Animal Posse Sydney's Journey Into Animal Advocacy - Animal Posse

Episode 30

Sydney's Journey Into Animal Advocacy

Published on: 22nd August, 2025

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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Transcript
Dixie:

Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the

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people and rescues making a

difference in the lives of animals.

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Today's guest is Sydney deVictoria

Michel, an animal advocate Hi Sydney.

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Welcome to the show.

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Before we start, tell us how you

got started in animal rescue and

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give us a brief bio on yourself.

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Sydney: Whew.

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It's a convoluted journey, I guess

you could say it started, I was living

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in Washington state north of Seattle.

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I started working for a dog bar out

there and through that kind of got more

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exposure with different dog behaviors

and oh, big dogs make big sounds cool.

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Started getting some training there.

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Volunteered with the

Humane Society out there.

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Fast forward, moved out or moved down

to New Orleans and literally within two

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weeks of us being there, saw a Facebook

post for a dog needing a place to stay.

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And we're like, great, we'll

just do a temporary foster.

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We didn't know animal rescue and

animal welfare in the south and

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how temporary is not a thing.

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So we get this black female pit bull.

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We're in with one of the rescues,

and by some miracle, we ended up

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getting her adopted two, almost

two weeks later to the hour.

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So she gets adopted and then we

were hooked, I think in the two

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and a half years we were there.

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We fostered dogs the entire way through,

with very short breaks in between.

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So from fostering, I became

a foster coordinator.

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Foster coordinator to a manager for one

of the facilities with a local rescue.

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Then I started working with the

inner pups, so more on kind of

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the low income household, keeping

pets in the home situations.

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Started getting in with the shelters.

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Learned how to do assessments.

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Met different staff and different

directors with different rescues.

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Got tied in with rescues

outside of the state.

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Started doing some, transport

coordination, transporting

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dogs out of state.

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And then before we moved back up to

Minnesota I ended up working with

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zeus's rescues for almost a year

for the last part of our time there.

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Dixie: You said temporary

is not a thing in the south.

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Can you explain that?

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Sydney: From what I learned about

my time being there is just with

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how many animals are in need.

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Both on the street, in the

shelter, in the rescue.

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We can go into why the reasons are

for why there are so many to truly

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do just a temporary foster situation.

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There aren't enough open homes

to be able to move a dog quickly

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to really say yes, I can do.

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Just this, these few days,

at least not the beginning.

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There are rescues that

are really good at that.

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But as a whole, when you're just jumping

in blind without any idea of what's

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going on, if you don't have a good

network to fall back onto, like you,

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once you take a dog in, that dog stays

with you until you bring it to the

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shelter, rehome, whatever it's really

hard to truly do a full temporary.

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I'm just here for a few days.

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Dixie: Is it different

in other areas then?

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Sydney: I don't have a lot to compare to,

honestly, because I didn't do rescue work.

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I didn't foster until I was in the south.

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Now that I'm up in Minnesota.

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We've taken a break and a breather

from rescue and fostering.

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Minnesota has laws and guidelines.

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Like we have five animals at a

home and we technically should

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have a multi pet household permit.

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And to do that, then we also have

to get permission from the city

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in order to pull another animal

in, even if we're just fostering.

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. On that part, we have, we haven't been

able to get fully into rescue, but

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also just from an outsider perspective,

I don't see a lot of stray animals.

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I don't see desperate posts

looking for fosters, looking

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for homes, looking for adopters.

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It's just from looking outside in with

a rescue perspective coming from the

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south it really is a night and day.

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Area, night, day, place,

situation, mindset.

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What have you.

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Dixie: Do you think that's more from the

environment there, or do you think it has

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to do with this permit that you're talking

about with having so many pets you have

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to go apply for a permit to have more?

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Sydney: I think the permit's

just a small part of it.

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It's really just I'd call it

a symptom almost, of just what

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the mindset is up on the south.

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On one hand.

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Environment on, on the very

real weather side of it.

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Like we have winters up here and we know

how animals do in freezing, freezing cold.

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So animals on the street don't quite

make it as well as they would otherwise.

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But we also up in the north, spaying and

neutering is more of a common mindset.

