I'm glad your dog enjoys watching these videos. My hope is to have dogs feel like they're part of a pack while you're away, even if the pack is often just standing around not doing much. But dogs can always go look and see what the pack is doing whenever they want.
I have a golden retriever that asks me to watch this channel I've sent the creator a link to a video of her watching it. She's the first dog I've ever had that ever watch TV
Thank you so much for all these videos! Literally months worth of content to help keep my dogs entertained and occupied. This is by far my aussie’s favorite channel. It really helps to put it on in another room when I work from home. He doesn’t constantly bother me. He only comes in every half an hour or so to tell me about something he saw on tv that he thinks I’d be interested in. I feel like he gets more socializing with other dogs from this than he does going to the bark (what we call the dog park)!
@georgettethorsnes9626 This is fantastic! My goal is to create enough content so that a dog never gets tired of watching these videos. Again, thanks for sharing this!
Dogs are social animals and they want to see dog stories: all the variety of interactions between dogs, with some humans thrown in to make it interesting. The views provide thousands of dollars each month going into the non-profit Friends of Pima Animal Care Center, which focuses entirely on this shelter. I direct the money to be used for "greatest need" because I'm not the best person to know specifically where that money should go, but I *am* working on streamlining a small part of that money for the team running these playgroups to quickly get whatever they need for running the playgroups and evaluating the behavior of dogs in the shelter. One thing viewers can do to help is to recommend this channel to other dog owners.
Pauly got bum rushed it's like which way did they go pa, those three brown dogs are too funny but they play with all the love a dog can have for their fellow dog. keep up the good work and vlogging the dogs need you
2 pm Tuesday Sept 12 th my 3 dogs and 3 cats love watching those beautiful dogs l let them watch one video after another day and night amounting to almost 1500 videos monthly As l also play them for the cat where l work Thank you for all yas do to help find 4 ever homes for them oxoxo .........
Your videos have been a staple in my house. I rescued the sweetest little Pitbull mix puppy when she was 4 months old and she's a year now. She's been watching you from day one and will actually look at the TV for me to turn you on. She especially gets excited when she sees the little black and white Pitties that look just like her. Merci Mae says thank you for your videos, they keep her occupied when mommy has to leave the house or do something other than play with her ❤
Haha, my June Bug does the same thing! And she even recognizes when the UA-cam home screen comes on when I first cast to my TV. She just gets so excited and loves to see all the dogs playing. Tell Merci Mae hello from June!
I intentionally leave the conversation in the video. Not only do I want dogs to feel like they're part of a pack, but I think it helps if people feel the same way while the video is playing. If you watch an inter-generational event, the adults talk about things at random while the children run around doing silly things. I think dogs serve the same purpose.
Finch is the one that greets every dog that comes in there 😂 like im curious if hes a puppy? He gets so stimulated, then you have maverick that just doesn't want any part of it 🤣🤣 so funny
I don't remember about Finch and I didn't keep notes on the dogs from that video (it's 9 hours and has probably 200 dogs). It's amazing how complex and different each dog is.
One thing I've seen from recording dog playgroups for the past 1.5 years is that dogs will sometimes help out other dogs. I've seen cases where it's actually covert: a dog might be watching another dog trying to avoid a 3rd dog and then discreetly move to actively block the 3rd dog, making it look unintentional. There are also bad types of this behavior where a dog acts like an overly empowered hall monitor trying to stop other dogs from doing things that are totally fine, such as running around having fun with each other.
I can just imagine trying to teach 475 animal shelter dogs how to press the right button. We barely have enough volunteers to get them out of their kennels to poop and pee.
HELP! No one is noticing the black and white dog (Bubbles, I think) dominating the dogs to the point that they try everything to get away from her. It's actually cruel . They must think it is play and not realize it is severe bullying. One day a dog is going to fight back. That is the dog which will cause the biggest fight. Humans MUST address her behavior before another dog does. Thank you for all your hard and heartfelt work. I mean it. Bless you all. But, you have to correct her before all hell breaks lose.
The playgroup is based on procedures and techniques developed based on a huge amount of experience with thousands of dogs by the group Dogs Playing for Life. They work with over 400 shelters at this point. I spent 5 days in training with them when they visited our shelter last year and I've seen their techniques have amazing results with shelter dogs to help them behave better and get adopted. One of the interesting principles is dog consent and dog corrections. The dogs need to learn to correct other dogs who behave badly and don't respect their consent. If the dogs grudgingly give their consent then the behavior of the annoying dog continues. The handlers *are* watching and paying attention. I learned this early on while making these videos and seeing the interactions in detail and what actions the handlers were taking. The handlers are not supposed to micro-manage the dogs, but in reality sometimes they do. It's difficult not to. They will step in at key points in order to avoid a fight when a dog ignores corrections, especially if they protest against another dog's corrections. I don't know the exact interactions you're referring to in this video, but it very well could be that the handler is not stepping in soon enough. Fights are actually very rare and when they happen, the staff reviews the footage from the camera on the wall to see if the handler should have done something different.
