About a month ago, we implemented a significant new staffing protocol in the kennels. Our kennels are now staffed around the clock, 7 seven days a week. This has had a positive impact on our dogs and our mission in several ways.
The most obvious is that the dogs are now under constant supervision. Dogs that are recuperating from surgeries can be monitored hourly, if needed. Medications can be administered more effectively. The feeding schedule is more in sync with a "home" schedule. The dogs get additional run times later into the evening, which means more relief opportunities, which means maintaining their housebreaking, which means cleaner kennels.
A nice bonus to all this, from a training perspective, is that trainers are no longer cleaning kennels in the morning. On the old schedule, the entire training and kennel staffs would clean the kennels first thing, then feed and run the dogs. This entire process took upwards of 2+ hours, which was 2+ hours every day that we weren't training dogs.
Now, when trainers arrive at 6:30am, the dogs have had their first run of the day (a quick one, just to relieve) and are ready for breakfast. Trainers feed their dogs and administer any medications. This usually takes about 30-45 minutes. Then we load up dogs and head off to our training locations. This added training time each day allows us to train more dogs, do longer routes or train in multiple locations, depending on where we are in the training cycle.
None of this would be possible without the commitment of management or the
work of the kennel assistants and specially trained volunteers who work in three shifts over the 24 hour day. And a special hat tip to the staff members who work the overnight or weekend/holidays shifts.
This is just one example of several new initiatives that have either begun or are in the works. Stay tuned for future posts on the subject.
