{"id":2785,"date":"2021-11-01T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T07:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/"},"modified":"2024-09-04T19:56:37","modified_gmt":"2024-09-04T19:56:37","slug":"fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><strong>Sandra Toney<br \/>\n<\/strong>Animal shelters are probably one of the places that cause the most anxiety for a pet. They are confused and scared in the unfamiliar surroundings. More and more shelters are using the skills they learned from the Fear Free program for dealing with distraught and frightened animals. The more that shelter staff use what they learn from the Fear Free program, the more animals they can help to become happy and adoptable pets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Animal Welfare League of Alexandria (AWLA) has always strived to provide the best care to the animals in our facility, and by having all of our staff undergo Fear Free training, we are expanding the way we can help animals be healthier and more comfortable,\u201d says executive director Stella Hanly. \u201cI&#8217;ve been so excited to see how our staff has expanded upon these core principles to engage with each animal individually and help them on these next steps of their journeys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia-based nonprofit shelter has been a refuge for homeless pets since 1946. The shelter cares for more than 2,000 animals per year: everything from cats and dogs to iguanas and chinchillas. Five hundred volunteers provide a much-needed boost to day-to-day staff.<\/p>\n<p>Gina Hardter, director of marketing and communications, first became aware of the Fear Free program several years ago when she was looking for a course on dog behavior.<\/p>\n<p>After looking into the program, shelter management decided the entire staff would benefit from Fear Free certification. \u201cWe are always looking for ways to advance the level of care we can give to our animals, to keep them happy and healthy,\u201d Hardter says. \u201cThe Fear Free approach provided structured guidance that could be used consistently by all of our teams.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Becoming Fear Free certified gave the team direction in practices they had been considering, says adoptions manager Sean Furmage. \u201cIt was a good way for all of us to be working from the same set of information, especially about animal body language, as well as great advice on how to reduce stress in our interactions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The personal victories with certain animals have been another benefit of Fear Free certification. Furmage recalls a young terrier mix named Buddie, who was shy and appeared frightened of the men on staff.\u00a0 Furmage spent several weeks simply walking by and tossing her treats, not forcing an interaction, and eventually began to sit with her while attempting to take her outside the kennel. When two male adopters came to meet her, he explained to them what they might see with her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDuring their first meeting, she mostly just watched them from a distance. But then they came back a second time and a third time, and that time, she let them pet her and you could see in her body that she wasn\u2019t as scared,\u201d says Furmage. \u201cWe offered them the chance to foster her so they could get to know her even better, and I actually drove her to their house so she felt more comfortable.\u00a0 A week later, they adopted her and have sent us the cutest photos of how well she\u2019s doing with them now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Julian Carter, animal care and behavior associate, says becoming Fear Free certified has made a difference in his awareness of animals\u2019 boundaries and how respecting those boundaries can help each animal be more comfortable and less anxious.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re lucky because we can give animals the time and space they need to feel comfortable and, by observing their behavior and reading body language, it helps to cut down on stress and injuries or actions that may result from it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carter had his victory moment with a young, energetic dog named Juice. \u201cHe pulled a lot on his leash, was reactive in his kennel, and he didn\u2019t really have any manners. We realized that he needed time to feel comfortable with people, and the consistency of a training plan so that everyone who was working with him was doing the same thing.\u00a0 It helped him to build expectations, which made him more comfortable around people as well as learning manners and tricks that would be helpful when he went to his new home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Several trained staff and volunteers worked with Juice. They took him outside so he could burn off excess energy, making his training fun. Soon, it was wonderful for staff and volunteers to see how far he had come from those days of barking and growling in his kennel. Carter says, \u201cJuice actually just went home earlier this week because of the Fear Free treatment and training approach, which helped get him ready for a home environment.\u201d While ultimately that home was not the right fit for Juice, the team at AWLA continues to work with the dog on his training plan to help him grow and be ready to meet his future family.<\/p>\n<p>Working with sick and injured animals is certainly more challenging than healthy ones. Arianne Killen, senior manager of veterinary and foster care, has worked at AWLA for nearly four years. She says when she\u2019s examining animals and performing standard care, she thinks more about the animal\u2019s stress levels and what she can do to keep their anxiety levels down.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2774680\" src=\"https:\/\/fearfreepets.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cooper.Courtesy-Dirty-Paw-Photography-1-300x240.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" \/>Whenever she\u2019s in the veterinary suite, she remembers her Fear Free training. \u201cThey are already in pain and probably very stressed,\u201d Killen says, \u201cbut by keeping calm, quiet, and moving slowly and predictably, I can help prevent that stress level from rising, which could make them feel even worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A cat named Church came to the AWLA shelter after being at another shelter for about six months and not getting much attention from potential adopters. He hid under his bed when people came around.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was also a little shy about people being around his head because of previous medical treatments,\u201d Killen says. \u201cI realized he was the kind of cat that you just needed to follow his lead. If I put my finger out, he would slowly come up and sniff it, then rub his head against it.