Doggy Day Out: Students take part in new program at Animal Shelter
By MELISSA VALLE
The Tower
The Manteca Animal Shelter has launched an innovative program designed to combat overcrowding and kettle depression among the four-legged guests.
The “Doggy Day Out” program was started in January as a way of connecting the community with abandoned puppies and potentially finding them a fur-ever home.
Such was the case for Manteca High special needs assistant Josephine Martinez, who adopted a brown puppy named Genji during a recent visit with Anna Wooten’s classes.
“This program allows anyone over the age of 18 to come to the shelter, pick a dog, and take them out for a short or extended period of time,” Manteca Animal Shelter employee Barbara Crowley said. “We have started this in an effort to reduce kennel stress. Who knows you just might fall in love and want to make it part of the family.
“The program has proven to be successful in many ways in regard to getting adoptions, dogs getting breaks for the kennels, and reducing kennel stress behaviors.”
The program is available Tuesday through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Once a puppy has been chosen, that’s when the real adventure begins. The dog can be taken to new parks, to the pet store, or even to Starbucks for a “Pup Cup.”
This is the perfect opportunity for dogs to explore new environments and have the best time hanging out with new people and potential adoptees.
Wooten saw “Doggy Day Out” as an opportunity to connect her students to a civic concern, while giving them an important life experience.
Wooten had a chance to experience “Doggy Day Out” with her 9th and 10th grade English classes. She felt doing this with her students was a great idea because she wants them to appreciate community-based learning and because there are many health benefits to being around loving animals for a day. She especially wanted to take part in this activity since she is a dog mom to two dogs.
“It was really important for me because I believe in community-based learning,” Wooten said. “I think real-life learning is so much more meaningful than just being in the classroom all day.
“I am a lover of animals and I think that all of our shelters are overcrowded right now so if our Manteca High students can do their part in finding their forever homes, I support that 100 percent.”
Having a fun day out of class wasn’t the only reason Wooten wanted to plan a field trip. She’s a firm believer in teaching literacy skills, so after having a relaxing time at the shelter, they went back to the classroom to write about their experiences.
“I was hoping that my students after being at the shelter and spending time with dogs and cats, would have a little less anxiety and stress because they’re all facing difficulties every day,” she said. “There are so many health benefits from being around animals – lowers our anxiety, stress, blood pressure, and all of that stuff.
“I wanted them one, to enjoy being in the presence of the animals; and two, have this real-world experience and come back to class and turn this into a writing assignment. Literacy skills are the key to success no matter what your plans are after high school. I felt like this would be a valuable lesson opportunity. Plus, we want to partner with the shelter to help these dogs get homes.”
Wooten is willing to plan another one of these days with her class. She’s even interested in researching other community-based causes.
“I think the Doggy Day Out program is amazing. It’s innovative and I love that the people in the shelter are being so creative and understanding that maybe people aren’t in a position where they can adopt a dog or foster a dog but they have flexibility,” she said. “… I would love to find more opportunities like this where my students can get involved in issues that our community is facing and even as high school students, make a difference and have an impact. The shelter said we are more than welcome to go back. I hope to make this a regular field trip. Maybe once or twice a term, if not more.”
“Doggy Day Out” was the perfect field trip for Wooten’s students. It brought the students out of their shells, and it ultimately uplifted them and made them more cheerful.
“That day we saw a lot of smiles. I saw this gentleness and tenderness with them that I haven’t seen before that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see in the classroom,” Wooten said. “They had a connection with the animals. We talked about how the animals are stressed in the shelter. We need to go in and sit down and be quiet and still and not have quick abrupt movements. We needed to let the animals come to us. Put out our hand, let them smell to greet, and they all did a wonderful job.
“Before we even left, they were asking me if we can go back. The students loved it and the shelter said we can go back this year and hopefully we plan another trip soon.”