Training Wheels® Take a virtual ride!         View the APDT Article (Adobe pdf)         Urban Solutions

Training Wheels® is a national mobile outreach program that takes shelter services to the people instead of waiting for the people to come to the shelter.

Instead of waiting for people to need the shelter, often at the end of the relationship with their pet, Training Wheels® takes pet care services out into the community to respond to the needs of the pet owners.

HOW TRAINING WHEELS® WORKS

• It brings trainers and shelter staff directly to the community in a positive way
• Pet owners see the shelter as a resource for helping them keep their pets rather than as a last resort for surrendering their pets when all else fails
• It unites shelter personnel, dog trainers, and pet owners in a common goal
• It prevents overpopulation by making sterilization possible in neighborhoods in which spaying/neutering is not accessible
• It focuses on treating people and pets with respect and kindness by sharing advice and information in a compassionate way
• It works under the premise that it is the role of the shelter to help achieve a more humane community, and sometimes that means offering neighbors financial assistance during hard times or for unexpected veterinary expenses
• It maintains as its goal, assisting community members in any way to help them keep their pets and not reach the point where relinquishment becomes necessary

Training Wheels® volunteers go into the community, making friends with pet owners and offering help in a compassionate, non-judgmental way. A van is loaded up with supplies--leashes, collars, treats, toys, scratching posts. These gifts are offered as a way of breaking the ice with people in the community. Training Wheels® staff helps with common problems such as housebreaking, not using the litterbox, sitting, coming when called. User-friendly, easy, positive training methods are used. The goal is to partner with, rather than police, members of the community.

Through various humane education programs, Training Wheels® fosters humane communities and public safety by teaching safe and humane interactions between people and animals.

We also offer one and two day workshops for shelters and trainers who would like to set up a Training Wheels Program in their community.

Paws 2 Help

Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption's Paws 2 Help Fund is dedicated to helping local families with food and low-cost spay/neuter and veterinary care for their pets, so that no one is forced to give up a cherished family member for financial reasons. Our goal is to keep pets in their homes with the families who love them.

The Paws 2 Help fund will provide assistance to local families with the following:

• Food for dogs and cats
• Financial assistance for veterinary care
• Low cost (or free when necessary) spay/neuter

For some examples of what a real Training Wheels® outing is like, please visit the following links

• Animal Sheltering Magazine

• Dog Fancy