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You do have an animal control that

actually is gonna be more on top of it.

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They're gonna, they will actually follow

up on animal abuse charges or reports.

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And they just keep better tabs on

things they have, they seem to do

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a better job really following up

with spay and neuter requirements.

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So yeah, just on a grander

scale, they seem to be better at

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helping to manage the population.

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And down in the south, it's,

there's really not much regulation.

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There's not much follow up.

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The mindset is I'm gonna keep my dog's

gonna keep their balls because that's

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their manhood, and my dog's gonna have

one litter because they should know love.

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And there's not really

the understanding of okay.

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Your dog and every other dog

around you is gonna do that.

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And then where do the puppies go?

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And down in the south, what we would

see is the puppies would just, they'd

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go to the shelter, they'd go to

the river, they'd go to the field.

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The lives are viewed pretty

different on a cultural level.

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Dixie: Why do you think that is?

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Since you've been in both places, what

do you think the difference is that in

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Minnesota they actually value spay neuter.

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They understand the importance of it.

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But when we're here in the south,

like you said, we hear every single

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excuse you could possibly hear.

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Sydney: I don't know.

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And maybe that's because I haven't.

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Been able to step more into rescue

here, or maybe it's because I just

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grew up in it and so it's harder for

me to get that outside perspective

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because I grew up in Minneapolis and

I don't have a great answer for that.

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Maybe it's education, maybe

it's just there are less animals

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around, so it's more of a scarcity.

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I could probably find people

to talk to and try and get some

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better answers, but don't have

the answer off the top of my head.

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Dixie: Yeah, I understand.

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, I was just wondering because

you do see that here like a lot.

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I was always raised with spay neuter,

so for me it's always been a thing

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if I was gonna have a pet, they

were gonna be spayed or neutered.

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But there's so many people here

and it doesn't seem to matter what

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their education level is here too.

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You could have college graduates that.

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Don't value spay neuter either.

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You could have people

with advanced degrees.

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Anything that would help

spread that message here would

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help us out tremendously.

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Sydney: Yeah.

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It's inneresting.

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There were a few times I actually saw it.

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You'd think it was a total opposing

viewpoint, but the reason that I saw

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people argue against spay and neuter

was for bodily autonomy for the animals.

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Their argument for not spaying

or neutering their dog or cat

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was because the animals could not

physically agree to the surgery.

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Which was the strangest

argument that I have ever seen.

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And like something about you saying that

a higher education, anytime I saw that

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argument it tended to be from people

from higher educational backgrounds.

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And I'm like, I don't even

know how to argue with this.

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You've taken this bodily autonomy

argument on some level that just

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doesn't, it stopped making sense.

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Dixie: And like I said, it

doesn't really seem to matter.

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Where your economical status is.

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It doesn't matter where

your educational status is.

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I wish I could find out how to

reach more people with that.

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Sydney: I do too.

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I know, the inner pup, I don't

know if you've heard of them or

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worked with them or spoken with

anybody with that organization.

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They're really amazing organization that

looks at that, the long-term relationship

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and the long range conversations.

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So when I worked with them, I

would go door to homes and it was

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literally like the neighborhoods

that most people would wanna go into.

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And I would just go and I'd

see, okay, you've gotta beware

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of dog sign, or there's a dog

hanging out tied up on the porch.

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I'm gonna go talk to you.

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And it would just be talking

about here are the services.

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Have you, thought about getting

your dog spayed or neutered?

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Why or why not?

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And if they said no, and they

were adamant, it's alright, fine.

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We're here.

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Let us know how else we can help.

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And because we would get them

tied in and I'm not there anymore.

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But the organization would

get them help in other ways.

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There were many times that they

were actually able to speak with

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breeders and down the line, finally

get them to change their mind.

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They go, you know what?

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Yep, you're right.

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I see this.

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There are too many dogs here.

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I'm ready to get my dog fixed.

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I don't want to do this anymore.

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So sometimes it is just a waiting game.

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It's meeting people where they're at and

rather than trying to force something

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down their throat, it's like, all right,

you're not there and me fighting you

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on this isn't gonna change anything.

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And I met some really

amazing people that way.

