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!