Dogs Playing for Life

Background Statement

Aimee Sadler, DPFL's Founder and CEO, began in sheltering as a private trainer paid by a heartfelt citizen to work with the dogs at the local, municipal shelter in Southampton, NY. Sadler recognized quickly that efficiency was critical if she was to use her allocated time to help the most dogs cope better and find a family. At the time, Sadler didn't understand how much live-saving impact she would be able to achieve by simply letting dogs play, but she did recognize that getting twenty dogs out of their kennels in an hour was better than four. It seemed logical to Sadler that socializing in the yard first would better prepare the shelter dogs for their manners and basic training lessons. They would be able to expend excess energy in a healthy and interactive way that countered the common anxiety and frustration caused by life in a noisy, uncomfortable and stressful kennel. Sadler's job was to teach them to behave in an appealing and attractive way for volunteers and adopters. Playgroups quickly became the foundation of this work.

To Aimee's surprise, shelter dogs having social access to one another still raises concerns revolving around safety, behavioral and health risks. As a result, social isolation has been the industry norm for both dogs and cats for far too long. Even more concerning is this practice when so many animals are still being lost in shelters!

Logically, happier and satisfied animals are generally less stressed which equates to less disease and extreme behavior that puts people and animals at risk. Subsequently, shelter animals (and the volunteers eager to attend to them) are safer in the process, so more animals are finding their way into loving homes. Whether it is embracing colony housing for cats or play groups for dogs there is no doubt that offering a more natural environment and comprehensive approach helps shelters to better assess behavior, maintain healthy behavior, and support better adoption matches. From our approach and success, we have presented Dogs Playing for Life™ to over 130 shelters nationally. The two primary open admission shelters that have implemented Dogs Playing for Life™ in its' entirety now maintain a canine live release rate in excess of 95%!

With an increased demand for shelters desperate to do better by their dogs, Aimee Sadler began traveling and teaching at shelters full-time in January 2015. In March, DPFL secured non-profit standing and began training staff to train staff and volunteers at shelters nationwide how to implement daily play groups and the Dogs Playing for Life™ model. These exciting lifesaving outcomes revolve around something so simple and natural; let dogs be dogs and allow them to play together. The mission of Dogs Playing for Life is to provide tools and education to elevate the importance and quality of canine enrichment in animal shelters across the United States to ultimately save the lives of every dog possible. We accomplish this by mentoring staff and volunteers in as many shelters as possible to provide life-saving techniques in enrichment. In 2015 alone, DPFL reached over 50 shelters and as many as 500 staff and volunteers. In addition to seminars, DPFL mentors individuals interested in expanding their knowledge to address issues that come up during play groups.

DPFL would not exist without constant collaboration with other organizations and municipal shelters. We work with three shelters in particular, Austin Pets Alive!, Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, and Longmont Humane Society, who each have advanced behavior programs to mentor other shelters and set the standard for sheltering nationwide. DPFL is endorsed by The Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Farm Foundation, the ASPCA and Best Friends Animal Society and Aimee frequently speaks at each of their national conferences to share knowledge. Without these close and supportive relationships the work Dogs Playing for Life™ does would be limited, but with constant collaboration more shelters are saving more lives and letting dogs play for life.

DPFL successfully reaches all of its goals with just five board members, two full-time staff members, one part-time, and seven additional independent contractors. Our volunteer base stretches across the country and includes thousands of shelter workers and volunteers from hundreds of shelters. Without the support of these talented and passionate people, thousands of dogs would still be frustrated and trapped in kennels.

Despite DPFL's measured success to date, expansion of this valuable resource is impossible without additional funding. Through partnerships with private foundations, DPFL has been able to provide seminars to shelters that lack the resources to pay for canine enrichment programming on their own. Your consideration to support DPFL will change the lives of shelter dogs and their caretakers across the nation.