DuPage Saves With Your Help

DuPage County, Illinois sent this bulletin at 09/06/2019 02:16 PM CDT
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Krishnamoorthi

DuPage Saves

On August 29th, DCAS welcomed U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi for a press conference to introduce the bi-partisan Animal Welfare Enforcement Improvement Act.  If passed, the act would strengthen requirements for licensing animal dealers and exhibitors, and require the U.S. Department of Agriculture to resume posting all inspection and enforcement records online.  Rep. Krishnamoorthi was joined at the podium by Animal Services Committee Chairman Brian Krajewski, Cathy Liss of Animal Welfare Institute, Laura Hagen of PETA, and Marc Ayers of HSUS in support of this important piece of new legislation. Also present were Animal Services Committee Members Dawn DeSart and Sheila Rutledge. This legislation is also endorsed by the ASPCA, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Humane Society Legislative Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare, and Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.  Stay tuned for more to come, including calls to action, on this exciting piece of legislation for animals!

For more information please read the article published by the Daily Herald!

Toast

A Happy Ending For Toast

Toast came to DCAS as a stray. A smart, energetic, young dog Toast quickly found herself on the adoption floor, ready to find a forever home. Unfortunately, after some time in the shelter, Toast began to decline as she grew frustrated and stressed in the kennel environment. So great was Toast's mental suffering that a difficult decision was made to place a deadline on Toast and an urgent plea for an adopter or foster was made. 

Thanks to the wonderful support of the community and the MANY people that shared Toast's story, Toast was successfully placed into a loving foster home. Her foster family fell head over heels in love with Toast and were thrilled to give her the home she needed to decompress and become the wonderful girl we all knew she could be.

Now we are happy to announce... Toast is officially adopted!

When we created the #DupageSaves hashtag, it wasn't to pat ourselves on the back—it was because of YOU, DuPage County (and beyond). You saved Toast. She was shared over 1500 times by our amazing community, and now she's home. Thank you again and again for supporting DCAS!

Sassy

Sassy's Foster Experience

Some of you may have been wondering where Sassy has been as she hasn't been featured on our social media in a while. Well, Sassy found herself a foster home! Because of her generous foster mom we have been able to see a new side of Sassy and learn so much more about her behavior!

Sassy Fact #1: Sassy loves to lay in the sunshine, in fact she would sunbathe all day if you let her.

Sassy Fact #2: Car rides are pretty cool as long as she gets a boost into the back seat.

Sassy Fact #3: Ear rubs are the best!

Sassy Fact #4: Other dogs can be okay to hang out with as long as they are mellow and calm like Sassy!

Here at the shelter Sassy was considered an "only dog", a dog that was not comfortable living with another dog in the house. Out of the shelter in a home environment, Sassy has shown us that she can cohabitate with another dog as long as her furry companion is low-key and gives Sassy the space she desires.

Because of this information Sassy can now be adopted to a family with another dog in the house! She will need slow intros away from the shelter so an interested adopter would be able to foster Sassy first to make sure she would be a good fit in the home. Even better, as part of our Golden Girls (and Boys!) adoption promotion Sassy can be adopted for just $11!

For more information on how to make Sassy a part of your home please call 630-407-2800 or email animalservices@dupageco.org.

Fostering Saves Lives

DCAS Logo

DuPage County Animal Services relies on a dedicated team of foster families who each year care for hundreds of cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies until they are ready to be placed up for adoption. Foster care is a critical piece of our effort to provide each and every adoptable animal with a second chance at life. We need families just like yours to help us save lives!

Interested in becoming a foster care volunteer? Learn more and complete a foster application at: bit.ly/DCASFosters.

Volunteer Spotlight

Anne

Meet Anne!

Anne is a compassionate and very dedicated volunteer that works tirelessly to better the lives of the dogs at DCAS and does all she can to find them their furever homes. Anne is an Orange Paw volunteer at the shelter, a volunteer group that commits to a rigorous curriculum aimed at expanding their animal behavior knowledge-base and dog handling skills. Not only has Anne successfully completed the Orange Paw curriculum, she is also a certified dog trainer! Anne utilizes her extensive knowledge and handling skills to provide training and enrichment for the shelter's "back dogs", dogs that are looking for rescue placement or are in need of additional training before being placed up for adoption. On top of all the work Anne does for DCAS (and it's a lot!), she is also a board member with the rescue group Chi-Town Pitties, and she and her certified therapy dog Roscoe work with the Brian and Amanda Bickell Foundation and bring joy to children in need. We are so grateful to have Anne as a part of the DCAS family! Her knowledge, passion for animal welfare, and tireless efforts to help dogs in need is nothing short of inspiring. Thank you Anne for all that you do for DCAS and so many others!

Training Tip: Proofing

Sassy

"My dog knows how to sit, he does it just fine at home!" Many dog owners share this frustration. What most don't know is that dogs are terrible at generalizing which means that while they may know what sit means in their owners living room, they genuinely don't understand the cue when they are at the vet clinic. Dogs associate the environment with behaviors learned and are unsure of what is being asked of them when the environment changes.

Owners experience this problem because the desired behavior has not been "proofed". Proofing, in dog trainer lingo, means practicing a behavior in different situations so that a dog understands the behavioral cue regardless of the context in which it is given. Before proofing a behavior it is important that a dog is fluent in the behavior before adding additional challenges. Behavioral fluency refers to the dog's ability to accurately and promptly respond to a given cue.

To effectively proof a dog's behavior apply the five D's when training. The five Ds's of proofing include duration, distance, distraction, different places, and different people. Duration asks a dog to perform a behavior for extended periods of time or varying periods of time. Distance refers to a dog's ability to respond to a cue when the handler is further away. Distraction asks the dog to focus even when new and interesting stimuli have been introduced. Different people and places refers to the dog working with more than one handler and in new locations. 

For more information on proofing please visit the Best Friends Animal Society website and be sure to click on the picture of Sassy working on her sit outside to watch a video on proofing from Ali Bender of Pet Harmony LLC, and our lead S.T.A.R. and Orange Paw trainer.
Golden Girls

Thank You For Being A Friend To Our Golden Pets!

Adopting a senior pet is like fast forwarding to the best part! To help YOU grow old with one of our Golden Girls (or Boys) DCAS has lowered senior cat & dog (8 and up) adoption fees to match their age! Cats 10 and up can be adopted for just $1!

Be a pal and a confidant, adopt a golden senior!

Adoption hours are:
Monday & Thursday: 2-6:30pm
Tuesday, Wednesday, & Friday: 12:30-4pm
Saturday: 11-2:30pm

Read more about DCAS adoptables at: bit.ly/DCASadoptables

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