August 22, 2025 • 37 mins
Animal rescue advocate Sydney deVictoria Michel shares their journey that began with a "temporary foster" turning into a long-term commitment. This episode explores the difference in animal welfare between the North and South, highlighting the challenges of overcrowded shelters and cultural attitudes toward spaying and neutering. Sydney recounts experiences from working with local rescues and discusses the work of doing dog assessments and transporting animals. The conversation also provides advice for potential adopters, emphasizing the importance of keeping an open mind, understanding an animal's adjustment period, and seeking a trainer's help for behavioral issues.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dixie (00:02):
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Today's guest is Sydney deVictoriaMichel, an animal advocate Hi Sydney.
Welcome to the show.
Before we start, tell us how yougot started in animal rescue and
(00:24):
give us a brief bio on yourself.
Sydney (00:27):
Whew.
It's a convoluted journey, I guessyou could say it started, I was living
in Washington state north of Seattle.
I started working for a dog bar outthere and through that kind of got more
exposure with different dog behaviorsand oh, big dogs make big sounds cool.
Started getting some training there.
Volunteered with theHumane Society out there.
(00:50):
Fast forward, moved out or moved downto New Orleans and literally within two
weeks of us being there, saw a Facebookpost for a dog needing a place to stay.
And we're like, great, we'lljust do a temporary foster.
We didn't know animal rescue andanimal welfare in the south and
how temporary is not a thing.
So we get this black female pit bull.
(01:11):
We're in with one of the rescues,and by some miracle, we ended up
getting her adopted two, almosttwo weeks later to the hour.
So she gets adopted and then wewere hooked, I think in the two
and a half years we were there.
We fostered dogs the entire way through,with very short breaks in between.
So from fostering, I becamea foster coordinator.
(01:34):
Foster coordinator to a manager for oneof the facilities with a local rescue.
Then I started working with theinner pups, so more on kind of
the low income household, keepingpets in the home situations.
Started getting in with the shelters.
Learned how to do assessments.
Met different staff and differentdirectors with different rescues.
(01:57):
Got tied in with rescuesoutside of the state.
Started doing some, transportcoordination, transporting
dogs out of state.
And then before we moved back up toMinnesota I ended up working with
zeus's rescues for almost a yearfor the last part of our time there.
Dixie (02:15):
You said temporary is not a thing in the south.
Can you explain that?
Sydney (02:20):
From what I learned about my time being there is just with
how many animals are in need.
Both on the street, in theshelter, in the rescue.
We can go into why the reasons arefor why there are so many to truly
do just a temporary foster situation.
There aren't enough open homesto be able to move a dog quickly
(02:44):
to really say yes, I can do.
Just this, these few days,at least not the beginning.
There are rescues thatare really good at that.
But as a whole, when you're just jumpingin blind without any idea of what's
going on, if you don't have a goodnetwork to fall back onto, like you,
once you take a dog in, that dog stayswith you until you bring it to the
(03:07):
shelter, rehome, whatever it's reallyhard to truly do a full temporary.
I'm just here for a few days.
Dixie (03:17):
Is it different in other areas then?
Sydney (03:21):
I don't have a lot to compare to, honestly, because I didn't do rescue work.
I didn't foster until I was in the south.
Now that I'm up in Minnesota.
We've taken a break and a breatherfrom rescue and fostering.
Minnesota has laws and guidelines.
Like we have five animals at ahome and we technically should
have a multi pet household permit.
(03:42):
And to do that, then we also haveto get permission from the city
in order to pull another animalin, even if we're just fostering.
. On that part, we have, we haven't beenable to get fully into rescue, but
also just from an outsider perspective,I don't see a lot of stray animals.
I don't see desperate postslooking for fosters, looking
(04:03):
for homes, looking for adopters.
It's just from looking outside in witha rescue perspective coming from the
south it really is a night and day.
Area, night, day, place,situation, mindset.
What have you.
Dixie (04:16):
Do you think that's more from the environment there, or do you think it has
to do with this permit that you're talkingabout with having so many pets you have
to go apply for a permit to have more?
Sydney (04:27):
I think the permit's just a small part of it.
It's really just I'd call ita symptom almost, of just what
the mindset is up on the south.
On one hand.
Environment on, on the veryreal weather side of it.
Like we have winters up here and we knowhow animals do in freezing, freezing cold.
So animals on the street don't quitemake it as well as they would otherwise.
(04:50):
But we also up in the north, spaying andneutering is more of a common mindset.
You do have an animal control thatactually is gonna be more on top of it.
They're gonna, they will actually followup on animal abuse charges or reports.
And they just keep better tabs onthings they have, they seem to do
a better job really following upwith spay and neuter requirements.
(05:14):
So yeah, just on a granderscale, they seem to be better at
helping to manage the population.
And down in the south, it's,there's really not much regulation.
There's not much follow up.
The mindset is I'm gonna keep my dog'sgonna keep their balls because that's
their manhood, and my dog's gonna haveone litter because they should know love.
(05:37):
And there's not reallythe understanding of okay.
Your dog and every other dogaround you is gonna do that.
And then where do the puppies go?
And down in the south, what we wouldsee is the puppies would just, they'd
go to the shelter, they'd go tothe river, they'd go to the field.
The lives are viewed prettydifferent on a cultural level.
Dixie (05:57):
Why do you think that is?
Since you've been in both places, whatdo you think the difference is that in
Minnesota they actually value spay neuter.
They understand the importance of it.
But when we're here in the south,like you said, we hear every single
excuse you could possibly hear.
Sydney (06:15):
I don't know.
And maybe that's because I haven't.
Been able to step more into rescuehere, or maybe it's because I just
grew up in it and so it's harder forme to get that outside perspective
because I grew up in Minneapolis andI don't have a great answer for that.
Maybe it's education, maybeit's just there are less animals
(06:39):
around, so it's more of a scarcity.
I could probably find peopleto talk to and try and get some
better answers, but don't havethe answer off the top of my head.
Dixie (06:48):
Yeah, I understand.
, I was just wondering becauseyou do see that here like a lot.
I was always raised with spay neuter,so for me it's always been a thing
if I was gonna have a pet, theywere gonna be spayed or neutered.
But there's so many people hereand it doesn't seem to matter what
their education level is here too.
You could have college graduates that.
(07:10):
Don't value spay neuter either.
You could have peoplewith advanced degrees.
Anything that would helpspread that message here would
help us out tremendously.
Sydney (07:20):
Yeah.
It's inneresting.
There were a few times I actually saw it.
You'd think it was a total opposingviewpoint, but the reason that I saw
people argue against spay and neuterwas for bodily autonomy for the animals.
Their argument for not spayingor neutering their dog or cat
(07:43):
was because the animals could notphysically agree to the surgery.
Which was the strangestargument that I have ever seen.
And like something about you saying thata higher education, anytime I saw that
argument it tended to be from peoplefrom higher educational backgrounds.
(08:06):
And I'm like, I don't evenknow how to argue with this.
You've taken this bodily autonomyargument on some level that just
doesn't, it stopped making sense.
Dixie (08:17):
And like I said, it doesn't really seem to matter.
Where your economical status is.
It doesn't matter whereyour educational status is.
I wish I could find out how toreach more people with that.
Sydney (08:29):
I do too.
I know, the inner pup, I don'tknow if you've heard of them or
worked with them or spoken withanybody with that organization.
They're really amazing organization thatlooks at that, the long-term relationship
and the long range conversations.
So when I worked with them, Iwould go door to homes and it was
(08:50):
literally like the neighborhoodsthat most people would wanna go into.
