People forget that shelter dogs deserve comfort while they wait to be adopted. That is why an Ohio shelter decided to create a wonderful set up for their shelter dogs in order to get them ready for going to a forever home. The Toledo Area Humane Society created “The Real Life Room,” which is a place for dogs to relax and get comfy, and it was made to look and feel like a real living room. It was quite a change to the normal kennel spaces that the dogs were used to.
The staff chose to renovate an office into a pretend living room, and they went for reality – they included a comfy chair, a rug, pillows, a crate, a TV, plus a floor lamp. They even added a subtle decorative touch on the wall in the form of a sign reading, “All You Need is Love and a Dog.” The dogs absolutely loved their little rec room – the only thing they were missing was an actual forever family.
The Toledo Area Humane Society posted a picture to their Facebook of one of their dogs relaxing in the room, saying, “Jake our long stay dog putting our Real- Life room to use. He is definitely enjoying the quiet, calm environment.”
The faux living room is a space where the shelter dogs get an escape from the bright and noisy kennels. They are often accompanied in the room by a shelter volunteer in order to get that normal, human setting.
The Real-Life Room was also created as a low-stress environment where dogs can show off their individual personalities. That aspect of the room’s creation seemed to work well, as several dogs who used the room managed to get adopted – just like the shelter had hoped.
Jake was one of the dogs who managed to find his forever home after the picture of him in the “living room” was posted online. So happy he got his happily-ever-after.
The concept is a great one, so hopefully, more shelters adopt similar ideas. To get more information on the pets available for adoption Toledo Area Humane Society, click here.
