Being a RESCUE person in a SHELTER world has been an amazing balancing act for me. It has tested me in keeping a balance that I never thought I could do. I thought I was at my mental and physical limit with my house full of rescue dogs…. Now? I have 120+ more to keep watch over behavior wise, Monday through Friday. (It’s the weekend, mind you, and I’m still thinking of them). I’m lucky in the way that the shelter I work for has a No-Kill Ethic. It helps to work for people who make a 110% attempt to save dogs, as evidence of their 97% live release rate. If the restraints of being a “donations only” shelter are unable to pay for long rehab periods, or expensive surgical procedures, there is no ego here. They pursue all options to get the dogs (and cats) to rescues that do have the resources to save the animal. I applaud them for that. But being RESCUE in a shelter world is also tough. I am on the front line of seeing irresponsible owners with their lame excuses, dumping their dogs who are still looking up at them with adoring eyes, as the owner signs the surrender forms. I see the dogs, looking back over their shoulders at the door their owner just left through, as they disappear into the kennel area. I feel their confusion. I see the confused and sometimes terrified looks of these dogs who for the first time in their lives are truly alone. Though I try to sit with them in their kennels, even for just a minute or two, it is not me they want. I understand that. When I take them out for their behavior assessment, sometimes they just don’t test. Sometimes, all they do is bury their face in the crook of my arm. …. And the RESCUE person inside me wells up. And the behavior assessment turns into a behavior treatment. And though I have my work building up behind me, I take the time to offer some comfort, in the form of soft words into their fur, and full body hugs that seem to last forever. Until they pull their head out from under my arm, and look up into my face, only to bury their faces again. I wait another day to do an assessment on them. Maybe not the most professional thing for me to be doing, but certainly the RESCUE thing to do. I turn them over to the few, handpicked handlers of my behavior treatment team (because sometimes there are just too many for me to do on my own) who have been instructed in my form of training. “To view the world through the dog’s eyes..” (Again, not the professional way maybe, but the most natural way in my world.) My instructions vary from as mild as telling them, if the dog stops to sniff or look into the distance, let him. Even if you don’t see what he sees… He sees something that he must process. Give him the time to do it. Or as forceful as introducing them to the agility equipment to spark their minds and give them confidence in themselves that they need to build courage. Because it’s not enough to save the life of a dog, the WHOLE dog must be saved. That is how I run my rescue. These dogs deserve the same shot. There are times, I spend my lunch with them… sitting in their kennel or on nice days I bring them outside to share a shady spot against the fence. I think about dogs as a whole when I watch my lunch dates check out things around them. My heart breaks when I see them mishandled, and yet my heartache can be nothing compared to their heartbreak when their owners just leave them after years of loyalty. How dare I think that I can’t do this any longer, when it was THEM that it happened to? I think, “Get over yourself, girl! They need your immortal RESCUE spirit, not your teary eyed glances.” Cause that’s the RESCUE way. I don’t have much time to do writing anymore…. But being a RESCUE person in a shelter world has forced my hand to try harder to do so. A shelter dog’s life through the eyes of a RESCUE person, I feel, needs to be told. And, just like in RESCUE, “If not now, when? If not me, than who? “ ~Ellen Paquin – Raven Pines Dog Rescue arc-na.org/being-rescue-in-a-shelter-world?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arcna+%28ARCNA%29
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 13:06:31 +0000
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