And I would just go and I'dsee, okay, you've gotta beware
of dog sign, or there's a doghanging out tied up on the porch.
I'm gonna go talk to you.
And it would just be talkingabout here are the services.
Have you, thought about gettingyour dog spayed or neutered?
Why or why not?
And if they said no, and theywere adamant, it's alright, fine.
(09:12):
We're here.
Let us know how else we can help.
And because we would get themtied in and I'm not there anymore.
But the organization wouldget them help in other ways.
There were many times that theywere actually able to speak with
breeders and down the line, finallyget them to change their mind.
They go, you know what?
Yep, you're right.
I see this.
(09:32):
There are too many dogs here.
I'm ready to get my dog fixed.
I don't want to do this anymore.
So sometimes it is just a waiting game.
It's meeting people where they're at andrather than trying to force something
down their throat, it's like, all right,you're not there and me fighting you
on this isn't gonna change anything.
And I met some reallyamazing people that way.
(09:53):
Surprisingly.
Dixie (09:55):
We did have Genie on the show.
It was a few months ago.
So she did talk about all the work thatshe does with the heartworm prevention.
With you though, being on the go doorto door end tell us more about that.
Sydney (10:08):
So yeah, I was the community outreach person.
So the inner pup, like their bigthing that they're more known for
is their heartworm prevention,their heartworm treatment clinics.
They have so much more beyond that.
They're really good at gettinga ton of grant money in.
And some of the programs they have,one of them is a spay and neuter grant.
And so low income households andlow income can mean a lot of things.
(10:31):
It could just literallymean, Hey, you know what?
I lost my job.
I'm going through a roughtime for a few months.
I could really use this help,and they will assist you on that.
So you can go and get your dog spayedor neutered and the copay is $20
i've got this dog.
They're really great, but I could reallyuse some help training on these behaviors.
They have training grants wherethey'll connect you with, I know I've
(10:54):
met two of the trainers and there'stwo others outside of the state,
but they'll connect you with one of'em and they will pay, I wanna say
they pay at least 80% of the costs.
So if the total cost for all thesessions is $300, the family, the
household only has to pay 20% of that.
So it's affordable training.
It's affordable spay and neuter.
(11:15):
They have vet assistant grants as well.
And then they have theheartworm prevention grants.
They also do CAT clinics, Genie lovestalking about heartworm treatment,
heartworm prevention, all that.
She'll talk about any of it really.
But part of what I would do is I'd gointo the target neighborhoods and I
would just talk to people and say, doyou know that this organization exists?
(11:37):
Do you know what programsthey have available?
And usually we would pick the neighborhoodbased on where the clinic was gonna be.
So when we'd have a clinic in CentralCity, I would go canvas around Central
City and just try to get as many people.
To the clinic as I could.
So yeah, that I was like the faceto face with them for a while.
Dixie (12:01):
You said you did fostering and you worked as a manager at another group.
What are the other groups that youworked with or volunteered with?
Sydney (12:08):
So I've worked or volunteered with Take Paws, with Arno,
with Zeuss, with trampled rose.
I've helped out, volunteeredwith big easy Animal Rescue.
Trying to think.
There were a couple other smallrescues that we fostered one or two
dogs with that were out of town.
(12:28):
But then whether or not I've fosteredwith them, I've at least had contact
with the directors of a couple ofother small rescues in the area.
And it was just originally my planwas like, Hey, I'm gonna go in,
I'm gonna do assessments in theshelter for dogs that are available.
Can I get, like when you tell me what youhave room for and I can work on getting
you the information you need for dogs.
(12:50):
And some of the rescueswere just too small.
It was hard to make it work.
But a few of the bigger ones wedid end up, I was able to go in,
do the assessments, get thesedogs tagged, and then get them to
the rescue and outta the shelter.
Dixie (13:04):
Did you do the assessments for like multiple groups at a
time or would you just strictlywork with one group at a time?
Sydney (13:11):
I would do 'em for a lot.
I I would go in and do theassessments and then share those
assessments with different rescues.
I actually learned how to dothis work From Jess at Arno.
I got to go shadow her a few timesand see her work with some of the,
originally I went to go see herwork with some of the tougher cases.
(13:32):
Some German shepherds and shapaythat were like a little sketchy.
So I got to learn a ton from her andmet another woman who is phenomenal at
networking with out-of-state rescues.
And then I actually started making some ofmy own connections with, I had a rescue in
Idaho that I was getting dogs sent out to.
One in Illinois, one in Wisconsin.
(13:55):
So I just started building up my ownover the months that I was doing that.
Dixie (14:02):
With the dog assessments, can you explain how you go in and do that?
And for people that don't know what adog assessment is, what that is actually.
Sydney (14:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
There's, there are actually like specificassessments that are out there and some
people will do different for, or, they'lldo different format forms or formats.
Primarily what I would look at isone, can a dog be handled safely?
So just looking at how a dogwould be handled at a vet.
(14:33):
Can I pull on the ears?
Can I tug on the tail?
Can I go ahead and put pressureon the top, which would
generally be an assertive move.
Are they gonna get really tough?
Stiff and maybe get grumpy about it.
Can I hold their paws?
Are they gonna let me do thehandling that a vet would do?
Or even just that somebodyat a house would do.
The other is a resourceguarding and first with food.
(14:55):
So I'd put a bowl of food down.
I'd use what's called an sussa hand,which they don't make, but I just would,
I got a Halloween prop hand, put iton the, on a stick, and I would use
that so , I'd give the dog the food,I'd start handling 'em with the hand.
Then I'd go eventually and startputting the hand in the bowl and
it's to see are you going to, arethe dogs going to get defensive?
(15:16):
Are they going to growl or are theygonna fight or even attack the hand?
And then do the same with thetoy and then also do a dog test.
So like, how is that dog when they'remeeting or inneracting with another dog?
And those are really the main thingsthat a rescue's gonna wanna know.
If I can find a dog where I'm going,Hey, , they were good with every
(15:38):
single bit of handling that I did.
They had no issue with meputting hand touching them or
putting my hand in the food bowl.
They were fantastic with a dog orwith three dogs that I tried and they
didn't have any issue with a toy Thatis a gift to a rescue to say I found
this dog and they, I call them agem dog, like this dog is fantastic.
(15:58):
I would take it home if Ididn't have five of my own.
And then if there's otherbehaviors, I always work to be
as honest as I possibly can.
If I see that there was anissue that popped up in a, an
assessment, I will tell that rescue.
Sometimes I can say, Hey, yeah, thereis an issue with this other dog.
But it could have been because of X, Y, Z.
(16:20):
It could have beenbecause of leash tension.
It could have been because thisdog hasn't been neutered yet, or
it was male in a male or whatever.
And then I I give the rescue theoption to either ask me to get more
information to do another assessmentor, they can just say, Hey, right
now we don't have an opening to beable to work on those behaviors.
Dixie (16:40):
How long did you do the assessments for?
Sydney (16:44):
When did I start?
I wanna say it was like may of.
2024 and I would go in on and off
until about May of 2025when we moved up north.
So about a year.
Dixie (17:05):
And when you're assessing the dogs, how long does the
process take for each dog?
Sydney (17:11):
It's really not too long.
Some dogs, it can justbe five, 10 minutes.
Other dogs.
If like I, I would have every so oftenI'd have the shelter say, Hey, you know
what, this one's being sketchy, or Thisone staff are having a hard time handling.
And so I would make sure I'd givemore time to just try to figure
(17:31):
like either one, to give thedog more time to get used to me.
Or two, if the dog seemed to be reallyreactive to another dog, I would make sure
we would do a much longer introduction.
