Happy Paws Happy Hearts (HPHH) is fortunate to run programs across a number of RSPCA Queensland shelter sites, including Wacol and Toowoomba—and most of the time, those sessions run entirely independently without participants at different sites crossing paths.

Sometimes a dog (or even a cat, mouse or guinea pig) can be that connection between locations. One of the quiet benefits of working across multiple shelters is seeing what it can do for an animal who hasn't quite found their people yet: a dog who isn't the right fit at one location, can be transferred to another, where a different pool of potential adopters get the chance to fall for them.

Transferred dogs specifically can come with another benefit; a genuine handover between two HPHH teams, where the work one group of participants has built with a dog carries straight through to the next. Kaylee is one of those dogs.

Kaylee is a bounding, intelligent, social 1-year old Kelpie/ Bull Arab who has spent some time in shelter, originally coming from RSPCA Brisbane’s Animal Care Campus (Wacol).

When Kaylee arrived at RSPCA Wellcamp from her transfer, the signs of a big personality in a change of environment were easy to spot—big jumps whenever someone walked past her pen, and restless energy. For working breeds like Kaylee, the challenges of time in shelter life often show up this way: high energy and heightened alertness whenever a person is near, a coping mechanism rather than a flaw.

What our Toowoomba Train group of participants also knew was that a group of Wacol participants had already spent months building a foundation with her: patience, structure, and calm behaviours that would help her put her best paw forward to finding a new home.

HPHH's Handle and Train groups are the most hands-on where participants work out-and-about in shelter alongside the animals, building a depth of understanding in reading, interpreting and responding to a wide range of canine behaviour. For a busy, high-drive breed like Kaylee who needs plenty of mental and physical stimulation to feel settled, that expertise counted.

The Toowoomba Train group were excited to continue the next chapter of Kaylee’s story and took it in their stride to prepare a unique environment especially for Kaylee. Knowing she's a smart, herding-breed dog, the group centred sessions around agility and trick training, putting her clever mind to work. They also worked on "leave it" work to build impulse control where Kaylee could continue to learn how to pause and choose to disengage from something tempting instead of chasing it (ball is life)! The aim was as much about what came after session as during it, helping Kaylee head back to her kennel for a relaxed afternoon, a little calmer, and a little more enriched.

That kind of training fosters as many outcomes for the people as it does of the animals. Every session means participants are sharpening their own skills and learnings—reading Kaylee’s body language, understanding the best response, marking the right moment of positive behaviour, doing it all together.

One magical moment was recently with one of our Handle group participants. After practicing mark-and-reward training with Kaylee, they had a breakthrough and from then on, both had a run of genuine wins. HPHH Program Trainer, Emily shared how she witnessed the confidence build in both of them, tangibly as they celebrated the rhythm of getting it right together.

“It's hands-on, purposeful learning that pays off immediately on both ends of the leash; for the person doing the training and for animal”, Emily shared.

"As a trainer, I love the continuation and journey of training for our participants and the animals we are fortunate to work with. Participants get to continuously build practical skills, and we all share the same values and love for these animals, and an investment into helping them have the best chance at life both inside of the shelter and outside when they are adopted. It means that dogs like Kaylee are getting the best possible chance."

For the Toowoomba participants, there's something meaningful in knowing they're not the only ones who have shown up for Kaylee. Participants have shared in their sessions about the sense of purpose they feel in carrying on work that a group of Wacol participants just like them, started.

This is a story of a shared passion for shelter animals across two campuses, and belief that every dog in shelter deserves the best chance to finding their new families. It's a small but telling picture of the national HPHH family; the same care, the same dedicated positive-reinforcement training, and same participants who are genuinely invested in the animals they work with, wherever they're based.

Kaylee is still finding her feet in shelter, one session at a time. But every hour of enrichment, every trick learned and every calm moment she and the group build together alongside the incredible RSPCA Animal Care team moves her one tail-wag closer to a home of her own.