What Dogs Want was created after I adopted Indy, a young corgi mix scheduled for euthanasia at a high-kill shelter in Phoenix, Arizona. I am a dog behavior counselor with a degree in Psychology and was looking for dogs to take into our foster-based rescue. This charming, short-legged dog had been turned in by his owner with the reason listed as 'not enough time'. After a few minutes with this dog it was evident that he was incredibly intelligent and social. I suspected his "problem" was he was under-stimulated in his former home which meant he probably got into a lot of trouble.
Indy, the inspiration behind What Dogs Want!
I have always felt a huge sense of responsibility to advocate for dogs, making their lives happy and as enriched as possible. In our 12 years together, Indy and I learned a lot from each other, looking for ways to communicate with each other and meet in the middle on many issues.
Indy taught me the importance of dog enrichment, including how crucial it is to keep your dogs' minds as well as bodies busy and engaged and to provide that interaction in order to develop the strong bond we all want to have with our canine companions. As owners, we have almost completely removed the element of choice in our dog's lives. We do not give them purpose, the ability to succeed or fail and learn constructively from their failing. Humans have not done this with malicious intent but from a lack of understanding a dog's needs, how their brains work and what factors in their lives shape who they are as beings. What they require to be happy.
Indy and Stefanie, the founders and creators of What Dogs Want.
What Dogs Want aims to fill in this gap between loving our dogs and providing the best life we can for them. We operate on an understanding of canine science, a respect and appreciation for dogs as sentient beings, and a huge desire to help people understand their dogs better in order to provide happier and healthier environments for their canine companions. The beauty is that through doing this, human lives are also enhanced as they will develop stronger bonds with the dogs they love, will be safer by having a greater understanding of dog behavior, and dogs' lives will be spared as we gain an understanding of what dogs truly need and are not "bad" dogs with no hope for changing their behavior.
We are looking for funding as we have the opportunity to move into a larger, permanent facility which would allow us to expand our services and help more dogs live a fully enriched life. We will be able to hold workshops, start an outreach program, provide resources to local rescues, design a safe, members only indoor dog park, have classes for children....the possibilities are endless. But we need your help!
There are several problems we can solve immediately through expansion of our program and having a larger, permanent facility to operate in.
PROBLEM: While people love their dogs and will do anything for them, they also have busy lives and proper care and meeting enrichment needs of a dog takes time. The options for busy dog parents are currently limited to pet sitters, dog walkers, daycares or dog parks. Most of these options do not approach dog care or dog needs in a holistic manner. They often have a limited understanding of dog behavior and body language, understanding individual needs, proper socialization or proper training techniques. Staff often lack training themselves and in daycare environments, are often left to manage large groups of dogs which is not in the best interest of human or dog. Dogs seem excited to arrive and do go home tired which seems positive and makes dog parents happy. However, dog daycares are often stressful and mentally exhausting for dogs and dogs can easily develop maladaptive behaviors from being in environments like this. I have worked for several large daycares, helped start several others and have colleagues with extensive experience working in dog daycares and the stories are unfortunately the same in regard to daycares often ending up being “managed chaos”.
The students having fun exploring a ball pit, tunnels and chutes during their day at the What Dogs Want Enrichment and Learning center.
OUR SOLUTION: What Dogs Want provides engaging, positive, fun, science-based enrichment and learning based on our understanding of dog behavior, psychology, 20+ years professional experience working with dogs in various capacities and a life-long feeling of responsibility to enhance every dog’s quality of life in a human-centric world. We are not a dog daycare or “boot camp”, our unique enrichment center is often compared to a Montessori school in that dogs are given choices in their day, class sizes are kept small (no more than 8 in one group at a time) to minimize stress and maximize learning. Our mission is to provide positive, constructive, educational experiences for dogs and puppies and share "homework" with their families to continue the fun and learning at home.
Our staff is comprised of behavior and enrichment specialists with professional dog experience. These people not only love dogs, but they also RESPECT dogs. There is continued learning as the science of dog behavior is ongoing and changing every day. We have the knowledge, experience (backed by science), and space at our facility to group dogs appropriately based on individual needs, temperament, and activities of the day. This is a service most daycares do not and cannot provide that makes us truly What Dogs Want.
4 month old Obie learning body awareness on the Fitbone.
PROBLEM: Puppies are bought or adopted every day into well-meaning, loving families. Most grow up happy and healthy but many people do not realize the time and energy it takes to properly raise a young pup. Without proper socialization (and many people do not understand what this really means), creating of clear but fair boundaries, exposure to novelty, opportunity to explore the world with guidance and feedback (all which build a pup’s confidence), these puppies can develop undesirable behaviors including aggression towards other species or unfamiliar people, reactive behavior in new environments, or conflict within their family. Best case scenario these dogs may have a lower quality of life than what it could have been. Worst case scenario these dogs may eventually be rehomed, taken to a shelter, or euthanized if the behaviors become dangerous or more difficult to manage.
OUR SOLUTION: We have exclusive puppy classes (including 2-week puppy ‘boarding school’) working with puppies of any age to build their confidence and give them the foundations they need to have the highest quality of life possible. We provide opportunities to engage in and explore their world in safe and appropriate ways, tailoring the program to the age, developmental stage, and personality of each individual pup. Puppies are exposed to and play with appropriate adult dogs because it is important youngsters learn from and learn to respect their elders. We provide families with insights on their puppy’s behavior and personality and suggest activities to have fun with their pups in the future to continue building confidence and building strong bonds between dog and human.
Gwen, a rescue pup, builds confidence and learns focus and problem solving skills looking for treats tossed into a ball pit.
PROBLEM: Many dogs who are living in shelters or rescues suffer from stress and are unable to receive much stimulation or enrichment due to budget, staff, time or facility restraints. While most shelters and rescues have some enrichment protocols in place, these often fall short of meeting a dog’s needs while living in confinement. These dogs can be difficult to adopt out because they are stressed out and in an unnatural environment. They may exhibit poor manners or have little impulse control.
OUR SOLUTION: Rescue dogs can visit our center (we will also foster dog-friendly dogs and litters of puppies), participate in activities, meet new people and new dogs to help them build confidence, learn focus and impulse control, learn problem solving and body awareness and practice manners.
This will greatly reduce their stress while in transition between homes and give them valuable skills to take with them to their new home. Since we learn more about the dogs while they are in our care, we can help the adoption team find the most compatible person or family for this dog and send an enrichment plan with them to get them started off right in their new home.
Students learning creative thinking skills, body awareness, and sharing space while placing themselves in empty boxes!
PROBLEM: We all love dogs. Most of us have a dog in our home or are friends with a dog. We do not always know what dogs want; we know what we THINK they want. We do not always understand a dog’s needs, understand the relationship between their genetic influences, experiences and individual personality and how that shapes who they are and what they require to have a happy, enriched life. Not because people do not care but the education is not there, and there are conflicting theories (many outdated or based on inaccuracies) on how to raise, train, or live with a dog.
Because of this lack of knowledge, understanding of dog behavior and applied ethology (behavior of animals under human management) people sometimes think dogs are behaving “badly." They are surprised when a dog shows aggression, people can be bitten or even killed by dogs (in 2019 more than 400,000 people were bitten, and 48 people were killed by dogs in the US. Most dog bite victims are young children usually due to a lack of understanding basic dog behavior and body language). Dogs are abused, turned in to shelters, dumped on the streets, and many times euthanized.
OUR SOLUTION: Learning more about dog behavior and body language, developing respect and appreciation for these intelligent, sensitive beings we invited into our homes and learning about meeting their needs as a species can elevate the status of dogs and strengthen our bond with them. What Dogs Want is committed to being an advocate for all dogs and helping dogs and their people live happier, healthier lives together. Through programs that encourage dogs and humans to play together, work together and appreciate each other we can be a part of a revolution and an understanding of What Dogs Want. A large part of these human-centered programs will include dog bite prevention programs for children aged 4-12, holding summer kids' camps to teach basic body language and behavior to children in order to help them become dog advocates and learn how to interact with dogs in safe, healthy ways that are still fun for all.
Gunner builds confidence through exposure to novel objects (here, hula hoops!).
Our market size is virtually unlimited as more than 76 million dogs live with people in the U.S. and everyone knows at least one dog. We cater to dogs and their people, seeking to improve the communication, understanding and respect between them. We encourage everyone to discover What Dogs Want!
Kaia works on hind-end awareness, focus, and following direction working on an agility ladder.
With funding, we can create a facility that can provide all of these services, programs and more. We currently operate out of a 250 sf space so are limited to working with 7-8 dogs each day. We have a waiting list but it is a rare thing to have a space open up in our program (a great problem to have yet still a problem!) so the wait list is almost pointless.
Obie showing learning problem solving, creative thinking and focus figuring out how to knock the cup off the pylon!
Having a larger facility not only allows us to have more class space to help more dogs, we can do more for their humans too. We will gain the ability to work with an even larger population of dogs-introverts who do not always enjoy working alongside other dogs, providing "private tutoring" class for litters of puppies who are not ready to join a group of adult dogs, dogs that are dog aggressive, particularly shy or under-socialized. Space = more staff = more opportunity to help more dogs than we can service now, help more people and increase the services which are so needed and widely lacking. We will be able to hold more human-centric events as well: workshops on enrichment, host guest trainers, veterinarians and behaviorists, and special events for people and their dogs to attend together to further foster a community of dogs and their people. There are also rooms for dog owners/parents/guardians to come for DIY enrichment. We provide the tools, props and instruction and you can work with your dog on fun problem solving activities, participate in some scent work, cater to natural instincts by using our lure course.... so many opportunities to have fun and bond with your dog!
Stefanie Strackbein, owner of What Dogs Want want enhanced, happy lives for all dogs!
Consider being part of our "dog revolution" by helping to fund our dream facility. We want it to be the best, most bad-ass resource/facility whose sole purpose is to improve the quality of life for dogs and their people. A place that is truly WHAT DOGS WANT.
