We’re adding a new section to Where Do Puppies Come From which feature two of the most amazing videos I’ve ever seen.


What to look for in your new puppy; shows the body language differences between socialised and non-socialised puppies and explains the impact a lack of socialisation has on future behaviour. A huge thanks to Gwen Bailey for allowing us to use her info.


In a country where the average age for a dog is 3.5 years and behaviour problems is the number one cause of euthanasia it’s a way to help puppy buyers realise that a good temperament is by far and away the most important trait to look for in their new puppy. Only then will they demand more from the breeders of these dogs.

Imagine you’re on the surgeon’s table counting backwards from ten and the doctor about to operate on your leg let slip that legs aren’t his specialty.


As your eyes are closing his words echo in your mind, “arms are actually what I’m best at - I’m completely self taught on legs, but I think I’ve got the hang of it…”


Would you have climbed on this table today and let them operate on you had you known? Given the choice I’m sure you’d rather a doctor who’d invested time and resources into becoming the best doctor they could be. Not someone who knows a bit about arms, hacking into your knee.


Of course this would never happen, because in the world of doctoring education is parmount. The many different parts of the human body are all examined and researched and doctors attend conferences both here and abroad to be keep up with all the latest developments. Some become specialists in certain parts and can advise other doctors out in the world. In other words, doctors never stop learning.


So how, when we hear of groups sending attendees to rescue conferences could we possibly think that the money is a waste? Presently in Australia there is no rescue qualification - the very least we can do is use a percentage part of our rescue budget for self education. Just as you wouldn’t trust a self-taught doctor to keep you safe, our rescue pets shouldn’t be forced to trust their lives to rescuers who aren’t constantly developing themselves.


This years No More Homeless Pets conference in the US includes sessions on dealing with difficult people, helping hoarding situations, fundraising, puppy mills, online pet profiles, overcoming obstacles of adoption, rescue transport, feral cats, keeping pets with their families, corporate sponsorship, desexing clinics, public relations, increasing lost pet return rates, fighting dogs, horses and bunnies, fostering programs, how to say no, and partnering with animal control.


While it might be beyond the reach of many in rescue (which is why we’re scrambling to get a grant to pay for someone from PetRescue to go and report back to everyone), it’s important for everyone to support those rescues who are able to spare the resource, to attend. In fact a smart rescuer would be contacting these people and begging them to share their new knowledge.


When it’s possible send at least one person along from your rescue to local conferences and trade shows to network with people who are specialists – they want to help you. Where you can arrange to send staff on exchange programs with rescues from another area or even another state.


Money spent on education is not taking resources from the animals – in every single way it’s learning to help them more efficiently.

Showing exactly how No Kill can work in Australia is the Animal Welfare League in QLD (AWL). Caring for 10,000 stray and abandoned companion animals on the Gold Coast and surrounding areas each year and with the lofty goal of ”the Gold Coast City becoming the first city in Australia to achieve zero euthanasia of healthy and treatable cats and dogs” the AWL calls on its community to help save pets.


Their Golden Oldies Program finds loving homes for animals 8 years old and over. Their Foster Care Program and Volunteer Program empower the community to save animals. And their Enrichment Program works to keep dogs in the shelter adoptable and includes a twice weekly trip to the beach!


They are lobbying for compulsory desexing before sale and offer discount desexing to their community. They run internships in customer service for their volunteers and open their new rehoming centres seven days a week.


Whew! I hear you say. So they’re working hard in the community, but does that really translate into less euthanasia?

We save just about all dogs that come to us, unless they are very sick or aggressive. At times it is really tough to achieve this. People are driving from much further away to surrender their animals to us, knowing that we are leading the way in working towards zero euthanasia.

We take in all strayed and surrendered dogs from the Gold Coast, as well as many from Ipswich and Beaudesert Pounds, as there is no refuge in either of these places.  Consequently our adoption pens are overflowing, as well as our foster homes.
www.awlqld.com.au

In just the last month, this organisation has rehomed 448 pets; 221 dogs and 227 cats.