In the play yard we get minor altercations about every 3 playgroups. We get major altercations about every 20 playgroups. The procedures are extensive and carefully designed based on many years of experience in the shelter with thousands of dogs per year, plus we share information among shelters. We have process for each level of escalation starting with a dog being socially too forward all the way up to significant risk of death to a dog and even to a person. At the point where there's serious risk to a dog, I drop the camera and help out. I've gone through much of the training that the handlers have and have handled some very bad situations. Usually what I do is look for any conflict driven dogs and try to stop them from getting too excited, but I don't do any handling unless requested or unless the handler is in danger. I'll often fetch the air horn, bite stick, jugs of noisy rocks. At one point the handler will blow the air horn and the handler or someone else will get on the radio and call in help, which brings in about 10+ people who each will grab a dog's leash and follow procedures to separate the dogs. It's important not to pull dogs apart if one is latched on to another. The hose comes in handy in this case because usually even the air horn won't do any good, but it will alarm the staff and volunteers to run to the yard to help. It always sounds very frightening, but usually it's not all that serious. I've learned to act calm and communicate like it's not a big deal so the dogs (and even people) will calm down.
Out of curiosity what is the point in having the dogs that are waiting at the door to get out, stay in the play area? To me it seems like they are ready to get away from the high energy, but I am just learning about dog body language so I was curious if I am missing something?
That's a good point. We won't move a dog into the catch pen unless there's a volunteer or staff member there ready to walk the dog back to their kennel. But even then, you'll see dogs that clearly want to leave get left behind while other dogs go. Sometimes that happens because they have a kennel mate still playing and the handler is choosing to keep both in the yard for a while. It can be difficult to bring only one dog back to the kennel and then bring the other at a different time depending on kennel cleaning or the particular dogs' behavior. There's a lot of factors at play. If it were me, I would do more of what you're suggesting. Even if a dog is brought to the yard to attempt to get it to start socializing, it might be better to let it go back very soon rather than letting stress build up. Dogs Playing for Life made a good point about getting dogs back to their kennel on a good note and not waiting for something bad to happen. Shelter dogs spend about 23 hours a day in their kennel and they spend a lot of that time thinking about what happened during the previous time they were out. If the last thing that happened was bad, they'll focus on the bad stuff. If they ended on a good note, they'll tend to look forward to the next time out. If they sit in the play yard being stressed out for a long time, I think that would feel bad for the dog. If it's a short time they might think about how they were stressed out about nothing and it all went well. As a dog walker, the best thing is when you get a stressed-out dog out of their kennel and spend time with them, giving them whatever they need: sniffing the ground, petting, doing work for treats, walking fast. At the end of the walk they're like a totally different dog. Then you spend some time with them inside the kennel to make it feel like a good place to be, then give them treats and leave, it has a profound effect on the dog and gives them lots of good things to think about until the next day when they either go to the playgroup or out for a walk.
@@DogPlaygroupStories thank you for the explanation. That makes sense as to why they might not go out right away. Like you mentioned though, I think it might be best for the dogs that want out to be able to do so, so stress and tension doesn't build to something less positive. I can't tell but in this video it looks like there may be other outdoor runs, nearby? Maybe they could be moved to a nearby run by themselves or with another dog that is much more calm if absolutely needed? Just so the stress and tension can subside from them and the group. I am certainly no expert, so this is just a thought and I appreciate you taking the time to explain stuff to me. It is fascinating
@@erinelzey5153 We do use the side yard for dogs to de-stress while still be monitored by the handler. There are yards all over the shelter, but they don't have anyone watching dogs there and we need all the volunteers and staff doing other things, given the overcrowded shelter conditions. I agree that it's all very fascinating, especially working with the dogs who are amazing little people.
@@DogPlaygroupStories oh 😞 yes, these videos are so happy and fun that you kind of forget the dire needs of shelters for a moment. That makes a lot of sense why some aren't moved as there may not be enough staff to watch them, too. I really wish there was a good, easy, and quick fix here. But I think these videos are a great start to some funding challenges, with obviously much more to still do. Thanks for putting them up. My pup loves them and I love getting to know more about the wonderful little people we live with!
