One Working Dog's Dream: Part 2

Joellyn's adventure with Pep continues as the story ensues and wraps up. Read Part 2 below!

The next stage of the journey for Pep meant travelling to Washington. In late March of 2011, my husband Roger and decided to take the opportunity to learn more about the program, so we flew him up ourselves. Heath was very excited to meet Pep (Heath loves cattle dogs) and even offered up his guest bedroom for us. The Conservation Dogs facility is a brand new facility and I was impressed to see how nice and well-kept the kennels were. The setting was gorgeous with a pond just a short walk away. The Conservation Dogs program folks use the pond to exercise the dogs because it is more forgiving on their joints.

The dogs are all very loving, but just like Pep – ball-obsessed! I took this as a good sign. Most of the dogs that have come to this program were labeled (as Pep was) as dog aggressive and after being in the program and getting training all of the dogs have been able to get along and are no longer considered aggressive. Heath and his crew train the dogs with positive training methods and work the dogs 7 to 8 hours a day, which is precisely what these dogs need. They hike and bike with them in the forest and hide samples of scat for them to find. And of course, there is a LOT of ball play! Pep played ball for two hours the second day he was there and went on a hike with another dog Sampson and they got along fine. So, my trip was a great success!

Of course, Pep is not fully accepted into the program yet. He'll undergo more testing and training to see if he'll fit into the program. In a month or so, we will find out if he made the cut. All the program's working dogs are either adopted by their handlers, placed up for general adoption or given back to their original owners when their working years pass. By this time, the dogs are older and calmer, as they've have been able to thoroughly channel all that energy, so they're much more suited for normal dog life.

A quick update from Pep (now Pip's) new handler Heath explains that Pep is off to a great start!

"Just wanted to give you a quick update on Pips first day. First off I'm pretty sure he's earned the name Pipsqueak, now we're just trying to decide if we'll shorten it to Pips, Squeaks, or Squeaker. I imagine it'll be a little of all of them. We played ball for about 2 hours after I got back this morning. He never let up. We even progressed to deep brush and covering his eyes to make him look for it. Just after playing fetch we took him on a hike with Sampson. They did great together! We then played fetch for another hour this evening.

We'll be slowly introducing him to the rest of the pack this week and see how things go. I'm delighted with how well this has turned out and to have Pips in our program. We've still got the hurdle of introducing him to odors but we'll cross that one when we get to it, for now we're just going to focus on getting him situated and having fun, not that smelling poop isn't fun. ;)"

Pep's story taught me an important lesson. Working in animal rescue means you need to think outside the box. Dogs – like people – are all different; some are easy to adopt and some like Pep need alternative placement. The key is that we don't give up. As rescue volunteers, we are the only hope for many of these animals. And they depend on our ability to keep an open mind and persevere.

Diary of A Rescue Effort: Continued

UAF Volunteer Kim keeps up updated about new fosters Willow and Barron's improvement!

Week 3: Sometimes in rescue you just keep doing what you do and in a quiet moment you look around and realize they have arrived. There is still work to do. There is leash walking and car riding but emotionally Willow is where she should be. New foster dog arrived yesterday. On the bed playing with her new best friend.

Week 4: Updates on Both Dogs' Progress - Willow: This is the most dog social of the two and very savvy about it. If one of the dogs she lives with gets annoyed with her and growls she flirts and bounces around to intitiate play until they soften. She is still tentative around people and will probably never be a dog that likes to be hugged but if you are sitting down she will allow lovable handling. She jumps in the air like a gazelle at meal time. She will make a lovely companion for someone willing to continue to work with her to gain her confidence. She will be forever loyal.

Baron: This is a very fun loving, life loving boy. Carries around a rubber chew toy all the time. Loves to hug, walks nicely on a harness and is very good with other dogs. He chirps rather than barks. He is a wonderful boy that will continue to flourish in a patient, calm and supportive household.

One Working Dog's Dream: Part 1

UAF Volunteer / Coordinator Joellyn recently helped find a unique home for Cattle Dog-Heeler mix Pep. Joellyn shares her story of Pep's journey with the Tablescraps blog. We'll be showcasing this wonderful story in three parts, the first of which is below:

PART 1: Pep's journey with United Animal Friends began in November 2010, after the energetic, intelligent Cattle Dog–Heeler mix was picked up as a stray by Animal Control of Prescott, Arizona. A striking dog, Pep lived in the shelter for two full months and was adopted out of the shelter three times – only to be returned for a slew of different reasons: dog aggression, hyperactivity, and a sudden inability of the new owner to care for him. Understandably, Pep became quite a bit frustrated by all this change. Being locked up in small, confined space just didn't suit his nature, and his frustration soon morphed into aggression towards other dogs. That's just how Pep ended up on the euthanasia list.