It’s not hard to see where this is going. No Kill communities can work and an enlightened society will demand nothing less. The Old Guard keep throwing up their hands and saying “we must kill” to explain their lack of inspired action and cover their ineptitude, but accountability is becoming the achilles heel of these ineffective groups and will ultimately be their end. Meanwhile rescues like the AWL who refuse to support a culture of killing healthy, adoptable pets will continue to thrive.

“The majority of the community value companion animals… once they know those animals are being killed, they definitely do not agree with it.  Surveys we’ve done have demonstrated that very clearly.”
Joy Verrinder AWL QLD

Each day I go to work – then rush home to do all the stuff that come with running PetRescue. There is the greatest satisfaction that comes with running a organisation that helps pets…. and me and the furkids need to eat.


But the cost to the other areas of your life can be enormous. Work, home, pickup pets, make phone calls, answer emails, play with own pets, family time, sleep… work. Forget ‘me’ time or ‘veg out’ time. Nearly everyone who emails me during the day does so from their work email addresses. I wonder how they can possibly have the time to run these rescue groups and still be an ‘executive assistant to the general manager’, or ‘project manager’ or ’senior consultant’. And they do it because they have to – when you have this calling to help animals, whether it fits in with the requirements of modern life or not, it must get done.


So to everyone who’s working ‘two jobs’; those who rescue, foster and care for homeless pets and still run a day job or a family or both! stand up and take a bow.

When we talk about anti-puppy mill campaigns put together by people lobbying for animal welfare, we often expect to see giant posters of abused pets and protesters being asked to leave.


While this obviously gets attention, it’s not a very good way to get the public to trust us. People are more likely to give weight to information that comes from people that seems sensible and who come packing considered material. They’re getting pretty good at ignoring anyone they view as extremists.


But thankfully this ‘in your face’ approach is rapidly being replaced by a new and more effective way of getting the point across. And this is really something I can really get into!

Instead of holding placards and shouting, the protestors at the Beverly Center have sought to educate the public, and peacefully change hearts and minds one person at a time by talking, handing out educational literature, and looping DVDs that expose the cruelty and abhorrent conditions dogs experience at puppy mills.

“It’s a very calm and reasonable approach to educating the public and getting our message out,” Oreck says. “We don’t try to shock. We try to engage in dialogue with the public.”

Imagine the strength of that.

Among the more educated, the message of responsible pet ownership seems to be getting through. Considered pet purchases begin with research, that leads knowledgeable buyers to reputable breeders or rescue. There is an understanding of the importance of desexing and obedience training in avoiding behavioral problems and for the pets and their new owners, the results are often ideal.


Meanwhile a large segment of Australian society that know nothing of dog genetics, behaviour, temperament or socialisation, are churning out puppies by the thousands. These breeders are the antithesis of knowledgeable and responsible. They are the Bogan Breeders.

These profit motivated, novice breeders, flood the weekend newspapers with undesexed and substandard dogs. They focus on the breeds popular with consumers like bull breeds and designer crosses.

Someone who knew her said she bought the dog from the pound, and had no idea what it was. She told me it was an American staffy. I thought it might have been a cattledog cross. She put it to an unpapered Amstaff (which may or may not have been purebred) and advertised the pups as “Purebred American Staffies. $500 each”. People bought them like hot cakes because they believed they were purebred Amstaffs.

The profile of the Bogan Breeder:

• Maintain that breeding their dogs is their ‘right’.




• Have no knowledge of common hereditary diseases in their breed or the pedigree of their dog, just think that their dog is ‘healthy’ because the vet said so.




• Have no knowledge of dog behaviour and have dogs who are under-socialised or aggressive. Breed from them anyway.




• Often haven’t bred before (many Bogan Breeders give up when they find vet costs far outweigh profits). Expect it ‘to all happen naturally’.




