JUNIOR VERSATILITY AWARD – CLAIRE CTIBOR

Claire Ctibor started showing dogs when she was just 8 years old, with a six month old Chinese Crested. At 12 years old, Claire decided she didn’t want a “little dog” anymore, so she took over the training and exhibiting duties for one of the family’s Brittanies.

Five years later, Claire is headed for her first Westminster Kennel Club show and was one of the first kids honored under AKC’s brand new Junior Versatility Award program.

“Dog shows have been a part of my life since I was 8,” Claire said. “So that’s something I never want to give up. I know I’ll have to age out of juniors in six months and it’s really sad. It’s a huge part of my life. I’m really proud of this. It’s something unique that I get to have that not many other people have. I love my dogs more than anything. Doing the versatile stuff with Sailor… he’s so smart, can pick up on anything so quickly. I trained him when he was a puppy. It’s something I got to do with him, something I get to treasure the rest of my life. We accomplished that together.”

CLAIRE’S ROAD TO WESTMINSTER

Claire said she started doing field work with Sailor because he was so energetic and the dog show really wasn’t his happy place. “This dog gives me so much, does everything I ask for in the show ring. But it isn’t what he wants to do. He would much rather be running like a lunatic finding birds. So this gives him a chance to do what he wants to do also,” Claire said.

“I’m really proud of the what Sailor and I have accomplished because I did it all myself. And I bred him. He’s even got an Achiever Dog award from AKC,” Claire added.

As she preps for her first trip to the Garden, Claire is “super excited” and making up for lost time. “I qualified a couple times before. This is a really sad story. I qualified two years ago but missed entries. I missed qualifying by one point the next year.”

While Claire can’t miss much school, she and her family are driving up and have plans for a day of sight-seeing on Sunday.

Her partner in crime, so to speak? Her old reliable, Captain.

“Captain will be 12. It’s like brushing my teeth in the morning. I know him and he knows me. He’s my old man. He sleeps in my bed every night. I take him everywhere and put him in his pajamas when it’s cold. He’s spoiled rotten,” Claire said. “I know what he’s going to do. I can trust him. I know every move he’s going to make. Sailor, I was worried he wouldn’t be able to calm down enough.”

VALUE OF JUNIOR SHOWMANSHIP

Junior showmanship and purebred dogs, Claire said, are great teachers.

“If you have a dog when you’re 8 or 9 yrs old, that’s a ton of responsibility. It teaches good sportsmanship. You’re not going to win every time you walk in the ring. I certainly have been humbled more than once by that,” Claire said.

“If you love it, it’s going to pay off in the end. You have to be willing to do some things you may not want to do. Wake up at 4 in the morning, drive all night. Do what you have to do to make it work,” Claire noted.

The opportunity to work with dogs in multiple venues is especially rewarding, she added.

“When you’ve got dogs, young dogs especially, you need to have something to give them an out. We ask dogs to do a lot for us. They weren’t bred to be show dogs,” Claire said. “It’s good to build a relationship outside the show ring with your dog. Do something maybe he likes. You build a different relationship, it teaches you something new. It’s breathtaking to see him out there in the field.”

VETERINARY VOICE — C SECTIONS: WHEN, WHY AND HOW

DR. MARTY GREER, DVM, JD

Welcome to the debut of this exciting monthly feature here at PureDogTalk. Dr. Greer offers outstanding information on a variety of topics. She is a licensed veterinarian and attorney who specializes in reproductive issues at her clinic in Wisconsin.

PureDogTalk listeners are fortunate to have a front row seat for Dr. Greer’s knowledge, experience and compassion, now on a monthly basis.

CEASARIAN SECTIONS

We’re talking today about Ceasarian sections…. the when, why and how of a difficult and emotionally fraught, potentially emergency whelping situation.

“These are scary, tough decisions,” Greer said. “Breeders and veterinarians are often both conflicted.” We’ve provided a graphic in the show notes with excellent information on protocols and a decision making checklist.

Greer discusses the differences between working with your regular veterinarian and an emergency or referral clinic which may not be as familiar with you and your pet.

“It’s the middle of the night, you’re sleep deprived, your dog and puppies are in trouble,” Greer observed. “You don’t always get the response from (an emergency clinic) to promptly intervene.”

PROGESTERONE TIMING FOR PREVENTION

The best cure is prevention, Greer said. Plan ahead and be prepared. Her best suggestion is to do progesterone timing at the outset of the breeding. This timing will give breeders the best information as to exactly when a litter is due and take away a great deal of heart ache and hand wringing on the topic of whether a C section is required.