@@erinelzey5153 Yes, the shelter is a difficult place for most of the dogs. The daily walkers and daily playgroups help them keep their sanity. The dog walkers provide personalized attention to each dog, which is often what they really need.
Yeah, the shelter switched over to a different service since the video came out. On newer videos I'm just providing a link to the overall site and then chapter markers when each dog enters. At some point I may go back and update the older videos.
The leashes are needed in case an altercation breaks out and we need to separate dogs quickly and without getting too close to the pointy teeth end of the dogs. Conflict driven dogs can jump in and cause a lot of injury.
What we do is based on years of experience with thousands of dogs and was developed by the pioneers of shelter dog playgroups, Dogs Playing for Life. They've applied these techniques to about 400 shelters so far. They came back to our shelter last year to provide training for new employees. The purpose of the drag lines is to separate dogs during a dog fight when multiple conflict driven dogs can attack another dog. An air horn and a radio can be used to summon a whole lot of people who run into the yard and each grab a leash. Note that you never pull dogs apart if one is latched onto another, it'll just do more damage. It's also important not to get your hand/arm close to a dog's mouth, which would happen if you tried to grab a dog's collar. They can re-direct a bite onto you without thinking. (There *is* a technique for doing this called "feeding the bite", but you still want to be able to separate dogs using leashes). These situations are rare, but they do happen and the leashes save dogs' lives.
Everyone has their own opinions obviously, but I never leave a leash on a dog when in the park. In my experience a good harness with a handle is terrific, they rarely pull out of it and other dogs don't pull it usually. Not saying I'm an expert lol😅
@@Boycott_Wendys What we do is based on experience with thousands of animal shelter dogs: strays, abused dogs, hoarding case dogs, etc. When these dogs come in, we often have no idea what they've been through or what social behaviors they have until they're evaluated in the play yard. We have a group of volunteers who evaluate dogs for harnesses and then fit a 3-in-1 harness for the ones who would benefit from them. We're not allowed to rely on the harness in playgroup or while walking the dogs near the kennels because they have no head control. A lot of these dogs can (and do!) redirect on a human, even a well trained dog handler. Experience with a hundred dogs from nice homes is different from experience with thousands of dogs that society has discarded just as kindergarten is different from a maximum security prison.
@@DogPlaygroupStories I'm sure your technique works well for you and your staff. I just go to an off leash park everyday for a couple of hours. My experience with owners who leave their dogs on leash is not great lol. But we're comparing apples to oranges when talking about an off leash park and a 🐶 daycare facility. You guys all seem to be good handlers, often in the park the owners are complete novices (and that's okay 🙂🐶). 👋🇨🇦
?? I get it - You think keeping the leashes on gives you the ability to control if necessary - The stupidity is that it is also real easy for that to snag onto something and strangle the damn dog.
We know what we're doing based on experience with many thousands of shelter dogs over many years. Snagging a drag line on something is very minor compared to what happens in a dog fight with multiple conflict driven dogs that jump in. I've personally seen a situation where a dog's life was probably saved because the leashes allowed us to separate 7 dogs involved in a very bad altercation. Not only does it allow for fast separation of dogs (staff and experienced volunteers will rush to the yard to help separate them), it greatly lowers the chances of biting a human, which results in 10 days of legally mandatory rabies isolation plus a bite record and can be a death sentence for a shelter dog. UPDATE FOR READERS: Never pull two dogs apart if one dog is latched onto the other. You'll do a lot more damage. You need to use a bite stick or high level aversive like an air horn.
can you please stop the dog bothering the other so much. the dog wanted to use the bathroom but couldnt cause the other one stayed up his ass. sorry but i just cant stand total harrassment.
If a dog is being bothered by another dog, normally they will "correct" the other dog appropriately: snarling and baring their teeth, low growling, quickly facing the other dog and barking in their face, etc. It should match the severity of what the other dog is doing and how persistently they're doing it. One of the purposes of the playgroups is for them to improve their correction skills and their responses to other dogs' corrections. The handlers will step in based on the training they get from the Dogs Playing for Life team who pioneered shelter dog playgroups. The time to step in, and their response may not match what other people think is appropriate, but it's based on experience with many thousands of dogs. A major purpose of these playgroups is to help shelter dogs get adopted and out of the stressful shelter. It's a very different situation than a dog park.
Glad this channel supports shelter pets but so many times the “staff” ignores obvious signs a dog is uncomfortable and a potential fight is about to break out. Eff your Clorox bottles of rocks and long ass leashes and get a break stick if you’re going to let a bunch of pit mixes mingle without knowledgeable staff.
