Hubris

 https://www.facebook.com/crystal.g.howse/posts/pfbid0X8M8DJ6mwc3yGYqfySUgk2JM16iZiVeg7DTnYqqrVz6we3Rbnu8CnCbQ7rSyqfaQl

From a public social media post concerning online grumblings about perceived barriers to adopting dogs from rescue, and my rebuttal:

Crystal G. Howse

orSenoptsd b0288a0MFemhh3:a4c0u66ta6g 2m r2cy3165 r1109h1Pua  · 

"Many of you have seen that I have a Saint Bernard puppy now. The dog of my dreams that I have wanted since I was a toddler. Im going to start posting pictures of her shamelessly because she is the most precious potato! Here's what I have to say about her:

I bought my dog.

The moment I bought my dog, I hated myself for it and initially felt like I owed myself, and everyone I work with in rescue an explanation.

Barriers to entry is something we talk about in my program at MSU. Barriers to entry, in my job's sense, regard what makes it to where a student can't get into college.

Some of those barriers are - low socioeconomic status, first Gen students who don't have guidance from their parents, lack of access to resources like a vehicle, meal plan, residence hall, etc.

Well now let's talk about barriers to entry for animal adoption....

I bought my dog....that seems, to me as a rescuer, like a horrible thing to say

She is my dream dog. I am going to love and cherish her until the day she leaves me. But, that being said; I have been trying to ADOPT a Saint Bernard for several years now. I have been following Saint Bernard Rescue pages on Facebook. I have been looking on Petfinder at adoptions only. I have been messaging rescues and sending in applications. I have looked at Saint Bernards to rescue all the way from puppies to seniors. I didn't care what age, background, or area the dog came from. I just wanted to rescue one. Adopt don't shop right?

After being denied by every single rescue that I have reached out to because of (what I consider) superficial reasons, I bought my dog.

I have sent my adoption resume, WITH REFERENCES, to at least 7 Saint Bernard rescues, stating that I have been HEAVILY involved in rescue for 10+ years now, have a fenced in yard, have a home where the dog will be indoors almost always - aside from potty breaks, walks, adventures, and excursions. I have submitted that I've done my research on the breed, have never surrendered one of my pets to a shelter, would not surrender this pet to a shelter and would give back to the rescue IF I HAD to for some reason.

....But I wasn't good enough according to their standards. So I bought this dog of mine that is my dream dog. I don't think I would ever "buy" a dog again, now that I've gotten my dream puppy. But a conversation is seriously to be had about barriers to adoption.

If I can't adopt a dog with my rescue background, my animal science education, my dedication to animal welfare, my dedication to a pitbull that I owned and refused to give up, and HUNTED breed friendly housing for, for 3 different moves, my keeping all of my animals for 3+ moves and loving them unconditionally. My proof of annual vet care AND THEN SOME to all my babies. Despite the size of my yard, my house, or my free time, .... we have a problem in the adoption world.

We need to do better. For the animals."

[sic]

Animal Accolade's response:

Barriers to adoption may (or may not) be high, based on anecdotal stories like this one, and the usual pile on of "this one time" that follows. But based on true, quantifiable statistics (which I'll reference below), too many dogs are neglected, abandoned, ever find permanent homes, or worse, in the US.

So yes, rescue personnel err on the side of caution, but please understand it is from a need of protection for the dogs. If one is denied seven times from reputable, trustworthy rescues, perhaps one should search thyself. Never having purchased a dog, I have instead had good luck adopting from breed rescue.

For rescue personnel it's always about the dogs' well-being, never about the feelings of the human, except to the extent that a good match is made into a promising, stable, and appropriate long-term home.

Presumably all the Saint Bernard dogs from this story were adopted into long-term, appropriate homes, so that should be a win for all concerned. It's all about the dogs' security, in the absence of human hubris that landed them in rescue in the first place.

Purchase a dog for all the right reasons if you see fit. But please be fair and open-minded toward rescue by avoiding openly denigrating rescue, who are volunteers doing the best we can with extremely limited resources, "for the animals."