So it's pretty common forGerman Shepherds to not be great
immediately meeting nose to nose.
And so what we would do is I'd say,okay, bring a dog out that's pretty
(17:52):
good with other dogs that you'vetested before, and let's just walk
up and down this field together.
We're not gonna come close to each other.
We're not gonna let them make contact.
We're just gonna walk.
And they're gonna get used to eachother's presence and each other's smell.
And that would obviously add more timewhere, if I had a dog that I can't flat
out right away and was already giving megood signals or, weighed 10 pounds and
(18:15):
I'm not gonna be really concerned abouta ton of damage that that little dog
is gonna take less time than a biggerdog that already has some concerns.
So it depends, five to10 minutes to 30 to 40.
Dixie (18:30):
After you do the assessment, if you notice that there are some areas
that need to be worked on, do therescues take on that after, or do the
rescues just say, not pull the dog?
Sydney (18:41):
It depends on the behavior, it depends on the rescue and
it depends on the resources.
There have been some where I've beenable to say, Hey, here's what I saw, and.
They can say, you know what,I'm used to this behavior.
This is pretty typical.
That's fine.
We've got a great foster for this dog.
(19:02):
We'll take him.
Others where it might be.
The one foster we have who would begreat with this kind of behavior isn't
available right now, so we can't, orother behaviors where it's just this
is too risky for us to take on at all.
More often than not, I waspretty fortunate to be able
to get a lot of dogs placed.
But it just really, all depends.
Dixie (19:24):
I know you have a Facebook group too called Chronicles of Chef.
So yeah, tell us about that group.
Sydney (19:31):
Oh, so first I would have to tell you about my boy chef.
I would start getting tagged inposts on the lost pets groups.
And one of 'em was thisboy who I later named Chef.
He was a German Shepherd.
Somebody posted him.
They saw him.
He was off of Chef Menteur Highway.
He looked injured.
(19:52):
I got tagged on like aFriday night at 10 o'clock.
I'm like, I'm not goingout there, not happening.
The next morning he was still there.
I had a friend who was witha vet, and she reached out.
She goes, look, if you can getthis dog, we will board him.
We'll take care of him.
And I was like, all right, fine.
So I go out there somehow, I thinkit took me like 15 minutes to
(20:13):
finally gain his trust, get a sliplead on him, get him into my car.
But we were all pretty awareearly on that like he wasn't gonna
be an easy one to handle and.
We weren't able to get any rescue tosponsor him because of his behaviors.
We could tell pretty quickly thatlike he was going to be a bite risk.
He wasn't gonna be a dog wecould place into a home 'cause he
(20:35):
just wasn't trustworthy enough.
It was me and one other staff memberat the vet that could handle him.
And I would go out there multipletimes a week just to continue
working with him, gaining his trust.
We were trying to see if we could gethim in with a working dog program,
but there was just this part of himthat wasn't fully predictable and.
Series of unfortunate events.
(20:57):
Eventually we had to make the decisionto do a behavioral euthanasia.
And that was not an easy decision.
But he's just stuckwith me ever since then.
And so this group, originally I madethe group for people who had seen his
original posts wanted to follow along.
It was to fundraise for his vet care.
(21:17):
After we made the decision to help himacross the Rainbow Bridge, I turned
it into a group to help network orto share the story of dogs that were
scared or were mostly at first dogsthat were scared in the shelter and
who given the chance, we're able toblossom into just fantastic dogs.
(21:39):
And then it just went into, let's.
Network dogs that don'thave a rescue backing.
I haven't used it quite asmuch, but it's still alive.
And yeah, it all started from chef.
It was a very good boy who just hada really crappy hand dealt to him.
Dixie (21:58):
Yeah.
I went through the group and I was lookingat some of your posts about all the other
dogs that you did help through there.
Can you discuss some of those as well?
Sydney (22:08):
Yeah.
I'm trying to think someof the earlier ones.
There's a dog, Shelby, , there's afamily, I wanna say they were over in
Gentilly, not far from where I was living.
They found her as a stray.
Every so often I would reachout to people and just say,
Hey, do you wanna keep the dog?
Can we help get youconnected to resources?
Or, here's what you do ifyou find a stray dog and.
(22:30):
This family, they couldn't keep her.
I was trying to network herwith local rescues, couldn't
get her into a local rescue.
They were totally fine holding onto her,but they could only hold her outside.
I got her connected in with vetcare, finally was able to place
her with a rescue in Idaho, andso it was just like this whole.
Team effort with this woman who madea place for her out in her yard,
(22:55):
the vet office who was able to boardher when it got too hot and take
her in for all of her vet care.
This rescue that I made a randomconnection with and she ended up.
Her, she got adopted by a guy whoworks with the VA and she goes
around on all of his VA visits.
He was a driver and he would takeveterans to their appointments.
(23:16):
And so she became a therapy dog.
She was one of the earlier ones.
There was another one a chow who she washiding under somebody's car in the east.
I think it was the east.
In the middle of summer wouldn't come out.
I had to literally pull her out ofthe car with what's called a snappy
(23:37):
snare, so it's not quite a snarestick, but it's close to that.
Got her out.
I unfortunately had to takeher to the L-A-S-P-C-A.
I knew that she wasn't gonnapresent well there, but they
at least got her some vet care.
I found a connection with a rescuein Houston for Chow Chows, and they
agreed that if I could get her outto them, that they would take her.
(23:58):
So I got her in with the same vet thatwas able to board chef found transports,
got that sorted and got her off.
And she, I think she gotadopted like two weeks later.
So it's just like random storieslike that where dogs that need
help can't get in with a rescue.
It's just what can we do or whatcould I do with the connections I
(24:19):
had to help get them somewhere else?
Dixie (24:23):
I enjoyed reading through the post and you could see that you
did some great work with those dogs.
And the transports that youwere able to get 'em on and get
together, that was amazing too.
So how is it that you made theconnections in Houston and Idaho that
you were able to get these dogs to?
Sydney (24:42):
Idaho was Facebook.
I was on some random groups andthis one specific rescue in Idaho.
I think we were on like a special needs.
Rescue and I would just sometimessay, Hey, if you're willing to take
dogs from the South, let me know.
And this one happened tosay, yes, we absolutely are.
And so we talked more and I made sureto just ask all the questions about
(25:04):
like, how do you decide where they go?
What kind of vetting do you do?
What's your setup?
I would also talk any rescues inthe north, I would talk to them
about heartworms and just saylook, just because they're negative
now doesn't mean they won't.
Pop up positive later and here arelike, here's how we look at treatment.
So I made sure they had a goodunderstanding of what heartworms
(25:24):
look like and what it could looklike and what they needed to do.
With Houston, I had a friend whoknew somebody and so she gave me a
contact and that person gave me thecontact for this, the Houston rescue.
Some of it's luck.
Some of it's asking random peopleon Facebook and vetting from there.
And some of it's just, I knowsomebody who knows somebody and
(25:47):
they happen to have an opening.
Dixie (25:50):
That's great.
You were able to get that all done though.
It's a really good group.
The stories in there,they're just remarkable.
They're sad, but feelgood stories too yeah.
Sydney (26:01):
That's pretty accurate.
Fortunately most of them were able tobe like, good, happy ending stories.
And I think in some of 'em Iprobably shared like, yeah,
we got this dog into rescue.
I can't remember if Ishared Chip on there.
There were just a couple dogs thatthey got into rescue, but by the
time they were there, their healthhad been so bad and it wasn't.
Known until later.
(26:22):
And something about him justfound a spot in my heart and I
just wanted to share their story.
Dixie (26:27):
I did see the story about Chip on there too.
