Mutt Matchers & Pound Pals
From the beginning, Mutt Matchers has been a community based organization. As part of our "outreach" to the community, Mutt Matchers & Friends initiated a program we call Pound Pals. Pound Pals is actually a (so far) two-part program encompassing two separate but equally important projects.
We began taking one of our socialized, and mannerized dogs to a hospice after an invitation. This portion of Pound Pals is already growing with more invitations coming in. The residents in the assisted living and hospices had to give up their animals when they gave up their homes. These people have been so appreciative of our visits, and it warms our hearts to see the happiness and pleasure on their faces when they pet our furry, four legged ambassadors. The caretakers there tell us that these visits definitely create a pleasant and beneficial break for their patients.
The Pound Pal project at local elementary schools has been a tremendous success and is already growing. We were asked to start with the special education class. These special children range from approximately 7 years old to 12. Besides the factor of special children, we had to gear it to the five year age difference in the children. It did not prove to be that difficult as a dog doesn't distinguish ages! The children were taught many things about dogs including what to do and not to do if they encounter a strange dog that they think might attack them. Safety, feeding, watering and proper care for any dogs that they may have are also included in the training. Their special education teachers and assistants tell us that the children look forward to these classes and they are continuing to practice the safety techniques we teach with these kids.
From there we were asked to do the same thing for the older children in some of the classes. With these older children we are able to teach a more in depth class with lots of hands -on for the kids. It was an exhilarating experience for our volunteers at Mutt Matchers & Friends. We are planning to expand the program for these children as our volunteer time allows. This class will have additional training involved; the importance of vaccinations, health and welfare of the animal in their home, with possibly some dog psychology and light obedience training concepts included.
So far we have used four dogs as Pound Pals, Nestlee, Duchess, Ranger, and Shadow! Three of these dogs have now been adopted and are in their "forever homes." Shadow is the only experienced one left but, of course, are continuing to mold our other dogs to also be Pound Pals as we rescue them. One of them is almost ready to go out in the blue vest and share the honors with our Shadow.
We at Mutt Matchers firmly believe that rescuing these great dogs from death and then sharing them with the community in these programs is a win-win for everyone. Our dogs benefit from the additional Mannering and socialization which, ultimately, will help them win a good permanent home. At Mutt Matchers, we also believe that the education of our young people is one of the ways to ensure proper care of animals in the future. We are proud to give back to the community that has supported Mutt Matchers & Friends since its inception.