I recently did a work trial day at a dog shelter. it started off great, I spent some time walking some dogs and walked a large Rottweiler who I fell in love with. A part of me wanted to take him home right there. He was a big gentle teddy, he was only in the home because he was a family pet who's kids became bored of him as he was so docile and sleepy. I was playing ball with him for about 30 minutes and petting him, he was really fantastic. I was in love! So at the end of my work trial I asked if I could play with him again and cuddle him. By cuddle I obviously meant pet him and scratch him, not literally embrace. However the kennel owner lost it and said dogs are not to be cuddled and he said anyone who'd want to cuddle these dogs was an idiot. So I got rejected for the job as I was a "cuddle risk".
I had been dealing with "problem" dogs all day, and have a huge amount of dog experience, I know when a dog can be pet or not. But anyway, my questions are:
1) is this normal shelter attitude towards the animals? Each one is a beast? This dog had been tested rigoursly for aggression and passed with flying colours. He is posted on the site as a "family friendly dog" !
2) how do they expect people to want shelter dogs when they treat them like this?
>>1992045
lol
one can get too familiar with dogs, if you know what I mean.
>>1992046
I don't understand. You mean too confident? I dealt with problem dogs all morning and knew my boundaries. I am experienced in dealing with dogs from all sorts of life and know how to read body language. I do not feel I am overconfident however, as when I checked the adoption listing for this dog they said about him everything I had thought about him
My friend who worked in a shelter said they're all guilty until proven innocent, guys with a lot of experience have been fooled before and won't get bitten by a seemingly good dog again, also if any dogs do bite you because you fucked up and literally cuddled him that dog would have to be terminated.
Also don't get personal with the dogs, they're there to be rehomed, it wouldn't be good to get too attached.
>>1992055
I can't help but wonder then how they market these dogs as angels when they won't trust them themselves? How do they hand this dog over to a family with small children when they won't let me - a grown adult - go near him? Also I know not to grow close but i am currently looking for a dog which is why I was taken
>>1992055
There's really nothing wrong with getting personal with them. You want them to be happy, entertained and well socialized in such a shitty environment.
And OP you should probably act more mature and not use words like 'cuddle' in your assessments.
>>1992062
It was a casual environment and the woman I was shadowing used the word several times over the day. The shelter is literally some guys garage that was converted
>>1992058
Yeah it is kinda fucked up, I've never met anyone from a shelter that was into rehabilitating the animals, if it's a shivering mess they try socialise it, but if it has resource guarding behaviours it's a write off? I saw on an Australian TV show the test they put dogs through to see if it could be regimes, and it's literally a masked guy comes in and snatches food away from the dog, if it even gets tense it's put over to be euthanised.
I dunno why it's all lovey covey bullshit on the website and a different story in the kennel, I guess PR and dog handling are different departments
>>1992066
The guy who runs this place had Staffords from fighting rings who he refuses to put down despite being almost deadly dogs because he adores big scary dogs, yet put a cat down because it hissed at a worker as she lifted him out of her bed. The same people who do the dog handling do the PR, it's a VERY small operation, 3 people run it. I have no idea how they can try to get families with children to take this dog (who was clearly lovely) that they believe would kill me for petting !
I think it's strongly likely that kennel over is just a cunt. If you have all this experience and etc then apply to other shelters and similar. And be more mindful that people are dumb so use specific and professional words.
>>1992074
The owner was a builder who inherited some land and decided to make a shelter for dogs out of a garage on it. He almost exclusively likes/takes in "fighting" breeds (he has a huge Doberman) so I think to him dogs literally ARE mindless meat monsters. I will move onto another shelter, but I was just wondering if this is the attitude of all dog shelters as no cat shelter I've worked in has had this weird attitude toward the cats
>>1992045
1. This is not common for shelters at all.
Holy crap, the whole point of a shelter is to rehabilitate them for families, some who will have children who will do retarded shit.
