Getting along with your pets?

Researchers at Memorial University are collaborating on an international dual studies that will shed some light on how humans interact with their cats and dogs.

Caroyln Walsh of the Department of Psychology’s Canine Research Unit expects most people who complete the questionnaires are likely to be devoted pet owners.

But with 16 countries participating, she expects there will be cultural differences — for example while many North American pet owners love dressing their pets up for Halloween, that may not be the case in other countries.

The study originated with Tess Rehn of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and James Serpell of the University of Pennsylvania and Walsh said Rehn will analyze the results over the summer and hopefully they will be published in the fall.

“Some of the questions might seem strange, but they are based on research tools,” Walsh said, who has both cats and dogs as pets.

They include topics such as the degree to which people rely on their dogs for protection and how much emotional support people draw from their pets.

It’s the first time the Canine Research Unit has delved into cat-human relationships.

It’s expected the studies will gauge to what degree people consider their pets a part of the family, evidence that expands on the trend of pet ownership, especially for those who don’t have children, and the wealth of products and services devoted to pets.

Retired Memorial University professor Rita Anderson is also involved in the studies.

She and Walsh started the Canine Research Unit nearly a decade ago and when the project researchers reached out to Walsh, Anderson was intrigued.

“It sounds like a neat opportunity,” Anderson said of her reaction.

“I am dying to find out what the results will look like.”

Anderson also expects there will be cultural differences, but isn’t sure what those will exactly look like.

She also said the cat and dog studies’ results are likely to spark further research, as they will provide hints of other avenues to pursue.

Anderson also has both cats and dogs and noted the positive influence they can have on people’s emotional and physical wellbeing, such as the renewal one feels from taking their dog for a walk after a hard day.

Service Dogs Ready

Service dogs are a lifeline for many veterans, especially those with post-traumatic stress disorder. While many people are still getting used to social distancing measures, these human-dog teams do them every single day.

Rhonda Lockwood was in the Army for 20 years before retiring in 2003. She struggled in the years that followed, and was introduced to Operation at Ease. The Schenectady-based organization teams veterans with rescue dogs and helps to train them to become service animals.

“We paired her with a dog from Mohawk Hudson Humane Society,” said Joni Bonilla, the founder of Operation at Ease. “She was simultaneously the prettiest and the smelliest dog we ever pulled.”

Now smelling much better, Lockwood’s dog Bella serves as a buffer between the community and her human, making sure no one gets too close.

“If I’m at the pharmacy and there’s something behind me, I can’t. I can’t just stand there,” explained Lockwood.

“What we are experiencing now is what people with post-traumatic stress live with every day,” said Bonilla.

The emptier grocery stores and social distancing measures are things these veterans look for, even in the best of times. They try to always practice social distancing, something many don’t understand.

“One of our veterans, actually, a Vietnam veteran, said that to me at the very beginning of this. He said, ‘Well, maybe the good thing that will come of this is how people will see,’ ” said Bonilla.

Service animals also offer emotional support, something veterans like Lockwood rely on.

“She kept me calm, just doing little training stuff with her in the house, playing hide and seek, stuff like that. It keeps you going,” said Lockwood.

Operation at Ease is still training dogs, but has temporarily moved programing online.

16 surprising therapy and emotional support animals

Though dogs are the most common therapy animal, plenty of other animals support their owners. Pet Partners told ABC News that, “dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, guinea pigs, rats, miniature pigs, llamas, alpacas, horses, donkeys and mini-horses” can all be therapy animals.

There are important distinctions between therapy animals and emotional support animals. Therapy animals have special training, and must pass obedience tests to be certified; emotional support animals have to be registered and require a prescription by a mental health or healthcare professional, but do not need to undergo any training.

Service animals are also different. They are highly trained to provide assistance for owners who might be physically or visually impaired.

In recent years, there’s been a boom in emotional support animal popularity. Many people have attempted to travel with unusual companions, and in 2016, ABC News reported that passengers were stunned when a woman with PTSD brought her emotional support duck on her flight.

Debbie Garcia, an education director at Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses, said she gets a similar response when people see her animals. “When an elevator door opens in a hospital and tiny horses walk out it is unexpected and magical. People do not expect to see a horse indoors,” she said.

Take a look at all the animals that you might not have imagined could work in therapy or emotional support roles.

Garcia told Insider that not all miniature horses can be therapy animals.

“Most miniature horses in our program are from multiple generations of therapy horses,” she said. “Unlike dogs, horses are herd animals/flight animals so we look for outgoing, fearless personalities that like to be center of attention. We then spend time with them (with their moms) from the day they are born, exposing them to new things everyday like wheelchairs and different walking surfaces.”

Horses from Gentle Carousel, which is based in Ocala, Florida, visit adults and children in hospital and hospice care, among other locations.

“Our therapy horse Magic has a very special relationship with children in hospital care,” Garcia said. “One little girl who had a heart transplant and then leukemia said Magic made her face hurt from smiling so much.”

In 2016, LiLou became the world’s first airport therapy pig after traveling to San Francisco Airport (SFO). On LiLou’s website, it says, “Everyone we meet leaves with a smile and every day we hear that we have made someone’s day.”

