Have you already attended one of our Basic Orientations and now you’re interested in learning a pet training skill and becoming an Adoption Assistant?
What is the Adoption Assistant Program?
- We want to make our pets more adoptable by providing them with some basic training that encourages the pet to earn rewards for good behavior in everyday life situations.
- We hope the volunteers will develop a relationship with particular pets to learn more about them and volunteers can then in turn advise our staff of traits specific to each pet. This will then enable us to better determine an appropriate home for the pet and help our pet adopters feel better about the commitment they are making. It is a win-win-win-win program for volunteers, pets, pet adopters and staff!
- We believe that providing for the mental, in addition to the physical needs, of pets while in our care will enhance the pet’s quality of life. This in turn will reduce the pet’s stress level, and may, in fact, improve the health of the pets in our facility.
- With this program we also hope the volunteer will walk away from the shelter volunteer experience with a greater awareness of how pets think and respond to human actions and expectations.
Adoption Assistant classes are offered to those who have completed Basic Volunteer Orientation and who have demonstrated a commitment to serving the shelter. Volunteers should have completed at least 25 hours of Basic Pet Socialization prior to being considered for the training. Those who have completed the above pre-requisites and who wish to be considered for Adoption Assistant training may contact Candy Barnes at (540)434-5270 or email her at humane@rhspca.org. Training is provided by Karen Mast, CPDT-KSA of the Successfull Mix, LLC
Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA 