Lori’s Corner – Page 6 – Downtown Dog Rescue

My lesson from Edwina

I have rescued many dogs in 14 years and one would think that I’ve seen it all but Ms. Edwina has taught me so much, with the help of Brandon Fouche. Edwina’s “problem” is more of a miscommunication between dog handler and dog, one that I receive e-mails, asking for advise everyday about.

Often, her type of aggression, which is all fear based, scares the dog owner so much that they feel that the dog is on the verge of turning on them or that she is unpredictable when in reality, she is very predictable. Edwina, like a lot of dogs has leash aggression. Going on a walk, even out to the car from the kennel is like walking through a path of land minds. Her mind is immediately racing as she goes through the gate, a tag jiggling, an unfamiliar bark from the loft building across the street can set her off and send her into what many would call “the red zone”. Some would look at her and determine that she cannot be around other dogs or that she is dominant when the reality is she is great off leash all the time with other dogs, even new dogs and she is far from dominant. In fact, she is very fearful and reactive to new stimulus. This makes taking her out to an adoption event pretty challenging.

I believe every dog comes to me for a reason and every dog has something to teach me about dogs and often about myself. I take Edwina to and from work with me every day. She is up for adoption, although we really don’t receive much interest in her. She was adopted and returned because of her leash aggression issue. From my point of view, after Edwina has lived in my home with my pack is that she is one of my all time favorite dogs. If you are looking for a dog to challenge you, consider adopting this blue beauty.

Teach by Example

When I first met Edgar, a teen with a red nose pit bull puppy for sale, I immediately assumed, here is another kid that is selling pit bull puppies at our dog class just to make money. He came up to me, actually in the middle of the class, offering me this ten week old puppy for “only” $250. Someone had told him that I was the lady that bought dogs at the class every Sunday. I blew him off and thought that I would probably never see him again. I was wrong, on many levels.

He came back the following Sunday but this time, to learn how to train his dog. Queeney did not have a collar or leash. We gave her a starter set and he walked the line with us that day. He continued to come out to class most every week and when our spay clinic @ the South LA shelter came up, Edgar not only brought his pup to be spayed and microchipped, he volunteered all day, helping pass out dog food and other prizes to the 100+ dog owners who got their dogs fixed that day at the Amanda Foundation “Pits + Pals” 100 dog day. I was really proud of Edgar.

A couple months went by and he sent me a text message @ 11:00 at night, he had to “get rid of his puppy” because mom told him that she ate part of a table, or something in the house that she wasn’t supposed to. She was always good when they were home, the destruction was only going on when they left the house for a couple of hours. Rather than give up Queeney, we decided to try a crate and guess what, it worked great! Now not only does Edgar get to keep his dog, he volunteers at most of our clinics, getting all his friends and family to spay +neuter their dogs.

Edgar is a wonderful dog owner who is teaching others about being a responsible dog owner through his actions. He gives me hope for the next generation of pit bull owners!

Brandon Fouche my teacher + mentor

For those of you who might not have heard of Brandon Fouche, you should check out his website http://www.brandonfouche.com

Over the past 5 years, I have learned more about dog psychology and how to work with aggressive dogs all because of Brandon. He has helped me rehabilitate and understand each troubled dog that has come into our rescue.

With Brandon’s help, I was able to get a “game plan” and put a plan for each dog into action. The way that our kennel is set up and how we work with our dogs in packs is all thanks to Brandon. Without his guidance, I doubt that we would be able to successful work with dogs in the way that I do each day. I know that I personally owe him a great deal of thanks for all that he has done for Downtown Dog Rescue. He is truly the last stop for many aggressive dogs.

If you have an aggressive dog and you have tried various trainers and are still experiencing what seems like an unsolvable problem, please get in touch with Brandon. It may save your dog’s life.

China has been adopted!

I’m really happy to announce that China, now known as Mara, was adopted two weeks ago and is doing extremely well. She was adopted by a family in South Pasadena who has two other small dogs that Mara really enjoys. The whole family understands that it will take time for her to feel completely secure.

What a 100% change from six months ago when Cathy rescued her from the alley behind her house. I like her new name, which her owner Nancy wrote, “We have renamed her Mara (the Acoma goddess of travelers) Supertramp (because she took the long way home). Mara Supertramp, but we call her Mara.”

She truly did take the long way home to her forever home! Thank you to all the volunteers who helped her get to her home.

Canine Good Citizenship Test (CGC Test) @ Pit Bull School

I was so proud of the dogs that participated in our first Canine Good Citizenship test in class last Sunday (January 3rd, 2010). More than half the dogs that were tested by evaluator, Lezle Stein passed on their first try. All were pit bulls, proving once again, it’s all about the owner and how educated the owner is, not the dog. One dog really surprised me, even though Jay J didn’t pass, as a puppy under a year, he hit every mark except the “out of sight” challenge.

His guardian, Gerardo asked for our help so that he can keep his puppy. This is part of our Operation Safety Net Program. He is a terrific dog owner who is keeping Jay J very social, bringing him to class every week, socializing him with other dogs and people including nieces and nephews.

Like many of the young dog owners in our class, he wants to learn how to offer his puppy the best start in life. Check out this wonderful photo of a very smart and social puppy, Jay J.

Compton Spay + Neuter Clinic

On Saturday January 9th, we hosted our monthly free spay + neuter clinic for Compton dog owners. AngelDogs was our service provider. They have a great team and with my two key volunteers, Ivania and Rosalie, we had a very successful day, 30 dogs were sterilized, vaccinated and microchipped all free of charge to the dog owner. Plus, Ivania wrote out another 20 vouchers so that the walk up people with dogs can take their dog over to Golden State Humane Society Hospital at a later date and get their dogs done free of charge.

Through grants and private donations, Downtown Dog Rescue provides this free service for all Compton Dog owners each month. We do not receive financial assistance from the City of Compton, in fact, they have never acknowledged our work in the community. Since 2006, we are the only non profit to provide free spay/neuter services on a regular basis in Compton. The key to our success, the mobile clinic and trained and dedicated volunteers.

Without a mobile clinic program, we would have never met Elizabeth and her family who just moved in across the street from the park where we park the mobile clinic each month. Someone in her neighborhood has abandoned two dogs, and then a third. All females, all large breeds. She had no money to get them spayed, and no car to take them to a hospital. On Saturday, I’m happy to report, we got them all spayed, including “Beauty” a very nervous dog who loves only her family. AngelDog’s staff was terrific and knew just how to handle these dogs. We also provided services for Mr. Randall’s puppy “Thriller” Without the mobile clinic, I seriously doubt this pup would ever have received any vet care since Mr. Randall is homeless. His girlfriend had visited us late in the day at our Dec. clinic but we had no way of contacting her. I was so happy to see Mr. Randall, push his shopping cart up to the mobile clinic, with Thriller in his back pack. Although he had no appointment, we were able to take him aboard the clinic, with a little coaching on why getting Thriller neutered was so important from Rosalie who also offered her yard as a safe haven for the pup whenever Mr. Randall could not care for his dog. He stayed most of the day, had lunch with us and waited patiently for Thriller to be done so he could go back home.

I was also very touched by Felita who had rescued a little female Chihuahua named Cookie. She helped talk two more people into getting their dogs spayed who were “on the fence” about getting it done. We were able to take all the dogs who did not have appointments including Cindy’s big black beautiful male pit bull and lots of […]