Chesnut, who lives in Georgia, travels around the country with her therapy rat, Vincent, visiting children at schools. Vincent and Chesnut both underwent training to register him as a therapy animal. The test involved tasks like being around a dog, being passed around, taking a treat, and reacting to loud noises, Chesnut said on her site.

“Vincent has been reading with kids for a couple of months now and he has been a champ,” she wrote in a blog post. “He might get a little fidgety at first, but he quickly gets comfortable and listens to the kids read.”

Preparing food, cleaning the cage, and interaction can lead to improvements in social skills for children, including those with autism spectrum disorder.

Seeking emotional support from animals at local shelter

 

More than four hundred cats and dogs are currently at Burlington Animal Services.

‘Sister Wives’ Fans Agree Dogs Like Mosby Are Lifesavers During COVID-19 Epidemic

Sister Wives fans know that Meri Brown dotes on Mosby and the other dog that lives with Mariah. She shares photos of Mosby as often as she gets to see the little pooch. Actually, she’d love a dog for herself but resisted the temptation. Now, her fans agree that dogs like Mosby are lifesavers during the crazy time of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Sister Wives – Meri resisted the temptation to get her own dog

TV Shows Ace reported that in February, Meri met up with some puppies. She adores dogs and shared about how she resisted the temptation to get one. That came even though her BNB, Lizzie’s Heritage Inn reminded her that they’re dog-friendly. Fans know that Meri’s particularly in love with little Mosby. Mariah and Audrey keep Mosby with their other dog, Koda. But, when Meri gets the opportunity, she spends a lot of time with them.

Recall that in a previous season, fans saw Meri clinging to little Mosby as Audrey and Mariah prepared to return to Chicago. But right now, Meri seems to have access to Mosby. The Sister Wives star shares a few photos of the little fellow during the coronavirus self-distancing and quarantine. The little pup and Meri seem equally devoted to each other. Mosby really seems to cheer up her life right now. And, many fans agree their own pooches make life bearable at this difficult time.

Two photos of Mosby – fans love the little dog

In the past three days, Meri shared two photos of Mosby. In the first one, Mosby looked laid back, tuckered out and relaxed. He lay sprawled on his back on the chair with Meri. Fans loved the photo, which she described as Mosby being “tired” out. On Tuesday, she shared another photo of Mosby looking utterly blissed-out. She captioned that one with, “Puppy life… Can it get any better??” Well, many fans agree that pups really bring special meaning to their lives right now.

One Sister Wives fan remarked that “it’s no small thing to be loved by a dog.” Another fan wrote, “I learn a lot from my dogs … simplicity of life, being in the moment, unconditional love. So no, it doesn’t get any better. ?❤️.” But, one follower noted something more. Their comment read, “Puppy loves’ a lifesaver right now…” And, yes, love and unconditional affection seem to help a lot of fans get through the coronavirus stress.

It’s actually a fact that dogs help people with stress right now. Those who have a special love for a dog like Mosby definitely get the benefits. VOA Lifestyle noted, “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)…provide companionship; and reduce people’s stress and anxiety.” Meanwhile, “Evan MacLean … a biological anthropologist at the University of Arizona” weighed in as well. According to him, dogs bring some “welcome emotional support during the current worldwide health crisis.”

Do you agree that Meri Brown from Sister Wives looks happy and relaxed in the company of Mosby? Do you own a dog and does that help you through the epidemic? Sound off your thoughts in the comments below.

Coronavirus: Service dog in training comforts staff at Denver hospital

A doctor raising a service dog in training has enlightened the mood at the hospital where she works by bringing the pup to work amid fear from the coronavirus.

Dr. Susan Ryan is raising Wynn, a 1-year-old Labrador retriever, for Canine Companions for Independence, KDVR reported. The organization provides the dogs at no cost to those in need.

Ryan, an emergency physician, started taking Wynn to Rose Medical Center as part of her training to socialize and teach basic obedience.

“She’s a calm presence; she grounds us. Everybody goes and seeks her out when they need just an extra bit of a minute to pet her, snuggle or kiss her,” Ryan told KDVR.

Wynn went to the hospital regularly with Ryan before the outbreak, but her appearances are more appreciated lately.

The bond between a dog and human can “break down the walls of isolation, which is really important in this time when people are physically distancing,” Ryan told KDVR. “They don’t have to be socially or emotionally distant.”

There are more than 1,400 coronavirus confirmed cases in Colorado and 24 deaths, Colorado Public Radio reported.

When I’m Stressed or Anxious, My Guinea Pig, Dewey, Helps Me

I’m a happily married mom of two boys. On any given day, I am called to be a chauffeur, cook, referee, accountant, or nurse for my family. And for the most part, I juggle it all well. But sometimes my anxiety and depression get the better of me, and for that I turn to Dewey. Who’s he? Dewey is my cream-colored, brown-spotted, pink-nosed guinea pig. Yes, I consider my guinea pig an emotional support rodent.

I grew up in a pet-loving family. Throughout the years, there was always a dog I could cuddle, a parakeet I could chirp to, or a goldfish I could tap at. It should also be known that I was a very anxious child, and that I quickly found solace in these pets. One of my earliest pet-related memories is sitting in the backyard with my dog,  Baxter, whispering into her ear all the worries I had about school and friends. I was about 11. Even then, I realized how much this furry companion meant to me.

