Dear Friends,

Below is a recent blog post on the Philadelphia Inquirer site, philly.com.

Leigh Seigfried, the dog behaviorist mentioned in the piece, is a valuable Animal Lifeline team member.

Leigh is available for phone consult to any Animal Lifeline adopter. She provides temperament testing of dogs in our foster care. If behavior modification is necessary, dogs can go to "boot camp" and spend entire days with Leigh, receiving longer, more intensive training periods to help ensure a successful adoption outcome.

Leigh has an extensive shelter background which she now utilizes regionally helping to train rescue & shelter volunteers, veterinarian staff, and adoptive families, and nationally by helping to teach skills at conferences for The Humane Society of the United States and PetFinder.com.

At our Delaware Valley College Rescue Club, Leigh helps students learn how to appropriately assess animals in shelters when they are under stressful conditions. Students later travel to rural shelters and disseminate that knowledge to a whole new audience of animal caregivers.

The DVD mentioned in the story, "Adopting a Puppy Mill Dog", is available for $15 at the Animal Lifeline Thrift Shop; a portion of the sales of the DVD go to Animal Lifeline rescue efforts. Leigh will be providing educational seminars in the Animal Lifeline Education Room this fall. If you need her services before then, you can contact her on her Opportunity Barks website, www.opbarks.com.

We thank you, Leigh, for your continued guidance and generosity!

Yours in Rescue,
Denise Bash, Founder, Animal Lifeline

Monday, June 22, 2009

Adopting puppy mill survivors: Tips for success

Bringing home a dog that has spent its life in a cramped cage with little human contact presents unique challenges. Scarred by abuse or neglect they often have trouble with the simplest of activities: putting on a harness, walking on a leash, settling into a confined space.

Two trainers who have helped rehabilitate puppy mill dogs seized during raids conducted by the Humane Society of the United States have brought their knowledge to the public in a new DVD, "Adopting a Puppy Mill Dog (everything you need to succeed)."

Leigh Seigfried, of Quakertown, is a professional dog trainer who has managed an award-winning dog day care and training center. Elizabeth Marsden, of Chaplin, CT, is a professional dog trainer who has worked in nonprofit animal shelters. Together they are Mission Dog, offering enrichment training sessions and workshops for shelters and rescue groups.

They discovered that enriched dogs - those provided with proper exercise, socialization and mental stimulation - are successful and relaxed, while under-enriched dogs are more stressed, exhibit behavior problems, and simply are frustrating for owners or staff who aren't sure how to meet their needs.

Their DVD is aimed at the puppy mill survivors, the least enriched dogs of all. The 20-minute DVD introduces timid dogs who have never been walked to a harness and leash, coaches them through their first walk and offers tips for dealing with stress and providing a comfortable confinement area.

Perhaps Mission Dog will consider a series of videos that take the puppy mill dog through the training process over a period of months or years. And don't miss the fun stuff section of the Website. Mission Dog T-shirts are worth checking out.

Posted by Amy Worden

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/pets/Adopting_puppy_mill_survivors.html