The staff is about as knowledgeable as you'll find for working with groups of dogs, especially shelter dogs. They work with thousands of dogs and are trained by the people who pioneered dog playgroups in shelters, Dogs Playing for Life (DPfL). DPfL works with over 400 shelters so the total amount of experience driving their process and procedures is enormous and covers the whole range of dogs. I attended their 5-day working session at our shelter last year and the results they got were amazing. The purpose of the playgroups is not just for the dogs to have fun but to learn dog socialization skills, and that often gets dogs out of their comfort zone. Everything the staff does is based on experience, including using leashes and long leashes for dogs that need them. I do see them make minor mistakes at times, but it's interesting that I've never seen a comment here that points any of them out.
@@DogPlaygroupStories Cool. I am probably super sensitive to the type of damage pits or even pit mixes can do and a rattly bottle doesn’t cut it well enough for me and wouldn’t stop a motivated altercation. As I said I am super cautious and see several instances of situations where I’d just let a dog be away from the pack or discourage a pushy dog from hounding a dog, but I understand you’re doing this for entertainment. Best of luck and thanks for showing people what even the best daycares are like.
@@tigerbeck We have a whole set of adversives that we use. One of the main principles is to use the minimum adversive to stop what's currently going on and then quickly escalate. There are a few levels using a spray bottle (plus it targets just one dog), then small bottle of rocks, the "thunder jug", then air horn, hose, plus at that point the handler has radioed for help and people come pouring in to help separate dogs using the leashes. We also use a bite stick and break board as needed.
Anything’s but pulling two fighting dogs apart with leashes is dangerous. You will get bit using a stick or even some mace like spray. I go to the dog park and a leash is the quickest most humane solution for big dogs. It mean they are apart, the safest place for them. I’ve been watching and have never seen the dogs fight. People don’t understand the value of remaining calm and not being ready to scream and beat the dogs into submission, good grief.
@@RawrDinosaurgrr you’re entirely wrong on several points including taking your dog to a dog park in the first place but you do you. Maybe you don’t mean actual fights because if two dogs are latched on to each other grabbing the leash just tears flesh and gives them room to disengage and reengage while some muppet without control of their dog flails around. Just google proper break stick usage .. it might be useful if you keep going to the dog park.
The leashes definitely don't stay clean. I know, I wash them after every playgroup. It seems *way* more difficult to fake these videos than to simply go to an animal shelter and record them. The interactions between dogs are extremely complex. We don't fully understand it completely. If it was fake, the dogs would sense a massive Uncanny Valley effect and they'd freak out at it the whole time. Each day that I record video, I spend about an hour preparing the yard, including raking the sand and picking up small pieces of poop. I record each dog entering the play yard and try to capture the dog interactions the best that I can using techniques that I've developed over the past 2 years (and studying cinematography and editing methods). Again, it would be far more impressive if this was fake than simply recording dogs playing in a yard.
My dog watches your videos everyday. It’s especially helpful when he doesn’t want to eat his food. He’d watch them play and eat.
I'm happy to hear that! It seems like dogs need a pack of dogs to identify with, even if they're online.
@@DogPlaygroupStoriesti j Bi
My dog loves watching these videos. When I leave for work I leave your videos for her to watch. Thank you your videos are a big help.
I'm glad your dog enjoys watching these videos. My hope is to have dogs feel like they're part of a pack while you're away, even if the pack is often just standing around not doing much. But dogs can always go look and see what the pack is doing whenever they want.
I don't know what it is but my dog is obsessed with these too.
I have a golden retriever that asks me to watch this channel I've sent the creator a link to a video of her watching it. She's the first dog I've ever had that ever watch TV
@@whyarewealwaysyellinghe is craving to be with other dogs and not locked alone or with humans
@@Elisa1998yyxsgt My dog would live at the dog park if she could
they are smart and cute dogs, I love them so much😍😍😍
Thank you so much for all these videos! Literally months worth of content to help keep my dogs entertained and occupied. This is by far my aussie’s favorite channel. It really helps to put it on in another room when I work from home. He doesn’t constantly bother me. He only comes in every half an hour or so to tell me about something he saw on tv that he thinks I’d be interested in. I feel like he gets more socializing with other dogs from this than he does going to the bark (what we call the dog park)!
@georgettethorsnes9626 This is fantastic! My goal is to create enough content so that a dog never gets tired of watching these videos. Again, thanks for sharing this!
This is our dog’s favorite channel. He loves these guys. Thank you ❤
Very happy to hear that!
Mine too!! The only way to calm him down. He is so engrossed each time!! The bigger dog, anyway.
