Change the Lives of Troubled Youth & Shelter Dogs

One month. 30 days and 30 nights. 30 nights sleeping in a big bed with his new dad. 30 days of exploring the big world (on leash, of course), watching ducks, playing with new toys, and enjoying the adoration of so many people. 30 days of living the life that this big, goofy, lovable boy deserves!

This was the happy ending that at time we weren’t sure was going to come. Milo spent two and a half years at Project POOCH, with a few short stints in adoptive homes that didn’t work out. The youth worked diligently with Milo for all of his time with us. Milo demonstrated that he is a smart boy and he learned quickly. But even with all the attention provided to him at POOCH, kennel life is still hard. And 2 1/2 years in a kennel is a long time.

But we never gave up. We never quit on finding Milo the right home for him. And it wasn’t necessarily the home that we thought it was going to be. We started out thinking that Milo needed big open spaces, maybe a farm, a giant backyard, a ton of space to run. But what Milo really needed, was a whole lot of LOVE. Someone who would adore Milo for who he IS, and work with him. Help him adjust to the big world, and know that there are going to be something that aren’t going to be a good fit for Milo (no dog parks for this big boy …).

Enter Troy. He serendipitously showed up on our doorstep. He thought he was looking for a small dog. But, what he really needed was Milo. And what Milo really needed was Troy. The two of them hit it off the moment they met. And the rest is history.

Milo's Journey demonostrates the power of what we do at Project POOCH. The youth learned important skills as they trained and worked with Milo, but I think that the most important life lesson they learned, was that the adults in their life didn't give up on Milo. We didn't give up when he had two failed adoptions. We didn't give up when we had a resource guarding issue when he went into temporary foster care to give him a break from the kennel life. We reached out to behaviorists, and we spent time with Milo, and we listened and we worked to figure out what would be the right home for Milo to flourish.

And we found it. And now Milo gets to live his best life. And Troy gets to have a best buddy. And the youth in our program learn that we won't give up on the dogs when it gets hard, just like we won't give up on them.

Life is a journey, and Milo's is just beginning.

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We have been on an operational pause the last three months. We have been making significant updates to our facility as well as to our program in order to ensure we are meeting to the Association for Shelter Veterinarian Guidelines for the Care of Shelter Animals. Thanks to generous donations in 2022 we were able to undertake these critical projects that will help the youth and dogs flourish in our program. We can't wait to share with you the outcome of that work. Look for an update next month!

Links:

• http://pooch.org