A few years ago, I worked at a very unusual kennel. At least it was, for the time. The owner, who, due to a consulting career and great network, got the capital for his concept. It was a 24 hour kennel. Thus, if you got back from being over seas at 2:00 a.m., you could go fetch your dog on the way home from the airport. All his kennels would be in close proximity to airports. But that is neither here nor there. The other part of this plan was that it was totally indoors, and dogs would be guaranteed at least 6 hours a day out of their suites. So, they ‘exercised’ in packs. The theory was that the space was roomy enough that nobody got territorial. It generally worked. When it didn’t, it created a lot of extra work for employees, and some injuries of both dogs and people.
Only the manager had hands on dog experience, but she had never worked in a kennel or trained a dog. This is a problem, these days—-when people with money want to be in a dog business, but have never actually communicated with dogs, and have no animal husbandry experience. They have a fantasy idea of how dogs are with each other.
Due to how busy this business was, and just the statistical odds, we were getting a per centage of dogs that were nonsocial, and had to be kept separate from other dogs, as well as dogs with clear neurological problems. One of the managers wanted to consult an animal behaviorist. My experience with dogs was not good enough, as I was just a dog groomer. But the manager, who had been a Vet Tech, told her that an animal behaviorist wasn’t going to fix a brain tumor or whatever was triggering these dogs, and we were in danger. Yet, the owner was reluctant to turn away any dogs.
It came to pass that we got a dog in, a Coonhound mix, who clearly wasn’t all there. We could not get her attention. All she did was pace. The manager put her in an office with a glass door, nearer to where we were working, to see if we could get her calm. She was across a hallway from where I was grooming dogs…but it didn’t appear to me, although we could see each other, that she was paying attention to me.
She came and went several time over a few months (her owner traveled). One day, I went into a pack of about 20 dogs (in an exercise area) to get a dog to groom. The Coonhound came right up to me, jumped up, and bit me in the shoulder. Blood actually spurted out! It didn’t hurt, but it was a bad bite, and I was really shocked.
I went to the office to tell the managers what happened. One of them wanted to call the owner. “Isn’t he on his honeymoon?” I asked. He was. I said, “Don’t screw up his honeymoon. He’s going to have to make a decision when he gets back.”
& the owner did. He made the right decision, and euthanized the dog. No training was going to get her out of a neurological problem. The manager asked me how I felt about that. “It’s unfortunate, but we can’t save them all. The statistical odds are that some dogs just can’t be pets.” I told her. “I’m glad you understand that,” she responded. “I went to a seminar on evaluating dogs in shelters, and the person giving it said that when we aren’t truthful about a dog’s temperament, and a child is bitten, not only will this family never trust a rescue, but they may never get another dog,” she went on. “Or, even worse, they’ll go to a pet store and get a puppy mill dog, ” I said.
I bring all this up because I work at a commercial boarding kennel, and we make room for rescues who need space for dogs in their programs. I see what the rescues do. Good intentions are not enough. We have several dogs from a Greyhound Rescue. All the Greyhounds are used to being in kennels, and very quiet and very friendly. Every weekend they go to an adoption event. The Pit Bulls? No. I have no problem with Pit Bulls as a breed. We have quite a few who come for daycare, and they are fine with other dogs. I also volunteer for a nonprofit that places dog that are in the court system, due to owners being dog fighters, or just every day abuse and neglect, and most of those dogs are fine….but…there are so many Pit Bulls (lots of low income ‘backyard breeders’). Many are sold barely weaned…so they are never socialized to even their litter mates, let alone other dogs, that we have way too many that will never be good pets—& their group sponsors are in denial about this. They don’t want them killed,but they don’t want these dogs in their homes, either…so they languish…warehoused…in our boarding kennel. Virtually all are emotionally stressed from being in an animal shelter, and then, from their perspective, they are moved to another animal shelter—our kennel, where there is just as much stress of dogs running by, barking, all the smells, as there were from the place they came from. One dog spent 16 years in our kennel. 16 years, because my boss agreed to keep her. Every time Gracie was out of her kennel, she was muzzled. Finally, she got too old to attack other dogs.
We currently have 4 that will NEVER be pets. 2 were tied to our doors. One has neurological problems, and has been in the kennel a year. She is not spayed, she bites, and because one of the office staff ‘loves’ her (but not enough to take her home), my boss won’t euthanize her. One was a puppy…and still is. The rescue posts her as housebroken. What a joke! 2 were taken from OPEN ADMISSIONS SHELTERS. 1 is so reactive, for the hour or 2 she is out of her crate, she has to be in a kennel run, and has a barrier in front of her crate so she can’t get frantic seeing other dogs. She was posted as dog friendly on the rescue’s website. When I complained, they took the post down…but nobody has come by to work with her. Same with the male, and now he will bite anyone. They want to raise $4000 to send him to a ‘special dog rehabilitator’ in another state.
This is not rescue. This is a bunch of psychologically messed up people hoping for miracles. I have had many experiences like this in my 40+ year grooming career. A client brings a dog for grooming, and it is a biter and I can’t get near the dog, and the EXCUSE is that the dog was abused. Dogs are very resilient, and that is not why they are biting. Maybe the dog was abused, but that isn’t my issue: my issue is that the dog is dangerous, no matter how ‘cute’ it looks, and the neighborhood children (let alone your own!) are in danger. When I was very young and inexperienced with dogs, I thought this was very sad. Now, as a more mature person with lots of dog experienced, I am angered by the many people in denial. If we want our communities to be safe, we can’t be ‘no-kill’. If you want to be ‘no-kill’ YOU take these dangerous dogs into your own home. Get liability insurance. Start desensitizing the dog to whatever is stressing the dog enough to bite. Put yourself at risk. keep working on the dog until he dies. Good luck. Just don’t flim flam us about what a good pet this dog IS.
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