The Underdog Project

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The Underdog Project

A registered NPO connecting underprivileged youth and shelter dogs to inspire collective healing.

The Underdog Project is a Non-Profit Organisation, working with both at risk youth and shelter dogs, based at the DARG animal shelter premises in Hout Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. Our objective is to assist at-risk teenagers to overcome social and emotional problems, and learn valuable life skills, through the training of shelter and rescue dogs; in turn teaching these dogs the skills to improve their chances of adoption.

10/06/2026

Introducing our Underdog Superhero of the Month: our Peer Leader, Nikilitha ❤️

Nikilitha joined The Underdog Project in 2022 with a quiet and gentle presence. He showed up every week without fail, smiling a lot but saying very little. It’s now 2026 and Nikilitha is the definition of what an Underdog Peer Leader is. He continues to show up at our sessions each week in a mentorship capacity, being a role model for our younger and newer youth. He continues to be the gentle and thoughtful leader that he has always been but with an immensely greater amount of confidence, communication skills, and initiative-taking. We are so lucky to have him with us after 4 years, having watched him grow into the kind man he is today.

This is what The Underdog Project is all about. Long-term relationships over short-term interactions. With this approach, our project deepens connections with its beneficiaries and supports their growth into confident leaders who will take what they have learnt back into their communities and their life outside of our project. We see this every day and we are so proud of them ❤️

Thank you for being part of our project, Niki, we value you tremendously 🐾

Join our Underdog 555 family now and help us continue deepening our connections with youth and dogs, supporting their growth into the kind and confident leaders they can be ❤️ visit our website, link in our bio, or send us a message to find out how.

08/06/2026

Next week is our mid-year dog show in celebration of Youth Day and our wonderful youth ❤️ we love to make this event extra special with exciting prizes and delicious snacks! So if you would like to support our day, below are a few prize ideas:

▪️Winter items: socks, hot water bottles, blankets, flasks, gloves
▪️Stationary or toiletries
▪️Games

What we have found in the past is that a monetary donation towards prizes or catering is very helpful so we can head out and buy exactly what is needed. Get in touch with us today or reference any donation as “Dog Show” so we know where to direct it!

Thank you SO much to every person who has supported our event in the past, and to those who have already contributed to this one. You really make the day amazing and we appreciate you all ❤️

P.S. Scroll to see a few snippets from previous dog shows!

04/06/2026

Meet Kylo, one of our new UnderDOGs 🐾

In his first three sessions out with us, he couldn’t sit at all. His trainer was so patient and just focused on trust building, offering him alternatives that he was comfortable with. Now, he’s sitting, giving paw and lying down! We couldn’t be prouder ❤️

With our dog show around the corner, our youth & dog teams are working hard to master their tricks. Thank you to everyone who has reached out wanting to support our event! If you would like to as well, see our previous post for details 🐾

28/05/2026

IT’S TIME FOR OUR MID-YEAR DOG SHOW 🏆

In celebration of Youth Day on 16 June, The Underdog Project hosts its annual mid-year dog show. An opportunity for our youth and dog teams to demonstrate the hard work and dedication they have been putting in at our project up to now.

The time leading up to this event is always very exciting as our youth and dogs work extra hard to refine their skills together. Not only that, but dog show day means a fun-filled afternoon celebrating together has an Underdog Family!

So to make this day extra special, we put together fantastic prizes for each of our participants (everyone walks away with something) and provide a nice warm meal! So if anyone would like to help us make our event a memorable day, below are a few ways you can support:

▪️ Sponsor a youth & dog team for R100
▪️ Sponsor prizes for our youth (toiletries, stationary, winter items, games, treats etc)
▪️ Sponsor lunch or refreshments for the day
▪️ Alternatively, what we have found in the past is that any monetary donation made for our event will be put directly towards the purchasing of prizes and lunch for our youth! So if you would prefer to do this, please don’t forget to reference your donation as “Dog Show” so we know exactly where to direct it!

We are so excited for this day and can’t wait to share all the happy faces and wagging tails with you when the time comes. Thank you again to everyone who has supported our Dog Shows in the past. It means the world our team, our youth and our UnderDOGS ❤️

22/05/2026

These two cuties joined us for yesterdays check-in ❤️ while our youth checked in with a range of feelings including: feeling happy to be at The Underdog Project again; feeling worried about things that were going on at home; feeling sleepy from staying up too late; or feeling excited to do training with our UnderDOGS - these two rascals checked in as feeling full of beans, unconditional love and cuddles! Which, needless to say, helped start our session on such a joyful note.

