From Burnout to Breakthrough pt. 2

WHEN I LAST LEFT YOU

Our small rescue was using every ounce of resources we could squeeze out of our situation. Jet was in a boarding facility that he had been living in for about a year. We were also paying to board Capone, who is an anxious boy and does not board well, and I was fostering Tim while living out of town on assignment for work. By this point, we found a temporary foster for Capone. It was a good situation, but all because of timing and life circumstances, we knew it wasn’t forever, or even long term.

THE DOMINOS START FALLING

I fostered Tim for about 4 months. All signs were pointing to him being an amazing dog for most families. No kids, and he could be with other dogs, but they needed to be big and confident as he would play by throwing his whole body around, forgetting how big he was. He had not been officially cat tested, but his few long distance encounters with cats seemed like it could be a possibility. Then, something changed. 

He began showing reactive and sometimes aggressive behavior when meeting new people. This was so strange because he had been so loving and friendly to everyone he had interacted with up to this point, the shelter staff, the rescue team, the boarding facility staff, etc. So we started to doing some testing, because if we can’t introduce him to new people, how the heck could we do a meet and greet for a potential adopter? 

At the time, I worked on site at a boarding and daycare facility. Tim would go to work with me and all of my staff could handle him, play with, feed him, all the things! So when we had a new employee start, who had worked for many years in shelters and rescue, I thought this is a great opportunity to do a very slow, proper introduction. We started by having her give him treats any time she came by my office. Then I would walk down the hallways with him as the new girl walked beside us talking casually. He never had a negative reaction to her. So when we tried to do a more formal interaction between them, all was good until she ran out of treats. Then the reactions were back. He barked and growled at her and obviously wanted her out of his vicinity. All this time, his behavior never changed with anyone he already knew. But any new people were a no go. 

I was officially out of my depth. I’ve worked with dogs for several years, but I am not a certified trainer or behaviorist (yet). So my partners and I decided to get the professionals involved. And here’s where the real learning curve begins. At this time, I knew a little about dog training. I knew I was anti-shock collar and believed in positive reinforcement methods. But I didn’t know what that meant for a reactive or aggressive dog. Treats couldn’t possibly be used to keep a dog from biting someone, could they? I was worried. I was worried our options were go with a trainer that would put a shock collar on him, or put him down to protect the community. So I started making calls.

It came down to this. We talked to three different trainers. The first was positive reinforcement based, we had used her before and she seemed confident she could help us. She did forget to mention in our first call though, that she was moving out of state….soon, so there went that idea. Trainer number two, let’s just say I went with my gut. He was sketchy about sharing his methods and what he did share, I just wasn’t’ comfortable with. It’s another story for another time, but when it comes to pet services, I am a big proponent of trusting your gut. So he was a hard no. Finally there was a balance trainer that someone put me in touch with. 

Now, I knew there were some things that balance trainers do that I was not down for, but after a couple of long phone chats with him, it was very clear that he loved dogs and that he would not do anything with Tim we were not comfortable with, and he was willing to work with us for free. Music to a nonprofit’s ears! So we moved forward. This was particularly good timing because my work assignment was up and it was time for Tim’s foster with me to end. And for logistical reasons, he couldn’t go back to his original boarding facility. He had to go to a new one, which meant, new people…..the ultimate test. 

To make a long story less long, we were managing our situation with these three dogs. But it was truly a week at a time or sometimes even a day at a time. During all of this, the lives and health of me and my two partners were completely wrecked. We knew this was not sustainable and the walls were beginning to close in. I think we were all thinking about shutting down the rescue, but we all knew we couldn’t do it with three dogs that still needed us! Where would they go? What would happen to them? Is this even an option available to us? So in my mind, the answer was to get them adopted! We needed to get them in their homes and settled so we could reassess the future of the organization. So I started digging. Hard, fast, and obsessively! 

We had been trying for over a year to get these dogs adopted and their needs were always an obstacle. If I could find a trainer or resource that could….I don’t know, cure them? Help them? Or maybe even just find those super passionate dog people whose entire life is built around their dogs with specific or special needs. 

I started learning A LOT about the difference between training commands and modifying behavior and not only what the methods are but how they work (and sometimes don’t). Here’s the deal, stick here with me a while and I will share all of these morsels that lead me to my philosophy, beliefs, and values around dog training. But the gist is this. I learned that you can use positive reinforcement to modify behavior, including aggressive or reactive behavior. I learned that it is a very needed and time consuming skill and service to provide. I learned that it’s expensive to get the education and credentials to be able to provide it. I learned that there ARE NOT ENOUGH people out there doing this work for all the dog guardians that need it. And I learned that so many dog guardians in my position, or worse because they didn’t have any funding or professional animal education or experience, had no idea there were even options available to them! 

Ultimately, the ending to the rescue’s story was final, but not at all feelgood. After other incidents that seemed to be increasing in severity and were unpredictable and unprovoked, we had to

make the gut wrenching decision to submit Tim to a behavioral euthanasia. I was with him when we said goodbye. That moment and the moment we made the decision to do it will scar my heart forever. We found a wonderful rescue with a small facility, but nice setup for Capone and Jet. They took the dogs and most of our remaining assets to help with their mission. It was tough to say goodbye, but I have no doubt the boys were in good hands with them. And we went through all the necessary steps to dissolve the rescue. By the way, if you want to start a nonprofit, think long and hard before taking the leap, because dissolving it is way more paperwork and hoop jumping than starting it. 

THE SILVER LINING

After all was said and done, I promised my husband for mental health reasons and for the sake of our family, I would take a year off from rescue in all capacities. I didn’t know if I would go back. We didn’t discuss it at that point, and honestly about half way through my sabbatical, I thought I wouldn’t. But nearly 365 days later, as if my heart had been counting it down, I got the itch. I wanted to help dogs. I wanted to advocate for the voiceless. 

I had decided while I was still with my former rescue, I would never start my own rescue without having a facility or at least space in my own home to foster. So as a I began thinking about how I was going to return to rescue, I got to thinking…..rescue is so reactive. We’re constantly on call, we’re constantly just trying to stop the bleeding, triage the situation. Find a spot for two weeks at a time for these dogs. And I had kept an eye on the industry. I knew things had not gotten better since my time away. We were one of six rescues I know of that shut down or began the process to shutting down during that time simply because the resources had dried up. 

In my year off, I stepped into a new corporate roll that taught me a lot about business strategy and goal setting and taking larger operational views to problems. So, then it made perfect sense to me…..why sign up to triage the problem, when I could go further upstream and prevent it from happening in the first place? I was fairly familiar with the systematic issues of why dogs end up in shelters and why healthy dogs are euthanized. I want to create a solution. I want to make the problem not a problem! 

Join us here next month to learn how we’re going to do it!