Wonderful!
my dogs never watch any of those "dog videos" but they LOVE this channel!!! And i feel good that it helps support the shelter!!
Dogs are social animals and they want to see dog stories: all the variety of interactions between dogs, with some humans thrown in to make it interesting. The views provide thousands of dollars each month going into the non-profit Friends of Pima Animal Care Center, which focuses entirely on this shelter. I direct the money to be used for "greatest need" because I'm not the best person to know specifically where that money should go, but I *am* working on streamlining a small part of that money for the team running these playgroups to quickly get whatever they need for running the playgroups and evaluating the behavior of dogs in the shelter.
One thing viewers can do to help is to recommend this channel to other dog owners.
@@DogPlaygroupStories thanks for all the info!!! I'll happily recommend this channel on my stream and to my friends!! Keep up the good work!! 💗💗💗
Pauly got bum rushed it's like which way did they go pa, those three brown dogs are too funny but they play with all the love a dog can have for their fellow dog.
keep up the good work and vlogging the dogs need you
Thanks!
Keeps my dog entertained. Thanks!!
Great! I'm happy to see so many dogs enjoying these videos.
My dogs love these. Thank you so much
I'm glad your dogs enjoy these videos!
2 pm Tuesday Sept 12 th my 3 dogs and 3 cats love watching those beautiful dogs l let them watch one video after another day and night amounting to almost 1500 videos monthly As l also play them for the cat where l work Thank you for all yas do to help find 4 ever homes for them oxoxo .........
Wow! Thanks for watching! Do you find the dogs (or cats) get bored with watching the videos over and over?
Your videos have been a staple in my house. I rescued the sweetest little Pitbull mix puppy when she was 4 months old and she's a year now. She's been watching you from day one and will actually look at the TV for me to turn you on. She especially gets excited when she sees the little black and white Pitties that look just like her. Merci Mae says thank you for your videos, they keep her occupied when mommy has to leave the house or do something other than play with her ❤
Wow, that's awesome! She must like Zeus (Episodes 66, 64, 62, 61, 60, 56, and others), Jazz (Episodes 55, 53, 51, 50, 49, 47, 46, 43, 36, 35, 32, and others), Mooo (Episodes 55, 54, 51, 50, 49, 48, and others), and Cash (Episodes 22, 21, 19, 15, 13, 9).
Haha, my June Bug does the same thing! And she even recognizes when the UA-cam home screen comes on when I first cast to my TV. She just gets so excited and loves to see all the dogs playing. Tell Merci Mae hello from June!
@@drea6599 That's awesome! Merci says hello to June ❤️
@@DogPlaygroupStories Thank you! She was actually watching episode 60 today.
Episode 60 is a good video to watch.
Happy dogs!
Yeah, lots of happy dogs. A few of them are nervous about being around other dogs, but this helps them work through those issues.
Love the casual fallout lore conversation 😂🤌🏻
I intentionally leave the conversation in the video. Not only do I want dogs to feel like they're part of a pack, but I think it helps if people feel the same way while the video is playing. If you watch an inter-generational event, the adults talk about things at random while the children run around doing silly things. I think dogs serve the same purpose.
Finch is the one that greets every dog that comes in there 😂 like im curious if hes a puppy? He gets so stimulated, then you have maverick that just doesn't want any part of it 🤣🤣 so funny
I don't remember about Finch and I didn't keep notes on the dogs from that video (it's 9 hours and has probably 200 dogs). It's amazing how complex and different each dog is.
New subscriber! My rescue Stella loved the video 🙏🏼 Thank you 😊
I'm glad your rescue enjoyed it! Thanks for subscribing!
thank god the new dog came in and rescued the other one.
One thing I've seen from recording dog playgroups for the past 1.5 years is that dogs will sometimes help out other dogs. I've seen cases where it's actually covert: a dog might be watching another dog trying to avoid a 3rd dog and then discreetly move to actively block the 3rd dog, making it look unintentional.
There are also bad types of this behavior where a dog acts like an overly empowered hall monitor trying to stop other dogs from doing things that are totally fine, such as running around having fun with each other.
My dog learned how to bark watching these videos on UA-cam.
Not sure if that's a good thing, but congratulations!
@@DogPlaygroupStories lol she didn't make a noise for the first month we had her. Not a whimper I was worried that she wasn't going to be able to bark
@@whyarewealwaysyelling Wow! Well, there are a lot of things that dogs only seem to learn from other dogs.
Loverdogs❤
it looks like i will love this video
those 3 brown dogs must be young to have that much energy
Camera guy needs to adopt Lola, she clearly loves him ❤
Dog daycare could be greater with dog button training
I can just imagine trying to teach 475 animal shelter dogs how to press the right button. We barely have enough volunteers to get them out of their kennels to poop and pee.