On this we agree: we certainly "have a problem in the adoption world." A sad 2.7 million problems every year.

Real, quantifiable statistics:

1. Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born will find a permanent home.[1]
2. The main reasons animals are in shelters: owners give them up, or animal control finds them on the street.[2]
3. Each year, approximately 2.7 million dogs and cats are killed every year because shelters are too full and there aren’t enough adoptive homes. Act as a publicist for your local shelter so pets can find homes. Sign up for Shelter Pet PR.[3]
4. Approximately 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year. Of those, approximately 3.9 million are dogs and 3.4 million are cats.[4]
5. According to the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (NCPPSP), less than 2% of cats and only 15 to 20% of dogs are returned to their owners.[5]
6. 25% of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.[6]
7. About twice as many animals enter shelters as strays compared to the number that are relinquished by their owners.[7]
8. It’s impossible to determine how many stray dogs and cats live in the United States. Estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million.[8]
9. Only 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. Overpopulation, due to owners letting their pets accidentally or intentionally reproduce, sees millions of these “excess” animals killed annually.[9]
10. Many strays are lost pets that were not kept properly indoors or provided with identification.[10]
11. According to The Humane Society, there are about 3,500 brick-and-mortar animal shelters in the US and 10,000 rescue groups and animal sanctuaries in North America.[11]

---

1. The Mosby Foundation. "Truth of what happens to shelter animals everyday." Web Accessed February 23, 2015. ↩︎

2. Towell, Lisa. "Why People Abandon Animals." PETA Prime, 2010. Web Accessed February 23, 2015. ↩︎

3. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Pet Statistics." Web Accessed February 26, 2015. ↩︎

4. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Pet Statistics." Web Accessed February 26, 2015. ↩︎

5. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Pet Statistics." Web Accessed February 26, 2015. ↩︎

6. The Humane Society of the United States. "U.S. Pet Ownership and Shelter Population Estimates." 2012 & 2013. Web Accessed February 23, 2015. ↩︎

7. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Pet Statistics." Web Accessed February 26, 2015. ↩︎

8. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Pet Statistics." Web Accessed February 26, 2015. ↩︎

9. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Pet Statistics." Web Accessed February 26, 2015. ↩︎

10. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "Pet Statistics." Web Accessed February 26, 2015. ↩︎

11. The Humane Society. "Pets by the numbers." Web Accessed February 20, 2019. ↩︎

For my part, I wish we could all agree that rescues aren't the problem, and the few good, ethical, responsible breeders aren't the problem. The dog abandonment (and worse) crisis we face is a multi-faceted problem. The solution surely begins with being a responsible guardian for the animals in our care.

Meggie Graduation from Basic Manners

Meggie aced her Basic Manners group class at Lucky Dog Training, graduating with honors! We covered a lot of ground in this six-week class and I'm so proud of how well Meggie handles the training environment!

Pearls:

Among several other cues and behaviors, in Basic Manners class Meggie has perfected:

• "Place!" Going to place on cue from six feet away and going into down on place, then waiting until the release cue to get up, even with distractions.
  

• Loose Leash Walking. Meggie walks in heel position with a loose, looped leash in a figure 8 around two cones. (Meggie's whale eye is because something to the side of her was competing for her attention. Meggie was being a good girl and keeping her body focused forward on the handler. She was not displaying stress in this photo, but rather displaying a moment of split attention.)
  

• Recall (including Emergency Recall). Meggie plays the "Get it!" game and while she is turned away from the handler running away she whips back to the handler when she hears "Meggie here!"
  

• Sit Stay and Down Stay. Meggie happily holds a sit or down while I walk to the end of her leash, turn my back on her, or walk around her. She is then released with the cue "Break!"
  

• Wait at the Door. Meggie remains in sit while I open the door and walk through. When she is released with her cue "Break!" Meggie is allowed to walk through the doorway.
  

• Leave It. When Meggie sees something dropped on the floor, she avoids taking it in her mouth and is instead rewarded for looking up at her handler.

This highly talented and extremely intelligent pup is available for adoption through BCSAVE.