“Try to be prepared. Do progesterone timing,” Greer noted, “do a pregnancy confirmation ultrasound, do a puppy count xray. Have your whelping supplies together. Put gas in your car!”

Progesterone timing, while perhaps not necessary to get a bitch bred with a natural breeding, allows breeders to be organized and well prepared, according to Greer. If a bitch is bred every other day for a week, the breeder has NO idea when she ovulated. “And, you have no way to gauge if/when she might need a Csection,” Greer added.

Breeder can do reverse progesterone at the end of the pregnancy if needed, but Greer noted this becomes much more costly than simply pulling blood for progesterone at the beginning.

“Losing a litter is very expensive. It’s very emotional for everyone,” Greer said.

She also spends time talking about how and why to build a relationship with your veterinarian. Most particularly breeders are recommended to treat the veterinary practitioner well, bring goodies for the staff, establish mutual respect. It isn’t always easy to find a clinic willing to work with a breeder. Greer recommends taking good care of those folks!

Breeders can also mentor veterinary students in their homes. “Take (baby veterinarians) to events. Invite them to join you on whelp watch,” Greer said. “Its a great way to build a bridge. The more we can do to mentor, help them understand, the better off we are.”

Greer also encourages breeders to play fair with their vet clinic. “Pay for a consultation, sit down with the veterinarian, let them know ‘this is what I do, this is what I need.’ They will know you are sincere. You need to have face to face conversation. “

While we’ll have a checklist from Greer here on the show notes, some specific details from Greer for evaluating a bitch at home as to whether a situation constitutes an emergency.

GREEN MEANS GO!

Her primary commentary is “green means go.” If a breeder sees green vaginal discharge **prior to the delivery of the first puppy** it means the bitch has placental separation and at least one, if not more puppies, are in danger from a lack of oxygen.

A final note from Greer,

Vicki Ronchette wrote her book about showdogs “From Shy to Showy” after the success she’d had with positive training for show dogs during her popular training seminars.

She recommends desensitization and counter-conditioning so that dogs learn to be comfortable and love the show ring.

“We want to shift (the dog’s) entire emotional state,” Ronchette said. “You can’t punish or force an animal into feeling better about something. Each dog has a trigger and we need to figure that out first.”

Ronchette uses principles of applied behavior analysis to consider a behavior’s “antecedent” and its “consequence” to determine what and how she needs to go about helping change the dog’s behavioral response.

Dogs who are actually fearful require a bit different approach, Ronchette said.

“Fearful dogs have an emotional response,” she added. “Some (dogs) don’t end up loving it, but we can get (most of them) to the point that we finish them.”

 It’s important to note, Ronchette said, “If you have a dog that’s injured people, it’s not ok to take it out there and have a stranger touch it every week. A lot of dogs get more reactive and worse if they are forced into (an uncomfortable behavior) without going through a training protocol.”

As she discusses on the podcast in several “real life” case study situations, Ronchette strongly advises pulling a dog from competition until its fear/reactive issues are resolved.

“We have to have the dog’s “head,” Ronchette said. “He has to be emotionally stable and feel safe with us and trust us (in order to work through the issues).”

She advocates taking a dog’s age into consideration. For example, is it experiencing a relatively normal “teenage” fear period where the dogs don’t always process and think about situations clearly.

 With all these factors in mind, she replicates the “trigger” of the dog’s fear or anxiety and then works through the process of counter conditioning such that when the dog is “triggered” it reacts happily and looks to her for a reward.

Learning a dog’s stress signals is an opportunity, Ronchette noted, to catch the issue at a low level of anxiety and allows the exhibitor to distract the dog by asking for other known behaviors.

She’s also a huge advocate of choice for dogs. “I don’t want to use food to trick a dog into doing something,” Ronchette said. “If he chooses to do something, I will reward with food, but I want to give the dog the opportunity to make a choice. The dog has to know they have control and can make (a scary situation) stop… choice is a very powerful piece.”

And always leave them wanting more. “A puppy’s first show is one day,” Ronchette advised. “I want to put them away while they’re still asking for more.”

LISTEN TO VICKI ROCHETTE ON PURE DOG TALK

Listen in today as Vicki and Laura discuss these and other excellent training solutions for show dogs, specific case studies and more.

