Animal services learn dogs' personalities through play, easily match to furover families
MIAMI - It's a courtyard filled with 5 dogs and while it may look like dogs simply playing, there's a lot more going on here.
"We're looking at body language, we're looking at how they interact with other dogs. We're looking at how they play, if they can take correction, give correction all of these types of things," said Aaron Caldwell. He's with the group "Dogs Playing for Life."
He's at Miami-Dade Animal Services today, teaching the staff about the importance of getting dogs out of the kennel and just letting them play, like recess.
"Our goal is to get them out of that space if they're feeling anxious or frustrated, getting them out, letting them express normal behavior, burn mental and physical, give mental and physical stimulation, then in turn once they get back to their kennel they feel more relaxed hopefully presenting more adoptable," Caldwell said.
While the dogs are playing the staff is watching them carefully to learn more about their personalities and traits.
"When our adoption counselors meet you, you come in, they're going to ask a whole bunch of questions about your lifestyle and then try to match the dog. Because now we know so much more about them we can match the perfect dog for your family and lifestyle," said Flora Beal. She is with Miami-Dade Animal Services.
By observing the dogs playing, she noticed a dog named Puppet gets along with other dogs, but really prefers people and the belly rubs that follow. "Now, when we come and meet a family that's looking for a mild, calm, zen kind of dog we can say, 'Hey, Puppet's the girl for you!'" Beal said.
There are 650 dogs up for adoption here, including a lot of medium and large dogs. The hope is that this training will not only improve the quality of life for the shelter dogs, but help get them into forever homes.
"The goal is to get them out of here as quickly as possible," Caldwell said.
Right now at Miami-Dade Animal Services all the adoption fees are waived for dogs over 4 months old. There's a $30 fee for registration.