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Surprisingly.

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Dixie: We did have Genie on the show.

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It was a few months ago.

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So she did talk about all the work that

she does with the heartworm prevention.

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With you though, being on the go door

to door end tell us more about that.

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Sydney: So yeah, I was the

community outreach person.

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So the inner pup, like their big

thing that they're more known for

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is their heartworm prevention,

their heartworm treatment clinics.

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They have so much more beyond that.

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They're really good at getting

a ton of grant money in.

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And some of the programs they have,

one of them is a spay and neuter grant.

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And so low income households and

low income can mean a lot of things.

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It could just literally

mean, Hey, you know what?

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I lost my job.

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I'm going through a rough

time for a few months.

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I could really use this help,

and they will assist you on that.

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So you can go and get your dog spayed

or neutered and the copay is $20

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i've got this dog.

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They're really great, but I could really

use some help training on these behaviors.

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They have training grants where

they'll connect you with, I know I've

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met two of the trainers and there's

two others outside of the state,

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but they'll connect you with one of

'em and they will pay, I wanna say

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they pay at least 80% of the costs.

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So if the total cost for all the

sessions is $300, the family, the

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household only has to pay 20% of that.

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So it's affordable training.

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It's affordable spay and neuter.

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They have vet assistant grants as well.

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And then they have the

heartworm prevention grants.

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They also do CAT clinics, Genie loves

talking about heartworm treatment,

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heartworm prevention, all that.

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She'll talk about any of it really.

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But part of what I would do is I'd go

into the target neighborhoods and I

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would just talk to people and say, do

you know that this organization exists?

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Do you know what programs

they have available?

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And usually we would pick the neighborhood

based on where the clinic was gonna be.

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So when we'd have a clinic in Central

City, I would go canvas around Central

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City and just try to get as many people.

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To the clinic as I could.

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So yeah, that I was like the face

to face with them for a while.

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Dixie: You said you did fostering and

you worked as a manager at another group.

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What are the other groups that you

worked with or volunteered with?

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Sydney: So I've worked or volunteered

with Take Paws, with Arno,

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with Zeuss, with trampled rose.

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I've helped out, volunteered

with big easy Animal Rescue.

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Trying to think.

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There were a couple other small

rescues that we fostered one or two

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dogs with that were out of town.

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But then whether or not I've fostered

with them, I've at least had contact

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with the directors of a couple of

other small rescues in the area.

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And it was just originally my plan

was like, Hey, I'm gonna go in,

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I'm gonna do assessments in the

shelter for dogs that are available.

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Can I get, like when you tell me what you

have room for and I can work on getting

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you the information you need for dogs.

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And some of the rescues

were just too small.

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It was hard to make it work.

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But a few of the bigger ones we

did end up, I was able to go in,

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do the assessments, get these

dogs tagged, and then get them to

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the rescue and outta the shelter.

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Dixie: Did you do the assessments

for like multiple groups at a

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time or would you just strictly

work with one group at a time?

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Sydney: I would do 'em for a lot.

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I I would go in and do the

assessments and then share those

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assessments with different rescues.

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I actually learned how to do

this work From Jess at Arno.

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I got to go shadow her a few times

and see her work with some of the,

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originally I went to go see her

work with some of the tougher cases.

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Some German shepherds and shapay

that were like a little sketchy.

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So I got to learn a ton from her and

met another woman who is phenomenal at

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networking with out-of-state rescues.

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And then I actually started making some of

my own connections with, I had a rescue in

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Idaho that I was getting dogs sent out to.

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One in Illinois, one in Wisconsin.

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So I just started building up my own

over the months that I was doing that.

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Dixie: With the dog assessments, can

you explain how you go in and do that?

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And for people that don't know what a

dog assessment is, what that is actually.

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Sydney: Yeah, absolutely.

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There's, there are actually like specific

assessments that are out there and some

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people will do different for, or, they'll

do different format forms or formats.

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Primarily what I would look at is

one, can a dog be handled safely?

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So just looking at how a dog

would be handled at a vet.

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Can I pull on the ears?

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Can I tug on the tail?

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Can I go ahead and put pressure

on the top, which would

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generally be an assertive move.

