05/17/2026
The kiddos are having SO much fun with our new setup.
I read a blog post a few weeks ago about some of the many things that can (and do) go wrong in rescue and create an environment that’s not beneficial for the dogs but becomes a warehousing situation without real enrichment, play or socialization. It can happen so easily, one correction or step out of line and a dog is labeled as dog aggressive and not given access to the things that keep them mentally healthy. Of course, there ARE dogs who are dog aggressive, but a lot of times it becomes easier just to not allow dogs to interact. Dog fights are traumatizing. Trust me, I know. On top of that, we are operating on such small budgets that the idea of needing an emergency vet visit makes social time seem like less of a priority. A very important statement from that blog post was that we can’t let the idea of a vet bill keep us from letting dogs live their best lives. Adopters want dogs that can be friends with other dogs, that can go out to the dog park or the brewery or camping, and it’s doing a disservice to the future outcomes of our dogs not to do everything in our power to allow them to learn how to safely socialize. Of course, we always want to keep everyone safe, it’s not JUST about the potential vet bill, but when an organization is constantly intaking more dogs than they can handle and not having the time to get to know their personalities and play styles, it becomes easier just to keep them isolated. And the result of this is dogs that are less adoptable and often get behavioral labels that can lead to euthanasia or other negative outcomes down the road.
For us, play and socialization are absolutely essential to the rehabilitation process. We’ve really lucked out that this play group has a totally friendly dynamic and we haven’t had to use de-escalation tactics at all in their introductions. I could ramble on for another 5 page essay on the ways things that we do to ensure safe and comfortable play but I’ll spare you that this morning 😂