Treibball with Jackie: Successful Gathers, Fetches, and Pens

Jackie is making headway in figuring out the treibball experience. She did a great job today doing elemental gathers, fetches, and pens. 

Pearls:

• When sending your dog with "Go out!" and during play, keep your back centered to the goal so your dog has the optimum chance to push the ball directly into the goal. Jackie is reinforced for pushing the ball directly toward the handler, so use your body to help your dog direct the ball into the goal.

• Homework includes continuing to reinforce "Go out!" with distance, continue reinforcing "Whoah!" to indicate standing still, and begin teaching "Down!" from a distance.

• A good visual cue for "Down!" is the handler raising one arm straight up above their head. This is a very clear visual cue that the dog can understand at long distances and with noise distractions such as wind. 

Jackie making successful gathers, fetches, and pens:

Treibball is to herding what pickleball is the tennis. 

That's okay, it's still FUN! Not everyone has 40 acres and a flock of sheep.

Jackie Nosework: Interior Container, Exterior Vehicle, and Exterior Multiple Searches

Today Jackie played multiple Interior Container Searches with distractions, Interior Blank Search (a search with no hides), Exterior Vehicle Search, and Exterior Multiple Hides. Jackie's developing a reliable nose hold, and we are continuing to proof food distractions and study wind theory.

Pearls:

• When a blank search is completed, be sure to have a big celebration with lots of play and cookies so Jackie is doubly rewarded when there is no hide to find.

• The judge at a trial will DQ if they think you are trying to see the hide yourself, rather than relying on your dog. So just rely on your dog to do the job!

• At a trial, Jackie must alert within 12 inches of source. It's optimum if Jackie nose holds directly on source, especially while training. 

• When a hide is placed inside an object where the source is physically inaccessible, the dog must nose hold alert within 12 inches of the source.

• Often on inaccessible hides, the dog will go to the object's left, right, and center since she cannot physically access the source for a nose hold.

• The Tin Game is a good way to proof food distractions: Fill several tins with bacon, cheese, beef lung, or any delicious and smelly food and only pay when the tin with scent source is alerted. Keep rotating the source tin each round of the game. Toss a reset cookie, say "Get it!" and re-shuffle the tins while the dog is chasing the tossed cookie. Then cue "Search!" and pay when the dog nose holds at the source tin each round.

Jackie successfully finds multiple hides in Interior Containers, Exterior Vehicle, and Exterior Multiples:

Go Forward * Move Ahead * It's Not Too Late

Sniff It Good

Treibball with Jackie: A Rudimentary Gather

Jackie made her first successful gather! Once each individual cue is understood, they begin to come together quickly. 

Pearls:

• For "Walk up!" continue to use small increments of teaching each individual step so Jackie understands "Walk up!" means take a few steps until she hears "Whoa!" which means to stand in place. 

• Continue to reinforce confident "Go out!" with distance. Alternate sending the dog on her outrun from both directions, so the dog is used to going both clockwise and anti-clockwise while flanking the stock (ball).  

Clockwise outruns

Jackie makes her first rudimentary gather, fetch, and pen of the stock (ball):

Hiking with Meggie

Every day with Meggie is an adventure! From our scenic river hikes to the thrill of chasing tennis balls, she's soaking up every moment and blossoming into a true explorer. Join this journey of discovery with Meggie by your side!

Apply to adopt Meggie at BCSAVE.

Meggie playing ball: https://youtube.com/shorts/7EBW0GAFvnI?si=wgxbcIVoJ_7sMls5

Noswork with Jackie: Buried, Interior, and Super Single Searches

Jackie tackled various new searches, including water and wind challenges, demonstrating improved alerting behavior and proficiency finding buried scents. Despite minor distractions, Jackie's performance was impressive, prompting preparation for trialing and emphasizing the importance of trial environment familiarization and strategic training tactics. 

Jackie looking smarmy in her nosework harness and matching custom 10-foot Mendota lead

Jackie played several new searches today, including multiple hides buried in water and an outdoor search in the wind called a super single.