HELP! No one is noticing the black and white dog (Bubbles, I think) dominating the dogs to the point that they try everything to get away from her. It's actually cruel . They must think it is play and not realize it is severe bullying. One day a dog is going to fight back. That is the dog which will cause the biggest fight. Humans MUST address her behavior before another dog does. Thank you for all your hard and heartfelt work. I mean it. Bless you all. But, you have to correct her before all hell breaks lose.
The playgroup is based on procedures and techniques developed based on a huge amount of experience with thousands of dogs by the group Dogs Playing for Life. They work with over 400 shelters at this point. I spent 5 days in training with them when they visited our shelter last year and I've seen their techniques have amazing results with shelter dogs to help them behave better and get adopted.
One of the interesting principles is dog consent and dog corrections. The dogs need to learn to correct other dogs who behave badly and don't respect their consent. If the dogs grudgingly give their consent then the behavior of the annoying dog continues. The handlers *are* watching and paying attention. I learned this early on while making these videos and seeing the interactions in detail and what actions the handlers were taking. The handlers are not supposed to micro-manage the dogs, but in reality sometimes they do. It's difficult not to. They will step in at key points in order to avoid a fight when a dog ignores corrections, especially if they protest against another dog's corrections.
I don't know the exact interactions you're referring to in this video, but it very well could be that the handler is not stepping in soon enough. Fights are actually very rare and when they happen, the staff reviews the footage from the camera on the wall to see if the handler should have done something different.
😊
How often do dogs get into fights here? What’s ur protocol for breaking it up?
In the play yard we get minor altercations about every 3 playgroups. We get major altercations about every 20 playgroups. The procedures are extensive and carefully designed based on many years of experience in the shelter with thousands of dogs per year, plus we share information among shelters. We have process for each level of escalation starting with a dog being socially too forward all the way up to significant risk of death to a dog and even to a person. At the point where there's serious risk to a dog, I drop the camera and help out. I've gone through much of the training that the handlers have and have handled some very bad situations. Usually what I do is look for any conflict driven dogs and try to stop them from getting too excited, but I don't do any handling unless requested or unless the handler is in danger. I'll often fetch the air horn, bite stick, jugs of noisy rocks. At one point the handler will blow the air horn and the handler or someone else will get on the radio and call in help, which brings in about 10+ people who each will grab a dog's leash and follow procedures to separate the dogs. It's important not to pull dogs apart if one is latched on to another. The hose comes in handy in this case because usually even the air horn won't do any good, but it will alarm the staff and volunteers to run to the yard to help. It always sounds very frightening, but usually it's not all that serious. I've learned to act calm and communicate like it's not a big deal so the dogs (and even people) will calm down.
@ thank you for answering my question! Great to hear about ur protocol for keeping everyone safe. You guys do such a wonderful job
@@huzzzylake Thanks!
Out of curiosity what is the point in having the dogs that are waiting at the door to get out, stay in the play area? To me it seems like they are ready to get away from the high energy, but I am just learning about dog body language so I was curious if I am missing something?
That's a good point. We won't move a dog into the catch pen unless there's a volunteer or staff member there ready to walk the dog back to their kennel. But even then, you'll see dogs that clearly want to leave get left behind while other dogs go. Sometimes that happens because they have a kennel mate still playing and the handler is choosing to keep both in the yard for a while. It can be difficult to bring only one dog back to the kennel and then bring the other at a different time depending on kennel cleaning or the particular dogs' behavior. There's a lot of factors at play.
If it were me, I would do more of what you're suggesting. Even if a dog is brought to the yard to attempt to get it to start socializing, it might be better to let it go back very soon rather than letting stress build up. Dogs Playing for Life made a good point about getting dogs back to their kennel on a good note and not waiting for something bad to happen. Shelter dogs spend about 23 hours a day in their kennel and they spend a lot of that time thinking about what happened during the previous time they were out. If the last thing that happened was bad, they'll focus on the bad stuff. If they ended on a good note, they'll tend to look forward to the next time out. If they sit in the play yard being stressed out for a long time, I think that would feel bad for the dog. If it's a short time they might think about how they were stressed out about nothing and it all went well.
As a dog walker, the best thing is when you get a stressed-out dog out of their kennel and spend time with them, giving them whatever they need: sniffing the ground, petting, doing work for treats, walking fast. At the end of the walk they're like a totally different dog. Then you spend some time with them inside the kennel to make it feel like a good place to be, then give them treats and leave, it has a profound effect on the dog and gives them lots of good things to think about until the next day when they either go to the playgroup or out for a walk.
