Transcripts
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
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:people and rescues making a
difference in the lives of animals.
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:Today's guest is Sydney deVictoria
Michel, an animal advocate Hi Sydney.
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:Welcome to the show.
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:Before we start, tell us how you
got started in animal rescue and
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:give us a brief bio on yourself.
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:Sydney: Whew.
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:It's a convoluted journey, I guess
you could say it started, I was living
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:in Washington state north of Seattle.
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:I started working for a dog bar out
there and through that kind of got more
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:exposure with different dog behaviors
and oh, big dogs make big sounds cool.
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:Started getting some training there.
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:Volunteered with the
Humane Society out there.
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:Fast forward, moved out or moved down
to New Orleans and literally within two
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:weeks of us being there, saw a Facebook
post for a dog needing a place to stay.
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:And we're like, great, we'll
just do a temporary foster.
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:We didn't know animal rescue and
animal welfare in the south and
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:how temporary is not a thing.
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:So we get this black female pit bull.
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:We're in with one of the rescues,
and by some miracle, we ended up
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:getting her adopted two, almost
two weeks later to the hour.
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:So she gets adopted and then we
were hooked, I think in the two
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:and a half years we were there.
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:We fostered dogs the entire way through,
with very short breaks in between.
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:So from fostering, I became
a foster coordinator.
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:Foster coordinator to a manager for one
of the facilities with a local rescue.
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:Then I started working with the
inner pups, so more on kind of
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:the low income household, keeping
pets in the home situations.
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:Started getting in with the shelters.
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:Learned how to do assessments.
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:Met different staff and different
directors with different rescues.
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:Got tied in with rescues
outside of the state.
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:Started doing some, transport
coordination, transporting
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:dogs out of state.
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:And then before we moved back up to
Minnesota I ended up working with
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:zeus's rescues for almost a year
for the last part of our time there.
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:Dixie: You said temporary
is not a thing in the south.
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:Can you explain that?
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:Sydney: From what I learned about
my time being there is just with
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:how many animals are in need.
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:Both on the street, in the
shelter, in the rescue.
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:We can go into why the reasons are
for why there are so many to truly
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:do just a temporary foster situation.
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:There aren't enough open homes
to be able to move a dog quickly
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:to really say yes, I can do.
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:Just this, these few days,
at least not the beginning.
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:There are rescues that
are really good at that.
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:But as a whole, when you're just jumping
in blind without any idea of what's
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:going on, if you don't have a good
network to fall back onto, like you,
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:once you take a dog in, that dog stays
with you until you bring it to the
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:shelter, rehome, whatever it's really
hard to truly do a full temporary.
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:I'm just here for a few days.
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:Dixie: Is it different
in other areas then?
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:Sydney: I don't have a lot to compare to,
honestly, because I didn't do rescue work.
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:I didn't foster until I was in the south.
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:Now that I'm up in Minnesota.
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:We've taken a break and a breather
from rescue and fostering.
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:Minnesota has laws and guidelines.
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:Like we have five animals at a
home and we technically should
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:have a multi pet household permit.
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:And to do that, then we also have
to get permission from the city
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:in order to pull another animal
in, even if we're just fostering.
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:. On that part, we have, we haven't been
able to get fully into rescue, but
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:also just from an outsider perspective,
I don't see a lot of stray animals.
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:I don't see desperate posts
looking for fosters, looking
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:for homes, looking for adopters.
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:It's just from looking outside in with
a rescue perspective coming from the
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:south it really is a night and day.
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:Area, night, day, place,
situation, mindset.
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:What have you.
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:Dixie: Do you think that's more from the
environment there, or do you think it has
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:to do with this permit that you're talking
about with having so many pets you have
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:to go apply for a permit to have more?
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:Sydney: I think the permit's
just a small part of it.
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:It's really just I'd call it
a symptom almost, of just what
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:the mindset is up on the south.
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:On one hand.
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:Environment on, on the very
real weather side of it.
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:Like we have winters up here and we know
how animals do in freezing, freezing cold.
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:So animals on the street don't quite
make it as well as they would otherwise.
