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From the moment rescued dogs come into our care, we put their welfare first. In addition to meeting their basic needs and medical care, we are concerned with rehabilitating them emotionally and behaviorally so that they can be adopted, which is why we created the “Messengers of Hope” training and desensitization program.
The vast majority of the dogs that come to our shelter have been through major trauma, being either abused or aggressed and, in order to be treated and then put up for adoption, a desensitization program was required.
So we created Messengers of Hope, a training and desensitization program that has done wonders for abused dogs. This program started more as an experiment, but quickly turned into one of our most important projects.
Messengers of Hope is a program in which a team of trainers and canine behavior specialists work with the dogs at Speranța Shelter to make them more adoptable and adaptable to a future home and family of their own.
In this program we want to gradually include all the dogs in the shelter because, in addition to the traumatized ones, which have priority, dogs that have only known life in the shelter need this program. They have been deprived of all the much needed exposure to a diverse life in a home or even on the street and are often very anxious when they are adopted and arrive in a new and initially frightening environment for them.
A home, a walk on city sidewalks or a play in the park – all of these can be very difficult times for puppies who have spent months or even years in the simple, repetitive routine of a shelter.
We work with our dogs every day, both to help them overcome their fears or traumas and to make them more adoptable. Since 2020, we’ve had expert help from trainers who come to the shelter weekly to do various exercises designed to get the puppies used to the skills needed to be a good family dog. We work with them in parks, desensitize them to cars, stairs, elevators, long walks on leashes, or other potentially scary things they might encounter in their new life with a family.
Over time, the program has proved to be a real success. Of the 45 dogs we have worked with so far, more than half of them have been adopted and are now well adapted to family life: Chinezu, Sultana, Dunguliță, Albuș, Jerry, Mia, Katy, Raza, Sultan, Cila, Pic, Zora, Mera, Tom, Leia, Mozaic, Vasile, Lăbuș, Bella, Matilda.
The large number of adoptions we have seen lately would not have been possible without the Messengers of Hope program. We have had very difficult cases of extremely fearful and anxious dogs, sometimes even aggressive, but after desensitization sessions they have made remarkable progress, being completely rehabilitated, some of them adopted and perfectly adapted to family life.
In order to continue this program and to be able to include as many puppies as possible, we need, of course, your financial support. Every contribution brings us closer to our goal of finding a loving family for every puppy in the shelter.
Speranța Foundation was founded in 1996 and, for more than two decades, we have done everything in our power for the welfare of our silent friends, especially for abandoned and suffering dogs.
