Change the Lives of Troubled Youth & Shelter Dogs

As I pause to reflect on the transformative journey at Project POOCH over the past year, I am filled with gratitude for the unwavering support that has made it all possible.

We realized we had an opportunity as we turned the calendar to 2023. All but one of our POOCH pups had been adopted, leaving us with a near-empty kennel. After many years of heavy usage, we knew our facility needed significant updates to meet industry standards of care. Now was the time. We consulted an external expert from the Oregon Humane Society, rolled up our sleeves, and got to work.  

We invested significant financial resources to update our kennel facilities and operations to meet the Association for Shelter Veterinary (ASV) Guidelines for Shelter Care. This overhaul required an operational pause while we removed flooring, fixtures, and furniture. Each change ensured we would meet the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the dogs in our care. A few highlights include:

• Installed non-porous, continuous flooring throughout the kennel.
• Updated our daily and weekly cleaning protocol to adhere to industry best practices for shelter care.
• Increased our daily operational hours from 7 a.m.–6 p.m. to decrease kennel stress and provide additional working opportunities for the youth.
• Changed our staffing model and added two Project POOCH dog trainers to our staff to ensure the youth receive daily instruction and the opportunity to work with a dog trainer.

We also worked closely with the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility team to identify program updates to better serve today’s youth. We now offer part-time work opportunities for youth in college or learning other vocational trades, and we are rebuilding our training curriculum around a trauma-informed care framework.

These updates have led to a 30 percent increase in youth participants in our program in 2023 and an average 65 percent increase in hours worked by youth per month. The more hours the youth are at the kennel, the more time they have to interact with the dogs, learn from the POOCH team, and interact with their peers in a productive way. At Project POOCH, we work to build a functional and positive team, so the youth know when they are at POOCH, they are in a safe space to learn, ask questions, and thrive.

The Project POOCH youth thriving. They are working as a team, supporting and mentoring each other, and eagerly ask questions and seek new training opportunities. Youth are gaining access to national training certifications and online training modules. In addition to kennel management and dog training, youth are learning writing and communication skills as they keep dog journals and daily notes to inform the next day’s workers.

POOCH pups are thriving with more daily interaction with the youth and staff team. Pups are out of their kennels for 60 percent or more of our operational hours. They spend time in the yards, classroom, and training center. Pups get walking, training, play, and snuggle time. The youth work with the staff to identify each dog’s needs and create a training plan. Each pup’s feeding, walking, enrichment, and stress level are tracked daily by the youth on our communication board.

And, as always, adopters gain a new, loving family member and know that in adopting from POOCH, they support a program that gives back to their community.

As we end this year of transformation, I am full of a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to our mission. Each day, I get to witness growth in our youth participants. I watch their faces light up when they teach a dog a new skill, and their bodies relax when they sit in a kennel and snuggle a pup. The youth and dogs help each other relax and trust again. Together, they build their confidence and find joy and hope for a better future.

Please help me continue to make Project POOCH a strong and integral part of our community by making a year-end donation today. Through your support, we can make a difference in the lives of incarcerated youth and shelter dogs.
Thank you,

Links:

• Adoptable Dogs
• Asher Finds a Home

Dear Project POOCH Supporter,

It has been a wonderful and BUSY summer at Project POOCH! We temporarily PAWSed (get it?) our operations from February through May as we made some major updates to our facility and our program. We were ecstatic to restart in June with a modern and clean kennel, five dogs, and 7 youth ready and willing to learn.

Our facility updates were driven by our need to meet the Association for Shelter Veterinarian (ASV) Guidelines for Shelter Care. We update our flooring to be all solid surface so it could be effectively cleaned. We replaced particle board furniture with stainless steel rolling racks so that could be easily moved and cleaned. We updated to industry standard cleaning products for our kennel which ensures our pups stay healthy and that our youth learn current best practices of kennel management. We installed solid surface tops to our kennels to make sure our pups stay safe, added two outdoor enclosures to speed our morning cleaning process, and installed a new tub that is lower to the ground and has a ramp for entry to it is less stressful for the dogs. Next month, we are installing sound-dampening panels to help reduce the noise in the kennel and reduce the stress level for the dogs.

We also trained all of our staff in the Fear Free Shelter management program and are bringing this same program to our youth, so they have the opportunity to learn a nationally recognized curriculum for care for shelter animals. We love the Fear Free Shelter curriculum, because it is all about focusing on reducing Fear, Anxiety, Stress, and Frustration in the dogs based on how you operate your kennel. It also aligns well with the trauma-informed care principles we use in how we work with our youth, providing a noticeable benefit to everyone involved in our program.

We are seeing all of our investment in updating our facility and program pay off with an engaged group of youth who are quickly and eagerly learning new skills, and are excited to show up at work each day at the kennel. We trained and adopte 4 dogs over the last couple of months, and just brought in another group of 4 dogs to work with.

Project POOCH provides life-changing opportunities to every youth and dog we come in contact with at our program. We hope you will considering continuing to support our work.

Thank you,

Sarah Bradham

Links:

• Jasper: A Heart Story
• What Does it Mean to Nurture?
• Shaggy's Journey