Positive Training for Show Dogs

Vicki Ronchette is a professional trainer working with dogs using positive reinforcement and theories of operant conditioning. Ronchette has written several books and teaches seminars on how to get the most out of your show dog with methods that are well known in other venues.

Ronchette started training dogs in the mid ‘80s when she was in high school. The training of the day was, as she describes it, “coercive.” In other words, the dog makes a mistake and the handler/trainer makes a correction. She is dedicated to changing that focus to one in which the dog offers a desired behavior and the handler/trainer rewards the dog.

“I started learning a more science based method,” Ronchette said. “More positive, more focused on what they do right.” She describes her training methods as “Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive.”

While she noted there are individual dogs who can handle physical corrections, she was deterred from this training method by owners who couldn’t get the timing right. She added that if she can’t produce the desired results with her methods, she considers it a “trainer error,” not a learning error on the dog’s part. She backs up and starts over with smaller steps.

“Reinforcement causes a behavior to go up in frequency,” Ronchette said. “I set the animal up to do that behavior…. I shape it, lure it, whatever it takes to get the desired behavior, then I reinforce that behavior.”

Crate Training for Alternate Behavior

Ronchette believes in giving a dog an alternate behavior that he can get right. Crate training is a great example of conditioning a dog that the crate is “valuable” by starting with “choice,” the dog choosing to go into the open crate, and then building up the duration of time the dog is crated.

She adds that the predictability of purebred dogs should affect the dog folks choose as companions. And, it definitely impacts their training.

“If you take away something that is a natural behavior for the animal, you’d better be able to replace it with something else,” Ronchette noted. For example, herding dogs herd. It’s what they do. Asking a Border Collie not to corral the children means giving that dog an alternative.

Of particular note to our conformation listeners, Ronchette made the invaluable point: You have to *train* the dog!

Train for Conformation

“Train the dog for conformation,” Ronchette said. “Expecting them to perform without training isn’t reasonable.”

She strongly recommends training our show dogs with positive reinforcement. “However a behavior is learned, the emotional state lives with the behavior.” In other words, if you hammer that puppy into a hand stack, it will *always* hate hand stacking.

Teach Stand First

Another important note from Ronchette is that a dog’s default behavior when we as handlers are nervous is to go to the behavior they learned first or know best. Thus, her recommendation is to teach “stand” as the dog’s first command.

“Every moment we are with them they are learning,” Ronchette said. “We just need to make a decision to reinforce (a behavior) or not.”

Listen on Pure Dog Talk

Listen to this great conversation with Laura and Vicki, possibly challenging some of your training ideas. And tune in again next week when they take it to the next level!

Saving Endangered Breeds - Otterhound Reproduction Bank

Otterhounds are outnumbered by Giant Pandas. There’s a number for you. And the Otterhound Club of America is doing something about it.

Joellen Gregory, DVM, is an Otterhound breeder, exhibitor and AKC Delegate from her national breed club. She is a member of the committee within the OCA which developed a groundbreaking Reproductive bank which will store semen and even frozen ovaries. The Bank was established in order to expand the possibilities for a breed with an estimated 800 dogs alive in the world.

“It has been quite a process,” Gregory said. “We realize we have an issue with the gene pool. We need more options to continue to have Otterhounds.”

Otterhound Reproduction Bank

The Otterhound Reproduction Bank began as a concept in 2009 but didn’t gain traction with the parent club members or the American Kennel Club, which at the time did not allow a corporation to own frozen semen. The committee disbanded for six years.

Gregory said that times are changing and when Dr. Carmen L. Battaglia spoke at an AKC Delegate’s meeting in 2016 about his concern regarding low number breeds, Gregory was there to speak up about this historic concept.

“The process was re-started by Betsy Conway, OCA president, in 2015,” Gregory said. “She founded the committee (within OCA) with five like-minded people who felt it was important to save our breed. The first step was to form a corporation.” The committee then came up with requirements for “deposits and withdrawals.”

“Then we needed to get the club members on board,” Gregory said. “It’s a different era than it was. More people have realized what a position our breed is in. It was easier to get support this time. It helped that we had rules worked out ahead of going to the club for support. The rules are very fair. No decisions are made by the bank. If your bitch qualifies, you get to use the semen.”

How It Works

The Otterhound Reproduction Bank rules enable an owner to donate “x” number of breedings. The rules encourage males who have CHIC numbers and would like to have semen from young dogs. But Gregory said, “We’ll take almost anybody.” The goal is to expand the available genetic material.