Sydney (26:30):
He was a sweet little guy.
Dixie (26:32):
Based on your experience, what are some of the key things potential
adopters should consider beforebringing a rescue dog into their home?
Sydney (26:41):
That's a very good question.
I think.
One of the first thingsis keep an open mind.
And that kind of coversa few different things.
I know we, would get adopters who wouldcome in and say, I want this kind of dog
only and this age, or literally like thiscolor, or I want a female over a male.
(27:04):
And what I would try to talk to themabout is okay, what characteristics
and behaviors are you looking for?
So that was always my thingis what do you want in a dog?
And then we go from there.
Obviously sometimes you have likehousing guidelines and you can't have a
dog over 25 pounds, so that limits it.
But it's, rather than looking at outsidecharacteristics, think about what
(27:28):
it is that you truly want in, you'relooking for in a dog, knowing that.
I should say cats too.
I know dogs better, so I'malways gonna talk about dogs,
but it goes with all animals.
Understanding that there're gonna be alifelong commitment and that like people,
things change throughout their lives.
We would see a lot of people come infor puppies 'cause they're cute and
(27:48):
then they go through their teenage phaseand they weren't prepared for that.
And so just understanding thatthere is a lifespan and changes
happen along that lifespan.
The other one is giving their dogstime, but also tools and guidelines.
So we would talk with adoptersa lot about the 3, 3, 3 rule.
And it's a guideline.
(28:09):
It's not a rule, but it's threedays for a dog to decompress.
And the reason it's three days, thescience behind that is in the first 72
hours of a dog going through a change,their cortisol levels are really high.
So that can affect andwill affect their behavior.
And sometimes you can see it almostlike to the hour where 72 hours after
(28:31):
you take them home, you'll see a shiftand you'll go, what was that about?
And you're like, ohthat's been three days.
It can make a dog either reallytimid and really quiet, or it
can make them really amped up.
It can change a lot of things.
So giving those animals.
A few days to adjust will giveyou a better sense of what their
personality is looking like.
(28:51):
So that's the three days.
The three weeks is it takes 'emthree weeks to learn your routine.
So if you can keep a similar routinethrough those three weeks, it's
gonna help them adjust quicker.
And then it's three monthsfor them to feel at home.
So it's just like understanding thatit's not gonna happen overnight.
It's not gonna happen in thefirst week or the first month.
You've gotta give them time.
(29:11):
And if you're running into issues,especially if you're going through
a rescue, reach out to that rescue.
Early on we always wanted to work withadopters or even fosters for that matter.
Like I'd rather hear from them soonerto say, Hey, this is an issue that's
happening, and then I can help them likenip it in the bud right away versus, Hey,
this has been going on for six months andthen there's all this backtracking to do.
(29:35):
And sometimes at that pointthey've lost their patients and
they don't wanna wait it out.
So those were those were the big ones thatI would, I want people to think about.
Also looking at shelters.
But on the flip side to thatdon't make a snap decision based
off of a euthanasia deadline.
(29:58):
Because if all you're looking at is I wantto save this dog's life, but you're not
looking at what that dog, who that dog is.
I've seen this a lot too, wherepeople will get a dog off of a
euthanasia list, not thinking aboutany potential behaviors, realize
(30:19):
that there's potential behaviors.
Then they're panicking, trying torehome that dog and they don't wanna
bring it back because they don'twant the dog to get euthanized.
And that's a really hard place to be in.
And rescues, especially inthe south, aren't the backup.
They just can't be they'realready overbooked.
So yeah, I guess that kind ofgoes back to think about what
it is you're looking for a dog.
Dixie (30:42):
Onto that subject, what piece of advice would you give them then,
if they do end up with this dogthat has these behavioral issues?
Sydney (30:51):
Reach out to a trainer first.
Like definitely start with a trainer.
There are a whole lot ofdifferent trainers out there.
If you're not sure where to start, youcan always reach, even if it's not a
rescue that you work with or you adoptedfrom, you can reach out to rescues
because oftentimes they have trainersthat they've worked with that they know,
(31:12):
that they've seen good results from, oreven that they're like definitely don't
touch that one with the 10 foot pole.
So find a trainer.
Talk to your vet for a trainer.
Talk to a rescue for a trainer.
Find somebody who has the abilityto teach you things that you
didn't know about dogs beforehand.
A lot of the times with behaviors thatI would see, it's stuff that can be
(31:35):
handled pretty easily in the home.
Especially if you jump on it sooner.
If you wait and you wait and that patterncontinues and it just gets entrenched.
It's not impossible to undo,it just takes more work.
So that would be, find somebodywho knows what they're doing and
(31:58):
get help sooner rather than later.
Dixie (32:00):
Yeah.
Great advice.
Now, before we end the call, forlisteners who wanna help but can't
necessarily adopt or foster, what aresome of the most effective ways that
they can get involved in animal advocacy?
Sydney (32:14):
One way is go to a rescue or even your shelter and walk dogs.
Getting them out for a walk for a daytrip outta the building, even just to
sit in a quiet room, can be a huge help.
Not one for the dog.
Like it's gonna help theirstress levels drop down.
There's even studies shown thatjust an overnight or a weekend
(32:35):
trip or a day trip, just that time.
Really helps bringtheir stress level down.
And by doing that, then you're going todecrease their chance of getting sick.
The other thing you can do is you canvolunteer with other organizations that
maybe aren't directly rescue related.
So finding an organization like the innerPup, I think there's also the Street Dog
(32:56):
Coalition, like finding organizationsthat you can do work with that are
gonna help animals stay in the home.
Because if animals stay in thehome, then we're not running into
the issue of overcrowded sheltersor dogs being dumped on the street
or just overburdened rescues.
Donating helps also, or justtalking to your friends about
here's what rescue looks like,here's what fostering looks like.
(33:19):
There are also rescues that need helpwith data entry or with organizing events,
with organizing adoption events with.
Organizing volunteers.
Like there are, there's a ton ofways to help on the rescue front.
That don't mean bringingan animal into your home.
Dixie (33:39):
One important thing too that they could easily do for
rescues that's very beneficial issharing social media posts too.
Oh,
Sydney (33:48):
yes.
Dixie (33:48):
Thank you so much Sydney, for taking the time to speak with me.
I enjoyed our conversation.
Sydney (33:54):
I'm glad we got to connect.
Dixie (33:55):
Yeah, and you had some great advice and some great
information to share, so thank you.
Sydney (34:01):
Happy to help.
Yeah, if you ever have anyother questions, let me know.
Dixie (34:06):
That's all the time that we have for today's episode.
Thank you for listening andwe hope you join us next week.
If you know somebody that loves animalsas much as I do, please send 'em our way.
We would love to talk to 'em.
If you are enjoying our show, pleaseconsider leaving us a donation.
A hundred percent goes to our animals.
Suno (34:27):
Paws in
the night Claws in thefight Whiskers twitch and
tails
take flight
They’re calling in Stories to spinFrom the wild to the heart within
(34:54):
Broken wings and hopeful springsWe’re the voices for these things
animal posse hear the call.
We stand together.
Big and small Rescue tales We’vegot it all Animal posse Saving
(35:22):
them
all
The vet’s got tips The rescuer’sgrit The foster homes where love
won’t quit From a pup in the rain toa bird in pain , Every soul’s worth
(35:50):
the
strain
Animal posse
Hear the call
We stand together Big
(36:15):
and small Rescue tales We’ve gotit all Animal posse Saving them all
Every caller tells a tale, everyhowl a whispered wail, we rise up.
We never
(36:36):
fail.