As a coordinator for United Animal Friends, I regularly visited the shelter and had met Pep a few times. Make no mistake; Pep was ball-obsessed and very active, but beneath all that energy was a sincere love for people. I saw him at YHS and knew he could be a good dog; it would just take the right owner – someone who had the energy to keep up with him. So, I got Pep out of the shelter and into the UAF system in November of 2010. Pep went into boarding as no foster homes without existing dogs or cats (another unpleasant aspect of life for Pep) were available. Pep did relatively well in boarding and would behave for a little while at adoption events. But eventually, he would become bored and frustrated, and he'd start acting out.

Months passed, and finally, we had an interested couple fill out an application for Pep. It all looked very promising and I optimistically thought we had made a match. It was hard to advise the new couple on how Pep would behave in their home; he had never been in a foster home, so the best we could do was tell the couple about Pep's energy level and his penchant for balls. The couple seemed to take it in stride, perhaps assuming (as we did) that Pep had been in a kennel and it would just take time. Well, not much time passed before word got back to us: Pep was just too much for them to handle. His ball obsession was more than they could take – he simply never let up. Pep was returned yet again and it was back to into boarding he went.

Despite yet another failure, Pep and I ventured on. I brainstormed again with my rescue friend and this time, she told me about "conservation dogs." She explained that "Working Dogs for Conservation" is a program that utilizes the natural instinct of dogs to detect scat – all in the effort of identifying animals that are either endangered or invasive.It sounded great to me! I researched the organization and eventually got in touch with someone named Alice. Alice said she couldn't take Pep because she had dogs in her home already, but she suggested I contact a man named Heath with the University of Washington. I emailed Heath and luckily, he responded to my inquiry. He sent me a couple of test to run Pep through to see if he would be a good candidate; Pep passed all the tests with flying colors. Heath then said he was willing to try him out in their program.

Stay Tuned for Part 2: Pep's Journey Continues!

Diary of a Rescue Effort

UAF volunteer Kim shares her experience in fostering and working with two newly rescued lab mixes: Baron and Willow. Table Scraps happily presents Kim's entries as part of our "Diary of a Rescue Effort" series. Read below to find out how Baron and Willow are settling in!

First day:
Picked black lab 1 and black lab 2 up at Chino Valley Animal Hospital. Couldn't seem to convince either one to come along quietly. With a well orchestrated team effort, both dogs were lowered into individual crates and lifted into my truck for the long trip back to Peeples Valley.

Once I got home and opened the crates it became obvious that the trip was traumatic for both of them. Black lab 1 came out of the crate and ran to the back of the truck. Black lab 2 didn't move. Go about my business. Let them settle in at their own pace in the garage. Indoor dog run door open and out door run also. Check back an hour later. Black lab 1 nosing around, black lab 2 still in the crate. Around midnight, neither dog showed any inclination toward being corralled into the indoor dog run. Shut the door to the outdoor run and went to bed hoping they wouldn't tear my garage totally apart while I slept.

Week One Recap:
First week was spent getting them used to be corralled from their day spot to their night spot. Black lab 1 now called Baron was warming up slowly, black lab two now called Willow clung to her brother like a shadow.

Week Two:
Short casual introductions to the other 4 dogs in the household. Baron was good. Not engaging but comfortable. Willow was reactive. By the end of the week Baron was in the house with everyone in the evening. Good house manners. Acted like he had been there before. His bent and broken tail in constant motion. What a happy boy. Progress for Willow was coming from the back of the garage to laying near the door at the front of the garage where she could watch us all in the living room. Baby step succcesses are huge in the recovery of a rescue dog.

Big goal for this week is to get Willow's collar off of her. It was put on tight initially so she wouldn't back out of it during one of her wrestling matches with people who were trying to help her. Now she had gained some weight and although she wasn't choking, it had to feel restrictive. In order to do that she is going to have to start letting me touch her.

Plan A: Go into the dog run with her and and wait her out. A few minutes of circling the run and banging off the walls she relented. Three caresses of her head area and I left. Later same routine 6 caresses of her head and I left. Next day caresses long enough to unsnap the collar. Voila!!!!

Sister in town. Back up for the plan to introduce Willow to the rest of the pack. Removed Baron from the mix and one by one she met them all. Petey first, never any drama, that went fine. Rodeo next, they look like they could be litter-mates. After a momentary standoff based on zero self confidence in either one of them, that smoothed out too. Next is Lady, the only other female in the group. She can be troublesome. One low growl to establish her command and everyone understood each other.

Everyone hanging out together in the house was a matter of routine now. Willow, the more playful of the two, tried to initiate play with Rodeo. He's not accepting the gesture. Something odd about these two. They make the others nervous for no good reason that is obvious to me. It is not bad or unfriendly; it just feels kind of forced. Can't quite figure it out.

OMG. Willow crawled onto the couch to lay with me. She is huggable . Gotta be her idea though.

More later as Kim's wonderful journey with Baron and Willow ensues!