…and they need your help. 

About a month after we moved to Catawba, I stopped by the Newton branch of the Humane Society.  I had a few questions about a stray dog I had come across a few days earlier.  I am a trainer, so I offered my help while I was there.  One of the toughest things for many shelter dogs is that the ones who are well behaved and engaged when they meet potential forever families are the often the first ones to be adopted.  I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the ones that are very shy. or hyperactive, or a little “crazy” and misbehaved.  In other words, the ones that have a tough time getting adopted.  I’ve always believed that if you want to do a really good job for all dogs, you have to love them all equally no matter how frustrating they may be.

One of the shelter team said I have a pair that need your help.  She walked me to a run that had two wild ones in it.  Timone and Pumba are in the picture above with Debbie, one of the most dedicated volunteers I’ve ever met.  Timone and Pumba were fear dogs.  The things that most either enjoy or don’t notice scared Timone and Pumba…a lot.  They had been sent up North to a rescue (I believe about a 14 hour bus trip).  They were adopted to a family who loved them greatly.  The issue was that none of the people in their lives recognized their level of fear and they didn’t know how to help them.  In what is a very common story, Timone and Pumba ended up each biting a person.  Their owners decided that they could no longer trust them and they ended up back at the Humane Society. 

It wasn’t their fault when they bit.  Dogs can’t say “you’re scaring me so badly I can’t think straight”.  They give lots of signals that they’re scared, but if the people don’t know or recognize the signals, their last available method of communication is to bite.  They have often learned that it makes the person go away from them.  The pressure of having the scary person too close is relieved and they get the space they need to be able to settle down.

I knew that I had very little chance of helping Timone and Pumba if they stayed at the Humane Society.  Reactive dogs are triggered by other reactive dogs and the Humane Society has lots of them.  We offered to have Timone and Pumba come live with us at the kennel so that we could help them.  They have been with us for about a year and are just about ready to find their forever homes.  They play with our children, react wonderfully with our team and we are just working out a few of their persistent behaviors that needed some correction.

Timone and Pumba are just two of the many rescue dogs, cats and birds we have been able to help over the last year.  There are wonderful pets that are available for adoption all over our county.  The rescues that help them need all kinds of help.  They need financial help and supplies.  They need volunteers to walk dogs, cuddle cats, foster dogs and cats while they are waiting for their forever homes and they need help spreading the word about the wonderful pets they have available for adoption.  We posted information below for some of our favorite rescues and how you can help them.  Please consider offering your assistance.  You can help us spread the word by subscribing to our email list and following us on social media.  The social media links are listed at the bottom of this page.