NMHP Forum - What booklets or handbooks are available?

Question from Kerry and Peggy:
Our shelter does more than half of our 2000 adoptions out of area PETsMARTs. Naturally, the staff relies on us to provide as much advice and assistance to
customers as possible (and we rely on their dog trainers to help dog people, so its a nice arrangement). With a different volunteer answering the calls and in-person questions every day, I have tossed around the idea of a quick reference guide book designed initially for animal care. With one volunteer on site answering calls and questions, cleaning cages, tending to the cats, and processing adoptions, its difficult for anyone to remember all the things to tell or discuss with someone seeking help (whether its a good Samaritan "surrender" or an owner-possible-relinquishment).

I would like to model it after a flipbook with tabs (litterbox problem tab, having a baby tab, moving tab (with moving tomorrow vs. moving next month) with
a kind of chart to roadmap the dialogue for each area.

I hate to reinvent the wheel. I was wondering if you know anyone who has one that they would be willing to share. Or perhaps you have some ideas on how to
tackle this idea.

Also, has anyone developed a handout or booklet that can be given to new adopters on the best way to introduce a new shelter pet into a home with
existing dog(s), cat(s) and/or small children?

Response from Best Friends Network:

A quick reference guide is an excellent tool to help ensure each volunteer has easy-to-access information when responding to the public. Here in the Best Friends Network office, we have a handbook we use as a starting point for addressing the most common types of requests we receive. In addition, we've compiled a large resource library with information about everything from how to report animal abuse to how to find homes for special needs animals. We would be happy to share our handbook and resources with you. If you would like copies of these resources, please send your request to bfnetwork@bestfriends.org.

I would also suggest that you visit the You and Your Pets section of the Best Friends website, http://www.bestfriends.org/theanimals/petcare/. There you will find printable fact sheets on a variety of health, behavior and general pet care topics including introducing a new pet to your existing pets.

We're honored to share our resources with anyone who might benefit from the information. Thanks for helping the animals in your community!

Response from Dr Emily Weiss:

First, Humane Society of the United States (http://www.hsus.org) sponsors a great program at the Denver Dumb Friends League (http://www.ddfl.org) that might just fit your needs.

Also, the ASPCA also has a fabulous set of behavior tips - http://www.aspca.org.

However, we have been working on the issue of behavior hotlines for a while now in the Shelter Smart Program at Wisconsin Humane Society (http://www.wihumane.org).

What we have found is that compliance is incredibly low with the information imparted to callers over the phone. The clients focus on one or two small "fixes" and try them once or twice, and then relinquish feeling as if they have now tried 'everything' and failed. They are not lazy, and they DO LOVE THEIR ANIMALS. They just truly feel they have tried it all. I can not tell you the number of calls I get from pet owners across the country who call me desperate because they have 'tried everything.'

What we found to be more effective is a tier process. When the client calls for help, they are asked for a general description of the issue. If it is aggression, they are immediately sent to the Behavior team for a one-on-one appointment with a behavior specialist In your case you would immediately send them to a Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT) or ideally a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB) in your area. If it is not aggression, they are sent via fax, e-mail or snail mail, a set of information on dealing with that particular problem. A follow-up call a day or so after the information is received helps to cut off the "I tried it all."

Sounds like a bit more work, and it is; but compliance increases, which means fewer animals entering your facility and more staying in loving homes!

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Posted on SHARE Yahoo group - July 8, 2005