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Are they gonna get really tough?

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Stiff and maybe get grumpy about it.

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Can I hold their paws?

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Are they gonna let me do the

handling that a vet would do?

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Or even just that somebody

at a house would do.

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The other is a resource

guarding and first with food.

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So I'd put a bowl of food down.

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I'd use what's called an sussa hand,

which they don't make, but I just would,

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I got a Halloween prop hand, put it

on the, on a stick, and I would use

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that so , I'd give the dog the food,

I'd start handling 'em with the hand.

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Then I'd go eventually and start

putting the hand in the bowl and

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it's to see are you going to, are

the dogs going to get defensive?

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Are they going to growl or are they

gonna fight or even attack the hand?

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And then do the same with the

toy and then also do a dog test.

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So like, how is that dog when they're

meeting or inneracting with another dog?

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And those are really the main things

that a rescue's gonna wanna know.

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If I can find a dog where I'm going,

Hey, , they were good with every

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single bit of handling that I did.

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They had no issue with me

putting hand touching them or

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putting my hand in the food bowl.

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They were fantastic with a dog or

with three dogs that I tried and they

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didn't have any issue with a toy That

is a gift to a rescue to say I found

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this dog and they, I call them a

gem dog, like this dog is fantastic.

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I would take it home if I

didn't have five of my own.

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And then if there's other

behaviors, I always work to be

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as honest as I possibly can.

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If I see that there was an

issue that popped up in a, an

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assessment, I will tell that rescue.

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Sometimes I can say, Hey, yeah, there

is an issue with this other dog.

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But it could have been because of X, Y, Z.

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It could have been

because of leash tension.

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It could have been because this

dog hasn't been neutered yet, or

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it was male in a male or whatever.

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And then I I give the rescue the

option to either ask me to get more

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information to do another assessment

or, they can just say, Hey, right

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now we don't have an opening to be

able to work on those behaviors.

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Dixie: How long did you

do the assessments for?

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Sydney: When did I start?

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I wanna say it was like may of.

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2024 and I would go in on and off

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until about May of 2025

when we moved up north.

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So about a year.

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Dixie: And when you're assessing

the dogs, how long does the

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process take for each dog?

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Sydney: It's really not too long.

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Some dogs, it can just

be five, 10 minutes.

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Other dogs.

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If like I, I would have every so often

I'd have the shelter say, Hey, you know

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what, this one's being sketchy, or This

one staff are having a hard time handling.

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And so I would make sure I'd give

more time to just try to figure

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like either one, to give the

dog more time to get used to me.

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Or two, if the dog seemed to be really

reactive to another dog, I would make sure

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we would do a much longer introduction.

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So it's pretty common for

German Shepherds to not be great

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immediately meeting nose to nose.

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And so what we would do is I'd say,

okay, bring a dog out that's pretty

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good with other dogs that you've

tested before, and let's just walk

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up and down this field together.

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We're not gonna come close to each other.

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We're not gonna let them make contact.

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We're just gonna walk.

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And they're gonna get used to each

other's presence and each other's smell.

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And that would obviously add more time

where, if I had a dog that I can't flat

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out right away and was already giving me

good signals or, weighed 10 pounds and

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I'm not gonna be really concerned about

a ton of damage that that little dog

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is gonna take less time than a bigger

dog that already has some concerns.

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So it depends, five to

10 minutes to 30 to 40.

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Dixie: After you do the assessment, if

you notice that there are some areas

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that need to be worked on, do the

rescues take on that after, or do the

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rescues just say, not pull the dog?

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Sydney: It depends on the behavior,

it depends on the rescue and

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it depends on the resources.

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There have been some where I've been

able to say, Hey, here's what I saw, and.

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They can say, you know what,

I'm used to this behavior.

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This is pretty typical.

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That's fine.

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We've got a great foster for this dog.

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We'll take him.

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Others where it might be.

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The one foster we have who would be

great with this kind of behavior isn't

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available right now, so we can't, or

other behaviors where it's just this

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is too risky for us to take on at all.

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More often than not, I was

pretty fortunate to be able

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to get a lot of dogs placed.

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But it just really, all depends.

