“If I sat down with a pen, I’d never be able to stop writing down the weird and wonderful things…”
Rosie Taylor-Trigg (Head Behaviourist) with Rowan (Staffy)
Cheltenham Animal Shelter, based on Gardners Lane, is a rehoming centre for animals from all sorts of backgrounds. They provide a safe haven for all their rescue animals, working hard as a team to make sure the animals go to the best homes that can provide the love they deserve. Compassion and responsibility is key for both workers at the shelter, as well as possible new owners, making it really important for the shelter to have really good assessment criteria to lead to better rehoming.
But, as expected, it is inevitable for animals to come in with behavioural issues. Rosie Taylor-Trigg is the head of the team of two dog behaviourists at Cheltenham Animal Shelter, tasked with the responsibility to assess dogs coming in and provide both them and prospective owners with support. Taylor-Trigg helps with the assessment of the intake of animals, whether it’s to decide what approach will be best when taking the dogs in or, unfortunately, sometimes having to refuse intake with severe behaviour issues, such as severe aggression (such as biting another dog or human) and provide the current owners with behaviour advice and recommendations of other rescues.
Outside sensory garden for dogs
Patience is a key skill to have when working in the animal shelter. The majority of dogs to come into the shelter have developed emotional damage, some more so than others. In these cases, the behaviourists would have to take it incredibly slow and won’t apply pressure on the dog for improvement. Situations such as these could be taking extra time when introducing to people, extra home visits or herbal medicine. What’s interesting with the herbal medicine route is the shelter allows the dogs to choose which one they want using scent work.
““If I sat down with a pen, I’d never be able to stop writing down the weird and wonderful things,” Taylor-Trigg said. Working at the shelter is an incredibly rewarding experience as you get to see how the hard work you put into caring for these dogs and the improvement they’ve made is all worth it when you see them go to a loving new home, though it can be hard to start with seeing these dogs you’ve built a connection with go away to a new home, but it’s amazing knowing you’re part of the team that made it possible. Taylor-Trigg herself had adopted a dog she’s previously worked with herself after taking him home for one night, he stayed for the final 4 years of his life until he passed away from cancer.
One of the many success stories the shelter has to offer include one of Sarah – a Romanian dog with a facial deformity. She was taken in by a patient woman who worked with her, showing the key skills of compassion and patience needed when dealing with dogs who need the extra support, and helped Sarah increase her confidence. Now, she can do things that the shelter thought may never be possible, such as visiting cafes (which sometimes isn’t ever a possibility for a regular dog).
“There’s always a right match,” says Taylor-Trigg.
And no day will ever be the same in this line of work; you get so much thrown at you. Each dog has it’s own personalities and little quirks, and you’ll never leave without a smile on your face. The shelter is always in need of donations and extra help through volunteers and fundraisers. And the shelter isn’t solely dogs – they provide rehoming opportunities to a variety of animals from the regular cats, dogs and rabbits to birds – currently holding a parakeet in their care.
Velma and Daphne – Mum and baby rabbit in care of the shelter
With animal adoption, you get the full package. The animal shelter provides ongoing behaviour support and advice as well as the vets practice making sure the animals are happy and healthy. The shelter does all the microchipping and injections necessary to make it easier for owners.
Cheltenham Animal Shelter also functions as a low-cost vet practice, and the behaviourists also provide advice to dogs outside of the shelters care. Supporting Cheltenham animals and owners as a whole, it provides an important role in the local community, which wouldn’t be possible if funds dried up. If you’re interested in helping support Cheltenham Animal Shelter, be sure to check them out either in person or online via their website or Facebook.
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