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:But we also up in the north, spaying and
neutering is more of a common mindset.
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:You do have an animal control that
actually is gonna be more on top of it.
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:They're gonna, they will actually follow
up on animal abuse charges or reports.
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:And they just keep better tabs on
things they have, they seem to do
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:a better job really following up
with spay and neuter requirements.
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:So yeah, just on a grander
scale, they seem to be better at
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:helping to manage the population.
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:And down in the south, it's,
there's really not much regulation.
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:There's not much follow up.
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:The mindset is I'm gonna keep my dog's
gonna keep their balls because that's
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:their manhood, and my dog's gonna have
one litter because they should know love.
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:And there's not really
the understanding of okay.
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:Your dog and every other dog
around you is gonna do that.
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:And then where do the puppies go?
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:And down in the south, what we would
see is the puppies would just, they'd
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:go to the shelter, they'd go to
the river, they'd go to the field.
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:The lives are viewed pretty
different on a cultural level.
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:Dixie: Why do you think that is?
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:Since you've been in both places, what
do you think the difference is that in
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:Minnesota they actually value spay neuter.
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:They understand the importance of it.
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:But when we're here in the south,
like you said, we hear every single
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:excuse you could possibly hear.
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:Sydney: I don't know.
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:And maybe that's because I haven't.
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:Been able to step more into rescue
here, or maybe it's because I just
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:grew up in it and so it's harder for
me to get that outside perspective
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:because I grew up in Minneapolis and
I don't have a great answer for that.
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:Maybe it's education, maybe
it's just there are less animals
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:around, so it's more of a scarcity.
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:I could probably find people
to talk to and try and get some
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:better answers, but don't have
the answer off the top of my head.
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:Dixie: Yeah, I understand.
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:, I was just wondering because
you do see that here like a lot.
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:I was always raised with spay neuter,
so for me it's always been a thing
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:if I was gonna have a pet, they
were gonna be spayed or neutered.
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:But there's so many people here
and it doesn't seem to matter what
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:their education level is here too.
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:You could have college graduates that.
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:Don't value spay neuter either.
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:You could have people
with advanced degrees.
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:Anything that would help
spread that message here would
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:help us out tremendously.
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:Sydney: Yeah.
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:It's inneresting.
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:There were a few times I actually saw it.
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:You'd think it was a total opposing
viewpoint, but the reason that I saw
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:people argue against spay and neuter
was for bodily autonomy for the animals.
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:Their argument for not spaying
or neutering their dog or cat
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:was because the animals could not
physically agree to the surgery.
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:Which was the strangest
argument that I have ever seen.
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:And like something about you saying that
a higher education, anytime I saw that
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:argument it tended to be from people
from higher educational backgrounds.
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:And I'm like, I don't even
know how to argue with this.
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:You've taken this bodily autonomy
argument on some level that just
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:doesn't, it stopped making sense.
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:Dixie: And like I said, it
doesn't really seem to matter.
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:Where your economical status is.
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:It doesn't matter where
your educational status is.
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:I wish I could find out how to
reach more people with that.
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:Sydney: I do too.
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:I know, the inner pup, I don't
know if you've heard of them or
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:worked with them or spoken with
anybody with that organization.
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:They're really amazing organization that
looks at that, the long-term relationship
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:and the long range conversations.
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:So when I worked with them, I
would go door to homes and it was
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:literally like the neighborhoods
that most people would wanna go into.
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:And I would just go and I'd
see, okay, you've gotta beware
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:of dog sign, or there's a dog
hanging out tied up on the porch.
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:I'm gonna go talk to you.
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:And it would just be talking
about here are the services.
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:Have you, thought about getting
your dog spayed or neutered?
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:Why or why not?
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:And if they said no, and they
were adamant, it's alright, fine.
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:We're here.
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:Let us know how else we can help.
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:And because we would get them
tied in and I'm not there anymore.
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:But the organization would
get them help in other ways.
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:There were many times that they
were actually able to speak with
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:breeders and down the line, finally
get them to change their mind.
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:They go, you know what?
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:Yep, you're right.
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:I see this.
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:There are too many dogs here.
