Meet lead dog Bowser!
Bowser was born in our home on January 24, 2007. He celebrated his third birthday this past January along with his sisters Mysty and Tia. Mysty lives here with us, and Tia has moved to the big city with my daughter Cheyanne.
Yes Bowser was born in our home, but at the age of ten weeks he went to live with what was to be his forever family. Sixteen and a half months later Bowser was returned to us, and labeled an uncontrollable dog. As is our policy we took Bowser back into our home with the intention to rehabilitate him and find him a new home. Little did we know that he would soon become an integral part of the rehabilitation program we were in the first stages of developing.
Bowser was a very high spirited dog, and at 70lbs. definitely hard to control at first. I started his rehab training, and he responded well but his ability to behave was sporadic at best. A few weeks after Bowser came back to us we got in another rescue. Now I was faced with rehabilitating two rescue dogs with issues at the same time. At least that is what I thought at first. A few days in I noticed that Bowser's behaviour was no longer sporadic, he was obeying my every word, and what's more, he was working along side me with the new rescue, and we were getting results. He had been listening all along, he just needed a job. Now apparently he had chosen one for himself, he was going to be the dog who rescued dogs!
I firmly believe there is no such thing as an unadoptable dog. I thank God for the rescue agencies that do exist in our society, but I truly believe that it is not the dog but the rescue program that is flawed. Bear with me for a moment while I explain, we'll get back to Bowser's story in a bit.
We all have good intentions, those of us who takes these animals and find homes for them. I have learned through years of experience however, that plucking an animal off the streets and placing it in a home is not enough. We have to look at the animals issues, and believe me with the exception of very few all rescues have issues. Most of the time I find myself trying to teach a rescued dog to be a dog. That might sound strange to some of you, but for those of us whom have worked with rescue dogs it is something we understand all too well. You must admit, it can't be easy for a human to teach a dog to be a dog.
Then along came Bowser! Suddenly I had an assistant, a wonderful furry four legged assistant, and the task of rehabilitating rescues became phenomenally easier. Over the next 18 months Bowser would help me rehabilitate many other dogs, he would also help me to train my pre-existing pack to play a part in the rehabilitation process.
Today Bowser together with pack member Nakita whom you will meet tomorrow (see picture below this post), lead the pack and help me to rehabilitate rescue dogs and give them a second chance at life. Every pack member has a specific role in the rehabilitation process, and they are a very close knit group who work together well, and are very good at what they do. Most of them are rescues themselves, so I guess you could say they are paying it forward.
As for me? I am just their handler, in truth they do all the work, and I want none of the credit.
(Nakita, more affectionately known as Nikki, is Bowser's right hand gal when it comes to pack management.)
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