Hi {{first_name}} ,

I've spent hundreds of hours at West LA shelter over the years, and one session stands out as the perfect example of what separates volunteers who love dogs from volunteers who actually save them.

It's a lesson I keep coming back to, especially when I see well-meaning people making the same mistakes that keep good dogs from getting adopted.

IN THIS ISSUE:

Her name was Amiga. She'd been at the shelter since February - nine months of spinning in circles, literally wearing a path in her kennel from boredom and frustration.

When one of our volunteers brought her out, I saw the problem immediately.

The volunteer was hiding treats, pulling her hand back, pushing the dog away while trying to give rewards. The leash was tight. The dog was mouthy, jumping, pushing for cookies. It looked like chaos.

But here's what I saw: a good dog who'd never been taught what was expected.

"Let me show you something," I said. "Hold the treat here. Don't move it."

The volunteer held the cookie out, and Amiga immediately started licking, pushing, demanding. I waited. Five seconds. Ten seconds. The volunteer's arm was shaking.

Then Amiga stopped pushing. Just for a second.

"Yes. Good girl. NOW give it to her."

That's the difference between loving a dog and saving a dog.

I see it every week at the shelter. Volunteers - good people with huge hearts - come in wanting to love these dogs. They want to make up for the abuse, the neglect, the abandonment. I get it. I feel it too.

But here's what I told that volunteer: "We want to get her adopted. We want to love her right out of here. And the way we do that is not with kisses and sympathy - it's with structure."

Amiga knew sit. She knew down. But she didn't know how to engage properly with a human. She pushed, demanded, took what she wanted. In the shelter environment with experienced handlers, that's manageable. But put her in a home with someone who doesn't understand dog behavior, and she'd be back in a week.

I've seen it a hundred times.

We spent twenty minutes teaching Amiga one simple concept: calm behavior gets rewarded, pushy behavior gets ignored.

No yelling. No corrections. Just holding the treat still, blocking what we didn't want, and marking what we did want with a "yes" and a cookie.

By the end of that session, Amiga was offering sits without being asked. She was watching the volunteer's face instead of staring at the treat pouch. She'd learned to wait.

Was she cured? No. Did she suddenly become the perfect dog? Of course not.

But she was 100% more adoptable than she was twenty minutes earlier.

Every shelter is full of dogs like Amiga - good dogs that just need someone to show them what's expected. They don't need to be rescued from their trauma. They need structure, clarity, and consistency.

In shelters across the US and beyond, the volunteers who understand this? They're the ones actually saving lives.

The ones who focus on love and sympathy without structure? They're the ones who end up with dogs that spin in circles for nine months because nobody can adopt them.

Here's what kills me: while we're spending 80% of our time on the one dog with serious issues - the one that bit another dog, the one that's aggressive, the one that requires intensive management - four really good dogs like Amiga are getting overlooked and eventually killed.

Pick the low-hanging fruit. Train the dogs that actually have a chance. Give them structure. Make them adoptable.

That's how you save more dogs.

The great news is that the video and the advice I gave that day helped save Amiga.

She's been pulled by a rescue organization that specializes in high-energy dogs.

They've got her in foster, they’re working on her training, and they're confident they'll find her the right home.

Nine months in the shelter. Twenty minutes of proper structure training to show what she was capable of. Now she's got a real shot.

That's the work that matters.

If you want to help shelter dogs, don't just love them. Learn how to train them. Understand what makes them adoptable. Give them the skills they need to succeed in a home.

Because at the end of the day, your feelings don't save dogs. Your skills do.

Ready to make a real difference? My Shelter Dog Training Course is the only course filmed entirely in shelters with real shelter dogs facing real behavioral issues. Learn the skills that actually save lives.

Just brought home a new puppy? My 30-Day Puppy Training Program gives you the structure and foundation every puppy needs. Whether from a breeder or a shelter.

- Robert

P.S. - If you're in the LA area and want to volunteer at a shelter, they are always looking for volunteers at LAAS as well as many other municipal shelters. 

They need people who are willing to learn and work. Not just people who want to love on dogs. Big difference.