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PAW PRINTSWinter 2014 Enriching the Lives of Shelter Dogs Moving into 2014, Heart of the Valley’s Canine Behavior and Enrichment Department is busy and thriving. There are so many new and exciting programs being implemented at Heart of the Valley for our shelter dogs, each designed to better their lives inside and outside the shelter. On any given day, you will find Heart of the Valley staff and volunteers hard at work training and enriching the lives of shelter dogs. You may find Ben Donoghue, Canine Evaluator and Trainer, in the Community Room, video recording a one-on-one training session with a young and eager to learn shelter dog. If you are downtown, you may cross paths with volunteer, Ross Calarco, practicing leash walking and socialization with a friendly shelter dog who is sporting a blue “Adopt Me” vest. Walk past the shelter’s grooming room and you may find the lights turned down low and see Courtney Collins, Animal Massage Practitioner, massaging the achy limbs of a high-energy and anxious shelter dog (see below). Driving along the road to the shelter, you may find yourself coming upon Tony Marcuzzo, Behavior Assistant, being pulled on skis behind an active shelter dog who loves to run (see page 3). Heart of the Valley strives to make every dog that is adopted into our community an ambassador for the shelter. This is accomplished through one-on-one training sessions from our dedicated canine staff and hours of time and patience spent with experienced volunteers. While a shelter can be stressful place for dogs, we work diligently to enrich their lives as much as possible. Thanks to generous grants from the Cross Charitable Foundation and the Gilhousen Family Foundation as well as a matching gift from Ron and Jane Lerner, our shelter dogs are gaining new life skills to take with them into their forever homes. It is our hope that with compassion and proper training we can increase the adoptability of the lost or surrendered dogs that are in our care. A Hands-On Approach to Easing Anxiety Courtney owns and operates Canine Kneads Animal Massage. She is a graduate of the Northwest School of Animal Massage, where she received her certification as a Small Animal Massage Practitioner. She is a member of the International Association of Animal Massage and Bodywork and the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals. The endless courage of her last companion Red October and the magical bond that occurred between them is what inspired her to pursue a career to work with dogs. “Working with shelter dogs is FUN! First I take the grooming room and transform it. I bring in a soft light table lamp, I have a diffuser infused with Lavender steaming the room, I put two big wireless speakers out, one in the tub and one under the kennels, and then I turn on the massage music. I like the dogs to have a new experience and I am trying to create a calm environment. I really enjoy the dogs at HOV because they need not be sick or injured. The focus for me at HOV is the long stay dogs, dogs that have been at the shelter a little longer than normal. Often it will be with a very young very high energy dog. One of the most priceless moments for me is the first few seconds that a dog shuts Courtney lends her skills to out the barking, the clanking of cages and the doors closing and opening. When I see it shelter dogs in need in their face and their eyes close and the deep breath finally comes, that is what is most rewarding.” - Courtney Collins Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter • 1549 East Cameron Bridge Road • P.O. Box 11390 Bozeman, MT 59719 (406) 388-9399 • www.heartofthevalleyshelter.org Open Monday through Sunday, 11:30 am - 5:30 pm heartofthevalleyshelter.org Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter The Importance of Having a Plan 1549 East Cameron Bridge Road P.O. Box 11390 Bozeman, MT 59719 Open 11:30 am - 5:30 pm Monday through Sunday One of the most difficult questions to answer is “what do you want?” The (406) 388-9399 www.heartofthevalleyshelter.org follow up question can be even more troublesome, “what is your plan to get there?” Board of Directors President: Allison Garwood Vice President: Margot B. Ogburn Keeping in the season, dropping 20 pounds may be want you want, but having Treasurer: Cory Pulfrey the will power to pass up a donut in the break room can be a real hurdle. Easy Secretary: Claire Gillam to lose focus, isn’t it? That’s why we need the strength of a plan. Mark Albrecht, DVM When I worked in the corporate world, creating a long term plan was a Jim Bangs Anne Sexton Bryan worthwhile venture. It gave us relief from daily work to reflect where the