This
is
the
bond
The holy grail
(36:56):
Animal posse Hear the call We standtogether Big and small Rescue tales We’ve
got it all Animal posse Saving them all
(37:21):
Every caller tells a tale Every howla whispered wail We rise up We never
fail This is the bond The holy grail.
Song by Suno.ai
Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the
people and rescues making adifference in the lives of animals.
Today's guest is Sydney deVictoriaMichel, an animal advocate Hi Sydney.
Welcome to the show.
Before we start, tell us how yougot started in animal rescue and
(00:24):
give us a brief bio on yourself.
Sydney (00:27):
Whew.
It's a convoluted journey, I guessyou could say it started, I was living
in Washington state north of Seattle.
I started working for a dog bar outthere and through that kind of got more
exposure with different dog behaviorsand oh, big dogs make big sounds cool.
Started getting some training there.
Volunteered with theHumane Society out there.
(00:50):
Fast forward, moved out or moved downto New Orleans and literally within two
weeks of us being there, saw a Facebookpost for a dog needing a place to stay.
And we're like, great, we'lljust do a temporary foster.
We didn't know animal rescue andanimal welfare in the south and
how temporary is not a thing.
So we get this black female pit bull.
(01:11):
We're in with one of the rescues,and by some miracle, we ended up
getting her adopted two, almosttwo weeks later to the hour.
So she gets adopted and then wewere hooked, I think in the two
and a half years we were there.
We fostered dogs the entire way through,with very short breaks in between.
So from fostering, I becamea foster coordinator.
(01:34):
Foster coordinator to a manager for oneof the facilities with a local rescue.
Then I started working with theinner pups, so more on kind of
the low income household, keepingpets in the home situations.
Started getting in with the shelters.
Learned how to do assessments.
Met different staff and differentdirectors with different rescues.
(01:57):
Got tied in with rescuesoutside of the state.
Started doing some, transportcoordination, transporting
dogs out of state.
And then before we moved back up toMinnesota I ended up working with
zeus's rescues for almost a yearfor the last part of our time there.
Dixie (02:15):
You said temporary is not a thing in the south.
Can you explain that?
Sydney (02:20):
From what I learned about my time being there is just with
how many animals are in need.
Both on the street, in theshelter, in the rescue.
We can go into why the reasons arefor why there are so many to truly
do just a temporary foster situation.
There aren't enough open homesto be able to move a dog quickly
(02:44):
to really say yes, I can do.
Just this, these few days,at least not the beginning.
There are rescues thatare really good at that.
But as a whole, when you're just jumpingin blind without any idea of what's
going on, if you don't have a goodnetwork to fall back onto, like you,
once you take a dog in, that dog stayswith you until you bring it to the
(03:07):
shelter, rehome, whatever it's reallyhard to truly do a full temporary.
I'm just here for a few days.
Dixie (03:17):
Is it different in other areas then?
Sydney (03:21):
I don't have a lot to compare to, honestly, because I didn't do rescue work.
I didn't foster until I was in the south.
Now that I'm up in Minnesota.
We've taken a break and a breatherfrom rescue and fostering.
Minnesota has laws and guidelines.
Like we have five animals at ahome and we technically should
have a multi pet household permit.
(03:42):
And to do that, then we also haveto get permission from the city
in order to pull another animalin, even if we're just fostering.
. On that part, we have, we haven't beenable to get fully into rescue, but
also just from an outsider perspective,I don't see a lot of stray animals.
I don't see desperate postslooking for fosters, looking
(04:03):
for homes, looking for adopters.
It's just from looking outside in witha rescue perspective coming from the
south it really is a night and day.
Area, night, day, place,situation, mindset.
What have you.
Dixie (04:16):
Do you think that's more from the environment there, or do you think it has
to do with this permit that you're talkingabout with having so many pets you have
to go apply for a permit to have more?
Sydney (04:27):
I think the permit's just a small part of it.
It's really just I'd call ita symptom almost, of just what
the mindset is up on the south.
On one hand.
Environment on, on the veryreal weather side of it.
Like we have winters up here and we knowhow animals do in freezing, freezing cold.
So animals on the street don't quitemake it as well as they would otherwise.
(04:50):
But we also up in the north, spaying andneutering is more of a common mindset.
You do have an animal control thatactually is gonna be more on top of it.
They're gonna, they will actually followup on animal abuse charges or reports.
And they just keep better tabs onthings they have, they seem to do
a better job really following upwith spay and neuter requirements.
(05:14):
So yeah, just on a granderscale, they seem to be better at
helping to manage the population.
And down in the south, it's,there's really not much regulation.
There's not much follow up.
The mindset is I'm gonna keep my dog'sgonna keep their balls because that's
their manhood, and my dog's gonna haveone litter because they should know love.
(05:37):
And there's not reallythe understanding of okay.
Your dog and every other dogaround you is gonna do that.
And then where do the puppies go?
And down in the south, what we wouldsee is the puppies would just, they'd
go to the shelter, they'd go tothe river, they'd go to the field.
The lives are viewed prettydifferent on a cultural level.
Dixie (05:57):
Why do you think that is?
Since you've been in both places, whatdo you think the difference is that in
Minnesota they actually value spay neuter.
They understand the importance of it.
But when we're here in the south,like you said, we hear every single
excuse you could possibly hear.
Sydney (06:15):
I don't know.
And maybe that's because I haven't.
Been able to step more into rescuehere, or maybe it's because I just
grew up in it and so it's harder forme to get that outside perspective
because I grew up in Minneapolis andI don't have a great answer for that.
Maybe it's education, maybeit's just there are less animals
(06:39):
around, so it's more of a scarcity.
I could probably find peopleto talk to and try and get some
better answers, but don't havethe answer off the top of my head.
Dixie (06:48):
Yeah, I understand.
, I was just wondering becauseyou do see that here like a lot.
I was always raised with spay neuter,so for me it's always been a thing
if I was gonna have a pet, theywere gonna be spayed or neutered.
But there's so many people hereand it doesn't seem to matter what
their education level is here too.
You could have college graduates that.
(07:10):
Don't value spay neuter either.
You could have peoplewith advanced degrees.
Anything that would helpspread that message here would
help us out tremendously.
Sydney (07:20):
Yeah.
It's inneresting.
There were a few times I actually saw it.
You'd think it was a total opposingviewpoint, but the reason that I saw
people argue against spay and neuterwas for bodily autonomy for the animals.
Their argument for not spayingor neutering their dog or cat
(07:43):
was because the animals could notphysically agree to the surgery.
Which was the strangestargument that I have ever seen.
And like something about you saying thata higher education, anytime I saw that
argument it tended to be from peoplefrom higher educational backgrounds.
(08:06):
And I'm like, I don't evenknow how to argue with this.
You've taken this bodily autonomyargument on some level that just
doesn't, it stopped making sense.
Dixie (08:17):
And like I said, it doesn't really seem to matter.
Where your economical status is.
It doesn't matter whereyour educational status is.
I wish I could find out how toreach more people with that.
Sydney (08:29):
I do too.
I know, the inner pup, I don'tknow if you've heard of them or
worked with them or spoken withanybody with that organization.
They're really amazing organization thatlooks at that, the long-term relationship
and the long range conversations.
So when I worked with them, Iwould go door to homes and it was
(08:50):
literally like the neighborhoodsthat most people would wanna go into.
And I would just go and I'dsee, okay, you've gotta beware
of dog sign, or there's a doghanging out tied up on the porch.
I'm gonna go talk to you.
And it would just be talkingabout here are the services.
Have you, thought about gettingyour dog spayed or neutered?
Why or why not?
And if they said no, and theywere adamant, it's alright, fine.