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:I'm ready to get my dog fixed.
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:I don't want to do this anymore.
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:So sometimes it is just a waiting game.
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:It's meeting people where they're at and
rather than trying to force something
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:down their throat, it's like, all right,
you're not there and me fighting you
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:on this isn't gonna change anything.
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:And I met some really
amazing people that way.
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:Surprisingly.
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:Dixie: We did have Genie on the show.
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:It was a few months ago.
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:So she did talk about all the work that
she does with the heartworm prevention.
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:With you though, being on the go door
to door end tell us more about that.
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:Sydney: So yeah, I was the
community outreach person.
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:So the inner pup, like their big
thing that they're more known for
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:is their heartworm prevention,
their heartworm treatment clinics.
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:They have so much more beyond that.
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:They're really good at getting
a ton of grant money in.
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:And some of the programs they have,
one of them is a spay and neuter grant.
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:And so low income households and
low income can mean a lot of things.
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:It could just literally
mean, Hey, you know what?
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:I lost my job.
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:I'm going through a rough
time for a few months.
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:I could really use this help,
and they will assist you on that.
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:So you can go and get your dog spayed
or neutered and the copay is $20
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:i've got this dog.
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:They're really great, but I could really
use some help training on these behaviors.
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:They have training grants where
they'll connect you with, I know I've
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:met two of the trainers and there's
two others outside of the state,
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:but they'll connect you with one of
'em and they will pay, I wanna say
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:they pay at least 80% of the costs.
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:So if the total cost for all the
sessions is $300, the family, the
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:household only has to pay 20% of that.
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:So it's affordable training.
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:It's affordable spay and neuter.
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:They have vet assistant grants as well.
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:And then they have the
heartworm prevention grants.
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:They also do CAT clinics, Genie loves
talking about heartworm treatment,
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:heartworm prevention, all that.
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:She'll talk about any of it really.
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:But part of what I would do is I'd go
into the target neighborhoods and I
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:would just talk to people and say, do
you know that this organization exists?
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:Do you know what programs
they have available?
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:And usually we would pick the neighborhood
based on where the clinic was gonna be.
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:So when we'd have a clinic in Central
City, I would go canvas around Central
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:City and just try to get as many people.
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:To the clinic as I could.
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:So yeah, that I was like the face
to face with them for a while.
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:Dixie: You said you did fostering and
you worked as a manager at another group.
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:What are the other groups that you
worked with or volunteered with?
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:Sydney: So I've worked or volunteered
with Take Paws, with Arno,
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:with Zeuss, with trampled rose.
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:I've helped out, volunteered
with big easy Animal Rescue.
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:Trying to think.
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:There were a couple other small
rescues that we fostered one or two
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:dogs with that were out of town.
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:But then whether or not I've fostered
with them, I've at least had contact
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:with the directors of a couple of
other small rescues in the area.
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:And it was just originally my plan
was like, Hey, I'm gonna go in,
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:I'm gonna do assessments in the
shelter for dogs that are available.
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:Can I get, like when you tell me what you
have room for and I can work on getting
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:you the information you need for dogs.
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:And some of the rescues
were just too small.
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:It was hard to make it work.
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:But a few of the bigger ones we
did end up, I was able to go in,
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:do the assessments, get these
dogs tagged, and then get them to
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:the rescue and outta the shelter.
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:Dixie: Did you do the assessments
for like multiple groups at a
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:time or would you just strictly
work with one group at a time?
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:Sydney: I would do 'em for a lot.
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:I I would go in and do the
assessments and then share those
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:assessments with different rescues.
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:I actually learned how to do
this work From Jess at Arno.
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:I got to go shadow her a few times
and see her work with some of the,
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:originally I went to go see her
work with some of the tougher cases.
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:Some German shepherds and shapay
that were like a little sketchy.
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:So I got to learn a ton from her and
met another woman who is phenomenal at
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:networking with out-of-state rescues.
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:And then I actually started making some of
my own connections with, I had a rescue in
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:Idaho that I was getting dogs sent out to.
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:One in Illinois, one in Wisconsin.
