I have the delightful educational opportunity to attend a weeklong behavior modification internship with Pat Miller at her Peaceable Paws facility beginning on August 23rd. This will be my second internship. One of my goals while attending is to help a borderline shelter or rescue dog find a home. As with my last internship, I had opted to work with one of the shelter dogs from the Washington County Humane Society in Maryland (WCHS). Less than two weeks before class, I was made aware that WCHS had a lull in the relinquishment of dogs and that there may not be enough appropriate dogs to choose from. I truly wish every shelter in the country had such a problem. Of course, I already had in mind what type of dog I wanted to work with. This wasn’t looking good.  

Then I was informed that I could bring a dog that did not belong to me (my misunderstanding). I only needed permission from the owner (or organization) to bring one of their dogs. Thus began the search for the perfect training assistant.

I sent out a “Training Assistant Needed” ad to several well-connected friends in the shelter/rescue community on FaceBook (along with making a few phone calls). The “ad” indicated that ideal candidates for this position would have the following credentials: be four legged, furry, and of the canine persuasion, over 6 months old, friendly with other dogs and people, healthy, fully vaccinated, and weigh less than 20 pounds. Oh yes, they also had to come with some sort of behavior problem that needed addressed.

I might as well make a confession right now. I have never particularly liked small breed dogs.  Intellectually, I KNOW they can be wonderful family members or people would not adopt them, but I have met only a handful of small breed dogs that I truly liked. I had three reasons for choosing a small dog for this trip.

1)   Ease of handling – I have asthma and the heat wave has been very hard on me this summer. A small dog would be easier for me to exercise and adequately care for during our weeklong adventure together.

2)   Overcoming my own biases – Pat Miller, along with many of her assistants, loves small dogs. This would be the perfect place and time to learn about the delights and pitfalls of small breed ownership.

3)   Avoiding “Little Dog Syndrome” – I know that I am going to be the proud owner of a small (or smaller) dog some day and want to do my best to avoid raising a dog with all of those characteristics that tend to make me avoid small dogs. These characteristics include constant yapping, snapping at people, ankle biting, jumping all over people and objects, etc.

I knew there were several hurdles to cross if I wanted to borrow a rescue or shelter dog. Timing – I had given everyone less than two weeks notice to see if this was even possible, identify a dog, and make sure it was a good match. Lack of a foster history – I have training credentials, but have never registered with any agency or organization as a foster parent. Rules – I had no idea what rules I might be asking an organization to bend by taking one of their dogs out of state for a full week.

Much to my surprise, I need not have worried. The Humane Society of Indianapolis (HSI) and the Alliance for Responsible Pet Ownership (ARPO) viewed this as an opportunity to gain assistance with a dog that might otherwise have difficulty finding a home and quickly made arrangements that would allow me to borrow a dog in their care.

In a city of this size with record numbers of dogs being relinquished into shelters and rescues, one would think there would be plenty of dogs to choose from. Between the mandated class requirements and my own preferences, the field was quickly narrowed down to a handful of dogs. After meeting the candidate who appeared to be the most qualified on paper, the decision was made.

The chosen training assistant is……(insert drum roll here)……

Pippy Longstocking
from the Humane Society of Indianapolis

Pippy is a lovely rat terrier weighing in at 14.5 pounds who was taken of the street as a stray by a local animal care and control officer. She is believed to be about 8 months old. She was transferred into the care of HSI just about three weeks ago. She is almost overly gregarious with people and dogs and has a tendency to be a bit, okay, a lot on the rude side. She has obviously never been taught how to behave in polite company and might be on her way to developing a small resource guarding behavior with food. Both of these problems can be addressed during our internship together.

Our trek begins with an eight and a half hour car ride to Maryland on August 22, 2010. I will be updating the blog on a daily basis so others can follow our progress. So…let the quest for knowledge and new beginnings commence....

Man that stuffed chicken was good!

I'm not really sure why, but I get lots of treats
when I lay here just like this.

Sittin' pretty!

How 'bout this, does this get me treats?