@@DogPlaygroupStories thank you for the explanation. That makes sense as to why they might not go out right away. Like you mentioned though, I think it might be best for the dogs that want out to be able to do so, so stress and tension doesn't build to something less positive. I can't tell but in this video it looks like there may be other outdoor runs, nearby? Maybe they could be moved to a nearby run by themselves or with another dog that is much more calm if absolutely needed? Just so the stress and tension can subside from them and the group. I am certainly no expert, so this is just a thought and I appreciate you taking the time to explain stuff to me. It is fascinating
@@erinelzey5153 We do use the side yard for dogs to de-stress while still be monitored by the handler. There are yards all over the shelter, but they don't have anyone watching dogs there and we need all the volunteers and staff doing other things, given the overcrowded shelter conditions. I agree that it's all very fascinating, especially working with the dogs who are amazing little people.
@@DogPlaygroupStories oh 😞 yes, these videos are so happy and fun that you kind of forget the dire needs of shelters for a moment. That makes a lot of sense why some aren't moved as there may not be enough staff to watch them, too. I really wish there was a good, easy, and quick fix here. But I think these videos are a great start to some funding challenges, with obviously much more to still do. Thanks for putting them up. My pup loves them and I love getting to know more about the wonderful little people we live with!
@@erinelzey5153 Yes, the shelter is a difficult place for most of the dogs. The daily walkers and daily playgroups help them keep their sanity. The dog walkers provide personalized attention to each dog, which is often what they really need.
The Petharbor link in your vid description doesn't work
Yeah, the shelter switched over to a different service since the video came out. On newer videos I'm just providing a link to the overall site and then chapter markers when each dog enters. At some point I may go back and update the older videos.
Why are they running around dragging their leash?
The leashes are needed in case an altercation breaks out and we need to separate dogs quickly and without getting too close to the pointy teeth end of the dogs. Conflict driven dogs can jump in and cause a lot of injury.
A lot of dogs will grab the leash and walk the dogs 😅
Why are the leads left on😮
What we do is based on years of experience with thousands of dogs and was developed by the pioneers of shelter dog playgroups, Dogs Playing for Life. They've applied these techniques to about 400 shelters so far. They came back to our shelter last year to provide training for new employees.
The purpose of the drag lines is to separate dogs during a dog fight when multiple conflict driven dogs can attack another dog. An air horn and a radio can be used to summon a whole lot of people who run into the yard and each grab a leash. Note that you never pull dogs apart if one is latched onto another, it'll just do more damage. It's also important not to get your hand/arm close to a dog's mouth, which would happen if you tried to grab a dog's collar. They can re-direct a bite onto you without thinking. (There *is* a technique for doing this called "feeding the bite", but you still want to be able to separate dogs using leashes). These situations are rare, but they do happen and the leashes save dogs' lives.
Everyone has their own opinions obviously, but I never leave a leash on a dog when in the park. In my experience a good harness with a handle is terrific, they rarely pull out of it and other dogs don't pull it usually. Not saying I'm an expert lol😅
@@Boycott_Wendys What we do is based on experience with thousands of animal shelter dogs: strays, abused dogs, hoarding case dogs, etc. When these dogs come in, we often have no idea what they've been through or what social behaviors they have until they're evaluated in the play yard.
We have a group of volunteers who evaluate dogs for harnesses and then fit a 3-in-1 harness for the ones who would benefit from them. We're not allowed to rely on the harness in playgroup or while walking the dogs near the kennels because they have no head control. A lot of these dogs can (and do!) redirect on a human, even a well trained dog handler.
Experience with a hundred dogs from nice homes is different from experience with thousands of dogs that society has discarded just as kindergarten is different from a maximum security prison.
@@DogPlaygroupStories I'm sure your technique works well for you and your staff. I just go to an off leash park everyday for a couple of hours. My experience with owners who leave their dogs on leash is not great lol. But we're comparing apples to oranges when talking about an off leash park and a 🐶 daycare facility. You guys all seem to be good handlers, often in the park the owners are complete novices (and that's okay 🙂🐶). 👋🇨🇦
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?? I get it - You think keeping the leashes on gives you the ability to control if necessary -
The stupidity is that it is also real easy for that to snag onto something and strangle the damn dog.