She didn’t judge. She didn’t talk back. She just listened and gave me unconditional love all in exchange for a few pets. She died when I was in high school, and it hit me hard. So hard that I tried to never get as attached to another pet like that ever again. But sometimes those furry little faces get you, and just when you need them the most, they show up.

All dogs are emotional support animals right now

The world may feel like it’s falling apart outside, but my dogs remain blissfully ignorant. They, are currently living their absolute best life and could not be happier with this whole quarantine business. Let’s be honest, the dogs are the real winners of this whole debacle.

I have no wise words or keen insight about life to offer right now. Today’s blog is purely and Aspen and Willow appreciation post, really an appreciation of all dogs right now. My two loveable goofballs are keeping me sane, loved, and entertained. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

I’ve seen more pictures of my friends dogs, and cats for that matter, pop up on social media in the last week than I have in the last year. (friends, please keep those pics coming!)

They’re our new coworkers. Our constant companions, best friends, and a never-ending source of humor in otherwise very stressful times. Aspen and Willow aren’t quite sure why we are home all the time now, but they are certainly taking advantage of the extra pets, playtime, attention, and treats that they are getting because of it.

Aside from the pure joy that they bring me just by being themselves, they also help in a much different way. By taking care of them, I’m reminded to take better care of myself. Their wet noses and endless energy keep me from sleeping too late each morning. I’m reminded to eat something every time I feed them (remembering to eat is something I’m notoriously bad at, especially when stressed). Every time I let them out to play, I’m reminded that maybe I could use some sunshine and fresh air too. I swear I can take care of myself, but having them around helps.

I know it’s tough to have to stay home all day, every day, for the foreseeable future. But it’s going to be absolutely necessary in order for us to get a handle on the current pandemic. I just hope that everyone has a pet, or pets, as great as mine to help them get through it all.

Don’t have a pet to keep you company in quarantine? Now might be the perfect time to foster. McKamey Animal Center would love to hook you up!

How To Clip Black Nails

This is our lovely little Yorkie, Patty. Patty has all black nails. Black nails are obviously the hardest to clip because it is not possible to locate the quick before trimming the nail. In this video we show you how to properly and safely achieve a nail clip when all of the nails are black. Thank you for watching. Enjoy the video!

Dogs could get extreme separation anxiety when quarantine ends

Fido may get frantic when the coronavirus quarantining ends.

While isolated humans can’t wait until the end of work-from-home culture, canine experts say that lifting shelter-in-place restrictions could conversely cause “extreme separation anxiety” in the millions of dogs who’ve grown accustomed to their owners’ constant companionship during lockdown.

“With such an overload of quality time with their families, dogs are building up a huge reservoir of over-dependency,” animal psychology expert Roger Mugford tells the Times. Mugford, who’s known for training Queen Elizabeth’s corgis, adds that the pampered pooches could “suffer when mums and dads suddenly return to work and the children go back to school.”

Dr. Karen Sueda, a veterinary behaviorist added in a statement to Insider, “Dogs thrive on consistency and predictability, as we all do, so any time there’s an abrupt change, it can cause stress.”

The mental whiplash could cause formerly doted-upon doggies to engage in a range of erratic behaviors, including defecating, urinating, howling, chewing or trying to escape, reports the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Some panicky pups could even practice coprophagia, where they defecate and then consume their own feces.

“Put a webcam on your dog, and you’ll see howling and pacing and other distress signs,” Mugford tells the Times.

Separation anxiety isn’t just psychologically damaging. The ASPCA reports stressed pets could attempt “to dig and chew through doors or windows, which could result in self-injury, such as broken teeth, cut and scraped front paws and damaged nails.”

It’s a frightening proposition as approximately 20% to 40% of dogs referred to animal behavior practices in North America are diagnosed with separation anxiety, even when not isolating with their owners, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.
While there is no remedy for canine conniptions, dog experts do advise acclimating pooches to separation prior to the end of lockdown, à la conditioning applied by famed researcher Ivan Pavlov.

“Allow your pet to have some alone time,” says Sueda. “You have your space, and they have theirs.” For those who live in cramped quarters with their canine companions, the ASPCA prescribes training your dog to perform out-of-sight “stays” by an inside door in the home, such as the bathroom.

Separation anxiety specialist Malena DeMartini-Price tells Insider, “It’s a gradual process of using small absences that start to teach the dog that absences are safe.” Still, abandoning one’s fur babies for even short periods could prove a tall order for the millions who are relying on — and even buying — dogs to keep themselves sane during lockdown. Especially when Fluffy’s so happy to see their master that he sprain their tail from wagging it so much.

That’s why canine specialists also advise keeping man’s best friend engaged via enrichment activities such as crate training, interactive toys and more, the ASPCA reports.

Dog-appeasing pheromone (DAP), white noise and medications such as Zylkene or Anxitane might also help Lassie avoid separation anxiety, according to Sueda.

Woman faces bill to fly her pooch

An Australian woman who lived in New York is facing a $9,500 bill to fly her beloved pooch down under after she was locked out of the flight ban.

Georgie Boyd, 29, was in London trying to renew her visa when flights from Europe to the US were cancelled.