(09:12):
We're here.
Let us know how else we can help.
And because we would get themtied in and I'm not there anymore.
But the organization wouldget them help in other ways.
There were many times that theywere actually able to speak with
breeders and down the line, finallyget them to change their mind.
They go, you know what?
Yep, you're right.
I see this.
(09:32):
There are too many dogs here.
I'm ready to get my dog fixed.
I don't want to do this anymore.
So sometimes it is just a waiting game.
It's meeting people where they're at andrather than trying to force something
down their throat, it's like, all right,you're not there and me fighting you
on this isn't gonna change anything.
And I met some reallyamazing people that way.
(09:53):
Surprisingly.
Dixie (09:55):
We did have Genie on the show.
It was a few months ago.
So she did talk about all the work thatshe does with the heartworm prevention.
With you though, being on the go doorto door end tell us more about that.
Sydney (10:08):
So yeah, I was the community outreach person.
So the inner pup, like their bigthing that they're more known for
is their heartworm prevention,their heartworm treatment clinics.
They have so much more beyond that.
They're really good at gettinga ton of grant money in.
And some of the programs they have,one of them is a spay and neuter grant.
And so low income households andlow income can mean a lot of things.
(10:31):
It could just literallymean, Hey, you know what?
I lost my job.
I'm going through a roughtime for a few months.
I could really use this help,and they will assist you on that.
So you can go and get your dog spayedor neutered and the copay is $20
i've got this dog.
They're really great, but I could reallyuse some help training on these behaviors.
They have training grants wherethey'll connect you with, I know I've
(10:54):
met two of the trainers and there'stwo others outside of the state,
but they'll connect you with one of'em and they will pay, I wanna say
they pay at least 80% of the costs.
So if the total cost for all thesessions is $300, the family, the
household only has to pay 20% of that.
So it's affordable training.
It's affordable spay and neuter.
(11:15):
They have vet assistant grants as well.
And then they have theheartworm prevention grants.
They also do CAT clinics, Genie lovestalking about heartworm treatment,
heartworm prevention, all that.
She'll talk about any of it really.
But part of what I would do is I'd gointo the target neighborhoods and I
would just talk to people and say, doyou know that this organization exists?
(11:37):
Do you know what programsthey have available?
And usually we would pick the neighborhoodbased on where the clinic was gonna be.
So when we'd have a clinic in CentralCity, I would go canvas around Central
City and just try to get as many people.
To the clinic as I could.
So yeah, that I was like the faceto face with them for a while.
Dixie (12:01):
You said you did fostering and you worked as a manager at another group.
What are the other groups that youworked with or volunteered with?
Sydney (12:08):
So I've worked or volunteered with Take Paws, with Arno,
with Zeuss, with trampled rose.
I've helped out, volunteeredwith big easy Animal Rescue.
Trying to think.
There were a couple other smallrescues that we fostered one or two
dogs with that were out of town.
(12:28):
But then whether or not I've fosteredwith them, I've at least had contact
with the directors of a couple ofother small rescues in the area.
And it was just originally my planwas like, Hey, I'm gonna go in,
I'm gonna do assessments in theshelter for dogs that are available.
Can I get, like when you tell me what youhave room for and I can work on getting
you the information you need for dogs.
(12:50):
And some of the rescueswere just too small.
It was hard to make it work.
But a few of the bigger ones wedid end up, I was able to go in,
do the assessments, get thesedogs tagged, and then get them to
the rescue and outta the shelter.
Dixie (13:04):
Did you do the assessments for like multiple groups at a
time or would you just strictlywork with one group at a time?
Sydney (13:11):
I would do 'em for a lot.
I I would go in and do theassessments and then share those
assessments with different rescues.
I actually learned how to dothis work From Jess at Arno.
I got to go shadow her a few timesand see her work with some of the,
originally I went to go see herwork with some of the tougher cases.
(13:32):
Some German shepherds and shapaythat were like a little sketchy.
So I got to learn a ton from her andmet another woman who is phenomenal at
networking with out-of-state rescues.
And then I actually started making some ofmy own connections with, I had a rescue in
Idaho that I was getting dogs sent out to.
One in Illinois, one in Wisconsin.
(13:55):
So I just started building up my ownover the months that I was doing that.
Dixie (14:02):
With the dog assessments, can you explain how you go in and do that?
And for people that don't know what adog assessment is, what that is actually.
Sydney (14:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
There's, there are actually like specificassessments that are out there and some
people will do different for, or, they'lldo different format forms or formats.
Primarily what I would look at isone, can a dog be handled safely?
So just looking at how a dogwould be handled at a vet.
(14:33):
Can I pull on the ears?
Can I tug on the tail?
Can I go ahead and put pressureon the top, which would
generally be an assertive move.
Are they gonna get really tough?
Stiff and maybe get grumpy about it.
Can I hold their paws?
Are they gonna let me do thehandling that a vet would do?
Or even just that somebodyat a house would do.
The other is a resourceguarding and first with food.
(14:55):
So I'd put a bowl of food down.
I'd use what's called an sussa hand,which they don't make, but I just would,
I got a Halloween prop hand, put iton the, on a stick, and I would use
that so , I'd give the dog the food,I'd start handling 'em with the hand.
Then I'd go eventually and startputting the hand in the bowl and
it's to see are you going to, arethe dogs going to get defensive?
(15:16):
Are they going to growl or are theygonna fight or even attack the hand?
And then do the same with thetoy and then also do a dog test.
So like, how is that dog when they'remeeting or inneracting with another dog?
And those are really the main thingsthat a rescue's gonna wanna know.
If I can find a dog where I'm going,Hey, , they were good with every
(15:38):
single bit of handling that I did.
They had no issue with meputting hand touching them or
putting my hand in the food bowl.
They were fantastic with a dog orwith three dogs that I tried and they
didn't have any issue with a toy Thatis a gift to a rescue to say I found
this dog and they, I call them agem dog, like this dog is fantastic.
(15:58):
I would take it home if Ididn't have five of my own.
And then if there's otherbehaviors, I always work to be
as honest as I possibly can.
If I see that there was anissue that popped up in a, an
assessment, I will tell that rescue.
Sometimes I can say, Hey, yeah, thereis an issue with this other dog.
But it could have been because of X, Y, Z.
(16:20):
It could have beenbecause of leash tension.
It could have been because thisdog hasn't been neutered yet, or
it was male in a male or whatever.
And then I I give the rescue theoption to either ask me to get more
information to do another assessmentor, they can just say, Hey, right
now we don't have an opening to beable to work on those behaviors.
Dixie (16:40):
How long did you do the assessments for?
Sydney (16:44):
When did I start?
I wanna say it was like may of.
2024 and I would go in on and off
until about May of 2025when we moved up north.
So about a year.
Dixie (17:05):
And when you're assessing the dogs, how long does the
process take for each dog?
Sydney (17:11):
It's really not too long.
Some dogs, it can justbe five, 10 minutes.
Other dogs.
If like I, I would have every so oftenI'd have the shelter say, Hey, you know
what, this one's being sketchy, or Thisone staff are having a hard time handling.
And so I would make sure I'd givemore time to just try to figure
(17:31):
like either one, to give thedog more time to get used to me.
Or two, if the dog seemed to be reallyreactive to another dog, I would make sure
we would do a much longer introduction.
So it's pretty common forGerman Shepherds to not be great
immediately meeting nose to nose.
And so what we would do is I'd say,okay, bring a dog out that's pretty
(17:52):
good with other dogs that you'vetested before, and let's just walk
up and down this field together.
We're not gonna come close to each other.