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:So I just started building up my own
over the months that I was doing that.
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:Dixie: With the dog assessments, can
you explain how you go in and do that?
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:And for people that don't know what a
dog assessment is, what that is actually.
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:Sydney: Yeah, absolutely.
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:There's, there are actually like specific
assessments that are out there and some
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:people will do different for, or, they'll
do different format forms or formats.
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:Primarily what I would look at is
one, can a dog be handled safely?
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:So just looking at how a dog
would be handled at a vet.
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:Can I pull on the ears?
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:Can I tug on the tail?
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:Can I go ahead and put pressure
on the top, which would
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:generally be an assertive move.
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:Are they gonna get really tough?
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:Stiff and maybe get grumpy about it.
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:Can I hold their paws?
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:Are they gonna let me do the
handling that a vet would do?
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:Or even just that somebody
at a house would do.
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:The other is a resource
guarding and first with food.
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:So I'd put a bowl of food down.
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:I'd use what's called an sussa hand,
which they don't make, but I just would,
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:I got a Halloween prop hand, put it
on the, on a stick, and I would use
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:that so , I'd give the dog the food,
I'd start handling 'em with the hand.
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:Then I'd go eventually and start
putting the hand in the bowl and
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:it's to see are you going to, are
the dogs going to get defensive?
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:Are they going to growl or are they
gonna fight or even attack the hand?
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:And then do the same with the
toy and then also do a dog test.
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:So like, how is that dog when they're
meeting or inneracting with another dog?
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:And those are really the main things
that a rescue's gonna wanna know.
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:If I can find a dog where I'm going,
Hey, , they were good with every
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:single bit of handling that I did.
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:They had no issue with me
putting hand touching them or
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:putting my hand in the food bowl.
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:They were fantastic with a dog or
with three dogs that I tried and they
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:didn't have any issue with a toy That
is a gift to a rescue to say I found
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:this dog and they, I call them a
gem dog, like this dog is fantastic.
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:I would take it home if I
didn't have five of my own.
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:And then if there's other
behaviors, I always work to be
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:as honest as I possibly can.
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:If I see that there was an
issue that popped up in a, an
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:assessment, I will tell that rescue.
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:Sometimes I can say, Hey, yeah, there
is an issue with this other dog.
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:But it could have been because of X, Y, Z.
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:It could have been
because of leash tension.
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:It could have been because this
dog hasn't been neutered yet, or
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:it was male in a male or whatever.
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:And then I I give the rescue the
option to either ask me to get more
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:information to do another assessment
or, they can just say, Hey, right
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:now we don't have an opening to be
able to work on those behaviors.
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:Dixie: How long did you
do the assessments for?
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:Sydney: When did I start?
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:I wanna say it was like may of.
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:2024 and I would go in on and off
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:until about May of 2025
when we moved up north.
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:So about a year.
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:Dixie: And when you're assessing
the dogs, how long does the
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:process take for each dog?
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:Sydney: It's really not too long.
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:Some dogs, it can just
be five, 10 minutes.
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:Other dogs.
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:If like I, I would have every so often
I'd have the shelter say, Hey, you know
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:what, this one's being sketchy, or This
one staff are having a hard time handling.
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:And so I would make sure I'd give
more time to just try to figure
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:like either one, to give the
dog more time to get used to me.
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:Or two, if the dog seemed to be really
reactive to another dog, I would make sure
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:we would do a much longer introduction.
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:So it's pretty common for
German Shepherds to not be great
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:immediately meeting nose to nose.
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:And so what we would do is I'd say,
okay, bring a dog out that's pretty
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:good with other dogs that you've
tested before, and let's just walk
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:up and down this field together.
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:We're not gonna come close to each other.
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:We're not gonna let them make contact.
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:We're just gonna walk.
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:And they're gonna get used to each
other's presence and each other's smell.
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:And that would obviously add more time
where, if I had a dog that I can't flat
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:out right away and was already giving me
good signals or, weighed 10 pounds and
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:I'm not gonna be really concerned about
a ton of damage that that little dog
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:is gonna take less time than a bigger
dog that already has some concerns.
