Kauai Humane Society - Dog Field Trips

I know there are some dog people here, so wanted to share this in case anyone else is interested.

The Kauai Humane Society has a great program called Dog Field Trips which lets you take a shelter dog out to play for the day. It's a super easy process - pick your dog, sign a form, and head out on your canine adventure. They do take a credit card number just in case you don't return with your dog, but there's no cost and no hassle. You're free to walk through the kennel area to see all the dogs and the staff can advise on their personalities and help you decide which would be the best fit for you.

The shelter provides a list of dog-friendly places including several good hikes & beaches. They also provide treats, a water bowl, towels, an "adopt me" vest for your pup, and other necessities. Even if you aren't able to adopt, it's a great way to make a dog (and yourself) happy. It gets the dogs out & about where they're seen by lots more potential adopters, keeps them socialized, and gets them out of a cage and lets them just be dogs for a few hours. And If you do happen to fall in love with your pick and you're not local, the shelter will also help you make all the arrangements to fly them home with you.

KHS is the only shelter organization on the island and unfortunately they are not able to be a no-kill shelter. So to help get as many animals adopted as possible, they have several good programs like this to increase those chances. I've never heard of shelter that lets you take a dog out for a day and think it's a great idea.

On our trip earlier this month we took a nice girl named Josie to Kalapaki Beach. She seemed to have a lot of fun and also liked to stop and just admire the view of the bay. It was sad having to bring her back at the end of the day, but felt good knowing she'd had a fun day out. She's a bit older (around 7) but still had plenty of energy and excitement and was very happy to meet all her admirers. According to the Field Trip log book, she's an expert hiker and we know she loves the beach. She's a perfect Kauai dog and I hope she gets a permanent home soon. We paid her absurdly low adoption fee, so she can even go home at no cost. If anyone needs a nice hiking or beach buddy, she's your girl!

For cat fans, the shelter also has three small open cat rooms where you can visit with uncaged kitties to your heart's content.

You're awesome for doing that!
It IS a great program, how did you find out about it?

*On 2014-02-26 21:54, bamalamalu wrote:*It gets the dogs...out of a cage and lets them just be dogs for a few hours.

This is the most important part! :D

That is really cool! I wish we could take a cat to a condo for a week. i know they would fear their escape but it would be nice.

I actually found out about it on a travel forum and couldn't resist doing in while we were there.
It was really easy and fun for me and the dog - I wish more shelters did it!

Yeah, tikicoma, you can't leave with the cats, but you can hang out and play with them there all day if you want.

It'd probably have been a good idea to include the contact information.
They're right on Kaumualii Highway between Lihue and the turn off for Koloa/Poipu.

http://kauaihumane.org/

http://kauaihumane.org/volunteer/dogfieldtrips

If Kauai is anything like the Big Island, there's plenty of cats to interact with. They're everywhere!

Kauai does have a feral cat problem, too. But they tend to be overshadowed by all the chickens.

Cool idea. I would not be able to give the dog or cat back to the shelter after spending a day with them.

It wasn't easy. I was pretty proud of how non-emotional I was managing to be when we took her back - and then she gave me "the look."

I try to concentrate on the fact that we were at least able to give her a nice day out. But I swear she gets cuter each time I see the pictures!