 Hey everybody, Angel Abbey here and I'm the volunteer coordinator here at Columbia Animal Services. On behalf of the entire CAS team, I want to extend a warm welcome and to thank you also for your interest in our program. Although Columbia Animal Services has always had an active volunteer program, it has grown exponentially in the last 12 months. This orientation will get you acquainted with our shelter and show you how we go about doing things. If you have any questions, feel free to let us know. Thank you. Welcome to the Slumber Buddies digital orientation. Thank you so much for your interest in Columbia Animal Services Slumber Buddies program. In this orientation we will briefly go over sleepover process as well as the do's and don'ts to guide you on a successful sleepover with the adoptable dogs at Columbia Animal Services. What is Slumber Buddies? Slumber Buddies is a sleepover program for our adoptable dogs here at Columbia Animal Services. The goal is to get our longer-term dogs out of the kennel to experience the comfort of a real home, gain more information about their in-home behavior and showcase how they may look and act in a home. How to get a dog ready for a sleepover? Step one, sign up for slumber buddies. Only one dog is allowed per household and only six dogs are allowed to be signed out at a time. Please make sure you reserve your time and day on signup.com. If you take a dog on Saturday, be advised return as Monday. If you are already at the shelter and slots have not been filled, please go online and add yourself to the calendar so other volunteers are aware. Step two, sign in to the volunteer book. Help us track your volunteer hours by signing into your personal volunteer sheet. Your volunteer binder is located on the desk in the volunteer room. Step three, pick a dog. All dogs are color-coded. The animal cage cards with a check mark and matching lanyard color dot are the animals volunteers can take for walks, doggy day out, and slumber buddies. Step four, complete the foster contract. Every dog that leaves the shelter for slumber buddies or doggy day out must have a completed foster form even if they were just going out for an hour. Step five, go get your adventure partner. Grab a slip lead and a slumber buddy sign out of the volunteer room located on the backside of the door. Go get the dog and hang the sign on their kennel. Please note it is very important that you put a sign on their kennel so we do not fill it. It's generally suggested that you take the dog out to our play yard and let them get out some of the sillies and NDP before putting on the collar and harness lead. Step six, collect, sign out slumber buddy gear and hit the road. All gear must be signed out. Sign out sign in sheet is located on the doggy day out in slumber buddies cabinet. Every dog that goes on slumber buddies or doggy day out must wear a collar with a tag and a harness lead on. If you need assistance please ask a staff member. We are happy to help. Last but not least have fun. Fit check. Every field trip dog gets an escape proof kit. Slumber buddy essentials. Each dog receives a slumber buddy bag with all of the necessities used on on their sleepover. Info cards. We send these cards out so that someone is interested in adopting your doggy day out partner. You can write the name and animal identification number of the dog you have with you. The code on the back takes them to our pet finder which has all of our adoptable dogs. How to return a dog after a sleepover? Step one, take the dog back to their kennel. Sometimes the dogs don't like to go back in so be sure to take a treat. Remove bandana, collar, harness and leash. Take down the slumber buddy sign from the kennel and return it to the volunteer room. Step two, return, sign in slumber buddy gear. Please place the collar, harness lead and bandana in the slumber buddy's bag. Put it in the white hamper beside the cabinet. Return the crate to the crate section and sign the gear back in. If you dress them up please return the costume to the rack. Step three, complete sleepover report card assessment. When you fill out the report card please be honest and detailed. We will pass the information on to potential adopters. Step four, email photos to the social media coordinator. We love photos and we will upload them to the dog's pet finder profiles which will help encourage adopters. The more photos the better. Sleepover dues. Make note of your dog's name and animal ID number. Be sure to sign all paperwork before taking a dog out. Fit dogs safely with both the harness lead and collar. Make sure you're able to handle the dog before you take them off premises. Ask for help if you need it. Check the slumber buddy bag for water and food bowls, food, treats, toys and blanket. Take lots of pictures and email them to the volunteer coordinator. Have fun. Sleepover don'ts. Don't take the leash off anywhere outside your own secure yard. Don't leave the dogs anywhere unsupervised. Don't leave responsibility of slumber buddy to anyone outside the immediate home that is under 18 or that has not done the slumber buddy orientation. Remember it's important that each dog goes on a sleepover represents themselves as positively as possible. Not only are we advocating for the specific dog that goes out to be adopted, we're advocating for all of the shelter dogs as a whole. Keeping dogs quiet, cleaning up after them, making sure they're on their best behavior and generally following the guideline laid out here is in the best interest of the individual dog in the entire slumber buddy's program. Thank you for your interest and please email angeli.avvy.columbiasc.gov with any questions.