I live near the airport and run a lot. Always had dogs back in UK, but i work too much to have one now. I really miss going running with a dog. Does anyone know whether Tierheims accept such offers or whether anyone living in airport area would be interested in having their dog nicely tired out? Free of charge of course.

These good folks are in Winkel, not far from the airport - your help would be appreciated:

http://www.tierrettungsdienst.ch/h/index.php

In order to volunteer for dogwalking, you would need to attend a seminar. (A sensible practice, methinks.) It looks like the next one is 12 March, registration deadline 9 March:

http://www.tierrettungsdienst.ch/h/h...erinnen_53.php


There is also this Tierheim - but it looks like they will have to move soon:
http://www.tierambulanz-verein.ch/index.html


Good luck!

That's great, I've been looking for something exactly like this. I took shelter dogs to walk in the woods while we were living in Luxembourg.

Do you know if there is any program like this in or close to Basel?

Thanks!

Tierschutz Beider Basel has a volunteer Hundspazierdienst program:

http://www.tbb.ch/index.php?id=139


Also Tierschuzbund Basel:

http://www.tierschutzbund.ch/ichwillhelfen.php

However, they no longer use the Therwil kennels, I believe the dogs are now at a Tierheim in Argau. But you could contact them for info anyway:

Thanks so much meloncollie! I'll be going next week.

I so wish we had a dog, but we must find a bigger place first. This will be great!!

Ok, so since my post about volunteering derailed the other thread about donating to animal shelters, im posting my updates here.

I walked a deaf dog today named Filu. He is way too excited and impossible to lead but after some time his pulling lessened somehow. It was really nice and the weather was just perfect. I didnt know we were out for 2 hours already. I didnt get a penny but i would go back because its a very good activity for me and my daughter. We got to explore and see more of this village were in. I wanted to volunteer to whatever other needs they have but nobody could speak to me in english today so i just did the walk and left.

I think its best now for me to ask where i can take up a pet course, preferably in Aargau and/or Zurich.

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Good on you. The weather today is great. One of our dogs is deaf but she is not a challenge to walk at all. She stays very close to me, though she is never off the lead.
I have never spoken to anyone at the ATS in Steinenbuhl in English but if you are keen to volunteer they should be able to find someone to communicate with you.

EDIT: This is the link with the info about the dog you walked.
http://www.tierschutz-aargau.ch/node/1089

He is an English cocker spaniel, born Jan 9, 2002, and he has been in the Tierheim since Nov 2010.

What is more interesting is what they say about him. He understands hand signals, not ideal with children. As a typical Spaniel walking is about keeping his nose to the ground. Sounds like my Bassets. It seems he is at the Tierheim as he never learned how to be alone. He gets on well with other dogs.

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I was emailing someone there in english and was hoping the person would be there today. Maybe i can try again on a weekday. Really sucks to not know enough german.

Well Filou is the perfect dog for you to walk. You don't need German at all. Someone should show you the hand signals he understands.

He looks like a very cute dog. How was he with your daughter? It says he is not good with children but that might be what they were told by a previous owner. He just needs constant companionship.

Hey Mrs Doolittle, you give so much helpful info. Vielen, vielen Dank! Thats so interesting, how much they put in record about the individual dogs. There was no problem with my daughter today, he is well behaved. Maybe they assigned him to me so he can improve socializing with children? Cant wait to translate the link. Id like also to know what hand signals he can understand. Ill definitely go back, were more or less 15 minutes away from the shelter.

You are most welcome. I think you are doing a wonderful thing. I am not far from there, if you get stuck, I can meet you there and translate.

As far as what they say about the dog and children, it might be worth asking how they know this. Still, if you had your daughter with you and they knew this, if the dog was not good with children you would think they would have been worried. I would trust your instincts, and watch closely, as I am sure you did.

I believe when dealing with dogs in shelters (or any animal) their past was shaped by their environment and you can never know exactly what that was like. Many dogs in shelters just need to be placed in the right home.

The ATS has a weekly program on local TV where they feature animals needing adoption.

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Glad to hear you enjoyed your walk, Stephanie - and I'm sure that Filou did as well.

If you feel a connection to Filou, maybe you could be his 'regular'? It is so important for a deaf dog to have consistent interaction - if you could provide that for him, if you could help him develop his social skills and training, his chances of finding his forever home would certainly be better.

I have a deaf dog, adopted from a Tierheim . If you think that you might want to work with Filou regularly, I'd be happy to share some tips for working with deaf dogs. Of course, you'd need to clear these techniques with the shelter, as consistency is important.

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And just in case anyone reading this thread is starting to feel a tug at the old heartstrings looking at Filou's picture... living with a deaf dog is really not very different to living with a hearing one.

When we adopted my little deaf guy he had no training, knew no hand signals - even though he was a senior. Yet within a very short time he had learned all my signals, he had his basic commands down, he walked beautifully to heel. Deaf dogs are no harder to train than hearing ones. In fact, they are in some ways easier, as hand signals are a natural extension of body language - and most dogs respond to body language far better than voice commands.

In his younger days (Haifisch is ancient now) my deaf guy did oldie agility, he did scent tracking, he did RallyO. He still plays fetch, he plays with puzzle toys, he is a delightful companion - in short, that he is deaf is a minor detail, it does not impact his life in any way, shape or form. He is a perfectly normal, happy little chap.

As are all the deaf dogs I know.

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Really hope Filou finds his forever home soon. And in the meantime, I'm so glad he's had a fun afternoon with you, Stephanie.

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@meloncollie, im considering becoming his "regular". Something about being stuck in his own world because of a hearing problem. I can relate to that somehow. My daughter likes another dog there that looks like the girlfriend of "underdog"..i dont know what breed...its brown, tiny with big ears and low eyes. She likes that movie, but i think given a dog that is special would be even more worthwhile. I dont think Filou has any problem with kids at all. My daughter even shared her snacks to him.

Our youngest dog is deaf and I agree with MC, this has no impact at all. It helps that we have other dogs around, they help communicate with her in ways we can't. The only thing to mention is she barks very loud. She also tends to get frightened when she thinks she is alone, for example, if the other dogs are on a different floor of the house and out of sight. So when I read that Filou was not okay with being alone, I can understand that.

When I was younger I had a friend with a Cocker Spaniel, and in Japan our neighbours had one. He was a lovely dog, friendly, good with kids.

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The Tierheim is supposed to give you some snacks to take with. Also, I guess you need a water bottle. Did they give you one? I am sure they gave you Robi dog bags.

One check on the robi dog bag only. I really really hope i could speak to someone next time i go there. But theres some kind of fountain few minutes away. I took Filou there and he jumped into it. I thought i would be so grounded! But only feet got wet and dried a bit before i returned him.

I bet he had so much fun. It was hot this afternoon. They have a swimming pool at the Tierheim. I guess he likes water. You can see it in the photos on their website.

In our village we have a stream and I see dogs love to swim in it. Our dogs just look at the ducks. Bassets are supposedly not good swimmers. Fountains are very convenient for water along the way. I carry bowls and I fill them up for each dog. But one of our dogs insists on drinking from the spout of the fountain. Just make sure the dog only drinks from the fresh water from the spout, not the water in the base.

Did they ask you to sign an agreement before you took the dog for a walk?
There also seems to be a form where you can be give a schedule. I hope they provide an English speaker for you, just to get things set up. Volunteers are hard to come by, they should be grateful.

If you make no progress on the English speaker, please let me know.

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Yes I signed a form and expected to be shown some more but well..sucks i couldnt ask for more.

I saw another guy walking a dog from there before i went in. I think they have quite some volunteers which is good. I was at first interested with night watch but they said they already have enough people for that job.

Thanks Mrs. Doolittle

Just wanted to add that the dog you walked, "Filou" has been featured in pets section of the magazine Schweizer Familie.

http://www.schweizerfamilie.ch/tiere...er-filou-66671

The reporter visits the various animal shelters and then writes about animals needing homes.

Filou is an English Cocker Spaniel. He is a 9 year old male, and he is deaf. However, as an owner of a deaf dog, and there are other dog owners here who can speak from experience, living with a deaf dog is not that difficult.

Filou is currently at the Tierheim Brunnhalde in Untersiggenthal (near Baden) in Kanton Aargau. The contact details are in the article.

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