We know what we're doing based on experience with many thousands of shelter dogs over many years. Snagging a drag line on something is very minor compared to what happens in a dog fight with multiple conflict driven dogs that jump in. I've personally seen a situation where a dog's life was probably saved because the leashes allowed us to separate 7 dogs involved in a very bad altercation. Not only does it allow for fast separation of dogs (staff and experienced volunteers will rush to the yard to help separate them), it greatly lowers the chances of biting a human, which results in 10 days of legally mandatory rabies isolation plus a bite record and can be a death sentence for a shelter dog.
UPDATE FOR READERS: Never pull two dogs apart if one dog is latched onto the other. You'll do a lot more damage. You need to use a bite stick or high level aversive like an air horn.
9:06:17
can you please stop the dog bothering the other so much. the dog wanted to use the bathroom but couldnt cause the other one stayed up his ass. sorry but i just cant stand total harrassment.
If a dog is being bothered by another dog, normally they will "correct" the other dog appropriately: snarling and baring their teeth, low growling, quickly facing the other dog and barking in their face, etc. It should match the severity of what the other dog is doing and how persistently they're doing it. One of the purposes of the playgroups is for them to improve their correction skills and their responses to other dogs' corrections.
The handlers will step in based on the training they get from the Dogs Playing for Life team who pioneered shelter dog playgroups. The time to step in, and their response may not match what other people think is appropriate, but it's based on experience with many thousands of dogs. A major purpose of these playgroups is to help shelter dogs get adopted and out of the stressful shelter. It's a very different situation than a dog park.
Glad this channel supports shelter pets but so many times the “staff” ignores obvious signs a dog is uncomfortable and a potential fight is about to break out. Eff your Clorox bottles of rocks and long ass leashes and get a break stick if you’re going to let a bunch of pit mixes mingle without knowledgeable staff.
The staff is about as knowledgeable as you'll find for working with groups of dogs, especially shelter dogs. They work with thousands of dogs and are trained by the people who pioneered dog playgroups in shelters, Dogs Playing for Life (DPfL). DPfL works with over 400 shelters so the total amount of experience driving their process and procedures is enormous and covers the whole range of dogs. I attended their 5-day working session at our shelter last year and the results they got were amazing. The purpose of the playgroups is not just for the dogs to have fun but to learn dog socialization skills, and that often gets dogs out of their comfort zone. Everything the staff does is based on experience, including using leashes and long leashes for dogs that need them. I do see them make minor mistakes at times, but it's interesting that I've never seen a comment here that points any of them out.
@@DogPlaygroupStories Cool. I am probably super sensitive to the type of damage pits or even pit mixes can do and a rattly bottle doesn’t cut it well enough for me and wouldn’t stop a motivated altercation. As I said I am super cautious and see several instances of situations where I’d just let a dog be away from the pack or discourage a pushy dog from hounding a dog, but I understand you’re doing this for entertainment. Best of luck and thanks for showing people what even the best daycares are like.
@@tigerbeck We have a whole set of adversives that we use. One of the main principles is to use the minimum adversive to stop what's currently going on and then quickly escalate. There are a few levels using a spray bottle (plus it targets just one dog), then small bottle of rocks, the "thunder jug", then air horn, hose, plus at that point the handler has radioed for help and people come pouring in to help separate dogs using the leashes. We also use a bite stick and break board as needed.
Anything’s but pulling two fighting dogs apart with leashes is dangerous. You will get bit using a stick or even some mace like spray. I go to the dog park and a leash is the quickest most humane solution for big dogs. It mean they are apart, the safest place for them. I’ve been watching and have never seen the dogs fight. People don’t understand the value of remaining calm and not being ready to scream and beat the dogs into submission, good grief.
@@RawrDinosaurgrr you’re entirely wrong on several points including taking your dog to a dog park in the first place but you do you. Maybe you don’t mean actual fights because if two dogs are latched on to each other grabbing the leash just tears flesh and gives them room to disengage and reengage while some muppet without control of their dog flails around. Just google proper break stick usage .. it might be useful if you keep going to the dog park.
Absolutely fake and staged
Way2 clean. Flip leashes running around completely clean😅f the ever
The leashes definitely don't stay clean. I know, I wash them after every playgroup.
It seems *way* more difficult to fake these videos than to simply go to an animal shelter and record them. The interactions between dogs are extremely complex. We don't fully understand it completely. If it was fake, the dogs would sense a massive Uncanny Valley effect and they'd freak out at it the whole time.
Each day that I record video, I spend about an hour preparing the yard, including raking the sand and picking up small pieces of poop. I record each dog entering the play yard and try to capture the dog interactions the best that I can using techniques that I've developed over the past 2 years (and studying cinematography and editing methods).
Again, it would be far more impressive if this was fake than simply recording dogs playing in a yard.
9:06:18