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:So it depends, five to
10 minutes to 30 to 40.
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:Dixie: After you do the assessment, if
you notice that there are some areas
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:that need to be worked on, do the
rescues take on that after, or do the
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:rescues just say, not pull the dog?
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:Sydney: It depends on the behavior,
it depends on the rescue and
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:it depends on the resources.
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:There have been some where I've been
able to say, Hey, here's what I saw, and.
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:They can say, you know what,
I'm used to this behavior.
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:This is pretty typical.
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:That's fine.
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:We've got a great foster for this dog.
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:We'll take him.
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:Others where it might be.
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:The one foster we have who would be
great with this kind of behavior isn't
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:available right now, so we can't, or
other behaviors where it's just this
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:is too risky for us to take on at all.
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:More often than not, I was
pretty fortunate to be able
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:to get a lot of dogs placed.
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:But it just really, all depends.
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:Dixie: I know you have a Facebook
group too called Chronicles of Chef.
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:So yeah, tell us about that group.
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:Sydney: Oh, so first I would have
to tell you about my boy chef.
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:I would start getting tagged in
posts on the lost pets groups.
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:And one of 'em was this
boy who I later named Chef.
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:He was a German Shepherd.
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:Somebody posted him.
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:They saw him.
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:He was off of Chef Menteur Highway.
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:He looked injured.
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:I got tagged on like a
Friday night at 10 o'clock.
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:I'm like, I'm not going
out there, not happening.
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:The next morning he was still there.
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:I had a friend who was with
a vet, and she reached out.
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:She goes, look, if you can get
this dog, we will board him.
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:We'll take care of him.
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:And I was like, all right, fine.
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:So I go out there somehow, I think
it took me like 15 minutes to
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:finally gain his trust, get a slip
lead on him, get him into my car.
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:But we were all pretty aware
early on that like he wasn't gonna
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:be an easy one to handle and.
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:We weren't able to get any rescue to
sponsor him because of his behaviors.
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:We could tell pretty quickly that
like he was going to be a bite risk.
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:He wasn't gonna be a dog we
could place into a home 'cause he
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:just wasn't trustworthy enough.
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:It was me and one other staff member
at the vet that could handle him.
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:And I would go out there multiple
times a week just to continue
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:working with him, gaining his trust.
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:We were trying to see if we could get
him in with a working dog program,
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:but there was just this part of him
that wasn't fully predictable and.
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:Series of unfortunate events.
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:Eventually we had to make the decision
to do a behavioral euthanasia.
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:And that was not an easy decision.
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:But he's just stuck
with me ever since then.
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:And so this group, originally I made
the group for people who had seen his
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:original posts wanted to follow along.
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:It was to fundraise for his vet care.
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:After we made the decision to help him
across the Rainbow Bridge, I turned
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:it into a group to help network or
to share the story of dogs that were
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:scared or were mostly at first dogs
that were scared in the shelter and
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:who given the chance, we're able to
blossom into just fantastic dogs.
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:And then it just went into, let's.
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:Network dogs that don't
have a rescue backing.
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:I haven't used it quite as
much, but it's still alive.
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:And yeah, it all started from chef.
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:It was a very good boy who just had
a really crappy hand dealt to him.
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:Dixie: Yeah.
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:I went through the group and I was looking
at some of your posts about all the other
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:dogs that you did help through there.
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:Can you discuss some of those as well?
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:Sydney: Yeah.
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:I'm trying to think some
of the earlier ones.
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:There's a dog, Shelby, , there's a
family, I wanna say they were over in
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:Gentilly, not far from where I was living.
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:They found her as a stray.
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:Every so often I would reach
out to people and just say,
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:Hey, do you wanna keep the dog?
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:Can we help get you
connected to resources?
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:Or, here's what you do if
you find a stray dog and.
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:This family, they couldn't keep her.
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:I was trying to network her
with local rescues, couldn't
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:get her into a local rescue.
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:They were totally fine holding onto her,
but they could only hold her outside.
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:I got her connected in with vet
care, finally was able to place
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:her with a rescue in Idaho, and
so it was just like this whole.