The wedding planner was forced to abandon her apartment and her rescue puppy Boston in Manhattan.

Georgie is now back with her family in Adelaide, Australia, and faces a lengthy and expensive process to bring Boston, a two-year-old rescue mix, home.

She said: “I had to go to London to renew my visa in early March.

“My E3 visa got declined because of underlying reasons that meant I couldn’t even get an ESTA.”

The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is the standard tourist visa for visitors to the United States.

“By the middle of March I couldn’t get back to New York and my dog,” Georgie said.

“I couldn’t get a tourist visa because COVID had caused chaos and then Trump closed the border.

“I was locked in London with a small suitcase – I thought I was going to be there for ten days so I literally had a pair of jeans, a jumper, a t-shirt and some activewear.

“I had no option but to come back to my parents in Adelaide.”

Georgie began the difficult task of dismantling her life in New York from 10,000 miles away.

“I had my dog and my apartment all back in New York – my life was in New York.

“One of my good friends packed up my entire life for me and put it all in boxes.

“I had to surrender all my furniture, about $2,000 worth of furniture, with my apartment.

“Luckily I wasn’t tied into a lease so I got my March rent back but I lost half of my security deposit.

“I hadn’t seen Boston since the end of February.

“He was a rescue puppy so that was pretty traumatic, not only for me, but for him as well.

“I messaged one of my good friends in Massachusetts and she and her husband drove down that night and picked him up and took him back to their home.”

Now Georgie relies on daily photo updates of Boston from her friend and worries about the toll the separation is having on the emotional support animal.

She said: “It’s so hard to be separated from him.

“I don’t want him to feel like I’ve given up on him.

“I got him in August 2019 from an animal shelter.

“He was so anxious – he was scared of bikes and skateboards.

“He would get separation anxiety when I went to the bathroom – I had to give him CBD just to calm him down.

“He was an emotional support dog.

“I took him everywhere I went – to work, to cafes.

“I feel really sorry for him, he’s moved around the place while I was trying to figure my own living situation out.

“What I’m struggling to come to terms with is what’s going to happen if I can’t raise the money to bring him over.”

Georgie is facing a colossal bill to bring Boston home with the pooch needing special certificates, injections, bloodwork and a pricey quarantine before he will be allowed into the country.

The transport itself is $6,500 with vet bills adding a further $3,000.

The Department of Agriculture in Australia also require that pets have certain injections at least 180 days before entering the county so the earliest Georgie will be reunited with Boston is October.

“It’s been a massive whirlwind.

“Just to get him over here is $6,500 and that doesn’t include vet bills.

“I have already spent a grand on blood tests, immunizations and health checks.

“You have to have rabies injections and blood tests prior which mean big vet bills.

“The ten-day quarantine in Australia costs $2,000.

“I have had to go through a company which has its own fees and each certificate costs between $400 and $500.

“Then the actual transport to get Boston here will be a flight from New York to LA, LA to Singapore and Singapore to Melbourne which is $2,000 and I also have to pay for the carer that will look after him onboard and make sure he gets through the flight.

“It’s a lot of little costs which pile up but if I get one of the certificates or import letters wrong, Boston could actually be sent back to New York.”

Georgie has seen her savings wiped out by the coronavirus chaos.

“My visas were $600 each – that’s $1,200 lost in visa fees.

Pets helping?

During these times, there is not much to do but stay inside or go shopping for essential living supplies. But there’s something that could help ease the boredom of staying home all the time: pets.

According to the Health For Animals Global Animal Medicines Association, pets “provide us with companionship but also with emotional support, reduce our stress levels, sense of loneliness and help us to increase our social activities and add to a child’s self-esteem and positive emotional development.”

Dr. Carlene Taylor of the Animal Assisted Therapy program at the University of North Florida knows a thing or two about how pets act and how they can be a beneficial factor to a family or a liability. I asked her to discuss the benefits of having a pet to cope with social isolation in this unique time.

The Nemours Children’s Specialty Clinic is creating videos with the members of the Animal Assisted Dog & Pony Therapy Program to help send positive messages to kids of ALL ages relative to COVID-19.

Dr.Carlene Taylor suggests folks to check out to understand the purpose of the effects pets leave on the kids all ages in a positive light. Here is the link to see more about it.

Do you believe pets hinder or help ease the emotional effects people are getting by staying inside thinking about the virus?

“Well, like so many things with a pet themself is not going to be the answer and the be-all and end-all. However, in general, we could expect that people that have pets would feel some relief emotionally from being inside with the virus. and from being isolated. There’s always a persistent feeling of not being alone. So we’re disconnected from our friends and disconnected from our community in so many ways. This COVID-19 isolation is causing people to feel more claustrophobic more alone and pets can certainly ease that sense of feeling disconnected and in feeling estranged from their support systems.”

Why do you think so many people build an emotional bond with their pets?

“A woman, the name of Temple Grandin. She’s a professor at Colorado State University and pretty well known in the private and public circles now. Dr. Grandin revealed some with her research that there are six primary emotional systems that humans and animals share particularly in mammals. So all humans and all mammals share six primary emotional systems that make us function, although somewhat differently based on species, but there’s some things that we have in common. We all feel the sense of anger and rage, we all feel the sense of love and caring, we all feel a sense of grief and loss In humans and animals share the need for play. We share the need for seeking, which is that looking for the next thing to be involved in.”

