By Michelle Smith | Project Leader
We are so excited to share that Paws and Potential: Healing Shelter dogs & Youth has officially launched, and we are already just over a quarter of the way through our 12-week pilot!
With eight committed young participants and six enthusiastic dogs, we have begun our journey of connection and positive-reinforcement training. Along the way, the youth are helping by giving these wonderful dogs something truly valuable: dedicated time, individual attention, kindness and the opportunity to learn new skills that can help them on their journey towards adoption.
So far, our sessions have explored kindness, body language, and communication, helping participants better understand how dogs express themselves, recognise their needs, and build relationships based on trust and respect. These lessons extend beyond our canine companions, encouraging empathy, patience and more positive ways of relating to others.
Our team is also finding its feet in this new environment, becoming familiar with the space, adapting to new systems and refining how we deliver the programme. With each passing week, the sessions are running more smoothly, and our confidence in this new approach continues to grow.
While delivering Underdog in a different shelter environment (where we do not have a classroom) presents different challenges from our usual setting, we are increasingly encouraged by what we are seeing. This pilot is helping us explore how we can bring our programmes to new spaces, reach young people in different communities, and create meaningful opportunities for both youth and dogs.
But we need your help to make this possible.
Your donation through GlobalGiving helps us provide the resources needed to make these sessions happen, from training equipment and treats to the materials and support that help our youth and dogs learn and grow together. Every contribution, no matter the size, helps us build a programme that nurtures confidence, empathy and positive change for both people and dogs.
By supporting Paws and Potential, you are not simply funding dog training or youth activities. You are helping create opportunities for young people to develop valuable life skills while giving shelter dogs the time, attention and positive training they so deserve.
Please consider making a donation today and sharing our project with your friends, family and networks. Together, we can help this pilot reach its full potential and pave the way for a Mobile Underdog to reach even more youth and dogs in the future.
Thank you for being part of this journey and helping us create positive change, one youth and one dog at a time!
By Michelle Smith | Project Leader
By Michelle Smith | Project Leader
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