Culture | The Teachings of Sisco Miyagi

‘Outside of the shelter, she’s just a dog’

Posted on 09/07/2022
/Under Animal Behaviour, Culture, Sheltering
/With 2 Comments

To anyone outside of the world of shelter behaviour, the words ‘Outside of the shelter, they are just a normal dog’ probably cause a moment’s thought and not much more. For those of us in sheltering though, that simple phrase sums up one of our biggest challenges – how do...Read more

Superheroes are an amorphous bunch, and it’s about time we defined ourselves

Posted on 26/06/2022
/Under Animal Management, Culture, Sheltering, Uncategorized
/With 3 Comments

Heads up for today’s blog. While I am going to do my best to make it useful and hopefully entertaining, my aim is to get you thinking about what you know and don’t know about some of words and labels we use in our sector, when talking about each other....Read more

Making friends with our enemies and challenging culture

Posted on 10/04/2022
/Under Behaviour change, Culture, Sheltering
/With 0 Comments

“Like Norm, I too am a passionate believer that every person who works within our sector has a unique and potentially very powerful opportunity to change our world for the better. Through experience, I’m also acutely aware of the challenges and stresses inherent to jobs in our sector, and how...Read more

Open Adoptions – compromise or the start of a beautiful friendship?

Posted on 18/09/2020
/Under Culture, Sheltering
/With 0 Comments

Today’s post is a bit of a confession. I took a really, really, long time to fully appreciate the concept of Open Adoptions and how or why we need to embrace this idea in Australia. By the time the ‘Adopters Welcome’ program had filtered to us in Aus, I was...Read more

Companion animal welfare and management people, we need to stop modelling our identities on Superheroes

Posted on 28/08/2020
/Under Animal Management, Culture, Sheltering
/With 1 Comment

Clarke Kent – Lois Lane – Superman Peter Parker – Mary Jane – Spiderman Bruce Wayne/Batman – Selina Kyle/Catwoman It’s a trope that has been around for as long as superhero comics themselves – Superhero leads double life to protect their human identity and loved ones. Lowly human identity falls...Read more

Betty and Charlie – the hidden costs of expensive consolation prizes

Posted on 18/08/2020
/Under Culture, Education, Sheltering
/With 4 Comments

This is the first post of Sisco Miyagi so I’m a bit excited and a bit anxious about how this is all going to go. If you want to know more about me, or why this blog is named after a kelpie and a movie character, head to the ‘About...Read more