March 2018 by Aimee Sadler

Audience: Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers

Video Length: 44 Minutes

Every Day, Every Dog...Let Them Play! The Impact of Play Groups

It's more than just fun and games; play groups save lives! After visiting over 170 shelters across the United States and Canada, the team at Dogs Playing for Life has done more than have a lot of fun playing with dogs.

Aimee Sadler, Founder and CEO shares case studies and evidence that playgroups improve the quality of life of dogs and their caretakers. Sadler, who has been directly involved with the development of canine enrichment and behavior programs in animal shelters since 1998, also shares how shelters across the country have effectively used playgroups to facilitate better adoption matching, more accurate sociability assessments, and improved shelter operations. Dogs live to play...we let them play to live!

This presentation was recorded at the 2018 American Pets Alive! Conference.

About Aimee Sadler

The founder of Dogs Playing for Life, Ms. Sadler is a nationally recognized trainer specializing in behavioral problems. Her techniques have been derived from over twenty-five years of professional work with multiple species, from dogs to cats, from exotics to marine mammals. From her innate desire to help animals she took a position with the American Humane Association, responsible for the monitoring of "animal actors". This exposure resulted in her transition as the compound manager of Birds and Animals Unlimited, one of Hollywood's top animal training facilities.

Since 1998, Aimee's main interest has been working with shelter dogs. Aimee's vision has been to create and implement a training and behavior program that would prove to be invaluable to the well-being of dogs in shelters everywhere. Dogs Playing for Life seminars and trainings have been provided to more than 180 organizations internationally.

In recognition of her work, Aimee has been honored with the Henry Bergh Leadership Award in 2011 in addition to being recently inducted into the Members Hall of Fame for the International Association of Canine Professionals. Aimee currently resides in Longmont, CO, with her husband and their very full family.