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Moose goes home: How an unsocialized puppy got a second chance
By Dr. Marty Becker
February 2, 2010
I just get a lump in my throat when I think about this story. It’s about a dog named Moose who ended up in a shelter when he was only 8 weeks old.
Moose kind of got lost in the crowd there, and grew up without good manners or the kind of socialization that would have made him appealing to adopters. By the time he was a year and a half old, he was a dog without any real prospects. Things were looking bleak.
And then my daughter, Mikkel Becker Shannon, stepped in. She’s a dog trainer, and she saw something in Moose. She started training him herself, determined to make sure he had a chance. A couple other rescuers got involved. One of them, Nichole Rowell, took over Moose’s training, and the other, Kate, took Moose home with her a couple of weeks ago, to see if she could get him used to living in a family home.
He’d only been at her place around a week when Kate heard from the brother of a friend she’d told about Moose. The guy was looking for a dog, he said; could he come over and meet Moose?
He stopped by and spent a half an hour walking Moose around, stopping now and then to hug the dog, and get some big old sloppy Moose kisses. He told him what a good boy he was, and how handsome, and at the end of his visit, he told Kate, “I’ll take him.”
He said it had been a year ago almost to the day that he’d lost his last dog, and he’d been missing him more and more in the last few weeks, and had finally decided it was time to find a new dog.
All three of his past dogs had been shelter dogs, he said. And all of them had died of old age.
From Moose’s foster mom, Kate:
He said Moose reminded him of a dog he had before the one that died last year, and his nickname was “Moosehead.” I am thrilled for Moose because I’ve know the man for several years and Moose couldn’t have landed in a better home. The guy is active, likes to hike in the mountains, can take Moose to work with him. He works for his brother-in-law who has a big yard at his shop just for their dog and now Moose. I’m kind of stunned because I really wasn’t actively looking for a home for him yet, which is why I believe there was a higher hand in the matter!
So thank you, Mikkel and everyone else who has been cheering for Moose! He will be moving to his new home on Saturday afternoon. He has been saved and he will never again see that horrible pound!
I feel pretty proud and happy when I can help save an animal’s life, or restore a pet to health. But the world is full of caring trainers (one of whom I’m proud to say is my daughter, Mikkel), loving rescuers, determined fosterers — and just plain animal-crazy pet owners, who don’t only take a chance on a dog who had a bad start in life, but see straight through the rough edges to the perfect diamond of a dog inside.
Photos of Moose and his new “dad” courtesy of Kate.
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Good tears to begin the morning. Congrats Moose and your new dad.
Comment by VJ — February 2, 2010 @ 5:18 am
**sniff** They’ll make a great team!!
Comment by Kathyb — February 2, 2010 @ 6:51 am
Great work to the staff and volunteers for making this boy shine!
For those who haven’t been follow the blog long, Mikkel graduated from the prestigious SFSPCA Academy for Dog Trainers last spring. Even though she and her husband are enjoying their infant daughter, Kel’s still working to help animals. I’m so proud of this young woman you’d think she was MY daughter, not Dr. Becker’s!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 2, 2010 @ 6:59 am
Thank you, Dr. Becker, for this story, and thanks to Mikkel and everyone who loved Moose enough to allow the diamond to shine!
It seems clear that Moose is going to have a wonderfully happy life now, and that’s what it’s all about.
Comment by David S. Greene — February 2, 2010 @ 9:35 am
What a wonderful story. We love a happy ending.
Comment by jansfunnyfarm — February 2, 2010 @ 10:05 am
I am seriously sniffly over this.
Comment by ericka — February 2, 2010 @ 12:27 pm
Thanks for sharing this tale, Marty. Sounds like everyone involved go just what they needed!
Comment by Dr. Tony Johnson — February 2, 2010 @ 12:50 pm
Am I getting this right — the shelter started out with an eight-week-old puppy, and he was still there a year and a half later?
Whuuuu?
What shelter is this?
The phrase screw the pooch comes to mind, and in this case, is true on several levels.