We're not gonna let them make contact.
We're just gonna walk.
And they're gonna get used to eachother's presence and each other's smell.
And that would obviously add more timewhere, if I had a dog that I can't flat
out right away and was already giving megood signals or, weighed 10 pounds and
(18:15):
I'm not gonna be really concerned abouta ton of damage that that little dog
is gonna take less time than a biggerdog that already has some concerns.
So it depends, five to10 minutes to 30 to 40.
Dixie (18:30):
After you do the assessment, if you notice that there are some areas
that need to be worked on, do therescues take on that after, or do the
rescues just say, not pull the dog?
Sydney (18:41):
It depends on the behavior, it depends on the rescue and
it depends on the resources.
There have been some where I've beenable to say, Hey, here's what I saw, and.
They can say, you know what,I'm used to this behavior.
This is pretty typical.
That's fine.
We've got a great foster for this dog.
(19:02):
We'll take him.
Others where it might be.
The one foster we have who would begreat with this kind of behavior isn't
available right now, so we can't, orother behaviors where it's just this
is too risky for us to take on at all.
More often than not, I waspretty fortunate to be able
to get a lot of dogs placed.
But it just really, all depends.
Dixie (19:24):
I know you have a Facebook group too called Chronicles of Chef.
So yeah, tell us about that group.
Sydney (19:31):
Oh, so first I would have to tell you about my boy chef.
I would start getting tagged inposts on the lost pets groups.
And one of 'em was thisboy who I later named Chef.
He was a German Shepherd.
Somebody posted him.
They saw him.
He was off of Chef Menteur Highway.
He looked injured.
(19:52):
I got tagged on like aFriday night at 10 o'clock.
I'm like, I'm not goingout there, not happening.
The next morning he was still there.
I had a friend who was witha vet, and she reached out.
She goes, look, if you can getthis dog, we will board him.
We'll take care of him.
And I was like, all right, fine.
So I go out there somehow, I thinkit took me like 15 minutes to
(20:13):
finally gain his trust, get a sliplead on him, get him into my car.
But we were all pretty awareearly on that like he wasn't gonna
be an easy one to handle and.
We weren't able to get any rescue tosponsor him because of his behaviors.
We could tell pretty quickly thatlike he was going to be a bite risk.
He wasn't gonna be a dog wecould place into a home 'cause he
(20:35):
just wasn't trustworthy enough.
It was me and one other staff memberat the vet that could handle him.
And I would go out there multipletimes a week just to continue
working with him, gaining his trust.
We were trying to see if we could gethim in with a working dog program,
but there was just this part of himthat wasn't fully predictable and.
Series of unfortunate events.
(20:57):
Eventually we had to make the decisionto do a behavioral euthanasia.
And that was not an easy decision.
But he's just stuckwith me ever since then.
And so this group, originally I madethe group for people who had seen his
original posts wanted to follow along.
It was to fundraise for his vet care.
(21:17):
After we made the decision to help himacross the Rainbow Bridge, I turned
it into a group to help network orto share the story of dogs that were
scared or were mostly at first dogsthat were scared in the shelter and
who given the chance, we're able toblossom into just fantastic dogs.
(21:39):
And then it just went into, let's.
Network dogs that don'thave a rescue backing.
I haven't used it quite asmuch, but it's still alive.
And yeah, it all started from chef.
It was a very good boy who just hada really crappy hand dealt to him.
Dixie (21:58):
Yeah.
I went through the group and I was lookingat some of your posts about all the other
dogs that you did help through there.
Can you discuss some of those as well?
Sydney (22:08):
Yeah.
I'm trying to think someof the earlier ones.
There's a dog, Shelby, , there's afamily, I wanna say they were over in
Gentilly, not far from where I was living.
They found her as a stray.
Every so often I would reachout to people and just say,
Hey, do you wanna keep the dog?
Can we help get youconnected to resources?
Or, here's what you do ifyou find a stray dog and.
(22:30):
This family, they couldn't keep her.
I was trying to network herwith local rescues, couldn't
get her into a local rescue.
They were totally fine holding onto her,but they could only hold her outside.
I got her connected in with vetcare, finally was able to place
her with a rescue in Idaho, andso it was just like this whole.
Team effort with this woman who madea place for her out in her yard,
(22:55):
the vet office who was able to boardher when it got too hot and take
her in for all of her vet care.
This rescue that I made a randomconnection with and she ended up.
Her, she got adopted by a guy whoworks with the VA and she goes
around on all of his VA visits.
He was a driver and he would takeveterans to their appointments.
(23:16):
And so she became a therapy dog.
She was one of the earlier ones.
There was another one a chow who she washiding under somebody's car in the east.
I think it was the east.
In the middle of summer wouldn't come out.
I had to literally pull her out ofthe car with what's called a snappy
(23:37):
snare, so it's not quite a snarestick, but it's close to that.
Got her out.
I unfortunately had to takeher to the L-A-S-P-C-A.
I knew that she wasn't gonnapresent well there, but they
at least got her some vet care.
I found a connection with a rescuein Houston for Chow Chows, and they
agreed that if I could get her outto them, that they would take her.
(23:58):
So I got her in with the same vet thatwas able to board chef found transports,
got that sorted and got her off.
And she, I think she gotadopted like two weeks later.
So it's just like random storieslike that where dogs that need
help can't get in with a rescue.
It's just what can we do or whatcould I do with the connections I
(24:19):
had to help get them somewhere else?
Dixie (24:23):
I enjoyed reading through the post and you could see that you
did some great work with those dogs.
And the transports that youwere able to get 'em on and get
together, that was amazing too.
So how is it that you made theconnections in Houston and Idaho that
you were able to get these dogs to?
Sydney (24:42):
Idaho was Facebook.
I was on some random groups andthis one specific rescue in Idaho.
I think we were on like a special needs.
Rescue and I would just sometimessay, Hey, if you're willing to take
dogs from the South, let me know.
And this one happened tosay, yes, we absolutely are.
And so we talked more and I made sureto just ask all the questions about
(25:04):
like, how do you decide where they go?
What kind of vetting do you do?
What's your setup?
I would also talk any rescues inthe north, I would talk to them
about heartworms and just saylook, just because they're negative
now doesn't mean they won't.
Pop up positive later and here arelike, here's how we look at treatment.
So I made sure they had a goodunderstanding of what heartworms
(25:24):
look like and what it could looklike and what they needed to do.
With Houston, I had a friend whoknew somebody and so she gave me a
contact and that person gave me thecontact for this, the Houston rescue.
Some of it's luck.
Some of it's asking random peopleon Facebook and vetting from there.
And some of it's just, I knowsomebody who knows somebody and
(25:47):
they happen to have an opening.
Dixie (25:50):
That's great.
You were able to get that all done though.
It's a really good group.
The stories in there,they're just remarkable.
They're sad, but feelgood stories too yeah.
Sydney (26:01):
That's pretty accurate.
Fortunately most of them were able tobe like, good, happy ending stories.
And I think in some of 'em Iprobably shared like, yeah,
we got this dog into rescue.
I can't remember if Ishared Chip on there.
There were just a couple dogs thatthey got into rescue, but by the
time they were there, their healthhad been so bad and it wasn't.
Known until later.
(26:22):
And something about him justfound a spot in my heart and I
just wanted to share their story.
Dixie (26:27):
I did see the story about Chip on there too.
Sydney (26:30):
He was a sweet little guy.
Dixie (26:32):
Based on your experience, what are some of the key things potential
adopters should consider beforebringing a rescue dog into their home?
Sydney (26:41):
That's a very good question.
I think.
One of the first thingsis keep an open mind.
