Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

What a week! It seems that wolf dogs are having quite the time right now. Florida is a big breeding ground for wolf dogs and they seem to be needing rescue assistance all over the place. Just in the week I have helped a behavior client reunite his wolf dog with his Old English Sheepdog, I have evaluated three wolf dogs rescued by one woman who now needs help placing them, I assisted another wolf dog owner with behavior issues her girl has started to have, I have set up a time to evaluate another wolf dog who is getting loose and chasing neighbors animals, and I just took in a wolf dog girl tonight that was living her life on a chain and needed some better surroundings.

I am only dealing with a small part of the problem. Our fellow rescues in Naples, Shy Wolf Sanctuary and St Pete's Lost Wolf Rescue are also dealing with call after call, email after email. Loads of people enjoy breeding different percentage wolf mixes with Husky's, German Shepherds, Malamutes, and other breeds. The problems start when these breeders do not accept their animals back and do not properly screen new owners. Finding the right animal for a well intentioned owner takes some work especially when you are dealing with this specialized mix. Many people call them wolf hybrids but that is an incorrect term. They are from the same species so they are not hybrids, they are simply wolf dogs.

Many people fear them and some shelters will even euthanize them as fast as they enter a facility. It is true that they require specialized knowledge to understand their needs, however they are canine at heart. If you understand the canine language you will understand the wolf dog. They are not the aggressive monsters that people have been led to believe by stories such as Little Red Riding Hood. They are highly family oriented animals and prefer to keep it that way. They will run from you faster then you can ever run from them. There are some really social ones that love to be ambassadors for their mix but many tend to be very shy and aloof.

I have a soft spot in my heart for the wolf dog. Maybe it is because of their closer association to their wild counterparts. They have not asked to be here. The fact is for those that are here and need help, there are not many options of help for them. You think it's hard to place/adopt a pit bull... try placing a wolf dog. Like I said, my heart is open to these guys and as I listen to the ones I currently have howling outside now, it is my pleasure and honor to say " How can I help you".

A Great Start To a New Week

The report from Devyn is that she & Mariposa have arrived safely in Michigan. Mari was amazing in the car, she slept most of the time and didn't have a single accident. She's doing well in her new house, she's met her cats who don't seem to mind having her around. They stopped in Virginia to visit a friend of Devyn's who recently rescued a puppy. Mari did amazing with the baby. They both stretched out on their bellies and army crawled towards each other and were rolling all over the place. Looks like things are going to be just fine for Mariposa.

I made a huge step forward with Raja today. I was finally able to enter her enclosure to do some much needed cleaning. She is now starting to understand that I am not a threat. Of course I made no eye contact to keep any pressure off her and she simply moved to the opposite side of the pen. She was even able to relax enough to lay down. I am thrilled with this step and looking forward to posting more good news about her soon. If you would like more info or have questions on the process of how we conduct our rehab, please email me to learn more about
Dog Listeneing.

More great news!!! Rex has had a second visit from a great family and in a few more weeks he will be on his way to a new start in life. Rex has come through his bout with distemper and is one happy dog.





Last bit of fantastic news is that we have a happy ending and a soon to be new start for a boy in a tough situation. Daemon is a Husky in need of a place to come to peace. Mostly he has had people issues but because of that he had some bite issues in his past. I currently am over loaded with several serious rehab cases of aggressive or former fear biters and do not have safe space for Daemon. Pat Wright our Dog Listener in Conneticut has aggreed to take Daemon into her boarding kennel and help him find that peace. Now all we need to do is raise the funds to do the transport.



We will also be working to continue to raise funds for special transports such as with Daemon. The Dog Listener rescue organization in the UK Every Chance Rescue works hard to help give dogs every chance and the US Dog Listeners want to help as well. Click on this link to see how you can help us help the dogs.

Mariposa Got A New Home

Well, they are underway back to Michigan. Mariposa and Devyn are traveling to get started on a new life together. Devyn is one of our volunteers who was only in Orlando for the college semester. She fell in love with Ms Posa and has adopted her. They should be back home shortly. All reports are that Posa was traveling well and seems to be a very happy camper.

For those of you who do not know Posa's story... She was actually saved by an animal control officer. She was whelping her puppies when the dog in her enclosure attacked her. The other dog killed all her puppies and severly injured her. She had to have a c-section to remove a last pup that was dead inside her. She was lucky to survive. Her scars have healed on the outside and they are almost healed on the inside as well. We were very happy to be able to offer a space to this wonderful girl. Happy endings for a dog who really deserves the good life.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Dog Listener Tip of the Week

From time to time I will post a tip about working and living with your dogs for a happy and stress free life. I welcome any questions about the post or the Amichien Bonding Method.

