Empower Youth, Transform Shelter Dogs

As another school term comes to a close, we have wrapped up a wonderful season of sessions with our youth and shelter dogs. We are incredibly proud of the progress our youth and dogs have made together and look forward to welcoming everyone back after the school holidays.

While our regular sessions pause for the break, the learning and fun continue. Thanks to our dedicated volunteers, we will be hosting a range of holiday activities for our youth, including dog training workshops focused on scent work, a nature walk, games day, and a movie screening in our classroom. These activities provide continued opportunities for connection and positive engagement during the school holidays.

Celebrating Youth Day

We ended the term with one of the highlights of our calendar: our annual Youth Day Dog Show. Youth Day, celebrated on 16 June in South Africa, commemorates the bravery of the young people who stood up against inequality during the 1976 Soweto Uprising and recognises the vital role that youth continue to play in building a better future.

Throughout the term, our youth worked closely with their shelter dog partners, practicing and preparing a range of tricks and skills to showcase on this special day. The event was filled with excitement, laughter, and pride as each team took to the course to demonstrate their hard work and partnership. To add to the festivities, our Underdog dogs proudly sported their very own jackets and bandanas lovingly made by an long-time Underdog supporter. Every participant walked away with prizes, treats, and wonderful memories!

Forever Homes for Our Underdogs

One of the most rewarding aspects of our work is seeing our shelter dogs find loving, permanent homes. Over the past few months, we have celebrated several adoptions among our Underdog dogs.

A particularly special milestone was the adoption of Hamster, who had been part of our programme for approximately six years. Hamster's journey reminds us that every dog deserves a chance, no matter how long it takes. We are thrilled that he has finally found the forever home he deserves.

Welcoming a New Team Member

Our biggest organisational update is the growth of our core team. We are delighted to welcome Oneliseka as our newest intern and the first female intern in The Underdog Project's history.

What makes this milestone especially meaningful is that Oneliseka first joined The Underdog Project as a beneficiary in 2021. Her journey from participant, to peer leader and now to team member beautifully reflects the long-term impact of our work and the opportunities that can emerge when young people are supported to grow and thrive.

Although she has only been with us for two and a half months, Oneliseka has already made a lasting impression on the team through her dedication and enthusiasm. We are excited to support her continued development and believe she has a bright future ahead.

Join Our Underdog 555 Community

As we grow, we are intentionally building stability alongside expansion. Our Underdog 555 Campaign invites 555 people around the world to commit to just $10 per month in support of our core programme.

If achieved, this steady, predictable funding would fully sustain our weekly Youth Builder Group, Past Graduate Group, and Peer Leader Group, while ensuring consistent training, enrichment, and care for our dogs. Most importantly, it would allow us to plan confidently for the future rather than operating in uncertainty.

Monthly support creates the foundation that makes everything else possible—from graduation celebrations and new school partnerships to the continued growth of our programmes and opportunities for both youth and dogs.

If you feel inspired to become part of this global community of steady supporters, we would be deeply grateful.

With Gratitude

Every moment of teamwork between a youth and a shelter dog.

Every session that provides consistency, stability, and safety for our youth.

Every lesson in patience learned through a lead held gently instead of tightly.

Every dog given a chance to build trust, confidence, and a brighter future.

All of this is possible because of your belief in our work.

Thank you for walking alongside us as our young people step into adulthood with courage and resilience, and as our dogs continue to teach lessons that no textbook ever could.

With deep appreciation,

The Underdog Project Team

This reporting period has been one of deep reflection, powerful milestones and meaningful transition at The Underdog Project. As our youth grow older and step into new chapters of their lives, we are reminded that the true impact of this work unfolds over years. What begins as a nervous first interaction with a rescue dog often grows into confidence, leadership and self-belief that carries far beyond our classroom walls.

