June 27, 2008

A program at a New Mexico no-kill shetler is giving aggressive dogs a second chance. (Pet Pulse Photo by John Parker, Illustration by Mike Lloyd)

RIO RANCHO, N.M. -- More than two million misbehaved dogs wind up in shelters annually after their owners give up on them due to troubles that include house training accidents, biting family members and attacking other dogs.

Estimates are that as many as 70 percent of those animals are euthanized.

Driven by fear and insecurity, intensely aggressive dogs that have attacked humans and other animals would be on death row at most shelters. Instead they are given rehabilitation and hope at Watermelon Mountain Ranch Animal Center.

“These are the animals that for one reason or another have serious issues,” said Rick Dillender, shelter facilities manager at Watermelon Mountain Ranch, as he took a dog out of a pen. “You know, some of these dogs have been here a long time.”

Dillender and his wife, Heather, have developed a rehabilitation program to teach adult dogs what they should have learned as puppies. All the canines in the program share a common bond –- lacking simple communication skills, perhaps from being pulled from their litter too soon.

“Dogs, when they’re up to 8 weeks old in their litter, that’s when they learn to socialize with other animals,” Dillender said. “Because they have six or seven dogs of all temperaments together interacting constantly, and that’s where they learn the fundamentals of language.”

Among the first steps in treating aggression is helping the dogs discover the right way to say, ‘Hello.’ In one exercise, the Dillender’s walk two dogs, “Petey” and “Nome,” in increasingly tighter circles.

They put themselves between the two dogs, who find it difficult because they are not used to being so close to other dogs.

“We’re just trying to get to the point where they can have an initial introduction, Dillender said. “Get past the fear of being in such close proximity. But once they can smell, now they have some basis to go on, now they know each other.”

The method is based on the canine pack mentality, with the Dillender’s acting, in essence, as pack leaders.

“Every interaction with a dog is communication,” Dillender said. “You are talking to them and they are talking to you.”

In program’s three months of operation, 35 dogs have completed it. Some need only a few weeks of rehab, while others need months, even years. Watermelon Mountain Ranch is a no-kill shelter, so every animal here gets the opportunity to turn their life around no matter how long it takes.

At feeding time in one dog pod, no one eats until everyone is well behaved and quiet. Some of the dogs here were once labeled aggressive, but after rehabilitation they now fit in with the others.

“Vienna” is a 5-year-old greyhound that was responsible for sending several other dogs to the hospital. After just a month of intensive rehab training, she is happily living with her new pack.

“She was attacking other dogs that were in her foster homes,” Dillender said “My goal for any of these animals is, at the very least, to rehabilitate so that they are healthy and stable.”

For more information, visit watermelonmountainranch.org.

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