• Offer no screening of potential buyers, yet feel all future responsibility lay with new owners.




• Take no responsibility for failed sales and offer no returns policy. Have no interest in the welfare of their animals after sale.




• Often surrender litters to rescue when they can’t sell them.

Unlike responsible breeders who thrive on new information and who are working to better their breeds, the profit motivated Bogan Breeder belligerently defends his ‘right’ to breed his pet, yet makes no effort to learn about dog health or behaviour.

Bretto says:
I can’t believe all you people in welfare are hypocrites and do gooders all you do is attack people who want to breed their dogs but we never asked for your opinion. How do you know these dogs will end up in shelters. You need to understand that the breeder is not responsible for the action of people who buy these dogs and your misguided judgement is not logical you need to direct your anger at the people who dump the dogs because they are the people responsible.

Bogan Breeders add an unmeasurable burden to the pound system whose costs are directly passed on to the taxpayer at an an estimated $120 million per year. In short; they make money and we pay to clean up after them.

How to combat Bogan Breeders

Since they aren’t willing take on responsible pet ownership initiatives or examine their contribution to pet overpopulation, what can we do to remove the Bogan Breeders from our communities?

Educating the public on how to carefully screen anyone selling pets will make it harder for them to sell their wares.


Rescue should advertise alongside Bogan Breeders without fear of reprisals from other rescue groups. Our ads should feature particular animals, rather than a general call to our visit our rescue. And we should examine the advertisements they use to attract buyer and replicate them for our own pets.


Rescue should tap into the ‘designer dog’ naming structure (ie. calling a poodle cross and labradoodle). Rather than encouraging designer breeding as is the common fear, this will actually reduce the ‘magical power’ of these names by attributing them to ‘common’ rescue dogs. Paying thousands for a dog that can be found in the pound will make them seem foolish instead of fashionable.

Instead of efforts to distance ourselves from Bogan Breeders, we must put ourselves visibly right alongside them. It’s only when uneducated consumers are given the chance to be educated by us, will we wipe out the noxious Bogan Breeder.

Why do some groups thrive online, while others crash around causing damage like an elephant in stilettos?


If you’ve ever considered using web discussions to promote your group, then you must read this;

Instead of being a platform for the organization’s support and participation in communities of practice, instead of being a tool for empowering the connections and voices of their stakeholders, to many nonprofits an online social network is just another mailing list. With forwarding built in.
Online Social Networks Are Not Mailing Lists

Most rescue groups have some sort of call for volunteers on their website:


Do you love animals? Can you spare some time to meet new people and learn new skills? If so we are looking for you! Become a volunteer at our shelter. For more details give call…


And this ‘throw the net wide’ kind of approach brings in a mix of people with varied skills and interest levels. Great – if you have unlimited time to train people and feel your organisation should be represented by any Joe Blow. But if you’re serious about getting exactly the right volunteer for your group, then you have to be specific.


A normal business looking for an accountant to work 5 days a week for $40,000 wouldn’t put an advert on their corporate website saying “do you love accounting? Can you spare some time?”


No, they’d say: We’re Company X and we’re looking for someone with X skills to work for us. We can offer you X.


And that would bring in applicants who knew exactly what was on offer, what was required of them and what they’d get in return.


Company X would then get a shortlist together of suitable applicants and interview each one to see if they were appropriate.


But! I hear you say. We’re desperate for volunteers and we can’t pay them anything!


Wrong. You’re desperate because often you’ve taken on the wrong volunteers and they’ve made things harder for everyone, or they’ve left… or the right volunteer hasn’t approached you in the first place because they didn’t know you were looking for them. And you’re going to pay them with the satisfaction that comes from working on something altruistic that suits their personality, skills and helps define who they are.


Think of the last time you got a really good volunteer. One worth their weight in gold and who made everything better for having them on board. They’re who you’re going to start attracting from now on.