How can pets help?

“Is a benefit because it gives you a reason to keep going or reason to be motivated a reason to

press through and it gives you a company along the way. But it also increases the risk

because if you’re not successful, or if there’s a challenge then not only are you at a loss but your animal friend Is it a loss too and that can create increased stress.”

How can pets hinder?

“You have increased responsibility and there’s increased risk. So you do have to get out because you’ve got to get your pet out and take a walk and you do have to worry about them and to try to take care of them.”

A UNF Student Ashling Glocke who is a pet owner herself says, “Having a pet is truly like having a child. You have to take care of them and raise them. Not only is it beneficial to us, since we have a playmate or a walking partner, but it’s so beneficial for our pets. Creating connections helps your pet trust you and maintain a happy relationship.”

For More Information

For anyone who needs assistance to talk emotionally, they can go to UNF’s OspreyPERCH: Prevention, Early Intervention & Resiliency through Counseling & Holistic Health provider team. They are available to everyone no matter their location geographically. If you’re struggling emotionally and need someone to talk and communicate with, you can talk to OspreyPERCH. Their Counseling interns are available via tele-mental Health secure video sessions. This is the service that has brought animals on UNF’s campus for health and wellness activities.

Rural dog enters city

On March 10, a dog living just outside Nelson city limits crossed into the city, entered Danka Merunka’s yard on Johnstone Road, and killed her dog.

She recalls hearing a commotion in her back yard and running outside to see her Havanese-Maltese dog Ryder being mauled.

“I tried to grab my dog,” Merunka told the Star. “I knew he was dead but I still didn’t believe it. Then the other dog [threatened] to attack me. I screamed, and my husband ran from the house and the dog was snarling at him, with open mouth, with blood on it.

“My husband threw rocks at it and it ran away. My dog was bleeding all over me.”

Merunka called the police and Nelson’s bylaw officer arrived, declared the attacking dog vicious under the city’s dog control bylaw, and fined the owner $150.

The officer ordered the dog muzzled within city limits. Outside the city, where the dog’s unidentified owner lives, the bylaw doesn’t apply.

“The dog owner was dealt with as best as our officer can under the bylaw,” Nelson’s police chief Paul Burkart told the Star. “The owners of the dog that was killed are unfortunately unhappy with that, but legally, we have done all that we can.”

Burkart said the bylaw officer “believed it to be a pit bull or similar breed.”

Merunka’s yard is almost entirely fenced. She said neither she nor any of her immediate neighbours had previously seen the dog that killed Merunka’s dog.

Nelson’s city boundary extends for a short distance north of the orange bridge, and Merunka’s is one of two houses on Johnstone Road within the city. Merunka said she knows the owner of the attacking dog lives several blocks away, outside the city, but doesn’t know his name.

She thinks the dog should be put down because she says its behaviour toward her and her husband before it ran away constitutes an attack on them. Burkart told the Star if a dog attacks a person he could apply to a court to have it put down, but he doesn’t think this situation qualifies.

“In our judgement this was not an attack on a person,” Burkart said. “Rather it was an attack on a dog. The protective behaviour showed by the dog after did not constitute an attack.”

Merunka reported the incident to the RCMP and received no response. Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey told the Star in an email that the incident happened within the jurisdiction of the Nelson police and therefore the RCMP would not be involved.

Meanwhile, Merunka is grieving the dog she describes as her best friend.

The Nelson bylaw officer contacted Pamela Guille, the Regional District of Central Kootenay’s dog control contractor, alerting her to the incident.

Guille administers the RDCK’s dog control bylaw, which states that all dog owners must keep their dog on a leash while not on the owner’s property, keep the dog confined so it cannot escape while it is on the owner’s property, and ensure the dog does not pursue or harass anyone or kill or injure a domestic animal.

The penalty is a fine of up to $500 per day. Guille didn’t fine the owner, and told the Star by email that she didn’t officially designate it a dangerous dog because it killed Merunka’s dog outside her jurisdiction.

But Guille placed some restrictions on the dog.

She told the owner “the dog should be contained to the property and when on public road and/or property, the dog has to be leashed and under control,” and she “advised the owner that the dog should be muzzled at all times when off the owner’s property.”

For Merunka, this is small consolation.

When her dog was killed she was preparing for cancer surgery within the next few days. Now she’s recovering, without her dog as emotional support, and she’s afraid to go into her yard.

“I am definitely a mess. I am psychologically drained, and every single part of the house and this town reminds me of my dog.”

Merunka said when her five grandchildren visit, she’s afraid to let them out of her house.

“This time my dog, next time somebody’s child.”

Neither Guille nor Burkart would release the attacking dog owner’s name to the Star.

Drive-thru pet food

“This has got to be the greatest thing in the world,” said pet owner Lois Malone. “I don’t have to go to a store. I don’t have to be touched. I can stand back.”

The clinic’s goal is to get free pet food to pet owners who need it, in the safest way possible.

“Anybody, if you’re in need of pet food assistance, please reach out to us,” said Kristin Roth of Spay & Neuter Kansas City.

