The nonprofit Working Dogs for Conservation and the Conservation Canines program at the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology give rescued dogs a second chance as wildlife detection dogs. Eba , a mixed-breed dog dumped outside a shelter, even detects the scat of endangered killer whales from the bow of a boat.
‘First dogs’ Major and Champ return to the White House
02:18Recently I profiled a heroic German shepherd named Sadie , who saved her owner's life after he suffered a stroke — just months after he’d adopted her from a shelter. Brian Myers was still recovering in the hospital when I spoke to him about his dog, but he said it was worth the effort if it helped encourage people to rescue dogs from shelters.Socialize your pet. This is especially important for puppies. Again – behavior problems are the number one reason dogs don’t stay with their families and don’t get adopted by new families. Lack of proper socialization can result in inappropriate fears, aggressive behavior, general timidity, and a host of other behavior problems that are difficult to extinguish once a dog is mature.
“They will get the love back to them tenfold,” he assured me.
I couldn’t agree more. The whole reason I started narrowing my focus as a journalist to pets is my own rescue dog, Rio. When my husband and I adopted the Labrador retriever mix from Farmington Regional Animal Shelter in New Mexico in 2010, I had no idea how much he would change my life.Rio is so smart and friendly that I had to share him with others. He easily passed the test to become a therapy dog and spread smiles to hospital patients for five years in Southwest Colorado. He’s also supported me as I coped with the deaths of loved ones, donated a kidney to my husband and lived through the pandemic.