shelters & rescues
Mission Dog provides innovative trainings and educational resources to the shelter and rescue community, grounded in reality. We understand that you’re busy (isn’t that an understatement); we also understand the frustration of wanting to implement programs, and being overwhelmed.
Relax, that’s what we’re here for. We provide on site workshops to train volunteers and staff, as well as booklets and DVDs so that you can spend more time doing what you need to do, and leave the training up to us. Plus, when the workshop is over, we’re still available to offer follow up support and answer questions along the way.
What are the benefits of our programs?
- Increase adoptions via enrichment and training
- Learn how to train dogs in your care and at events
- Keep staff safe and dogs happy as clams (well, clam dogs)
- Increase capacity by pairing dogs
- Implement a shelter training program as a viable source of income
- Partner with a professional trainer that can modify behavior & support adopters
- Provide professional development and retain volunteers
Workshops
Workshops are presented as one or two day events. We can accommodate 2-3 topics per day, depending on the topic. We’re happy to customize our workshops to meet your needs. So, if there is something that we don’t offer, but you’d like us to present on, let us know! Please scroll through the topics below.
Shelters & Rescues
Enrichment and Training in the Shelter
Learn how to implement enrichment and basic training in practical ways at your shelter. We can work with any size, scope and budget. Learn how to include staff /volunteers and implement enrichment as a team.
Matching and Moving Dogs
Learn how to create appropriate dog-dog matches, whether you can pair up dogs in the kennel or for playgroups. In many cases, this helps increase capacity, and maintains quality of life for social dogs. We’ll teach you how to identify red flags, how to rotate your matches and how to identify true dog aggression.
Modifying/Managing Reactive Dogs and Resource Guarders
We’ll discuss reactive dogs (dogs that bark and lunge), how to work with them, how to decrease their reactivity and what to do to keep them relaxed and quiet. We’ll also discuss “low level” resource guarding and learn how to modify things like prolonged growling and stiffness and how to prepare adopters to keep up the modification once these dogs are ready to go home.
Volunteers: Train and Retain
You can’t do it all yourself, and you shouldn’t anyway. Learn how to retain your volunteers, and create a training program that allows them to grow, develop and take on more responsibility instead of getting bored and disappearing.
Sustainable Training Programs
Learn how to partner with a progressive professional dog trainer, and create in-shelter training programs for dog residents and the public. The dogs love it and it’s a viable stream of income that pays for itself.
