Gail Fisher, All Dogs Gym & Inn - The perfect place for pets and their people

A reader writes: “Could you go over all the work involved with adopting dogs that have had sad/awful past lives. Some of these dogs do not know any of 'the rules'. It takes an enormous amount of time to try and get these darlings to trust us, walk on a leash, walk up and down stairs and even potty train. Manners and human contact are sometimes non existent."

I’ve had this email in my “future column topics” file for several months, and a recent event precipitated addressing the topic of helping a rescued dog assimilate and adjust to your home and lifestyle.

It seems as if our All Dogs Gym family is losing so many of our good friends. Dogs we’ve known, trained, cared for and been part of their lives for years have been passing away seemingly with great frequency. Perhaps it’s because we have such a large “family”, but it’s been an almost daily occurrence that we will sadly hear of another of “our dogs” that has died.

Perhaps one of the most shocking was Florrie—a wonderful, seemingly healthy, active Labrador retriever. Enjoying an agility lesson one day, and then a few days later, suddenly passing away. Florrie’s story exemplifies the positive side of this reader’s question. Shortly after she passed away, I got the following email from Florrie’s owner:

“She had a great life—and this was in no small part due to the love, compassion, and nurturing she received at All Dogs. You may be familiar with her background. She was a rescue dog when she came into my life, people aggressive, dog aggressive, shy and fearful of everything in her new environment. I first brought her to All Dogs Gym a few months after she came to me. I began to see a tremendous difference in her almost immediately and for 12 years we were regular visitors—up until the week before she passed on. She loved agility, flyball, and just hanging out so people could rub her tummy, or scratch her ears, and wanting nothing more than to bring a smile to their faces and bring them happiness.

“Among my fondest memories was how she always got excited as we left I-93 onto South Willow Street toward the Gym. And how she resisted my efforts to get her in the car to go home after having a fun filled day with her friends.

“She was at agility lesson only the week before she became ill, flying over the A-frame and exploring all the tunnels, on or off course! So it was quite a shock when she passed on so suddenly. I will always be grateful that she apparently was uncomfortable for such a short time. She was in excellent health all her life up until that time. I can't say enough for the loving care, training, patience, and encouragement she received from the entire staff at the Gym. What dog could be more blessed!”

I asked Florrie’s owner if I could use what she wrote in this column, because her experience exemplifies what I have advised in past columns when you adopt a rescue dog, if you have an unsocialized dog, or when trying to rehabilitate a dog with behavior issues. Enroll in a training class that uses a positive method that avoids any physical or psychological corrections, that builds trust and lays the foundation for a healthy relationship. Socialization in an environment where the dog is able to learn at his or her own rate, where the dog is permitted to be cautious and is reinforced for being brave also builds trust and confidence.

Once you’ve established a foundation of basic manners training, we highly recommend dog agility, especially for dogs with fear issues. It tops the list of activities that can build a timid dog’s confidence, helping to overcome even fear-based aggression—just as it helped Florrie. She, and all our absent friends, will be missed.