Comment by H. Houlahan — February 2, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
To H. Houlahan- Yes it’s mind boggling for a pound to keep an animal for a year and a half. However, this is a small pound run by dedicated employees and volunteers who work diligently to train and adopt out the dogs. Moose was in a yard with housing and was well cared for.When there was a push to make “the ultimate decision” about him Mikkel stepped up. As a testament to how resilient and adaptable dogs are he was always a happy dog and his new dad says he’s well adjusted (no accidents in the house, lets the cats play with his tail, rides in the car well, etc.) and is grateful for Moose’s love.
Comment by Kate — February 2, 2010 @ 1:33 pm
Am I getting this right — the shelter started out with an eight-week-old puppy, and he was still there a year and a half later?
Comment by H. Houlahan — February 2, 2010 @ 12:56 pm
That jumped out at me also. 8wk puppies should be easy to adopt or at least get to another shelter or rescue that could place fairly easily.
Comment by straybaby — February 2, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
#
When Moose came to the pound (a city run entity) there was, I believe an attempt to get him adopted as a puppy. This is a small economically depressed area and my guess is he was just overlooked for “better” dogs. Moose is a black lab mix; a color notorious for being hard to place by shelters. I was not involved in the decisions made at that time but I DO feel incredibly bad and guilty that I went along with the perceived judgment that he was a difficult and in some minds even, a dangerous dog to train. He is very big and loved to jump in your face every time you entered his yard. He was just wanting attention. I suppose it would be considered inhumane to keep him in a pound that long, my rationalization is that we are putting human definitions on his life, living quarters and personality.He was exuberantly happy and when he was allowed out of his pen off leash to run around for some exercise, he came running back to his pen and entered voluntarily. In fact he was fed 2 meals a day, had shelter from the elements and got exercised which is more than A LOT of dogs get that are owned by humans. It was only recently that some concerned people brought up the issue of his long internment and his quality of life deteriorating. I took it upon myself to get in touch with Mikkel and ask for her help in getting him trained to be a “good” adoptable dog. She knew Moose as she had assessed him months earlier as a candidate for a search and rescue group (not driven enough to find the ball) and he was involved in a training class she did for our community last year. She knew his potential and assured me it would be easy to turn his obnoxious behavior around and she volunteered her time to begin his training and work with Nichole to insure he would get “continuing education” when she had to leave. I am eternally grateful to Mikkel for her willingness to help us with Moose and as I said before, it’s a testament to his adaptability and happiness that he now has a loving home.
Comment by Kate — February 2, 2010 @ 3:51 pm
Comment by Kate — February 2, 2010 @ 6:41 pm
MOOSE GOES HOME:
First I have to say a huge thank you to Mikkel for her week of dedication with Moose. She trained with love and patience. I was involved in his training (mostly observation) and was thrilled he learned so quickly. It was obvious by the second day that he really wanted to please and his main fault was a deep, crazy desire for love and attention. After that first week we continued to work with him. When I picked him up from the city pound he knew he was going for his training and couldn’t get into his kennel fast enough to go for his ride to Second Chance.
It is anyones guess on why Moose was overlooked. He was a typical medium sized black dog. Although very handsome he sat in his kennel and watched many other dogs come and go while he remained. Second Chance advertised him locally and on petfinder for the entire time he was at the pound. The few times people wanted to view him and were interested in him he was so out of control it was a big turn off to them so they would look for another, more well behaved dog. He was very strong and had a terrible habit of jumping (orientation toward face) and nose bopping on the face. Because of his lack of socialization he could not settle. These behaviors, being important to most people, I believe were the main reasons he was not adopted. This is not uncommon to many shelter dogs. They do not get the attention,socialization, love and training that a dog requires to simply be a great family pet. Typically these are reasons they land in a shelter to begin with.
The big lesson…….a few weeks of basic manners training is well worth the minimal amount of time it takes. When a dog has these basic manners they are more attracitve to potential adopters. I am gratful that Moose found a loving home. I know we will be faced with many other dogs such as Moose. Mikkel’s guidance has helped us in understanding how to tackle these behaviors and help make a dog more adoptable. Good luck Moose we love you and wish you the best.
Rhonda-Second Chance Animal Adoption
Comment by Rhonda Hamerslough — February 7, 2010 @ 10:24 pm