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:Team effort with this woman who made
a place for her out in her yard,
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:the vet office who was able to board
her when it got too hot and take
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:her in for all of her vet care.
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:This rescue that I made a random
connection with and she ended up.
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:Her, she got adopted by a guy who
works with the VA and she goes
412
:around on all of his VA visits.
413
:He was a driver and he would take
veterans to their appointments.
414
:And so she became a therapy dog.
415
:She was one of the earlier ones.
416
:There was another one a chow who she was
hiding under somebody's car in the east.
417
:I think it was the east.
418
:In the middle of summer wouldn't come out.
419
:I had to literally pull her out of
the car with what's called a snappy
420
:snare, so it's not quite a snare
stick, but it's close to that.
421
:Got her out.
422
:I unfortunately had to take
her to the L-A-S-P-C-A.
423
:I knew that she wasn't gonna
present well there, but they
424
:at least got her some vet care.
425
:I found a connection with a rescue
in Houston for Chow Chows, and they
426
:agreed that if I could get her out
to them, that they would take her.
427
:So I got her in with the same vet that
was able to board chef found transports,
428
:got that sorted and got her off.
429
:And she, I think she got
adopted like two weeks later.
430
:So it's just like random stories
like that where dogs that need
431
:help can't get in with a rescue.
432
:It's just what can we do or what
could I do with the connections I
433
:had to help get them somewhere else?
434
:Dixie: I enjoyed reading through
the post and you could see that you
435
:did some great work with those dogs.
436
:And the transports that you
were able to get 'em on and get
437
:together, that was amazing too.
438
:So how is it that you made the
connections in Houston and Idaho that
439
:you were able to get these dogs to?
440
:Sydney: Idaho was Facebook.
441
:I was on some random groups and
this one specific rescue in Idaho.
442
:I think we were on like a special needs.
443
:Rescue and I would just sometimes
say, Hey, if you're willing to take
444
:dogs from the South, let me know.
445
:And this one happened to
say, yes, we absolutely are.
446
:And so we talked more and I made sure
to just ask all the questions about
447
:like, how do you decide where they go?
448
:What kind of vetting do you do?
449
:What's your setup?
450
:I would also talk any rescues in
the north, I would talk to them
451
:about heartworms and just say
look, just because they're negative
452
:now doesn't mean they won't.
453
:Pop up positive later and here are
like, here's how we look at treatment.
454
:So I made sure they had a good
understanding of what heartworms
455
:look like and what it could look
like and what they needed to do.
456
:With Houston, I had a friend who
knew somebody and so she gave me a
457
:contact and that person gave me the
contact for this, the Houston rescue.
458
:Some of it's luck.
459
:Some of it's asking random people
on Facebook and vetting from there.
460
:And some of it's just, I know
somebody who knows somebody and
461
:they happen to have an opening.
462
:Dixie: That's great.
463
:You were able to get that all done though.
464
:It's a really good group.
465
:The stories in there,
they're just remarkable.
466
:They're sad, but feel
good stories too yeah.
467
:Sydney: That's pretty accurate.
468
:Fortunately most of them were able to
be like, good, happy ending stories.
469
:And I think in some of 'em I
probably shared like, yeah,
470
:we got this dog into rescue.
471
:I can't remember if I
shared Chip on there.
472
:There were just a couple dogs that
they got into rescue, but by the
473
:time they were there, their health
had been so bad and it wasn't.
474
:Known until later.
475
:And something about him just
found a spot in my heart and I
476
:just wanted to share their story.
477
:Dixie: I did see the story
about Chip on there too.
478
:Sydney: He was a sweet little guy.
479
:Dixie: Based on your experience, what
are some of the key things potential
480
:adopters should consider before
bringing a rescue dog into their home?
481
:Sydney: That's a very good question.
482
:I think.
483
:One of the first things
is keep an open mind.
484
:And that kind of covers
a few different things.
485
:I know we, would get adopters who would
come in and say, I want this kind of dog
486
:only and this age, or literally like this
color, or I want a female over a male.
487
:And what I would try to talk to them
about is okay, what characteristics
488
:and behaviors are you looking for?