Have you joined The Underdog 555 family yet? We’d love to have you and acknowledge your invaluable contribution by adding your name to our Underdog 555 wall in our classroom. Visit our website, the link below or get in touch with us today to find out how 🐾

https://linktr.ee/theunderdogprojectct

18/05/2026

Turn your volume up for the sound of pure joy ❤️

For our youth who love cats (and even those who are still unsure), we love ending our sessions with some quiet time in the cattery. Cats offer a different kind of teaching to dogs, so giving our youth the opportunity to connect with both vulnerable animals is incredibly special. It creates space to learn how to pour love into each in different ways.

Many of our youth enter this space with preconceived ideas about what cats are like, but they often leave with a completely new perspective. The calm presence and quiet trust of the cats can be deeply meaningful, reminding us that connection and healing can look different for everyone ❤️

12/05/2026

The connection between Amber and her trainer is something very special to witness. They chat to each other throughout their walk and training, with her trainer discussing all sorts of things with her. In the photo above, he was explaining to her that she shouldn’t bite the barbed wire as it’s very sharp: “See this Amber, you mustn’t bite it. It might cut you”. You’ll also see in one of the videos, a moment where Amber is looking at something in the distance so her trainer is trying to establish what it is - looking at her, then looking in that direction, then looking at her again. Highlighting how present and connected they are with one another.

What’s more, since Amber joined us she has been struggling to learn to sit. Her trainer has been working hard to help her get there. At one stage he even said to her, “Okay Amber, I will sit with you so we can sit together. Is that good?”. She has since learnt how to sit when asked and we celebrate every time. You can also imagine how proud her trainer feels!!

Fostering these connections is what The Underdog Project is all about. The empathy development that occurs through working with a vulnerable dog is not something that can be easily replicated. You can feel them learning to trust you, engage with you and ultimately share their unconditional love with you. What a wonderful way to learn.

We are so excited to see Amber and her trainer continue to build this beautiful relationship they’ve already started ❤️

We need you to keep these connections alive. Join our Underdog 555 community now by signing up via our debit order form. We’d love to include your name on the wall of people keeping our organisation going! Visit our website or the link below. We can issue Section 18A tax certificates too 🐾

https://linktr.ee/theunderdogprojectct

06/05/2026

We spotted this sign at our wonderful host shelter’s new coffee shop and couldn’t help but snap a photo. It speaks to Underdog’s biggest value and says it all ❤️

Here are a few responses from our youth who had been on our programme when we asked what “kindness” means to them:
“Caring for people and animals”
“To be kind to others and yourself”
“Helping your friend when he’s getting bullied”
“Giving treats to dogs everyday”
“Respect for other people and understanding their feelings”
“Helping someone with how to read”
“Going out of your way to make someone feel better”
“Help people, children and dogs”

coffee shop is open to visitors. Pop in for a hot drink, light meal or a delicious treat 🐾

04/05/2026

Meet our newest UnderDOG, Polly! 🐾

This loveable pup is so excited to come out with our youth. From the get-go she was brave and confident, accepting love and cuddles from her trainers. She is still needing to learn all the basics so we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to teach them to her. We’re confident that in a few weeks time she’ll be soaring through her sits, downs, paws and obstacles. And of course, she’ll continue to receive her cuddles along the way! All while waiting for her forever family to find her.

Welcome to the team, Polly! Thank you for bringing your resilience and joy to our sessions and our youth ❤️

Join our Underdog 555 community now to support our efforts of bringing training and unconditional love to shelter dogs while they wait to be adopted! Visit our website or the link in here: https://linktr.ee/theunderdogprojectct

28/04/2026

As we get closer to winter, we are reminded of how resilient our youth and dogs are. No matter the weather, they are eager to be out with each other ❤️

We were in the middle of a walk last week when it poured down with rain. Not one of our youth asked to go back inside. Instead, they reminded us that rain is just rain and we could find a covered spot to continue with our training. Our UnderDOGs were just has happy to do this, especially when they have their warm winter jackets on.

How lucky are we to run a programme that creates such joy and meaningful connections that no wet and cold weather could interrupt 🐾

If you would like to sponsor some hot chocolate for our youth in preparation for the cold weather, we would love to hear from you. Hot chocolate after a successful but chilly session out is always a highlight for our brave trainers ❤️ pop us a DM and so we will know where to allocate donations made towards this!

Address

Underdog Classroom, Lower Level DARG, Main Road
Hout Bay
7806

Telephone

+27728489892

Website

http://www.underdogproject.org/

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