Thanks to your support and the support of our community, our weekly Youth Builder groups have continued to provide safe, structured spaces where young people can develop emotional regulation, communication skills, empathy and responsibility through consistent work with our UnderDOGS. Across our sessions, we work with several dogs at a time, creating hundreds of meaningful engagements that benefit both youth and dogs alike. These regular interactions remain the heartbeat of our programme.

Celebrating Our Matric Graduates

This year we celebrated a milestone that felt especially significant,  the graduation of our Underdog Matrics, who successfully passed their 2025 matric year.

To honour this achievement, we hosted a small but heartfelt graduation celebration where they officially graduated from The Underdog Project programme as well. Each learner received two framed photographs: one taken when they first joined us years ago, and one recent photo. Placed side by side, the images told a powerful story: not simply of growing up, but of courage, resilience and transformation.

Their reactions were unforgettable. One youth beamed and declared that the photo would hang at the front of their home so everyone who entered would see it. Another held hers close and said, “Now I need to buy a house so I can hang this in it.”

Passing matric is an enormous academic achievement in South Africa. But what we have witnessed in these young people goes far beyond academics. Over the years, they have built confidence through training and caring for our rescue dogs, learned patience and emotional awareness, and discovered strengths they did not know they possessed. Some have already begun stepping back into our space as mentors and role models for younger participants.

Once an Underdog, always an Underdog.

New School Partnership: Bel Porto

We are also excited to share a new partnership with Bel Porto School. Through this collaboration, we have welcomed five adolescent boys into our programme.

This partnership allows us to extend our impact to youth who may benefit significantly from structured emotional support and positive mentorship. Early sessions have shown promising engagement, curiosity and growing bonds with the dogs. We look forward to nurturing these relationships over the coming months.

The Underdog Dogs:

Our UnderDOGS remain at the core of everything we do. Their wellbeing, enrichment and ongoing training are prioritised in every session. The dogs are never tools in our programme but rather they are sentient partners whose needs, comfort and consent matter deeply. This ethical foundation continues to guide our growth and ensures that the work remains mutually beneficial.

This year we have started our term with welcoming six new dogs onto the programme and hopefully more in the coming months. Each dog will go through a careful integration and assessment process to ensure that the environment is supportive and enriching for them. Expanding our canine team not only allows us to reach more young people, but also provides rescue dogs with structured training, socialisation and purposeful engagement.

Looking Ahead: Paws & Potential

We are so excited to announce that we are preparing to launch our Mobile Underdog pilot, Paws & Potential, later this year. This new model ideally will allow us to bring our programme into partner schools and community spaces rather than relying solely on our fixed location.

Paws & Potential will enable us to reach youth who might otherwise face barriers to access, while maintaining the same structured, relationship-based approach that defines The Underdog Project. Our vision is to build small skilled team who can carry this model into communities with care and consistency.

This next step represents both growth and sustainability. It allows us to meet young people where they are, expand our reach responsibly, and support more rescue dogs in meaningful work.

Join Our Underdog 555 Community

As we grow, we are intentionally building stability alongside expansion. Our Underdog 555 Campaign invites 555 people around the world to commit to $10 per month in support of our core programme.

If achieved, this steady, predictable funding would fully sustain our weekly Youth Builder group, Past graduate and Peer leader groups and ensure consistent training and care for our dogs, and allow us to plan long term with confidence rather than uncertainty. Monthly support creates the foundation that makes everything else possible: from graduation celebrations to new school partnerships to the launch of Paws & Potential.

If you feel moved to become part of this global community of steady supporters, we would be deeply grateful.

With Gratitude

Every moment of teamwork between youth and dog as they learn and grow together.
Every session of consistency, stability and safety for our youth.
Every moment of patience learned through a lead held gently instead of tightly.

All of this is possible because of your belief in our work.

Thank you for walking alongside us as our youth step into adulthood with courage,  and as our dogs continue to teach lessons that no textbook ever could.

With deep appreciation,
The Underdog Project Team

Links:

• The Underdog Project Instagram