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Dixie: I know you have a Facebook

group too called Chronicles of Chef.

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So yeah, tell us about that group.

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Sydney: Oh, so first I would have

to tell you about my boy chef.

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I would start getting tagged in

posts on the lost pets groups.

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And one of 'em was this

boy who I later named Chef.

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He was a German Shepherd.

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Somebody posted him.

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They saw him.

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He was off of Chef Menteur Highway.

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He looked injured.

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I got tagged on like a

Friday night at 10 o'clock.

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I'm like, I'm not going

out there, not happening.

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The next morning he was still there.

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:

I had a friend who was with

a vet, and she reached out.

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:

She goes, look, if you can get

this dog, we will board him.

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:

We'll take care of him.

358

:

And I was like, all right, fine.

359

:

So I go out there somehow, I think

it took me like 15 minutes to

360

:

finally gain his trust, get a slip

lead on him, get him into my car.

361

:

But we were all pretty aware

early on that like he wasn't gonna

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:

be an easy one to handle and.

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:

We weren't able to get any rescue to

sponsor him because of his behaviors.

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:

We could tell pretty quickly that

like he was going to be a bite risk.

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:

He wasn't gonna be a dog we

could place into a home 'cause he

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:

just wasn't trustworthy enough.

367

:

It was me and one other staff member

at the vet that could handle him.

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:

And I would go out there multiple

times a week just to continue

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:

working with him, gaining his trust.

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:

We were trying to see if we could get

him in with a working dog program,

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:

but there was just this part of him

that wasn't fully predictable and.

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:

Series of unfortunate events.

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:

Eventually we had to make the decision

to do a behavioral euthanasia.

374

:

And that was not an easy decision.

375

:

But he's just stuck

with me ever since then.

376

:

And so this group, originally I made

the group for people who had seen his

377

:

original posts wanted to follow along.

378

:

It was to fundraise for his vet care.

379

:

After we made the decision to help him

across the Rainbow Bridge, I turned

380

:

it into a group to help network or

to share the story of dogs that were

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:

scared or were mostly at first dogs

that were scared in the shelter and

382

:

who given the chance, we're able to

blossom into just fantastic dogs.

383

:

And then it just went into, let's.

384

:

Network dogs that don't

have a rescue backing.

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:

I haven't used it quite as

much, but it's still alive.

386

:

And yeah, it all started from chef.

387

:

It was a very good boy who just had

a really crappy hand dealt to him.

388

:

Dixie: Yeah.

389

:

I went through the group and I was looking

at some of your posts about all the other

390

:

dogs that you did help through there.

391

:

Can you discuss some of those as well?

392

:

Sydney: Yeah.

393

:

I'm trying to think some

of the earlier ones.

394

:

There's a dog, Shelby, , there's a

family, I wanna say they were over in

395

:

Gentilly, not far from where I was living.

396

:

They found her as a stray.

397

:

Every so often I would reach

out to people and just say,

398

:

Hey, do you wanna keep the dog?

399

:

Can we help get you

connected to resources?

400

:

Or, here's what you do if

you find a stray dog and.

401

:

This family, they couldn't keep her.

402

:

I was trying to network her

with local rescues, couldn't

403

:

get her into a local rescue.

404

:

They were totally fine holding onto her,

but they could only hold her outside.

405

:

I got her connected in with vet

care, finally was able to place

406

:

her with a rescue in Idaho, and

so it was just like this whole.

407

:

Team effort with this woman who made

a place for her out in her yard,

408

:

the vet office who was able to board

her when it got too hot and take

409

:

her in for all of her vet care.

410

:

This rescue that I made a random

connection with and she ended up.

411

:

Her, she got adopted by a guy who

works with the VA and she goes

412

:

around on all of his VA visits.

413

:

He was a driver and he would take

veterans to their appointments.

414

:

And so she became a therapy dog.

415

:

She was one of the earlier ones.

416

:

There was another one a chow who she was

hiding under somebody's car in the east.

417

:

I think it was the east.

418

:

In the middle of summer wouldn't come out.

419

:

I had to literally pull her out of

the car with what's called a snappy

420

:

snare, so it's not quite a snare

stick, but it's close to that.