489
:So that was always my thing
is what do you want in a dog?
490
:And then we go from there.
491
:Obviously sometimes you have like
housing guidelines and you can't have a
492
:dog over 25 pounds, so that limits it.
493
:But it's, rather than looking at outside
characteristics, think about what
494
:it is that you truly want in, you're
looking for in a dog, knowing that.
495
:I should say cats too.
496
:I know dogs better, so I'm
always gonna talk about dogs,
497
:but it goes with all animals.
498
:Understanding that there're gonna be a
lifelong commitment and that like people,
499
:things change throughout their lives.
500
:We would see a lot of people come in
for puppies 'cause they're cute and
501
:then they go through their teenage phase
and they weren't prepared for that.
502
:And so just understanding that
there is a lifespan and changes
503
:happen along that lifespan.
504
:The other one is giving their dogs
time, but also tools and guidelines.
505
:So we would talk with adopters
a lot about the 3, 3, 3 rule.
506
:And it's a guideline.
507
:It's not a rule, but it's three
days for a dog to decompress.
508
:And the reason it's three days, the
science behind that is in the first 72
509
:hours of a dog going through a change,
their cortisol levels are really high.
510
:So that can affect and
will affect their behavior.
511
:And sometimes you can see it almost
like to the hour where 72 hours after
512
:you take them home, you'll see a shift
and you'll go, what was that about?
513
:And you're like, oh
that's been three days.
514
:It can make a dog either really
timid and really quiet, or it
515
:can make them really amped up.
516
:It can change a lot of things.
517
:So giving those animals.
518
:A few days to adjust will give
you a better sense of what their
519
:personality is looking like.
520
:So that's the three days.
521
:The three weeks is it takes 'em
three weeks to learn your routine.
522
:So if you can keep a similar routine
through those three weeks, it's
523
:gonna help them adjust quicker.
524
:And then it's three months
for them to feel at home.
525
:So it's just like understanding that
it's not gonna happen overnight.
526
:It's not gonna happen in the
first week or the first month.
527
:You've gotta give them time.
528
:And if you're running into issues,
especially if you're going through
529
:a rescue, reach out to that rescue.
530
:Early on we always wanted to work with
adopters or even fosters for that matter.
531
:Like I'd rather hear from them sooner
to say, Hey, this is an issue that's
532
:happening, and then I can help them like
nip it in the bud right away versus, Hey,
533
:this has been going on for six months and
then there's all this backtracking to do.
534
:And sometimes at that point
they've lost their patients and
535
:they don't wanna wait it out.
536
:So those were those were the big ones that
I would, I want people to think about.
537
:Also looking at shelters.
538
:But on the flip side to that
don't make a snap decision based
539
:off of a euthanasia deadline.
540
:Because if all you're looking at is I want
to save this dog's life, but you're not
541
:looking at what that dog, who that dog is.
542
:I've seen this a lot too, where
people will get a dog off of a
543
:euthanasia list, not thinking about
any potential behaviors, realize
544
:that there's potential behaviors.
545
:Then they're panicking, trying to
rehome that dog and they don't wanna
546
:bring it back because they don't
want the dog to get euthanized.
547
:And that's a really hard place to be in.
548
:And rescues, especially in
the south, aren't the backup.
549
:They just can't be they're
already overbooked.
550
:So yeah, I guess that kind of
goes back to think about what
551
:it is you're looking for a dog.
552
:Dixie: Onto that subject, what piece
of advice would you give them then,
553
:if they do end up with this dog
that has these behavioral issues?
554
:Sydney: Reach out to a trainer first.
555
:Like definitely start with a trainer.
556
:There are a whole lot of
different trainers out there.
557
:If you're not sure where to start, you
can always reach, even if it's not a
558
:rescue that you work with or you adopted
from, you can reach out to rescues
559
:because oftentimes they have trainers
that they've worked with that they know,
560
:that they've seen good results from, or
even that they're like definitely don't
561
:touch that one with the 10 foot pole.
562
:So find a trainer.
563
:Talk to your vet for a trainer.
564
:Talk to a rescue for a trainer.