This first clip was shot in one of our gardens with a pack of young dogs. If you are interested in learning more about any of our dogs, please contact me or go to our adoptable page at www.inharmony.petfinder.com




One key to showing your dog that you are the trustworthy decision maker of the family is to keep things on your terms. When you call a dog to you and the whole pack comes, only the one who was actually called gets the attention. Also remember that when you call a dog you want them to move to you rather then you going to them. The movement is a way to create that submissive attitude. Think about the Queen of England. Her subjects are summoned to the throne. It helps keep your status in check with your dog.

Let's Meet Some of the "Kids"

I thought you might enjoy meeting some of the other rescues at our place.









Even though I specialize in dog behavior, we have other critters here who may be looking for a new home. Both Terp and Bennie are permanent guests at the rescue. We also have Dekor our rescue horse and several other parrots. If you are looking for a kitten to cuddle up with, we have some real sweet lovers as well as some great adult cats to join your family.

I want to thank everyone who stopped by our booth at the Pampered Pet Expo last weekend. It was a great event and we were able to help a good deal of people with dog issues. (It's more like helping their dog with its people issues though :)

Wiped Out!!

Ok, so it has been a few days since my last post and it is because I am WIPED OUT!! The Pampered Pet Expo was a three day event and I believe I have finally recovered. On Friday morning I was preparing to leave for the expo and get our booth set up but first I had to welcome our boarder Wilson.

Wilson is a Standard Poodle who was rescued by a great family. He was a puppy mill stud dog and is not quite over his ordeal just yet. Pam and Steve have read The Dog Listener and I had been guiding them along as well. They needed to go out of town so I offered to keep Wilson here for them. I did not have much time to just hang after Wilson got here so he was going to be on his own until the volunteers got there. He was a bit stressed, jumped his baby gate and joined the cottage pack but handled things fairly well that day. On Saturday the thunder storm did not help. The poor boy still has a fear of storms and had a rough time when the crew left on Saturday afternoon. When I got home that evening, I was welcomed by some tail waggin doggies who had a major storm party. The only thing missing was the empty beer bottles! I simply had to laugh. Some of our crew came to Wilsons aid by joining in the fun.




When you are working with dogs, you have to realize that things will happen. It really does not matter what the dog does but what you do that is the key. As the days went on Wilson started to improve and Wenseday he rejoined his family. He was happy to see them and is back in his home working on letting go and starting a great new life.

A Time To Remember

Wow! This week is flying by. I do have to relay some more sad updates about out distemper situation. Our little girl Ginger left us on Tuesday afternoon. We had worked with her and she was a fighter but in the end, we could not save her. It has been a bit of a hard road with this virus. It was unfortunate that we got pulled into the problem at Orange County Animal Control by unknowingly bringing home some dogs from them but we did manage to save Rex and Raja and we will be posting their success stories soon.



It was a very long day on Tuesday. I traveled down to Naples to do some behavior work with the Shy Wolf Sanctuary and their directors. I will be posting some great footage of the wolves and their body language soon but in the mean time, I hope you enjoy this small clip.




The Pampered Pet Expo is almost here and I am working at getting things ready for a great event. I hope you enjoy my preview of our part at the expo and I do hope to SEE YOU THERE!

And a New Month Begins

It seems the weeks are flying by. I can't believe it is already August. My favorite month but that is because its my birthday month. Lots to look forward to in these next few weeks. We just helped the Central Florida Animal Pantry at Pookies on Saturday. It was a hot day but a great turnout and loads of opportunities to help people and their dogs. I had the pleasure of working with Jack the Boston Terrier. Melissa is one of the owners of Pookies and had asked me to spend some time with Jack. He is dog aggressive but did very well. People often do not realize just how much of a factor they are in their dogs behavior. I am looking forward to helping Melissa and Jack a whole lot more.

The coming weekend is the Pampered Pet Expo at the Orlando Convention Center. I will be speaking to the crowd on Saturday morning at 11:15. I would love to see all of you out there. The title of my talk is "If Your Dog Is In The Drivers Seat, You're In For A Bumpy Ride"


We have our first rehab video posted to You Tube. If you enjoy it, I would love to have you post a comment and forward it around. We will be posting more shortly and will keep you informed as soon as they are up.

A last bit of sad news is that we lost Tumaini the last of the GSD pups from Orange County. We did our best to save these little ones but the fight was too hard. Their small spirits are onto a new journey now. I am working with Raja their mom and she is improving nicely. I will keep you updated on her progress.