Rescue Remedy

He's a rescue. He had a rough start. He was beat.

Let's be clear, if your dog is misbehaving it's because you are not training him to do otherwise. Its not because he was tied, or left in a shed or starved. It's not because he doesn't know how to learn. It's not because he doesn't want to please. It's simply because he's never been consistently shown that it's not acceptable. (medical and temperament issues aside)

Dogs that pull on leash are allowed to pull (don't think I'm right? next walk, picture yourself in a white wedding gown holding a glass of red wine in your leash hand and see how much more consistent you become) Dogs that bark, are getting rewarded by you barking with them. Dogs that jump on people get rewarded by you handling/talking to them while pulling them off. Dogs do what gets rewarded. I see it every single day.

I detest, hate, abhor the phrase "he's a rescue". First because "rescue" is a verb, once the act is complete it becomes "rescued", PAST TENSE. And truly, it's a fire word, a word being used to trigger an emotional response. To make you feel something, to allow smoke and mirrors, to excuse lack of training. It's not accurate or productive.

Second because it seems to magically alleviate any responsibility from owners to correct behavior. It seems to be a catch all excuse for every bad behavior in the books. When the bad behavior that needs to be address is walking upright feeling big about this selfless act they have performed; they rescued a dog.

No, no they didn't.

I run a program called Oops! Puppies. I primarily take in litters of puppies that are unwanted or unplanned. They go to great homes, with great families. When time and space allow I take in adult dogs. Some dogs have sketchy pasts, most are mundane. Not a single one of them has been "rescued". None were falling through ice when I took them in. None were being beat to death. None were balancing on the side of a cliff. None.  I do not give past stories. I don't want the people who are looking to adopt a story to tell at barbecues. I want people who will step up and give the dog a great home.

I feel we get pompous about ourselves as humans. Look how great I am, look what I did... you know what? Dogs would fair much better in the wild then we would. Your dog would find food, shelter and water first, then share it and never refer to you as his rescue.

We say we don't want to see the sadness then buy into these words.


By all means adopt a dog. They are wonderful. Question your shelter about behavior modification, Question them about unwanted behaviors and what's being done/what works to correct it. Find a trainer that will work with you through specific issues. Do the time, train the dog. Do not stop at "he's a rescue." Insist on light not fire.

Toad is a lot of things. Strong willed, Brilliant, Loving, Manipulative. Handsome. Loyal. Bad. He's funny and sweet. He's easily offended. He's learning as fast as he can. He ate my belt this morning and stole my coffee.

He is a bull terrier, he is mine.

He is not "a rescue."