She also practiced interior searches finding multiple hides, and hides buried in sand. My ability to read Jackie's alert signal, freezing and holding nose on source, is getting stronger every time we play. 

The super single is where a single hide is hidden three to four feet above the ground surface level, far away from the start line, with the scent source placed upwind on a windy day so it is blowing directly toward the dog. 

It was interesting watching Jackie use her nose in the wind. At the startline, far from the super single source, Jackie immediately alerted on the startline cone. This would be a "false" alert at a trial, as scent is never placed on the startline cones themselves (though scent can be placed on the same plane as the startline). 

After our coach planted the super single source, she then returned to the start line and placed the cone. We're convinced Jackie alerted on the cone because of residual scent from the coach's hand. 

Once we removed the smelly cone, Jackie quickly picked up the scent and ran to source, hopping up on her hind legs to smother the source, hidden about four feet up the building's wall, giving her alert signal. It was so easy for Jackie but I was impressed!

Jackie effortlessly and quickly found all the buried scents, both in sand and in water. She struggled a bit with the interior search, quickly alerting the first source but then getting distracted by a dog poop bin and returning to the already found source placed just next to the smelly bin. We re-started the search and Jackie found the last hide.

Jackie made quick work of finding multiple buried hides in water, even with distractions

Pearls:

• It's time to preemptively join the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) in anticipation of trialing. Since Jackie has her Purebred Alternative Listing (PAL) lifetime number from AKC, we're solid for AKC events.

• Volunteering at scent work trials is a great way to learn many of the ins and outs of a trial environment in preparation ahead of one's first trial.

• Scent hides will never be placed on a start line cone at a trial.

• There are regulations about how close scent hides are placed together (or apart) at trials, so be sure to know the rules of each association before trialing to stack the cards in your favor.

• A quick game of tricks (think spin, nose touch, any quick game) with rewards to reset your dog if they are struggling at a trial is fair play, so use this tactic if needed. A quick refresher game with rewards is helpful during training if your dog is struggling and needs to reset.

Jackie is triumphant in front of the hide buried in sand

Jackie Learns To Recover a Treibball

Jackie's herding adventures continue as she masters the art of recovering her "sheep" when it strays into a corner. 

There is no verbal cue for this behavior, the cue becomes the situation itself when a treibball is stuck and needs to be recovered. But first the handler reinforces the dog for doing the correct behaviors.

Pearls:

• When teaching "Walk up!" it is okay to use multiple mats to mark where the dog would "Whoah!" Eventually, fade using the mat after Jackie understands that "Whoah!" means stop and stand still until cued "Walk up! again. 

• Continue to build value for "Go out!" with distance.

• Play "Come by!" and "Away!" to keep those cues fresh and consistent.

• Always reward the dog with the treibball between the dog and the handler, with the dog oriented toward the handler.

Clip of Jackie recovering her treibball from corners:

Hiking with Jackie and Meggie

Jackie, Meggie, and I went for a hike today at Sansom Park Falls. For me it was a challenging hike and the girls loved it too.

Video clip of Jackie hiking: https://youtube.com/shorts/n4qfA7f9D48?si=eeYIyrtH7wUzz2Dv

Jackie Nosework: Items and Interior Multiple Room Searches

Jackie is enjoying playing nosework.

Jackie did a great job searching two scent finds hidden in a circle of baby socks. She searched larger rooms for the first time and a multiple-room search that included a challenging bathroom. 

Jackie searched three different multi-room areas and after struggling a bit in the first two rooms did a great job quickly finding the scent sources in the final room search. 

Pearls:

• I am learning to recognize Jackie's alert body language and continuing to reinforce Jackie freezing in place and holding her nose directly on source.

• Once Jackie finds a source in a multiple-hide search, pay at source then gently pat Jackie twice on the hindquarter saying "Find more!" to cue Jackie to continue searching for additional hides. 

• Never pay twice if Jackie returns to the same source after being paid for finding it initially. If she struggles with returning to an already found hide during training, simply remove that hide from the search area and start the search again. 

Jackie at the startline in front of her search area of baby socks.