“Our dog’s lives are much shorter than ours – let’s help them enjoy their time with us as much as we can.” — Dog Scout Owner’s Motto
The Bay Area has its very fist Dog Scout Troop and they’re meeting at Humane Society Silicon Valley’s (HSSV) Animal Community Center (ACC). The Center opened in Milpitas in April 2009, and was developed to be a vital resource for people seeking connections with animals, as well as families already enjoying the company of furry members.
Our community approach provides innovative ways to keep people and their pets connected through various services and programs. Dog Scouts of America (DSA), developed as a nonprofit in 1995, is one such program.
In February 2010, HSSV launched the first Bay Area Dog Scout Troop at the ACC, “Bay Scouts, Troop #198.” The troop currently consists of 12-15 families and 14-17 dogs, ranging in size from a little Chi mix to a large Lab mix and in age from 6 months to 10 years. We have no breed limitations and the only age restriction is for dogs to be four months of age or older.
Any dog can become a Dog Scout! The only requirement is that the dog and owner pass a test demonstrating that the owner is responsible and the dog is well-mannered and not aggressive toward humans and other dogs.
The goal of our troop is to discover creative ways to have fun with our canine companions while being responsible dog parents. Dogs are also encouraged to earn scout badges for accomplishing various goals. The badges are awarded to honor the learning and training progress of each dog and to acknowledge the owners for sticking with their canine companions through sometimes challenging work. You can earn general badges such as Dog Scout, Pup Scout or Honor Scout and most families really enjoy going for more specialty badges such as “Beach Buddies”, “Improv”, “Search and Rescue”, “Dock Diving” or “PhoDOGraphy”!
At the HSSV Animal Community Center, we believe that teaching families how to relate to their animal companions in positive ways will ultimately reduce the number of animals surrendered into community shelters. The Dog Scouts of America program supports positive training and shares this important mission. By helping dog owners make lifelong commitments to raising their dogs with positive reinforcement, sharing their lives with them (instead of tying them to a tree in the yard), and meeting the challenges of normal dog behaviors, DSA hopes to substantially reduce the numbers of stray and unwanted dogs across the country.
During our monthly DSA meetings, we may go over badge accomplishments, have a guest speaker on a training issue, play dog-related games, work on basic obedience skills, and plan future outings and activities for the troop.
What do dogs do outside of meetings? They practice being good canine citizens and work on skills that make them valuable members of our community. We encourage our Dog Scouts to get involved in programs like therapy dogs, participate in children’s reading programs, and walk with their owners in walk-a-thons to raise money and awareness for local animal welfare groups.
Families are encouraged to participate together in the troop. There are national camps that families can attend and we hope to sponsor a camp at the ACC in the next year.
We are a new troop and would love for people to get involved in leading programs and activities – all of the work is done by volunteers. Please consider attending our next Dog Scout meeting on May 27 – and mark your calendars for every last Thursday of the month from 6:30-7:30pm at the ACC!
Beth Ward is Chief Operating Officer at The Humane Society of Silicon Valley. In her off hours, she is mother to three teen-aged girls and an entourage of dogs, cats, bunnies, and rats. Beth, her daughters, and partner Jill love hanging out at softball fields and pools. Black Lab Odie and two-legged Chihuahua Mulligan are always a part of what they do as a family.
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