Shelter Dogs
Authors: Peg Kehret
Shelter Dogs
Amazing Stories of Adopted Strays
Peg Kehret
PHOTOGRAPHS BY GREG FARRAR
ALBERT WHITMAN & COMPANY
MORTON GROVE, ILLINOIS
For Emilie Jacobson:
A writer's best friends are a good dog and a good agent.
Acknowledgments
Although this book is about eight dogs, it could not have been written without the help of the people who live with those dogs. My heartfelt thanks to Megan Stanfel, Anne Gordon, Nita Baker, Helen Hughes, Susan Duncan, Jessica Mitchell, Ann Graves, Donna Amos, Taj Brumleve, and Cliff and Carol Chartrand for the time spent on interviews, photo sessions, follow-up phone calls, and e-mail. There's no doubtâdog lovers are the best people.
I also thank Nancy Buckingham McKenney, director of the Humane Society of Seattle/King County, for her encouragement at the start of this project and for suggesting dogs who might fit my criteria. Thanks, too, to Carla McAllister and Jody McInturff who also told me about special dogs.
Steve Gengo of the Redmond, Washington, Fire Department and Jeanne Hampl of the Prison Pet Partnership Program promptly returned calls and patiently answered questions. Margie Mitchell welcomed me to her home and kept me informed of her daughter's 4-H dog events. I am grateful for their help.
Thanks to Bill Larson, DVM, for sharing his memories of Kirby and to Andrea Wall for telling me about Bridgette's foster care.
Special thanks to Greg Farrar for his beautiful photographs and for his many years as a volunteer helping shelter dogs.
Contents
THE CHAMPION THAT NOBODY WANTED
About the American Humane Association
Reminders from the Humane Society
Introduction
Shelter dogs are dogs who have been turned in to an animal shelter. They are given away by their owners for a variety of reasons. Sometimes an owner “doesn't have enough time” for the dog or is moving to a place where dogs are not allowed. Some people let their dogs have puppies and then take the puppies to a shelter. People sometimes develop allergies to animals or get too sick to care for a dog.
Some shelters are run by a city or county government. Other shelters are private organizations, run by compassionate people who do their best to provide food, medical care, and attention to the animals while trying to find them permanent, loving homes.
Most of the dogs in this book came from the Humane Society for Seattle/King County, a nonprofit shelter in Washington State that also takes in cats, rabbits, birds, and other small animals. I have adopted two dogs and two cats from this shelter, and I do volunteer work there. The staff and the volunteers truly love the animals entrusted to them and work tirelessly to provide the best possible care for these homeless creatures. Animals are kept as long as there is space available and they remain adoptable. Sadly, some are eventually euthanized. Donations and service fees are this agency's only source of funds.
The motto of this facility is “Providing Love and Preventing Cruelty,” and the workers there do both. When I say “the Humane Society” as I tell the stories of these special dogs, I am referring to this particular shelter.
But the truth is, there are many fine animal shelters, and all of them have wonderful animals available for adoption. There are hundreds of shelter dogs with every bit as much potential as the ones described in this book. All these dogs need are people to love them and give them homes.
Zorro
THE CHAMPION THAT NOBODY WANTED
Zorro leaps over a course of hurdles during a Flyball demonstration given by the Puget Sound Flyers at Volunteer Park in Seattle.
1
Z
ORRO
,
A GREAT DANE
/mixed breed dog, was eight weeks old when he first came to the Humane Society. His original owner “couldn't find homes for all the puppies.”
Like most puppies, Zorro was lively and lovable. Unlike most puppies, he had kennel cough and had to be confined to the medical ward until he recovered and could be put up for adoption.
Jet black, with white paws, chest, and throat and a bit of white at the tip of his tail, Zorro was a long-legged beauty. As he lost his cute puppy look, it was clear to even the most inexperienced dog person that he was going to be a mighty big dog. He had huge paws and soon weighed forty pounds.
When he recovered, he was moved to the adoption building, which has individual kennels down both sides of a wide walkway. Whenever visitors arrived, Zorro leaped eagerly against the front of the wire kennel, his long tail waving wildly. Nobody wanted to adopt such a big and rowdy dog.
Weeks went by, Zorro grew and grew, and no one chose him. Finally, when he had been at the shelter for three months, he was adopted by a family who said they wanted a big dog and were prepared to give him the care he needed. Zorro galloped away from the kennel, tugging on his leash, his tail flapping like a windshield wiper.
His happiness did not last long. Seven months later, the family returned him to the Humane Society. They said they didn't have time to exercise him, so they kept him shut in the house. Bored and restless, Zorro had begun to chew on the furniture. The family did not want a destructive dog.
By then, Zorro weighed seventy pounds, and his head reached the countertop at the adoption center. His energy level matched his size, and since he had never been taught any manners, he was now extremely hard to handle.
Of course, no one knows for sure what went through Zorro's mind as he was brought back to the Humane Society where he had already spent so much time. But he must have wondered why he was again left alone in a kennel.
Each dog who awaits adoption at the Humane Society has paperwork attached to the kennel telling his history. Every attempt is made to be honest about any problems. For example, the history might say “Does not get along with cats” or “Needs continuing treatment for ear mites.” This information helps potential adopters as they try to choose a dog that will fit their lifestyle.
Now that Zorro was in the shelter a second time, his paperwork showed that he was a “returned” dog who had not worked out with his first adopting family. The paperwork also said that Zorro did not know how to obey and was known to chewâproblems that would need to be corrected.
At the age of one year, Zorro, through no fault of his own, had four strikes against him: his size, his history of a failed adoption, his lack of training, and his chewing. Still, the staff hoped that some loving person would give Zorro a second chance.
Weeks passed.
No one took Zorro.
That summer, the Humane Society put on a three-week day camp for youth from troubled families. During the camp, volunteer coaches helped these young people take shelter dogs through a dog obedience class.
A Seattle woman, Megan Stanfel, offered to be a coach. Her group of campers chose to work with Zorro.
Every day for three weeks, Megan's young helpers exercised Zorro and cleaned up after him. They groomed him, brushing his black coat until it shone. They taught him to sit and stay. They decorated a special collar for him.
Zorro thrived under this attention, and he learned each lesson quickly. He no longer jumped on visitors. He knew how to walk properly on a leash.
Although Zorro was the largest dog in camp, he was never aggressive toward the other dogs or to any of the people in the program. The campers nicknamed him “the Gentle Giant.”
Megan and her young workers knew that they were helping Zorro become more adoptable. They groomed him especially well on Fridays so that he would look his best over the weekend, when most adoptions take place. Despite their efforts, Zorro stayed at the shelter.
On the final day of camp, the dogs “graduated.” Zorro wore his new collar and marched in to the music “Pomp and Circumstance.” The camp's obedience trainers voted him “Most Cooperative Dog.”
News photographers attended the graduation, and Megan urged them to photograph Zorro. She hoped someone would see his picture and fall in love with this handsome animal whose good manners now matched his good looks. But the photographers said black dogs are harder to photograph than light-colored ones; once again, Zorro was not selected.
Megan attached a note to the paperwork on Zorro's kennel, saying how well he had worked with children during the summer camp and how quickly he had learned his obedience lessons. She mentioned that he was voted Most Cooperative Dog and that he got along with all the other dogs in camp.