dogs quickly become aroused. They exhibit barking, lunging, growling, and hard stares. They will kennel fight with neighbors and try to break out of their kennel to fight with other dogs. These dogs may go out to our shelter park with safety precautions.

• Aggression towards people: Some dogs snarl, bark, and lunge at people. These dogs cannot be vaccinated because they cannot be handled. They must be tranquilized to be treated medically. Often these dogs are deemed vicious and dangerous and are confined to their kennels; humans cannot enter the kennels. Our interaction with these dogs is very similar to how zookeepers work with large predators like bears and lions that cannot be touched: behavioral enrichment, clicker training, food rewards to teach targeting, etc. These dogs are confined to their kennels with no human touch contact allowed.

How do you work with these dogs?
We bring dogs who can go outside to the DACC dog exercise area (dog park). Custody dogs may not leave the premises of DACC.

• Physical Exercise: We give the dogs physical exercise. This includes, free play, running with the dog and retrieving balls, Frisbees, or toys. We play tug-of-war (if it is safe), keep away, and hide-n-seek. The dog can also jump on and off a ramp, into the kiddie pool, or on and off hay bales. We also include agility training.

• Affection: We give affection in unlimited quantities, however each dog tolerates or wants.

• Socialization: We socialize the dogs with other dogs and people (including (people in uniforms, people wearing hats or sunglasses, people who greet dogs inappropriately, etc.). We do as many meets and greets as we can within the confines of the custody/isolation areas and the park.

• Obedience Training: We try to find out what the dog already knows, so that the dogs are able to accomplish behaviors that s/he already knows, thus fostering confidence. They live in an unfamiliar, stressful environment, so doggie successes are an important aspect of our program. If the dog knows nothing, or won’t show us what s/he knows, we generally begin with “find-its,” so that the dog connects a command with an immediate reward and from there build a positive association that pairs commands with rewards. This is an especially great way to begin to train an unfocused dog. We take our time, and do not rush the dog. We also teach dog leash and door manners, sit-stays, sit-stays for balls on the fly, sit-down-stand-stay-sit (push-ups), watch me, targeting, take-leave its, heeling, varying behavior sequences, other dog/dog manners, etc. We mix up these interactions depending on dog interest.

• Let the dog be a dog: A dog is a dog is a dog, needing to do doggie things, such as sniffing round the park. How we work and play with the dogs is limited only by imagination. Your imagination is a dog’s best friend.

Some dogs are confined to their kennel, because they are people-aggressive or too unsafe to touch.

• Interactions: We have learned and conjured up many interactions with kennel-bound dogs. We use treats and/or praise lures as well as shaping behaviors. We use clickers. Here are many examples of what you can accomplish with a dog confined to kennel. We do recalls if they are in double runs. We also do find-its, sits, downs, ups (on command, the dog jumps up to the midbar on the front fencing of the kennel) thus changing an emotional condition ­ the dog jumps up for a reward, instead of arousal, bar walks, play-bows/ups, hand targeting, object targeting as well as object-discrimination targeting, watch and watch variations, leave-its, recalls, tug play, sits & stand/treats on the fly (dog catches a treat thrown overhead in her/his mouth), go to bed, dance (spin), and give paw. For safety reasons, we cannot touch these dogs, so we touch and scratch them with long objects. For some dogs, we have a dowel with fleece duct taped to the end of it, for others, we use a back-scratcher. We put this through the fence for touch. We had one dog who thrived on his fleece stick touch so much that sometimes he would only eat if he were being touched. We also sweet-talk, praise, sing, encourage, loudly or softly (whatever works best for the individual dog), using the dog’s name a lot.

• Kennel Stimuli: After interacting with each dog, we leave them with things to do. We hang biscuit balls filled with treats and/or tug toys from the sides of the kennels, and leave stuffed Kongs filled with various goodies, We vary stuffed toys, chew toys, and hard rubber toys, as well as rawhides. The key is variety.

We also interact with dogs in the medical isolation ward. For these dogs, trainers wear gloves, booties, and clean clothing.

• Interactions: We interact with these dogs as we do with the dogs confined to kennel, although we can enter many of their kennels. Sessions with these dogs include lots of affection, including snuggling and sweet talk. Many of these dogs have not been touched for a long time

• Kennel Stimuli: The dogs also have a radio playing soft music in these kennels, and posters taped to the walls that give visual stimulation. See also above for kennel stimuli we give to Custody dogs.

We also sometimes have puppies.

• Socialization: We begin socializing puppies as soon as their mom will let us. We cuddle, cradle, and handle all body parts to get them used to being handled. After the first vaccination, we can play around with them in the kennel and carry them around the shelter for socialization. We have made puppy slings for this purpose. After the second vaccination, we can bring them into the classroom or office and let them loose for a puppy-rama. We have all kinds of new things there for them to play with, jump on, and dive into, as well as crates with treats, puppy agility, and us. After their third vaccination, they can be socialized with other puppies and adult dogs outside. We take them up and down the stairs, or sit on one of the benches outside of the shelter for meet and greets. We do as much real world exposure as we can considering their limited surroundings.

