Advisory Meeting #2

Essential Question: How can a potential pet owner best prepare for a shelter adoption? 

 

Answer #2: To best prepare for any sort of adoption, whether it be from a rescue group or shelter, a potential pet owner must acquire a lot of patience.  

 

3 details to support the answer (a detail is a fact and an example):

• The only thing that is consistent is that they will need lots of patience, understanding, love, and probably most importantly, unconditional acceptance of what they are and what their limitations may be. 
• Because shelter dogs may have a background of unfavorable treatment from a previous owner, and they may be beyond “prime training age”, you must always use patience with any animal shelter dog you adopt. (with the exception of puppies)
• Some of these dogs are going to take right to a new owner with no problems. It is the dogs with a history of abusive treatment we especially need to use love and patience with. It will take time for the dog to learn you are not going to hurt them.
• Have patience with your new dog’s behavior, level of training, and the time it takes to establish a bond with you. Give your new dog time and space to adjust. Commit time the first few days to get to know your dog’s habits and personality. Establish a routine for the dog and balance interaction and down-time. This is a period of trust-building, so don’t scare or yell at the dog or try to force close contact. Watch your dog’s postures and expressions. Learn to read him. It may take even up to several months for you to get to know your dog’s true nature. And don’t forget, your new dog is trying to do the same with you!

The research source (s) to support your details and answer:

• 3rd Interview *
• http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/adopting-puppy-mill-dog
• http://dogingtonpost.com/be-patient-with-rescueadopted-dogs/#.Uw6SeYXosuE
• http://www.arlboston.org/welcoming-your-adopted-dog-into-your-home/
• http://www.retrieversandfriends.com/resources-adopting-kennel-dog.asp

Concluding SentenceLove is definitely needed in large amounts, but so is patience; the damage done during the years in the kennel usually can be overcome, but it takes time and dedication.

Independent Component 2 Approval

Content

1.  Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• For my 30 hours, I plan on hosting a towel drive, with the help of another iPoly student. The towel drive was suggested to me by my first mentor, Elana Blum. It's, as the name says, a way to get towels (used or new) from people from iPoly and outside for the animals at the Pasadena Humane Society. Aside from towels, I may ask for blankets as well, since the cats and dogs don't have beds. It's our goal to make the environment as comfortable as possible for them, since being caged up in a strange place is stressful as it is.
  

2.  Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• To meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence, as mentioned above, I will be collecting towels (and blankets) from people by going around during the week and making announcements. This may only be twice a week (Mondays & Wednesdays), and on Fridays, I'll make my rounds to collect them. I believe I'll make a chart (independent 2 log) and log in how many towels I get per week.

3.  And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• What I'm doing will help me get the word out of what's going on in the shelter, and how because of our economy plus the overpopulation of shelter animals, we aren't able to provide even the simplest things for these animals. Sure, the shelter's focused solely on the more important things (vaccinations, medicines, etc.), but what about the rest? Chew toys? Food? A bed to sleep on? The slightest way our peers can help is by donations. Or even better? Adopting. Which all ties into my essential question of how a potential pet owner can best prepare for a shelter adoption. Definitely being up to date and knowledgeable about what's going on is a start.
  

4.  Post a log on the right hand side of your blog near your other logs and call it the independent component 2 log.

• Done.

Independent Component 1

• LITERAL
  (a) I, Devanna Terry, affirm that I completed my independent component, which represents 30 hours of work.
  (b) Anthony Thomson, the owner of the dog, was my main source to go to whenever I had a question about Blue.
  (c) Working on this.(d) Since the beginning of the year, my aunt and I have been fostering a pitbull named Blue. Since she works from 8 am - 6 pm, I'm in charge of watching over the little guy. The routine was the same for the most part: Feed, play, brush, walk. As if he were my own.

• INTERPRETIVE I guess the most significant parts of this component is learning how to train him to have a completely more relaxed personality. Instead of aggressively playing or taking a dog treat out of my hand, I would say "Gentle, gentle.." and he would take things gently.
  

• APPLIED
  This refers back to my essential question because in order to be a responsible pet owner, you must prepare yourself for dogs who don't always have that perfect personality. Which refers back to my first answer of identifying your needs and recognizing the commitment.

