Bringing awareness to future pet owners

NEGAUNEE — Bringing home a new pet is an exciting time, but how do you make sure their transition into your home is successful?

The first step to any pet adoption is connecting with the pet to make sure their personality fits your lifestyle.

“We have to really talk about meeting your match and making sure that we have a successful adoption process,” said, Executive Director at UPAWS, Kori Tossava. It is making sure that we connect the right person with the right pet and we give them specifics unique to that animal.”

Even after meeting the possible perfect match it’s a good idea to introduce the animal slowly into your home and let them become more comfortable with you. Animals could suffer from high anxiety after moving from place to place.

“While they are here, they are going to experience some level of anxiety. So that’s not anything new and that’s why we do the SAFER exams,” added Tossava. That’s why our caregivers who are giving them their four walk’s a day, who are here 7 days a week. They are getting to know those animals and then they are having those conversations with people. So anxiety is not anything new. Once anybody comes into an animal shelter, what we really want to be able to do is estimate what we can do to mitigate that.”

While controlling the stress levels can vary between animals it is better to learn all the information about your future furry family member. One way is to get guidance from a trainer the adoption center caretakers or even a veterinarian.

“If they’re adopting an animal from the shelter, certainly going there, maybe even several times, to interact with the animals first of all in the shelter setting to see if they are going to be a good match,” said, Veterinarian, Jack Rauch. Maybe even fostering a dog where you are not definitely adopting an animal right away. But this allows the animal to into your environment and seeing how it reacts before you take that final step to adopt.”

Animals can be sensitive and also may have the possibility of having high anxiety or aggression when things change too quickly. To effectively transition your pet it’s safe to give them time to adjust.

Every animal has a different personality and therefore will have a different way of transitioning into a new home.

“There is never one answer for specific animals because they are just like us. What works for me might not work you, so we just try to really know them as thoroughly as we possibly can and set them up with their new home so that they are set up for success,” explained Tossava.

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