2. I strongly suspect the owner is a fucking moron.
Having said that, take the job more seriously. Some of these dogs will bite and tear your face off. You need to be cautious, you don't know the background of the dogs, one could snap very easily.
>>1992085
I knew the background of this dog, and all the dogs. I knew what I was doing. I am not entry level. I had been fully educated on his background as well as his fantastic aggression test results before saying any of this. As I said, his write up on the website ALSO emphasised how gentle and sleepy he is. While on the job I dealt with 15 other dogs, most of which with aggression issues which I handled extremely professionally
>>1992078
Because all cats are assholes, "watch out for that cat it might scratch the fuck out of you and bite for no fuckig reason" isn't an unusual thing. Semi domesticated undermensch.
>>1992073
Do you think he could low key be supplying fighting pits and bait?
>>1992098
No way. He strikes me as ex-ring but he genuinely seems out of it now. They showed me previously homed Staffords with normal looking families. That might be where it started tho. Who knows
>>1992395
the fuck do you mean "bump", this is /an/
>>1992078
>"fighting" breeds
>(he has a huge Doberman)
you're a moron and I'm happy I don't have to interview you for a position to work at the shelter I'm at.
>>1992064
>The shelter is literally some guys garage that was converted
>not taking this as a red flag
>>1992066
>I saw on an Australian TV show
>Australian
there's your problem
>>1992045
I worked at an animal shelter for about a week, got told off for cuddling the animals. People put their pets in there when they went on holiday too, and I got told off for giving then the treats, blankets, and toys their owners had left for them
I stuck it for about a week, made me miserable.
Moral of the story these places are shit
>>1993193
>I worked at an animal shelter
>People put their pets in there when they went on holiday too
boarding kennels and shelters are different things m8
>>1992045
Why does this all sound like it's fake?
I work at an animal shelter, OP. Hard work, little pay, and you see a lot of shitty owners, neglected animals and death. If you have any questions, ask away. What you described is something I've never heard from any shelter, pound or rescue. Straight from allowing a 'trial day' all the way to refusing someone for cuddling dogs.
desu this sounds like more anti-shelter propaganda desu baka senpai
>>1993260
They do a work trial to see how you cope around the animals. Your shelter doesn't do it, doesn't mean others don't. It's very commonly done.
Also I was rejected from the job but I was told out of four candidates, three (including me) got written off immediately for using the word "cuddle"
>>1993173
I know Doberman are not a fighting breed, but they are a guarding aka attacking breed. I didn't mean dog fighting. I meant all fighting.
>>1993260
Because he/she wasn't at a "proper" large shelter. Just someone shitty property.
>>1993260
What are the attitudes like towards dogs at your shelter? Specifically dogs that tested with zero people aggression. Are you allowed to cuddle them? Or do you still have to keep a distance?
>>1993375
That's what I was thinking. I bet this place didn't even have the proper licensing to kennel a large amount of dogs.
>>1993378
Yeah, but workers sure as fuck aren't cuddling the dogs. Volunteers do that. Your ass is cleaning the kennels, ice packing lactating nipples hot packing swollen nuts, and holding animals down to die. It's considered laziness around here to spend a good portion of your time cuddling when that is exactly why we have 300+ volunteers on board, and there is more than enough cleaning to occupy yourself with.
Of course, there are dogs that shouldn't be cuddled; the ones on court cases (they can be friendly as hell, but court case animals are to be interfered with as little as possible), the ones that haven't been completely tested with our shelter's specific temperament test (again, could be friendly as hell but against the rules), dogs that had bitten anything (even cats or mice) in the last 10 days (same as above, just against the rules), the dogs that didn't pass their behavior test who will be euthanized soon anyways, and some dogs are in specific training and can not be cuddled while in training.
What kind of behavior assessment were they using? Did they have any exemptions as an organization? Did the state even recognize them as an organization? If what you say is true, they sound very shitty and I would like a link to their website so I can make sure I never go there or suggest someone to go there.
