Safety Training 2015

Shy Wolf Sanctuary volunteers gathered October 3rd & 4th weekend at the sanctuary for safety training, conducted by President Deanna Deppen and Senior Volunteer Sue Stefanelli.

Volunteers learned:

• proper behavior while in an enclosure to make the animals comfortable
• daily habitat maintenance to clean, repair and fill holes/dens created by the animals in each enclosure
• medical emergency procedures – inside & outside the enclosures as well as with animals of varying levels
• natural disaster procedures for a fire, hurricane or lightning storm
• animal security and safety policies and procedures, including how they came to exist and why they are so important
• phenotyping to tell the difference between a wolf, wolf dog and a dog by observing their physical characteristics and behavior and to know why that is important to differentiate due to laws, licensing requirements, and misidentification of dogs as wolf dogs
• why animals are coded a certain level 1-5 based on behavior and personality and how that relates more to volunteer knowledge & experience

The volunteers are coded levels 1-5 also and must complete a check list for each level, attain a minimum number of hours volunteering, pass a test, and complete additional hours & training of service for each level 4 or 5 animal.

One of the residents and all around favorite, Chatima, is a Level 3. While “Chatty” is not considered aggressive, she does not quite realize her size when she is sharing the love. And she is a thief! Anyone who enters her enclosure must remove everything such as watches, phones, hair ties and even glasses.  If you’re wearing it, Chatty will try to take it!

Depending on an animal’s life before coming to the sanctuary, they may have a preference to a human’s gender, personality and behavior. Volunteers are allowed to enter the enclosures based on their authorized level that matches the animal’s level and only IF the animal and volunteer’s personality are a match.