Question: I was wondering how you determine which dogs come to live here. Do they have a list of criteria that the dogs have to meet? How do you decide which dog gets pulled from a shelter if there are several seniors there?
Answer: We take in dogs only from shelters and animal controls in the Middle TN area. We do not take ower We work mainly with five counties in the area. Our local, Wilson County, shelters take priority. We often pull seniors from Nashville/Davidson County. We try to be the “last resort” taking the dogs who are not pulled by other rescues. The dogs must be true seniors, usually about 10 years and older. We do not restrict intake based on health conditions. It is very difficult for us to take in dogs who do not do well with other dogs because of the way our seniors live in social groups. We will often take several seniors from a shelter at a time, depending on the need of the dogs and our capacity for intake.
Question: Why is the camera only in Gathering Room?
Answer: There were initially two cameras installed at GrandPaw’s Gardens. One of the cameras is in the Gathering Room and the other is in our Main Yard. These are the two areas where most of the dogs can be seen. The cameras are attached permanently in their positions and cannot be moved. We will be installing another camera soon.
Question: What day do you tend to bring new dogs into the gathering room?
Answer: We generally do intake on Monday and Tuesday. The new dogs will stay in intake for about 5-7 days to make sure that they are not bringing in any communicable illnesses. Generally, new dogs are brought out of intake into the Reception area on Mondays and will move to the Gathering Room/ Main dog area when we feel that they are ready.
Question: How do you guys decide which dogs sleep in which room at night at the Gardens?
Answer: Sleeping areas are determined in part by size and in part by trial and error. We have 10 separate areas in the main dog area to separate dogs at night. We avoid placing dogs who just don’t like one another in the same room, keep friends together and generally the big dogs stay together, and the small dogs stay together. The most variety in size is seen in the Gathering room where a group of compatible dogs sleep.
Question: Could you tell us about the new doggies that have come in?
Answer: This week, we have five dogs in intake. There is a bonded pair of chubby rat terriers named Timber and Stumper, a yellow lab mix named Ajax, a black lab mix named Maverick and a Staffy mix named Vandaber. You will probably see some of these dogs on the Gathering Room camera early next week. They all seem to be sweet additions to the Gardens Gang. Below are pictures of the new dogs who have come in this week.
Question: Will collars with names be made again?
Answer: Yes, we are trying a simpler method of name collars in the Reception area right now that seems to be working well. We will start to put the collars on all the dogs over the next few weeks. We will also begin to put name collars on the new dogs right out of intake.
Please continue to send your questions for our weekly blog to ofsdsexplore@gmail.com. We will answer several questions every week based on the questions most asked and those that we think will be of the most interest to all our supporters.