421

:

Got her out.

422

:

I unfortunately had to take

her to the L-A-S-P-C-A.

423

:

I knew that she wasn't gonna

present well there, but they

424

:

at least got her some vet care.

425

:

I found a connection with a rescue

in Houston for Chow Chows, and they

426

:

agreed that if I could get her out

to them, that they would take her.

427

:

So I got her in with the same vet that

was able to board chef found transports,

428

:

got that sorted and got her off.

429

:

And she, I think she got

adopted like two weeks later.

430

:

So it's just like random stories

like that where dogs that need

431

:

help can't get in with a rescue.

432

:

It's just what can we do or what

could I do with the connections I

433

:

had to help get them somewhere else?

434

:

Dixie: I enjoyed reading through

the post and you could see that you

435

:

did some great work with those dogs.

436

:

And the transports that you

were able to get 'em on and get

437

:

together, that was amazing too.

438

:

So how is it that you made the

connections in Houston and Idaho that

439

:

you were able to get these dogs to?

440

:

Sydney: Idaho was Facebook.

441

:

I was on some random groups and

this one specific rescue in Idaho.

442

:

I think we were on like a special needs.

443

:

Rescue and I would just sometimes

say, Hey, if you're willing to take

444

:

dogs from the South, let me know.

445

:

And this one happened to

say, yes, we absolutely are.

446

:

And so we talked more and I made sure

to just ask all the questions about

447

:

like, how do you decide where they go?

448

:

What kind of vetting do you do?

449

:

What's your setup?

450

:

I would also talk any rescues in

the north, I would talk to them

451

:

about heartworms and just say

look, just because they're negative

452

:

now doesn't mean they won't.

453

:

Pop up positive later and here are

like, here's how we look at treatment.

454

:

So I made sure they had a good

understanding of what heartworms

455

:

look like and what it could look

like and what they needed to do.

456

:

With Houston, I had a friend who

knew somebody and so she gave me a

457

:

contact and that person gave me the

contact for this, the Houston rescue.

458

:

Some of it's luck.

459

:

Some of it's asking random people

on Facebook and vetting from there.

460

:

And some of it's just, I know

somebody who knows somebody and

461

:

they happen to have an opening.

462

:

Dixie: That's great.

463

:

You were able to get that all done though.

464

:

It's a really good group.

465

:

The stories in there,

they're just remarkable.

466

:

They're sad, but feel

good stories too yeah.

467

:

Sydney: That's pretty accurate.

468

:

Fortunately most of them were able to

be like, good, happy ending stories.

469

:

And I think in some of 'em I

probably shared like, yeah,

470

:

we got this dog into rescue.

471

:

I can't remember if I

shared Chip on there.

472

:

There were just a couple dogs that

they got into rescue, but by the

473

:

time they were there, their health

had been so bad and it wasn't.

474

:

Known until later.

475

:

And something about him just

found a spot in my heart and I

476

:

just wanted to share their story.

477

:

Dixie: I did see the story

about Chip on there too.

478

:

Sydney: He was a sweet little guy.

479

:

Dixie: Based on your experience, what

are some of the key things potential

480

:

adopters should consider before

bringing a rescue dog into their home?

481

:

Sydney: That's a very good question.

482

:

I think.

483

:

One of the first things

is keep an open mind.

484

:

And that kind of covers

a few different things.

485

:

I know we, would get adopters who would

come in and say, I want this kind of dog

486

:

only and this age, or literally like this

color, or I want a female over a male.

487

:

And what I would try to talk to them

about is okay, what characteristics

488

:

and behaviors are you looking for?

489

:

So that was always my thing

is what do you want in a dog?

490

:

And then we go from there.

491

:

Obviously sometimes you have like

housing guidelines and you can't have a

492

:

dog over 25 pounds, so that limits it.

493

:

But it's, rather than looking at outside

characteristics, think about what

494

:

it is that you truly want in, you're

looking for in a dog, knowing that.

495

:

I should say cats too.

496

:

I know dogs better, so I'm

always gonna talk about dogs,

497

:

but it goes with all animals.