“It means a great deal because with us not being able to find any, this is a blessing,” a woman said.

“Animals are definitely a priority, especially with emotional support. So with isolation, they need their animals,” pet owner Jessica Rojas said.

The group planned to serve more than 60 families, giving each more than 40 pounds of either dog food or cat food.

“Right now, we’re blessed. We have a ton of wet food in addition, so we can give them both. We can give them treats,” Roth said.

In just the last three weeks, Spay & Neuter Kansas City said they have had more than 400 requests for free pet food, and they have filled 250 of those.

“Without this place here our animals would go hungrier than they are now,” a woman said.

Four-legged hero

During the stay-at-home orders, more and more retired veterans that are suffering mental and physical disabilities are looking for service dogs. For retired veterans dealing with PTSD and or physical injuries, COVID-19 is bringing up memories they didn’t know they had. Memories they tucked away in a dark place.

That’s why the local nonprofit, Veterans Moving Forward, which trains service dogs for veterans, is refusing to shut down during this crisis.

Lori Sittner, Director of Operations says, “Some of our veterans who haven’t been able to leave their house or they were on 13, 14 medications. They were afraid to leave their house, their lives were stopped.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, emotional support dogs for veterans dealing with mental and physical challenges are still being trained.

Head trainer Katie Poulson says, “Breeders are telling me that they are getting more calls now than they’ve ever seen before. 15 a day is nothing and we are getting more applications because it has increased a lot of veterans’ PTSD. Having to go through the scare and the isolation, you’re seeing N95 masks everywhere and also I’ve seen respirators out there.”

The K9s are being raised and trained by the organization based out of Sterling, Virginia. The training starts at around 8 weeks old and will last about 2 years.

The dogs can do everything from fetch medication, turn on bathroom lights and open and shut doors to moving quickly on a seizure response.

Life-changing assistance by four-legged friends is vital especially during social distancing and home isolation.

Sittner says, “Verbiage that we are hearing is that this is a war that we are fighting. It’s bringing up bad memories.”

Purina stepped up and donated several pallets of dog food but the reality is this nonprofit is solely based on donations and volunteers. Over 15 fundraiser events have been canceled and volunteers aren’t coming in. The staff says they are doing their best they can on limited resources.

Pet Spotlight

 

Despite being stuck at home, The Wood Word’s Pet Spotlight still shines on. In the latest edition, Junior Graphic Design major Alexis Christiano talks about how her dog Stella assists her on and off campus.

Adopting Pets

“People have been opening their homes and volunteering to be fosters. We’ve also gotten a lot of adoptions,” said Mary Jacobs, president of the Orange County Small Paws (OCSP) Cat Rescue, in an interview with The Epoch Times.

Some people have told her they long wanted to adopt, and now they have more time to get to know their new pets.

Some people are looking for the emotional support an animal can provide, and some just want to do something helpful during tough times. Jacobs’s no-kill rescue focuses on saving cats from high-kill shelters, and it’s volunteer-run. It’s been encouraging for her to see a significant uptick in adoptions during the past month.

Ladera Ranch resident Nicole Hopkins, 47, went to the OCSP Cat Rescue because she wanted an emotional support animal for her two daughters, ages 11 and 14.

“I think that this is hard for adults, but it’s really hard on the kids,” she told The Epoch Times. “It’s such a massive lifestyle change. So I’m trying to make this stay-at-home experience a positive one, and I really thought that an animal would be an important piece of that.”

Hopkins also saw an opportunity to teach her girls about responsibility and providing a helpful service during a crisis.

“I felt like there’s no better time to foster an animal [than] now because the kids are home full-time,” she said.

Hopkins said the cat, Callie, “brought a lot of light to our household. She’s super loving and sweet.”

She only planned to foster, not adopt. But she made a surprising discovery within days of taking Callie home. Callie was pregnant.

“The last thing I was going to do was send her off to another home when she was just getting acclimated to ours,” she said. “I knew that we could offer her the love that she needed.

“I’m not a cat doula or a cat midwife, but hey, I guess I’m gonna add that to my resume for COVID-19.”

The circumstances of sheltering in place also led Lake Forest resident Bob Lynch, 52, to contact OCSP Cat Rescue. He decided to foster Millicent, a seven-year-old Russian Blue cat.

“My wife is working from home now and [my] daughter is a high school senior and she is now, of course, doing school from home,” Lynch told The Epoch Times. “My wife said it’d be nice to have a cat kind of hanging around to keep her company.”

But like Callie, Millicent quickly grew on the Lynch family.

“After having Little Miss Millicent for a couple weeks, of course you grow attached,” he said. “I think she [was] bounced around a little bit, so I couldn’t see putting her through that again.”

“The experience has been fantastic,” he added. “I think she’s very happy now.”

April Misloski, 37, was “feeling a little lost and finding myself in fear-mode,” she told The Epoch Times via email.

“There have been several news articles about death, loss and pain in extreme amounts; articles about people abandoning their animals during the crisis. As an empath, it [was] really weighing on my soul,” she said.

Misloski, who lives in Los Angeles with her three children, wasn’t looking to adopt a pet, at first. But she wanted to “do something selfless” and sponsor an animal in need by making a small donation.

