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Are you interested in expanding your volunteer
skills? Are you interested in doing more to help
the animals at BARCS? Please consider attending one
of our upcoming training sessions.
To register for classes email
Frank.Branchini@BaltimoreCity.gov.
Escorting Shelter Visitors
with Frank Branchini
Saturday, April 4, 2 pm to 3:15 pm
In the Conference Room at BARCS 
Visitors to the dog and cat kennels at BARCS must be
escorted by staff or volunteers. We don’t have
enough escorts during periods when the shelter is
very busy – late afternoons and Saturdays. We
urgently need more escorts.
Come to this session and learn the process for
escorting. This is a great opportunity for
volunteers who work with the cats and dogs to
promote the adoption of shelter animals.
Escorting can be done in conjunction with other
shelter work – particularly cat socialization and
dog walking.
Prerequisites: In order to participate in this
class you must have attended a volunteer orientation
session. In addition you must have completed two
hours of cat socialization training to escort for
cat adoptions and/or four hours of dog walking
training to escort for dog adoptions.
Shelter Animal Photography
Class with Fred Butler
Saturday, April 18, 1 pm to 2:30 pm
In the Conference Room at BARCS
The internet is one of the best tools for promoting
the adoption of shelter animals. We need assistance
in taking photos of shelter animals for our website
and Petfinder.com. In this class we will review the
technical requirements and standards for
photographs, teach you how to download the photos,
and provide you with tips on how to get great photos
of shelter animals. If you have a digital camera
please bring it with you. It would be helpful for
you to bring the instruction manual for your
camera.
Prerequisites: In order to participate in this
class you must have attended a volunteer orientation
session. In addition you must have completed two
hours of cat socialization training to do cat
photography and/or four hours of dog walking
training to do dog photography.
Dog Training Class for
Volunteers With Terry Kleeman
Monday, April 20, 7 pm to 8:30 pm
Monday, April 27, 7 pm to 8 pm
In the Conference Room at BARCS
Learn positive motivational techniques for teaching
shelter dogs the following commands: sit, down, and
wait. Learn how to teach shelter dogs not to jump
on people. Training the dogs will make them more
adoptable.
This class involves some work outside. Please dress
appropriately for the weather. You need to bring
your own training treats. Please do not use any
treats with peanut products or artificial coloring.
Training treats should be small enough for a dog to
eat in a single bite so the dogs are not overfed.
Choose soft (not chewy or hard) treats. You want
something the dog can gulp quickly. A treat that a
dog has to stop and chew will slow you down and
lessen the impact of the reward.
Recommended treats are:
Newman’s Own Training Treats
Pet Botanics Training Rewards
Zuke’s Mini-Treats
Prerequisites: In order to participate in this
class you must have attended a volunteer orientation
session and you must have completed four hours of
dog walking training.
Adoption Class Training with
Rachel Frock
Saturday, April 25, 1 pm to 2:15 pm
In the Conference Room at BARCS
After people adopt animals from our shelter they
meet with a shelter staff person or volunteer to
review our adoption agreement, animal care
information, and specific information about the
animals they are adopting. This is an essential
part of the adoption process and in making sure our
adopters have the information they need for a
successful relationship with their new animals.
We don’t have enough staff and volunteers available
to assist with this important task when the shelter
is busiest – late afternoons and Saturdays. This
can be done in conjunction with other shelter work –
particularly cat socialization and dog walking.
Prerequisites: In order to participate in this
class you must have attended a volunteer orientation
session. It would be helpful to have completed two
hours of cat socialization training and/or four
hours of dog walking training. If you have not done
this you will need to ask staff people to handle the
adopted animals.
Event Training with Frank
Branchini
Saturday, April 25, 2:15 pm to 3:30 pm
NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE: This was originally
scheduled for April 19
In the Conference Room at BARCS
One of the keys to increasing adoptions at BARCS is
through adoption events. BARCS participates in 2 to
4 community events every weekend. We bring shelter
animals, books with photos and information about
animals available for adoption. We even take
adoption applications at most of these events.
Learn how to be more effective in promoting
adoptions and the work of BARCS. We will review the
information you should know about BARCS and our
adoption process, how to communicate more
effectively with people who stop by our tables, how
to set up our pop-up canopy, and how to be the most
effective we can be in our presentation of the
animals and information about our shelter.
Prerequisites: In order to participate in this
class you must have attended a volunteer orientation
session. We take animals to most community events.
In order to handle animals you must have completed
two hours of cat socialization training and/or four
hours of dog walking training. If you have not
completed cat socialization training or dog walking
training you must inform the Volunteer Coordinator
when you are volunteering to assist at an event.
Volunteers who assist with events are strongly
encouraged to take this class.
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