\u00a0 Once I did that, he was so much more comfortable with me, and then I could work with him much more reliably to provide medical attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hardter recalls an older Cocker Spaniel who came into the shelter. His leg had been amputated after an injury, and he would yelp or scream whenever anyone touched him, or even if he thought they were going to touch him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe could tell he was beyond stressed but did not know how to help,\u201d she says. \u201cWe followed his lead by giving him space to be with us without forcing an interaction and soon found he was following close behind us, even though he still didn\u2019t want to be touched. One evening when our office was empty, I just sat on the ground near his bed and started talking to him. I wasn\u2019t looking at him but just chatting in a calm, even voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She started reading him her emails because she didn\u2019t know what else to say. Suddenly, she felt something on her arm. To her surprise, he had approached her on his own and leaned gently against her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of his location, I was able to pet him on his neck \u2013 and he didn\u2019t scream.\u00a0 We sat that way for 20 minutes,\u201d Hardter says. \u201cHe still had a way to go before he was ready to find his family, but that was our first sign that he was ready to start that journey and, because we followed his lead, I think he learned that he could trust that people were safe to be around and just wanted to help him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was reviewed\/edited by board-certified veterinary behaviorist Dr. Kenneth Martin and\/or veterinary technician specialist in behavior Debbie Martin, LVT.<\/em><\/p>\n<h6 id=\"h-steve-dale-cabc-certified-animal-behavior-consultant-has-written-and-contributed-to-many-books-about-pets-hosts-three-radio-shows-contributes-to-veterinary-practice-news-catster-and-others-is-on-the-board-of-directors-of-the-human-animal-bond-association-and-winn-feline-foundation-and-is-chief-correspondent-for-fear-free-happy-homes-he-speaks-at-conferences-worldwide-his-blog-www-stevedale-tv\">Sandra Toney has been writing about cats for over 25 years and is an award-winning member of Cat Writers Association and Dog Writers Association of America. She has written for many print and online magazines about cat health and behavior as well as authoring eight books. She lives in northern Indiana with her cat, Angel.<\/h6>\n<h6><em>Top photo: Cupcake, courtesy DeSilva Studios; Cooper (rabbit), courtesy Dirty Paw Photography<br \/>\n<\/em><\/h6>\n<h6><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More and more shelters are using skills they learn from the Fear Free program for dealing with distraught and frightened animals, helping to turn them into happy and adoptable pets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2786,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[134,194,172,283],"content-type":[47],"duration":[53],"membership-type":[75,125,78,79,80],"profession":[],"species":[31,34],"topic":[27],"class_list":["post-2785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-fear-free","tag-pets","tag-shelter","tag-success","content-type-blog","duration-5-minutes-or-less","membership-type-animal-trainer","membership-type-certified-practice","membership-type-groomer","membership-type-pet-sitter","membership-type-veterinary","species-canine","species-feline","topic-success-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria - Fear Free<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria - Fear Free\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"More and more shelters are using skills they learn from the Fear Free program for dealing with distraught and frightened animals, helping to turn them into happy and adoptable pets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fear Free\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-01T07:00:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-04T19:56:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tbe_admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tbe_admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/\",\"name\":\"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria - Fear Free\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-01T07:00:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-04T19:56:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35bff8c8b7f8addbc63d72a9543f0f1e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"|\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fear Free\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35bff8c8b7f8addbc63d72a9543f0f1e\",\"name\":\"tbe_admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df317f5eeb4863c421687d054ae671ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df317f5eeb4863c421687d054ae671ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"tbe_admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/fearfree-starter:8888\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/author\/tbe_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria - Fear Free","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria - Fear Free","og_description":"More and more shelters are using skills they learn from the Fear Free program for dealing with distraught and frightened animals, helping to turn them into happy and adoptable pets.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/","og_site_name":"Fear Free","article_published_time":"2021-11-01T07:00:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-09-04T19:56:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"tbe_admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"tbe_admin","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/","url":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/","name":"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria - Fear Free","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg","datePublished":"2021-11-01T07:00:33+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-04T19:56:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35bff8c8b7f8addbc63d72a9543f0f1e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Cupcake.Courtesy-DeSilva-Studios-1-scaled-e1635365923266.jpg","width":900,"height":720,"caption":"|"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/2021\/11\/fear-free-success-story-animal-welfare-league-of-alexandria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fear Free Success Story: Animal Welfare League of Alexandria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/","name":"Fear Free","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35bff8c8b7f8addbc63d72a9543f0f1e","name":"tbe_admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df317f5eeb4863c421687d054ae671ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/df317f5eeb4863c421687d054ae671ef?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"tbe_admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/fearfree-starter:8888"],"url":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/author\/tbe_admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2785"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3580,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2785\/revisions\/3580"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"content-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-type?post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"duration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/duration?post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"membership-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/membership-type?post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"profession","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profession?post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"species","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/species?post=2785"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fearfree.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=2785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}