• Interactions/Basic Obedience: We do 4 on floor, sits, watches, targeting, and more advanced obedience the longer we have them, including agility training with puppy agility equipment that agility trainer/volunteer Maureen Delema made.

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What else do you do besides training?
• Holistic Care: We tie sheet strips saturated with lavender oil to the bottom of the kennel door to calm dogs. We also use Bach flower essences (calming solutions and Rescue Remedy). We also use TTouch (a calming way of touching animals) when dogs can be safely touched. Dogs are brushed, groomed, and massaged if they enjoy it. We had a Reiki practitioner volunteer for a year from whom the dogs benefited.

• Environmental Enrichment: Each dog gets a name and an identity. All dogs get blankets. Dogs get stuffed Kongs, rawhides, and stuffed, rubber or sturdy plastic toys. Treats can be hidden in toys and hay, burlap bags, grass, and other things from outside.

What equipment do you use?
• Collars: Premier brand martingale collars, or sturdy nylon quick release collars, Gentle Leaders are sometimes used. We also use Sensation Harnesses.

• Leashes: Strong leashes!

• Muzzles: Mikki nylon muzzles.

• Training Teats: Varying mixture of Rollover, high quality kibble, hot dogs, cheese, Charlee Bear crackers, etc.

• Tools: Clickers, items for targeting, brushes/combs.

• Agility and other apparatus: Jumps, ramp, tunnel, seesaw, refrigerator boxes or other large boxes, hula-hoop, kiddie pool, hay bales, whatever you have around! You can make your own!

What do you not do?
• No choke chains.

• No prong collars.

• No harnesses unless dog has neck injury.

• No "leash pops."

• No yelling.

• No physically pushing dogs into sit, down, or whatever position.

• No positive punishment.

How do you track the dogs?
Each dog is tracked from intake to disposition. Each person who interacts with a dog keeps daily notes on our laptop. Here they record observations, activities, breakthroughs, behavioral changes, new play behaviors, etc. This allows for communication between volunteers. A monthly record is kept on each dog in the program that is then sent to our funders as a monthly report.

Suggested Volunteer Requirements:

• Vigilance about safety precautions

• Compassion

• Commitment to at least 2-3 hours per week for 6 months

• Above average dog handling skills

• Ability to read dog body language

• Ability to follow direction and be a member of a team.

PLEASE NOTE: When deciding to handle any dog, each individual must determine for themselves the safety and handleability of a dog. GADAB is not liable for any injuries incurred from using techniques described in this FAQ.

How did GADAB get started?
• Strong support from management. I went with an idea to our Animal Care Supervisor, and with her support and encouragement, to our Executive Director, who in turn gave his support and encouragement. Our contract includes office area space, telephone, computer, fax, etc. We have worked out policy and procedures over the past five years.

• I researched and began writing a grant proposal. The Grantsmanship Center in Los Angeles has materials on typical and successful grant writing. For further information, the number is 800.421.9512 or 213.482.9860. The Foundation Center is a national nonprofit organization that has databases on philanthropic foundations, their focuses, activities and programs. For further information, they can be contacted at 800.424-9836.

• I also began researching and obtained non-profit status in October 2001. Prior to that, GADAB had a non-profit fiscal sponsor.

• I sent letters soliciting donations (Kongs, rawhides, toys, lavender oil, etc.).

• I began wooing volunteers.

• I non-stop educate myself.

Some suggested trainer/authors are Sue Sternberg, Patricia McConnell, Donna Duford, Trish King, John Rogerson, John Wright, Jean Donaldson, Pam Reid, Karen Pryor, Stanley Coren, and Ian Dunbar.

In addition to trained dog handlers, we now have a grant writer, a website developer, a volunteer coordinator/office manager. These are all volunteer positions. Volunteers are crucial to the continued success of Give a Dog a Bone. Volunteers are pure gold. This is simply a brief summary of how I began GADAB.

Cheers and kudos to anyone who betters the lives of animals in shelters.

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Frankie was a brave little five-month old American Pit Bull Terrier mix (likely black lab) puppy who came to GADAB after his owner was seen hitting him. Despite being beaten nearly senseless the day he arrived, Frankie proved to be a resilient fellow and showed no signs of fear around people. He loves greeting new friends (and old ones) with kisses and absolutely adores getting his belly rubbed. Frankie is a smart little guy, too. He already knew how to sit and lay down on command and learned how to high five on his second day. Over the next few weeks, volunteers worked with Frankie on his leash manners and spent time handling him - touching his paws and mouth a lot so he'd get used to it - and teaching him not to jump up when he greeted people.

A month to the day after he arrived, Frankie passed his temperament test with flying colors and has been put up for adoption. Currently Frankie is in the available section, going to doggie play group, and awaiting his forever home. His A# is 211757. This medium sized guy is black with a big white spot on his chest.

- Mark Rogers
Senior Volunteer

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