Laura Cunningham company was and where we wanted to go. The ink was hardly dry when Keith Hamburg Dawn Leadbetter changes in the market environment made us all understand the word flexible. Donna Spitzer Ostrovsky Liz Smith Wall Street loved our three year strategic plans, however their last question Nancy Xander was often, “how much money will you make this quarter?” I don’t miss those guys. Staff Executive Director First, I hate the words strategic plan - call it a road map, focus, or preparing your mind plan. It should be Phil Rogers measurable and manageable. Include stretch goals, but be realistic. And maybe most important, it should Director of Development Kathryn Hohmann be short enough so everyone in the organization knows what’s in it. At Heart of the Valley, we have just written such a document. It came from deep within people who are Development Assistant Amanda Davidson close to the shelter. The “want” part includes part drive and part focus. The plan part takes the same drive Operations Director and commitment. It lists our vision, mission and values. Second, initiatives and goals are limited to five, Maria Mulvaugh and verbiage wise, the length is two pages: Animal Care Manager Beth Harper • Shelter operations and programing Veterinarian • Training and Outreach John Weyhrich, DVM • Communication and Public Awareness Veterinary Assistants • Financial Sustainably Kari Chiocchi • Board Development Lisa Baker Volunteer/Education Manager As my grandmother Pearl once said, there are many different ways to get somewhere, (she also said that Emily Wallace cobwebs on the ground in the morning, meant it was going to rain that day). Our core mission remains the Education Coordinator same, but we are willing to get outside our comfort zone and build new roads. Stagnation is not an option. Kate Reedy As you will see, we are about connecting to the community and getting it right. We are non-political and Canine Behavior Consultant Ben Donoghue first and foremost comes the care of our shelter pets. Behavior Assistant Tony Marcuzzo On behalf of all HOV employees, we wish the best to our donors, volunteers and community supporters in Kennel Supervisor 2014. We hope you are looking forward to making this a great year. We know we are. Blaine Lorkiewicz Canine Coordinator Jordan Gilbert Customer Service Phil Rogers Megan Flamm Executive Director Canine/Feline Technicians Diane Browand P.S. Heart of the Valley’s new strategic plan is at the printers at the time of this newsletter. We will be more Molly Cayer Erika Gamache than happy to share it with you by mailing a copy upon request. Hans Glassman Jared Hogg Angie Kenworthy Stacy Miller Carlie Peterson Christian Richins Check out our new license plate design! Katie Voss Specialty pet license plate proceeds directly Scott Zimmerman Lauren Zwiefelhofer support Heart of the Valley! Page 2 heartofthevalleyshelter.org Skijoring with Shelter Dogs Heart of the Valley Behavior Assistant works with resident dogs on recreational skijoring By Tiffany Jerry, Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Writer Gliding on his skis down the snow-covered road, Tony Marcuzzo shouts, “Let’s go puppies” and “Good dogs” to the two canines in front of him. The dogs seem to sense the excitement in Marcuzzo’s tone and dash a bit faster across the snow. After a U-turn halfway down the road, Marcuzzo and the dogs speed back to the starting point and take a quick rest before pushing off for another trip down the lane. Marcuzzo, a behavior assistant at Heart of the Valley Animal Shelter in Bozeman, is just beginning his second season training dogs at the shelter for recreational skijoring – a sport he refers to as “a hybrid of skiing and mushing combined.” Long-stay shelter dog DJ, a Lab, pit bull, shepherd mix, is Marcuzzo’s “first protégé of the winter.” He is learning skijoring alongside Marcuzzo’s dog, Razzi. Marcuzzo, who has worked at Heart of the Valley for four years, said he was first introduced to scooterjoring – the snowless version of skijoring with dogs – three years ago. “A positive influence and friend of mine hooked me up one day on a scooter with a dog and I haven’t been able to stop since,” Marcuzzo said. During the spring and autumn – on the days of the year that are not too hot for the dogs – Marcuzzo began taking shelter dogs out for runs with a scooter. “We have quite a few dogs doing it now,” Marcuzzo said. “We’re fortunate enough to have a long, gravel driveway so we can run our dogs on scooters during the spring and fall when it’s cool enough.” Then, last year, Marcuzzo decided to introduce skijoring, when a retired sled dog was staying at the shelter.

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