498

:

Understanding that there're gonna be a

lifelong commitment and that like people,

499

:

things change throughout their lives.

500

:

We would see a lot of people come in

for puppies 'cause they're cute and

501

:

then they go through their teenage phase

and they weren't prepared for that.

502

:

And so just understanding that

there is a lifespan and changes

503

:

happen along that lifespan.

504

:

The other one is giving their dogs

time, but also tools and guidelines.

505

:

So we would talk with adopters

a lot about the 3, 3, 3 rule.

506

:

And it's a guideline.

507

:

It's not a rule, but it's three

days for a dog to decompress.

508

:

And the reason it's three days, the

science behind that is in the first 72

509

:

hours of a dog going through a change,

their cortisol levels are really high.

510

:

So that can affect and

will affect their behavior.

511

:

And sometimes you can see it almost

like to the hour where 72 hours after

512

:

you take them home, you'll see a shift

and you'll go, what was that about?

513

:

And you're like, oh

that's been three days.

514

:

It can make a dog either really

timid and really quiet, or it

515

:

can make them really amped up.

516

:

It can change a lot of things.

517

:

So giving those animals.

518

:

A few days to adjust will give

you a better sense of what their

519

:

personality is looking like.

520

:

So that's the three days.

521

:

The three weeks is it takes 'em

three weeks to learn your routine.

522

:

So if you can keep a similar routine

through those three weeks, it's

523

:

gonna help them adjust quicker.

524

:

And then it's three months

for them to feel at home.

525

:

So it's just like understanding that

it's not gonna happen overnight.

526

:

It's not gonna happen in the

first week or the first month.

527

:

You've gotta give them time.

528

:

And if you're running into issues,

especially if you're going through

529

:

a rescue, reach out to that rescue.

530

:

Early on we always wanted to work with

adopters or even fosters for that matter.

531

:

Like I'd rather hear from them sooner

to say, Hey, this is an issue that's

532

:

happening, and then I can help them like

nip it in the bud right away versus, Hey,

533

:

this has been going on for six months and

then there's all this backtracking to do.

534

:

And sometimes at that point

they've lost their patients and

535

:

they don't wanna wait it out.

536

:

So those were those were the big ones that

I would, I want people to think about.

537

:

Also looking at shelters.

538

:

But on the flip side to that

don't make a snap decision based

539

:

off of a euthanasia deadline.

540

:

Because if all you're looking at is I want

to save this dog's life, but you're not

541

:

looking at what that dog, who that dog is.

542

:

I've seen this a lot too, where

people will get a dog off of a

543

:

euthanasia list, not thinking about

any potential behaviors, realize

544

:

that there's potential behaviors.

545

:

Then they're panicking, trying to

rehome that dog and they don't wanna

546

:

bring it back because they don't

want the dog to get euthanized.

547

:

And that's a really hard place to be in.

548

:

And rescues, especially in

the south, aren't the backup.

549

:

They just can't be they're

already overbooked.

550

:

So yeah, I guess that kind of

goes back to think about what

551

:

it is you're looking for a dog.

552

:

Dixie: Onto that subject, what piece

of advice would you give them then,

553

:

if they do end up with this dog

that has these behavioral issues?

554

:

Sydney: Reach out to a trainer first.

555

:

Like definitely start with a trainer.

556

:

There are a whole lot of

different trainers out there.

557

:

If you're not sure where to start, you

can always reach, even if it's not a

558

:

rescue that you work with or you adopted

from, you can reach out to rescues

559

:

because oftentimes they have trainers

that they've worked with that they know,

560

:

that they've seen good results from, or

even that they're like definitely don't

561

:

touch that one with the 10 foot pole.

562

:

So find a trainer.

563

:

Talk to your vet for a trainer.

564

:

Talk to a rescue for a trainer.

565

:

Find somebody who has the ability

to teach you things that you

566

:

didn't know about dogs beforehand.

567

:

A lot of the times with behaviors that

I would see, it's stuff that can be

568

:

handled pretty easily in the home.

569

:

Especially if you jump on it sooner.

570

:

If you wait and you wait and that pattern

continues and it just gets entrenched.

571

:

It's not impossible to undo,

it just takes more work.