She visited the SPCALA website, and that’s where she found Schnitzel.

“[I was] looking for a specific animal to donate to and I came across a photo of a particular pup,” she said. “He was small and black and adorable, and he had a big goofy smile on his face. I knew at that moment I had to have him.”

Schnitzel—whose name has since been changed to Spellman, although “he doesn’t know the difference because he’s so old he can’t hear anyways”—has been in Misloski’s care for several weeks now.

“He has brought so much happiness and joy in such a short amount of time!” she wrote. “I’m a certified massage therapist, so he is getting lots of doggie massages and cuddles.”

It has made Davenport happy to see Schnitzel, like many other SPCALA animals, find loving homes during this time. “Now he’s just having the best life,” she said.

service dogs training

Through an empty Mall at Fairfield Commons, little paws trot and gallop around Monday afternoon. Service dogs in training, this litter is getting to know a new environment.

“Our greatest need is the for the puppies who have never been able to experience a big environment and so it’s a safe way for our staff to be able to give them what they need socialization-wise while still being able to keep themselves and others safe during this really weird time,” said Erin Bittner, director of socialization and genetics at 4 Paws for Ability.

The Mall at Fairfield Commons is closed to shoppers but stepped up to provide 4 Paws for Ability a space to continue their puppy socialization training.

“We love it when they come to visit,” said Leanne Rubosky, general manager at the mall.

“They didn’t have a place to train when all the mandates came down so we offered if they were interested and they were very interested in continuing to partner with us while we were closed,” Rubosky said.

She said, “My main role is a goodwill ambassador to the community and to find out how we can serve our neighbors well. This gave us a great opportunity to be able to do that.”

The mall provides new smells, sights and sounds to train the pups.

“The space really echoes. Glass barriers are something they only get in this type of environment, the different changes in floor textures, the open staircases,” said Bittner.

This will help them later down the line when they are placed with a family. Weekly mall explorations gets them comfortable with the unfamiliar.

“As a service dog if they have an experience they’ve never had, they have enough in their memory bank that they’re like- this is probably great too,” said Bittner.

4 Paws is for Ability said COVID-19 is prompting them to make major changes to their operations. Through it all, their partner are helping in any way they can.

“Our puppy raisers, a lot of them stepped up and took extra dogs into their home. Our on-site volunteers took dogs into their home that were going to be available for adoption (because) we couldn’t do adoptions right now,” Bittner explained.

This partnership with the mall ensuring they can keep on with their mission.

“We want to make sure that we have all these positive experiences so that in life as a service dog, it’s regular, it’s normal,” Bittner said.

Dog vanishes

Perhaps it was an intriguing scent wafting in the breeze that led Cricket astray.

Or the feel of open grass beneath her paws.

No matter the reason, all Amanda Harlan Mendenhall knew Tuesday afternoon was that her deaf and blind 13-year-old poodle was gone from her backyard near the west end of Fellows Lake.

“We let her out at lunchtime to do her business, but she never came back,” Mendenhall said. “She’s never done this before. There was a lot of crying. I was worried that she wouldn’t make it since it was below freezing that night.”

Cricket, a fluffy poodle, is Mendenhall’s close and dear companion. She said the dog has been by her side as she endured several health issues and surgeries. Mendenhall said she and several neighbors immediately began scouring the area for the lost dog. They walked for hours on foot, and drove the area later that day, with no luck.

“I was amazed at the response,” she said. “On Tuesday there were six neighbors out looking for her with us.”

Mendenhall said she could only imagine what her blind and deaf dog was experiencing, being alone and on her own in unfamiliar territory.

After the freezing night passed, Mendenhall said, she resumed her search on Wednesday. She caught a lucky break — a neighbor mowing the lawn recalled seeing a poodle wandering toward a wooded area.

The search led them about two miles from home, where they found a creek with a sheer drop-off. They feared the worst.

“It was about 4 p.m. and we were about to give up and go home,” Mendenhall recalled.  “But then I heard a sound — it was her collar clinking on a rock. I told everybody to be quiet, and that’s when we found her. I started screaming, I was so overwhelmed with joy and excitement that she was found!”

Cricket was thirsty but uninjured. Friday morning, Cricket was back at Mendenhall’s side, staying close as her owner did yoga.

Pets in prison

Bringing rescue dogs and prisoners together in a remarkable rehabilitation programme in California is helping inmates learn valuable lessons. On an idyllic sun-drenched day in California, I find myself in jail. But unlike the 5,000 or so inmates of North Kern State Prison, located 150 miles north of Los Angeles, I’m here voluntarily, accompanied by Zach Skow, a man on a mission to bring dogs into every US prison.

Skow is the founder of Pawsitive Change, a rehabilitation programme that pairs rescue dogs with inmates. He began a pilot programme at California City Correctional Facility in January 2016, teaching inmates to become dog trainers, and it’s now been rolled out to four more California state prisons and one female juvenile correction centre.

To date more than 300 men have graduated from the programme and roughly 200 dogs from “high-kill” shelters have been rescued and adopted as a result of the inmates’ work with them (the shelters accept any animal, regardless of age or circumstance, but they do euthanise a certain percentage if they can’t rehome them). Seventeen of the programme’s human graduates have been paroled and so far none has returned to prison (at a time when the US recidivism rate stands at 43%). The majority of the dogs they trained have been awarded the Canine Good Citizen certification in recognition of good behaviour and obedience. Two of the canine graduates have been certified as therapy dogs and several others are in training to be service dogs for military veterans.

