Michael Trott 's Dog Training and Adoption Event Blog

From Aol Today: What is cheaper Dogs or Cats?

Monique Currie of the Washington Mystics, Kelly and Me on Fox Morning News

This morning i went with Kelly to promote the Mystics "Barking and Ballin" Event

It is a lot like the Washington Nationals pups in the park event.  $10 per ticket package goes to WHS.  You can bring your dog to the game. 

The event is Sunday July 18th 2010 = Click here for details.  

Here is the video from this morning:

Flossie and me at Fashion for Paws 2010 in Life Magazine

The picture that was taken by Leigh Vogel and was picked up by LIFE Magazine.  Here is the link

Fashion for Paws 2010 - F4P 2010

There was a huge turnout this year for F4P 2010 (Fashion For Paws).  I heard someone saying that the ticket sales alone made $325,000 for the Washington Humane Society!

It was shoulder to shoulder in there and so i was only able to snap a few photos outside (where we had the adoption table set up)

The line was around the corner to even get in!

Below is Chica.  An 11 year old Boston Terrier.

And here is Flossie, a 7 month old Pit Bull Terrier mix

If you are in the market for a new best friend...  Check out the Washington Humane Society page.  It is updated all the time and also has a list of Adoption Events throughout the city!

Happiness is...

"Happiness is a warm puppy"

Charles M. Schulz

74% of people prefer dogs over cats

I heard this statistic on WTOP while I was caught in the nasty traffic this morning.  So, I looked on the site and hey there it was:  In the war of dogs vs. cats, clear winner: dogs

But then I clicked on the WTOP poll results and the numbers were different.  66% prefer dogs and 34% prefer cats

But how could this be?!

Well if you look this excerpt from the WTOP article:

"About 74 percent of pet owners polled said they had dogs, and 47 percent said they had cats."

Maybe that is why they said they "like dogs a lot"?

Also there is just something that feels a little weird about this sentence:

"Those most likely to dislike cats were blacks, Hispanics and married men."

What is a "No Kill" Shelter?

When I first started volunteering a couple of years back, I remember hearing the phrase "No Kill". 

The first time I had heard it I remember thinking: Well what do they do with those dangerous aggressive dogs?  Having just had my orientation at the NY Ave shelter I saw first hand some examples of dogs I would not want in my home or neighborhood.

I learned later that there are MANY other factors that go into that warm and fuzzy definition.

(speaking of warm and fuzzy here is tigger)

Some factors that come into play...

There are no kill shelters that pick and choose what animals to accept.  They are not all access and not publicly funded and sothey simply choose the best of the best and then find them homes, leaving the un-adoptable animals to the local animal control.  This leaves them with a high adoption rate and none of the guilt of having to put down animals that are not safe to live with people. It also makes space and overcrowding less of an issue.

Some organizations play with the term "adoptable".  To be no kill you have to adopt out "adoptable" animals.  You can still euthanize "un-adoptable animals" and fit the definition. 

Un-adoptable could mean

• Has medical issues
• Is on a breed ban list
• Has temperament issues

But the fact is that no one really checks these things.  I remember a few years ago when a shelter was  trying to solicit funding (because that is what it is usually about, funding) they were checked out it turned out that they doctored their euthanasia stats to try to qualify as "No Kill"

The shelter environment can make a dog un-adoptable.  It's called "kennel crazy" in the sheltering world.  Sometimes the stress of the shelter environment is so great that the animal suffers a mental break.  They begin pacing and circling, possibly obsessively chewing themselves or licking, and can become unstable and sometimes aggressive. 

It kind of reminds me as a teenager reading the FDA guide that showed exactly how many insect parts were allowed in baby food.  

I mean, yeah it's being monitored, but someone actually has the job of sitting down and picking an acceptable amount of "Rodent filth" in canned apricots.  

Is zero ever an option? 

This Shelter is getting close.  They even keep aggressive dogs. 

The Commercial Got Me- The Shelter Pet Project

So I am about to fall asleep and I see an ad for The Shelter Pet Project.  The is the one with the "bad owner" being arrested and the talking Boston Terrier explaining that he is a good dog and did nothing wrong. 

I liked the idea.  So I checked out the site. 

It turns out that it joint venture between HSUS, Maddies Fund, and The Ad Council.  Powered by Petfinder. 

It has a few features like a search function for adoptable animals, something called and "adopt-a-gram" and and "adopters network"

The talking doggies were cool, but I really could not see the point of the site? I tried searching for an adoptable dog near me and that was a pain.  Hard to get to the pictures, which is what "sells" dogs on the net. 

I guess it is one of those public awareness sites.  I was just hoping that there would be something different.  

The adopter Q & A section is pretty cool.  But the heading does not show the entire question and so that is a little frustrating. 

The talking doggies and kitties are a good start though. 

Valentines twin?

This is Spice. Not Valentine believe it or not.

It surprises me how many shelter Dogs look like Valentine.  I think there is something about that brindle coat?

Man that makes me sad... 

One day when I have my farm I will have a pack of unwanted Brindle mutts. 

Russia House Fund Raiser for WHS - Success!!

12/31/09

Last night I volunteered at a small fund raising event at the Russia House.  

Bethany and I worked the door and took voluntary donations from guests as they arrived. 

It was pretty fun people watching, and the door took in over $1500.00 for the Washington Humane Society!

The Party was thrown by a WHS Board Member Andrew Weinstein (who also sits on the board for HSUS).  It was pretty cool to see the Russia House top two floors blocked off for the event.  The people watching was fun, watching the pretty Russian servers run up and down stairs with borsch (sic) was priceless!

With a hand full of money i was only able to take one picture.  Which i think adds to the mystique!  LOL