572

:

So that would be, find somebody

who knows what they're doing and

573

:

get help sooner rather than later.

574

:

Dixie: Yeah.

575

:

Great advice.

576

:

Now, before we end the call, for

listeners who wanna help but can't

577

:

necessarily adopt or foster, what are

some of the most effective ways that

578

:

they can get involved in animal advocacy?

579

:

Sydney: One way is go to a rescue

or even your shelter and walk dogs.

580

:

Getting them out for a walk for a day

trip outta the building, even just to

581

:

sit in a quiet room, can be a huge help.

582

:

Not one for the dog.

583

:

Like it's gonna help their

stress levels drop down.

584

:

There's even studies shown that

just an overnight or a weekend

585

:

trip or a day trip, just that time.

586

:

Really helps bring

their stress level down.

587

:

And by doing that, then you're going to

decrease their chance of getting sick.

588

:

The other thing you can do is you can

volunteer with other organizations that

589

:

maybe aren't directly rescue related.

590

:

So finding an organization like the inner

Pup, I think there's also the Street Dog

591

:

Coalition, like finding organizations

that you can do work with that are

592

:

gonna help animals stay in the home.

593

:

Because if animals stay in the

home, then we're not running into

594

:

the issue of overcrowded shelters

or dogs being dumped on the street

595

:

or just overburdened rescues.

596

:

Donating helps also, or just

talking to your friends about

597

:

here's what rescue looks like,

here's what fostering looks like.

598

:

There are also rescues that need help

with data entry or with organizing events,

599

:

with organizing adoption events with.

600

:

Organizing volunteers.

601

:

Like there are, there's a ton of

ways to help on the rescue front.

602

:

That don't mean bringing

an animal into your home.

603

:

Dixie: One important thing too

that they could easily do for

604

:

rescues that's very beneficial is

sharing social media posts too.

605

:

Oh,

606

:

Sydney: yes.

607

:

Dixie: Thank you so much Sydney, for

taking the time to speak with me.

608

:

I enjoyed our conversation.

609

:

Sydney: I'm glad we got to connect.

610

:

Dixie: Yeah, and you had some

great advice and some great

611

:

information to share, so thank you.

612

:

Sydney: Happy to help.

613

:

Yeah, if you ever have any

other questions, let me know.

614

:

Dixie: That's all the time that

we have for today's episode.

615

:

Thank you for listening and

we hope you join us next week.

616

:

If you know somebody that loves animals

as much as I do, please send 'em our way.

617

:

We would love to talk to 'em.

618

:

If you are enjoying our show, please

consider leaving us a donation.

619

:

A hundred percent goes to our animals.

620

:

Suno: Paws in

621

:

the night Claws in the

fight Whiskers twitch and

622

:

tails

623

:

take flight

624

:

They’re calling in Stories to spin

From the wild to the heart within

625

:

Broken wings and hopeful springs

We’re the voices for these things

626

:

animal posse hear the call.

627

:

We stand together.

628

:

Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

got it all Animal posse Saving

629

:

them

630

:

all

631

:

The vet’s got tips The rescuer’s

grit The foster homes where love

632

:

won’t quit From a pup in the rain to

a bird in pain , Every soul’s worth

633

:

the

634

:

strain

635

:

Animal posse

636

:

Hear the call

637

:

We stand together Big

638

:

and small Rescue tales We’ve got

it all Animal posse Saving them all

639

:

Every caller tells a tale, every

howl a whispered wail, we rise up.

640

:

We never

641

:

fail.

642

:

This

643

:

is

644

:

the

645

:

bond

646

:

The holy grail

647

:

Animal posse Hear the call We stand

together Big and small Rescue tales We’ve

648

:

got it all Animal posse Saving them all

649

:

Every caller tells a tale Every howl

a whispered wail We rise up We never

650

:

fail This is the bond The holy grail.

651

:

Song by Suno.ai

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About the Podcast

Animal Posse
A look inside the world of animal rescue
Dive deep into the world of animal rescue with heartwarming stories, expert interviews, and behind-the-scenes insights. From heartwarming adoptions to daring rescues, we'll explore the incredible bond between humans and animals.
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