Lesson 2 Reflection

Content:

1. Positive Statement: What are you most proud of in your Lesson 2 Presentation and why?I think I like the fact that my activity suited my first answer perfectly. Although I myself didn't present my answer well, the activity surely did it for me.




2. Questions to Consider
       a.     What assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation (self-assessment)?

       AE       P          AP       CR       NC

       b.     Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 component contract.               Unfortunately, I didn't make time. That's already an error and a letter grade down.

3. What worked for you in your Lesson 2?
Again, I think my activity better explained my answer.

4.  (What didn't work) If you had a time machine, what would you have done differently to improve your Lesson 2?Oh, how much I wish I had rehearsed. I was completely unprepared and nervous, hence why I was short on time.

5. Finding Value: What do you think your answer #2 is going to be? 
I'm honestly not sure. I would think something along the lines of preparing yourself and your home or asking the shelter questions about the pet because it's important to know their story.

Blog 12: Third Interview Questions

Content

10 Open Ended Question:

• How can a potential pet owner best prepare for a shelter adoption? 
• What are the most important aspects to being a "responsible"owner?
• What distinguishes a "poor" owner versus a "good" one?
• Is it possible that even the homeless folks with very little money are better pet owners than some? In my experience, I once saw a man asking a money so that he could feed his dog.
• How can we as people in general take action and help these animals out, along with informing others about this sort of information? 
• Say, there's a dog that has special needs. This is your first pet and you just absolutely fell in love with the little dude. Should you get extra training and acquire further research?
• There's an option to adopt online from animal rescue groups out of state. How do those potential pet owners get a background check? Isn't better to have an interview in person? 
• To those already set pet owners who have shy animals of their own, is there anyway the shelter animal they want to adopt be introduced to their pet to see how the two act? This seems very important.
• Is there ever a certain vibe or persona a good pet owner has? I don't know. I think usually on first impressions, you're able to tell.
• What kind of attitude should someone come in with when they're looking to adopt?

Blog 11: Mentorship 10 Hours Check

Content:

1.   Where are you doing your mentorship?
I'm currently doing my mentorship at the Pasadena Humane Society. I will remain doing so, with the exception of a few outer events. 
 
2.   Who is your contact?
 My contact is Elana Blum, also known as the humane educator and pet therapy coordinator at the Pasadena Humane Society. 
 
3.   How many total hours have you done (total hours should be reflected in your mentorship log located on the right hand side of your blog like your WB)?   
Total, so far, I have 41 hours and 45 minutes in.

4.   Summarize the 10 hours of service you did.
I split my 10 hours into two days. Both days consisted of putting together the packages for the kids, as I mentioned in my last blog post. The packages that we mailed out included animal stickers and pencils and stamps and just little goodies for the kids. In between working, my mentor actually let me take this adorable red haired pitbull out for a stroll in the park. We didn't have a name decided for her. But she has a pink and green collar, which I said reminded me of strawberries. And with that, we named her Shortcake! See, her fur is red with a white chest, as a strawberry shortcake would be.
♡




 5.   Email your house teacher the name of your contact and their phone number confirming who they should call to verify it.
Done.

Senior Project, The Holiday

Content:

1.  It is important to consistently work on your senior project, whether it is break or we are in school.  What did you over the break with your senior project?
Over break, I actually visited my mentor at the shelter and we put together packages for people throughout California who are hosting an event called The Barks and Books Reading Enrichment Program. They are hosted in public libraries, which means that anyone is welcomed (if they're actually interested). It was pretty neat learning something new. 

 

2.  What was the most important thing you learned from what you did and why?  What was the source of what you learned?
The most important thing that I learned from putting together these packages for the kids was that there are actually a bunch of curious minds. There are kids who were like me at that age, wondering why animals are put in such places. It's inspiring, really. And very heartwarming. But also, what strikes out to me is that there is a much friendlier way of presenting the reality of shelter animals without being too harsh. As long as the message gets out, that's all that matters.

3.  If you were going to do a 10 question interview on questions related to answers of your EQ, who would you talk to and why?
If I were to do a 10 question interview relating to my essential question, I would definitely turn to my mentor. Although she's not an animal control officer herself, she definitely has a wide knowledge about the shelter and working with both the people and animals. Just like the officers rescue these animals, she too does so by hosting and providing programs for children and teaching them ways they could help prevent an abundance amount of shelter animals.