565
:Find somebody who has the ability
to teach you things that you
566
:didn't know about dogs beforehand.
567
:A lot of the times with behaviors that
I would see, it's stuff that can be
568
:handled pretty easily in the home.
569
:Especially if you jump on it sooner.
570
:If you wait and you wait and that pattern
continues and it just gets entrenched.
571
:It's not impossible to undo,
it just takes more work.
572
:So that would be, find somebody
who knows what they're doing and
573
:get help sooner rather than later.
574
:Dixie: Yeah.
575
:Great advice.
576
:Now, before we end the call, for
listeners who wanna help but can't
577
:necessarily adopt or foster, what are
some of the most effective ways that
578
:they can get involved in animal advocacy?
579
:Sydney: One way is go to a rescue
or even your shelter and walk dogs.
580
:Getting them out for a walk for a day
trip outta the building, even just to
581
:sit in a quiet room, can be a huge help.
582
:Not one for the dog.
583
:Like it's gonna help their
stress levels drop down.
584
:There's even studies shown that
just an overnight or a weekend
585
:trip or a day trip, just that time.
586
:Really helps bring
their stress level down.
587
:And by doing that, then you're going to
decrease their chance of getting sick.
588
:The other thing you can do is you can
volunteer with other organizations that
589
:maybe aren't directly rescue related.
590
:So finding an organization like the inner
Pup, I think there's also the Street Dog
591
:Coalition, like finding organizations
that you can do work with that are
592
:gonna help animals stay in the home.
593
:Because if animals stay in the
home, then we're not running into
594
:the issue of overcrowded shelters
or dogs being dumped on the street
595
:or just overburdened rescues.
596
:Donating helps also, or just
talking to your friends about
597
:here's what rescue looks like,
here's what fostering looks like.
598
:There are also rescues that need help
with data entry or with organizing events,
599
:with organizing adoption events with.
600
:Organizing volunteers.
601
:Like there are, there's a ton of
ways to help on the rescue front.
602
:That don't mean bringing
an animal into your home.
603
:Dixie: One important thing too
that they could easily do for
604
:rescues that's very beneficial is
sharing social media posts too.
605
:Oh,
606
:Sydney: yes.
607
:Dixie: Thank you so much Sydney, for
taking the time to speak with me.
608
:I enjoyed our conversation.
609
:Sydney: I'm glad we got to connect.
610
:Dixie: Yeah, and you had some
great advice and some great
611
:information to share, so thank you.
612
:Sydney: Happy to help.
613
:Yeah, if you ever have any
other questions, let me know.
614
:Dixie: That's all the time that
we have for today's episode.
615
:Thank you for listening and
we hope you join us next week.
616
:If you know somebody that loves animals
as much as I do, please send 'em our way.
617
:We would love to talk to 'em.
618
:If you are enjoying our show, please
consider leaving us a donation.
619
:A hundred percent goes to our animals.
620
:Suno: Paws in
621
:the night Claws in the
fight Whiskers twitch and
622
:tails
623
:take flight
624
:They’re calling in Stories to spin
From the wild to the heart within
625
:Broken wings and hopeful springs
We’re the voices for these things
626
:animal posse hear the call.
627
:We stand together.
628
:Big and small Rescue tales We’ve
got it all Animal posse Saving
629
:them
630
:all
631
:The vet’s got tips The rescuer’s
grit The foster homes where love
632
:won’t quit From a pup in the rain to
a bird in pain , Every soul’s worth
633
:the
634
:strain
635
:Animal posse
636
:Hear the call
637
:We stand together Big
638
:and small Rescue tales We’ve got
it all Animal posse Saving them all
639
:Every caller tells a tale, every
howl a whispered wail, we rise up.
640
:We never
641
:fail.
642
:This
643
:is
644
:the
645
:bond
646
:The holy grail
647
:Animal posse Hear the call We stand
together Big and small Rescue tales We’ve
648
:got it all Animal posse Saving them all
649
:Every caller tells a tale Every howl
a whispered wail We rise up We never
650
:fail This is the bond The holy grail.
651
:Song by Suno.ai