Some groups are already seeing the value in choosing, interviewing and giving their volunteers the ownership that comes from being ‘hand-picked’ for a particular role.

Care for abandoned animals. Work outdoors with donkeys

ROLE: Volunteers assist in general paddock maintenance, donkey grooming and care and with fundraising.

VOLUNTEER PROFILE: Reliable, confident with large animals, fit and able to work, once trained, without direct supervision or support. No experience of working with donkeys is required, but a genuine desire to relate with and care for animals is essential. Volunteers must be happy to work as part of a team, carry out instructions and be physically able to contribute to outdoor activities. The paddocks are rough and volunteers need to be very steady on their feet.

COMMITMENT: Commit for at least 12 months. 10:00am to 2:00pm on Tuesdays or Saturdays, committing themselves weekly or fortnightly to build a relationship with the donkeys under care. Consistency is vital as team chores are dependant on numbers of volunteers who are rostered to attend. Fund raising activities are held from time to time.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS: Contact the manager to arrange a trial session.

TRAINING & SUPPORT: Training on the job under supervision is undertaken with the option of further training so that volunteers become Welfare Sub-Committee Officers.

This ad was on Seek Volunteer, but I’d recommend putting your ad in the local paper with the paid advertisements or on the main Seek website. Not everyone with the skills you are looking for will necessarily be looking for a volunteer role – until you suggest it.


So now the big question is… who do you need?

The Pet Industry is celebrating, claiming they’ve won the ‘pet shop battle’ with Clover Moore’s current bill failing to make it to parliament;

On 26th June the Clover Moore “Animals (Regulation of Sale) Bill 2007” came to a very silent death – so silent in fact that her supporters are still out there seeking support.

Meanwhile, I’m compiling the list of feedback we’ve received since launching Where Do Puppies Come From? a little over a week ago.


The ‘Pet Shops Stars’ initiative; a way for the community to heap praise on those stores who don’t sell pets, has seen a pile of pet shops put forward… and this feedback shows an unmistakable, common theme.

There are no live puppies or kittens for sale. The day they ever do my money goes elsewhere.

I always travel the extra few kilometres to purchase my pet products from them.

I can’t speak highly enough about them–they respect and love animals and I recommend them to everyone.

I always patronise Petstock Ballarat as they do not sell pups or kittens in their stores.

I am always on the hunt for pet shops who are demonstrating responsible ownership of pets.

While the pet industry might be patting themselves on the back for gathering support in parliament, are they actually listening to the people who really matter – their public?


Where Do Puppies Come From? is only one small part of a very large wheel that has begun to turn; informed Australians simply do not accept that pets should be sold as retail items. Any smart business person would be ahead of this consumer evolution and anticipate this change in behaviour.


Cue stores like Pet Stock. These guys are a national franchise who don’t sell puppies and kittens. They realise that getting pets out of stores and working instead with rescue to hold adoption events is not only more ethical, but pretty soon is going to be what is demanded by customers. And they’ve got the jump on it.


These guys are the pet shop of the future. In 20 years time we’ll look back and think “wasn’t it quaint that we thought it ok to farm dogs and distribute them through glass boxes in shopping malls” in the same way we look back at a lot of the things our grandparents did and quietly think “really? How could you possibly think that was ok?”


It is expected a new Bill will be introduced in September and with that the battle amongst the lobbyists will begin all over again. But in the meantime we’ll keep on spreading the truth to the people who really matter – the public – and the changes will come about whether Clover says they should or not.

Where Do Puppies Come From? ninemsn advert

Whyalla News Article 14/07/08

Where Do Puppies Come From? on Google

Are you tired of having the same conversations with people over and over as to why they should change? Are you sick of them taking your good advice and ignoring it? Does your group try to bring new initiatives to the community, only to have them fail due to lack of support?