I join in the second week of the 14-week course at North Kern, together with two dozen inmate students, head trainer Robert Villaneda and Skow. I’ve been in some form of education my whole life – school, university, drama school, therapist training college – but what I witness in terms of student engagement is unprecedented. In every classroom I’ve ever sat in, there’s been a healthy proportion of students checking their phone, looking out the window, chatting or grabbing a few winks. At North Kern, however, the students are totally engaged, taking copious notes, asking questions and sharing knowledge.

To have made it on to the course, they have each submitted essays on what they’d bring to the programme and why they want to do it. The only inmates excluded are those who have been convicted of violence against animals or sexual assault.

While Villaneda leads the session, he frequently hands over to the programme mentors: men who’ve already completed the course several times. In terms of attentiveness to their canine charges, the students would put any dedicated helicopter parent to shame. They give detailed accounts of bowel movements; how one dog won’t eat in front of other people; how another won’t go to the toilet until all the others have gone first. Skow explains that a core part of the programme involves the students (he never refers to them as “inmates”, rather “trainers” or “rescuers”) being aware of and identifying their own emotional states at any given time. “Animals don’t follow unbalanced energy,” he says, “so we need the guys to be able to recognise if they’re off their centre and, crucially, how to get themselves on a level again.”

Skow’s motivation to start Pawsitive Change is rooted in his own recovery from alcohol addiction. In 2008 he was diagnosed with acute liver disease and given six months to live if he didn’t stop drinking. A dog lover from a young age, he credits his recovery to the fact he didn’t want to abandon his dogs. After the wake-up call of his diagnosis he gave up alcohol and went on to set up a dog-rescue service, Marley’s Mutts,  which is based in Kern County and rescues dogs from shelters and troubled regions of the world. His interest in working with incarcerated people sprung from his AA meetings where his sponsor would relate stories of running meetings inside the prison system. Skow’s interest was piqued: with hundreds of abandoned “mutts” in his own rescue facility, he wondered if he could bring the healing power of dogs to the prison system.

As I watch the men go through their paces with their dogs, I am immediately impressed. Working with the dogs and seeing what the animals are going through prompts the men to speak of their own experiences. When one student relates how his dog didn’t want to come out of the kennel in the first few days, another shares how he too didn’t want to leave his cell when he first came to prison. As a therapist, I found the Pawsitive Change students’ level of emotional literacy and ability to be vulnerable staggering. Two themes that repeatedly come up in my conversations with the students are trust and responsibility. Many of these men have been told repeatedly from a young age that they’re not to be trusted, that they make a mess of things, that they’re not fit to take charge of anything. This message is then reinforced as they progress through the penal system. If I’ve learned one thing while working as a psychotherapist, it’s that what we’re told we’ll become, we’ll become. This programme challenges the “branding” these men have had imposed on them from an early age. It allows them to create new narratives. For each programme cycle, Marley’s Mutts selects around 10 dogs that have been discarded and ended up in “high-kill” shelters. The aim is that they complete a Canine Good Citizen Certification, which requires them to demonstrate increased signs of trust and respect with handlers and other humans; decreased symptoms of nervousness, insecurity and fear; decreased tendencies toward possessiveness and territoriality, and increased balanced social behaviour towards other dogs. At the end of the programme, the dogs are then significantly more likely to be taken on as pets by members of the public. The programme has so far seen around 150 dogs saved from death every year.

Isaac is 43 and has been incarcerated since he was 18. He’s doing the programme for the fourth time, having started his first round in September 2018. This is quite common – many of the students keep coming back, saying that they learn something different on each round as every dog has its own unique issues. Isaac tells me that he wanted to be a dog trainer since he was nine or 10, but that his dad dismissed it as “not a real job”. Isaac is now a mentor, guiding and assisting other students. He has also earned a degree in communications and psychology while in prison.

When I ask him what he’s learned from the course, he explains how it’s given him an opportunity to interact with prisoners from other races. “At mealtimes, the tables they’re Mexican only or whites only or blacks only,” he says. “But working with the dogs, that just breaks down.”

Isaac’s expectations of what he’d get from the programme have been exceeded. Keen to fulfil his childhood ambition of dog training, he had hoped to learn some practical skills that could be put to good use when he was released. But he explains that he has also learned to manage his frustration and build patience. “Growing up in a patriarchal Hispanic family, the norm was to bottle up your emotions, but here I’ve been challenged to really be honest about what I’m going through. In the first round of training I was matched with a really challenging dog, Tiny, who just wouldn’t come out of her crate. Working with her I had no choice but to ask some of the other guys for help, something I’d always avoided in my life.” While working on this article, I hear that Isaac has been paroled. I’m reminded of what he told me when I saw him in prison: “I care a lot about these dogs, because they give me a lot.” Apparently, he impressed the board with how he’d been spending his time, particularly his work on rescuing and rehabilitating dogs. Those dogs may have just given him the biggest gift of all – freedom.