And that kind of coversa few different things.
I know we, would get adopters who wouldcome in and say, I want this kind of dog
only and this age, or literally like thiscolor, or I want a female over a male.
(27:04):
And what I would try to talk to themabout is okay, what characteristics
and behaviors are you looking for?
So that was always my thingis what do you want in a dog?
And then we go from there.
Obviously sometimes you have likehousing guidelines and you can't have a
dog over 25 pounds, so that limits it.
But it's, rather than looking at outsidecharacteristics, think about what
(27:28):
it is that you truly want in, you'relooking for in a dog, knowing that.
I should say cats too.
I know dogs better, so I'malways gonna talk about dogs,
but it goes with all animals.
Understanding that there're gonna be alifelong commitment and that like people,
things change throughout their lives.
We would see a lot of people come infor puppies 'cause they're cute and
(27:48):
then they go through their teenage phaseand they weren't prepared for that.
And so just understanding thatthere is a lifespan and changes
happen along that lifespan.
The other one is giving their dogstime, but also tools and guidelines.
So we would talk with adoptersa lot about the 3, 3, 3 rule.
And it's a guideline.
(28:09):
It's not a rule, but it's threedays for a dog to decompress.
And the reason it's three days, thescience behind that is in the first 72
hours of a dog going through a change,their cortisol levels are really high.
So that can affect andwill affect their behavior.
And sometimes you can see it almostlike to the hour where 72 hours after
(28:31):
you take them home, you'll see a shiftand you'll go, what was that about?
And you're like, ohthat's been three days.
It can make a dog either reallytimid and really quiet, or it
can make them really amped up.
It can change a lot of things.
So giving those animals.
A few days to adjust will giveyou a better sense of what their
personality is looking like.
(28:51):
So that's the three days.
The three weeks is it takes 'emthree weeks to learn your routine.
So if you can keep a similar routinethrough those three weeks, it's
gonna help them adjust quicker.
And then it's three monthsfor them to feel at home.
So it's just like understanding thatit's not gonna happen overnight.
It's not gonna happen in thefirst week or the first month.
You've gotta give them time.
(29:11):
And if you're running into issues,especially if you're going through
a rescue, reach out to that rescue.
Early on we always wanted to work withadopters or even fosters for that matter.
Like I'd rather hear from them soonerto say, Hey, this is an issue that's
happening, and then I can help them likenip it in the bud right away versus, Hey,
this has been going on for six months andthen there's all this backtracking to do.
(29:35):
And sometimes at that pointthey've lost their patients and
they don't wanna wait it out.
So those were those were the big ones thatI would, I want people to think about.
Also looking at shelters.
But on the flip side to thatdon't make a snap decision based
off of a euthanasia deadline.
(29:58):
Because if all you're looking at is I wantto save this dog's life, but you're not
looking at what that dog, who that dog is.
I've seen this a lot too, wherepeople will get a dog off of a
euthanasia list, not thinking aboutany potential behaviors, realize
(30:19):
that there's potential behaviors.
Then they're panicking, trying torehome that dog and they don't wanna
bring it back because they don'twant the dog to get euthanized.
And that's a really hard place to be in.
And rescues, especially inthe south, aren't the backup.
They just can't be they'realready overbooked.
So yeah, I guess that kind ofgoes back to think about what
it is you're looking for a dog.
Dixie (30:42):
Onto that subject, what piece of advice would you give them then,
if they do end up with this dogthat has these behavioral issues?
Sydney (30:51):
Reach out to a trainer first.
Like definitely start with a trainer.
There are a whole lot ofdifferent trainers out there.
If you're not sure where to start, youcan always reach, even if it's not a
rescue that you work with or you adoptedfrom, you can reach out to rescues
because oftentimes they have trainersthat they've worked with that they know,
(31:12):
that they've seen good results from, oreven that they're like definitely don't
touch that one with the 10 foot pole.
So find a trainer.
Talk to your vet for a trainer.
Talk to a rescue for a trainer.
Find somebody who has the abilityto teach you things that you
didn't know about dogs beforehand.
A lot of the times with behaviors thatI would see, it's stuff that can be
(31:35):
handled pretty easily in the home.
Especially if you jump on it sooner.
If you wait and you wait and that patterncontinues and it just gets entrenched.
It's not impossible to undo,it just takes more work.
So that would be, find somebodywho knows what they're doing and
(31:58):
get help sooner rather than later.
Dixie (32:00):
Yeah.
Great advice.
Now, before we end the call, forlisteners who wanna help but can't
necessarily adopt or foster, what aresome of the most effective ways that
they can get involved in animal advocacy?
Sydney (32:14):
One way is go to a rescue or even your shelter and walk dogs.
Getting them out for a walk for a daytrip outta the building, even just to
sit in a quiet room, can be a huge help.
Not one for the dog.
Like it's gonna help theirstress levels drop down.
There's even studies shown thatjust an overnight or a weekend
(32:35):
trip or a day trip, just that time.
Really helps bringtheir stress level down.
And by doing that, then you're going todecrease their chance of getting sick.
The other thing you can do is you canvolunteer with other organizations that
maybe aren't directly rescue related.
So finding an organization like the innerPup, I think there's also the Street Dog
(32:56):
Coalition, like finding organizationsthat you can do work with that are
gonna help animals stay in the home.
Because if animals stay in thehome, then we're not running into
the issue of overcrowded sheltersor dogs being dumped on the street
or just overburdened rescues.
Donating helps also, or justtalking to your friends about
here's what rescue looks like,here's what fostering looks like.
(33:19):
There are also rescues that need helpwith data entry or with organizing events,
with organizing adoption events with.
Organizing volunteers.
Like there are, there's a ton ofways to help on the rescue front.
That don't mean bringingan animal into your home.
Dixie (33:39):
One important thing too that they could easily do for
rescues that's very beneficial issharing social media posts too.
Oh,
Sydney (33:48):
yes.
Dixie (33:48):
Thank you so much Sydney, for taking the time to speak with me.
I enjoyed our conversation.
Sydney (33:54):
I'm glad we got to connect.
Dixie (33:55):
Yeah, and you had some great advice and some great
information to share, so thank you.
Sydney (34:01):
Happy to help.
Yeah, if you ever have anyother questions, let me know.
Dixie (34:06):
That's all the time that we have for today's episode.
Thank you for listening andwe hope you join us next week.
If you know somebody that loves animalsas much as I do, please send 'em our way.
We would love to talk to 'em.
If you are enjoying our show, pleaseconsider leaving us a donation.
A hundred percent goes to our animals.
Suno (34:27):
Paws in
the night Claws in thefight Whiskers twitch and
tails
take flight
They’re calling in Stories to spinFrom the wild to the heart within
(34:54):
Broken wings and hopeful springsWe’re the voices for these things
animal posse hear the call.
We stand together.
Big and small Rescue tales We’vegot it all Animal posse Saving
(35:22):
them
all
The vet’s got tips The rescuer’sgrit The foster homes where love
won’t quit From a pup in the rain toa bird in pain , Every soul’s worth
(35:50):
the
strain
Animal posse
Hear the call
We stand together Big
(36:15):
and small Rescue tales We’ve gotit all Animal posse Saving them all
Every caller tells a tale, everyhowl a whispered wail, we rise up.
We never
(36:36):
fail.
This
is
the
bond
The holy grail
(36:56):
Animal posse Hear the call We standtogether Big and small Rescue tales We’ve
got it all Animal posse Saving them all
(37:21):
Every caller tells a tale Every howla whispered wail We rise up We never
fail This is the bond The holy grail.
Song by Suno.ai
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