From the brilliantly titled People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them comes this gem of advice;

If you believe that people hate change and that it is your job to change them, they will hate it. If you believe that people thrive on change and that your job is to unleash it, you will tap into a limitless source of ingenuity, energy and drive that will allow you to consistently take your big ideas into big results.

People don’t hate change, they hate being told they should change. That means they, by default, hate you and your message.


So how do you get people to support you and your ideals? When you’re filled with boundless enthusiasm and faced with a resistant public, how do you get people to start listening to you?

1. It’s not about you

I scolded a lady recently for asking for advice on how to breed her staffy. I told her all the reasons she shouldn’t, gave her statistic, case studies, the lot. I thought I’d handled it impeccably… she felt like I had attacked her and withdrew from the discussion. Her dog will now be bred regardless and she thinks much, much less of rescue as a whole.


It’s really easy when you know a lot about your cause, to think it’s just a matter of time until everyone comes around to your way of thinking if you could just get them to listen. Trouble is, this approach automatically puts you at odds with the other person. You’re busy trying to impart knowledge onto them, when the truth is, you should be listening so they give you insight into what motivates them. You should be having a conversation.


Had I just asked her “why are you breeding your dog” I could have started a dialogue. Did she not know about desexing? Did she want to make money? Did she think that her dog was nice? or did she just like puppies?


How can you change someone’s behaviour if you don’t take the time to find out why it is they do what they do? If I had asked, I could have found her reasons and just simply addressed those. Instead I bombarded her with information that I thought was important… and she quite rightfully thought I was overbearing and arrogant. My message meant nothing to her personally.

2. Demand Less

When people come to us we tend to give them a 100 point plan to be a successful owner – because we have knowledge in so many areas and we think we should be aiming for a perfect solution.


Trouble is, that leaves anyone who doesn’t have the passion to implement a 100 point plan feeling like you judge them a failure. And no one wants to deal with someone who makes them feel like a failure.


Forget perfection. Choose the top three things you want your adopters to do, then make all your plans, promotions, initiatives and organisation goals reflect those three.


The first point is obviously going to be; choosing a rescue pet in the first place.


Consider each adopter who does these three things an absolute success. And then tell them so.


By focusing on making people feel successful, you’ll engage and empower them to be more interested in their pets’ care. A likely side effect will be that you get more interest in your other 97 less critical pet care points.

3. Engage people upfront

What can your organisation do to be more successful in your community? Well, have you ever asked them?


If you have a team of volunteers, have you ever asked them to spread the word on your behalf? At their work, school and to their friends and family? Ideas that are spread by individuals are much more effective than anything your organisation can do.


Do you ask the people who visit your organisation how they rate their experience? If you’re to compete with the other sources of pets available, then you have to know whether you’re providing great, good or completely rubbish service, to rate your effectiveness.


Do you know who your community leaders are? It might be your local council, your local ranger services, local businesses or other non-profit groups. Note: If you find that you’re at odds with a lot of these influential people, then it’s going to dramatically effect your ability to get results – find a way to get over it.


Working as part of your community allows you to build relationships that makes peoples’ behaviour change naturally, rather than trying to force it upon them.

It can be done

Recognising that we can’t change people “because we think they should”, gives us the freedom to start listening to them and then working on programs to seduce them into our way of thinking. By giving up on the idea of perfection, we allow ourselves to stop sitting in judgment and instead begin congratulating our adopters for their successes – empowering them to care for their pets. By engaging people in our community and asking them what they need from us, we become more relevant.


Impact is not about how successful, knowledgeable and inspired we are, it’s about how we affect those same traits in others. Change is possible.

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Edited to add: Michael Kanazawa (author of the article “People Don’t Hate Change, They Hate How You’re Trying to Change Them) contacted me about this post. I’m stoked obviously!

He says: I love the way you interpreted my work for your situation and for other organizations trying to engage the public. I’ve not spent much time thinking about those connections, but it is great!

Thanks Mike – you’ve made my month! :)