In order for a bitch owner to use semen from the bank, the bitch needs to be proven. “We need to know she can get pregnant and carry a litter to term before we release semen from the bank,” Gregory said.

One of the most exciting pieces of this new program is that it isn’t an “all boys club.”

Freezing Eggs

“We decided to call it a reproduction bank because we hope to be able to store ovaries or eggs at some point, depending on how the science develops,” Gregory said. “The only thing I know for sure is if we don’t freeze them they absolutely won’t be useful. We (potentially) would take eggs from a thawed ovary, inseminate and grow them … and put them into a dog…. It doesn’t have to be an Otterhound. We may not be able to do it now, but I see it for the future.”

After Gregory’s outreach to Battaglia at the 2016 Delegate’s meeting, AKC Board members supported the move and in February 2017, AKC approved the creation of a “parent club acknowledged semen bank.”

Gregory noted that the parent club doesn’t *approve* the semen bank, but needs to acknowledge it exists. And she added that the OHC and the Otterhound Reproduction Bank are happy to assist any other club interested in developing similar programs.

Listen Today on Pure Dog Talk

Listen today as Laura shares the excitement of this new program.

The Dog Healers - Dogs Healing the Human Spirit

Mark Winik’s novel The Dog Healers tells the story of Carlos and Isabella and the art of Tibetan massage which brings healing to both dogs and humans. The book is part fact, part fiction; part love story and part adventure.

The Dog Healers by Mark Winik

The book’s message and passion are both powerful and persuasive. Throughout the novel, the reader encounters innumerable ways in which the human-canine bond literally heals all parties involved.

Inspiration in Argentina

A lifelong dog lover, Winik discovered the inspiration for his novel while visiting his wife’s family in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“I was captivated by the dog walkers there. They walk 5 to 20 dogs at one time. It’s a profession. And I noticed people massaging the dogs. I wanted to talk with the dog walkers, but nobody spoke English,” Winik said. Finally, he was directed to Carlos, who was also called the dog healer.

“I ended up spending two and a half days walking through neighborhoods and going to the park with (Carlos),” Winik said. “I got to know him and his philosophy. His idea is that dogs heal humans in so many ways.”

Winik’s story is based on those days spent talking to Carlos. It shares Carlos’ vision of dog healing and the love of his life, “Isabella” in the novel. The ancient kum nye Tibetan massage technique described in the book is practiced on people around the world. Carlos’ application to dogs, and even a racehorse in the book, allows for greater energy flow and a sort of mutual healing.

The fictional novel talks about the dogs of Tibet including what Winik dubbed “chowstiffs.” Clearly Tibetan Mastiffs by the description, Winik’s book talks about the bond between the dogs and the monks of Tibet. One key character in the novel is a Tibetan sherpa, Jamyang, who befriends the young Isabella while guiding climbing parties in South America, foretelling her connection with animals.

Winik also describes a number of other breeds in the novel, including Dogos Argentino. Isabella uses her special skills to rehabilitate a Dogo in the book.

Currently in the miscellaneous class in AKC, Dogos are used as guard dogs in Argentina, where they were originally developed to work as big game hunting dogs. The breed has developed a very fierce reputation, particularly in Argentina, due to their work guarding very wealthy estates there.

Mark Winik with Chickie and Paco

The Dog Healers Project

The dog healers project is Winik’s current passion. He is creating a documentary on therapy and service dogs with a message of how important dogs are in our lives.

“Dogs heal the human spirit and soul,” Winik said.

Listen today as Mark Winik joins Laura Reeves for an interview to talk about the profound bond we all share with our dogs.

THE DOG HEALERS BOOK

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Pedigrees That Built Cordmaker Pulik

Sue Huebner of Cordmaker Pulik, shares how she built the pedigrees that consistently produce top winners, including Preston.

“Breeding dogs is as much about luck and trust and interacting with other people as it is about the dogs in front of you,” Huebner said.

Huebner describes a 40 year process that started with wanting a dog to show. This journey was not without bumps in the road and a lot of learning along the way.

In 1988, she leased a bitch on the recommendation of her mentor in Australia.

“(Moppet) was primarily UK bred, with a slight Swedish outcross on one side,” Huebner said. “She was a beautiful make and shape. I can see Moppet in almost every bitch we breed.”

Shortly after Huebner’s first breeding, a sister of Moppet’s was bred to the same sire and produced a blind puppy.

“At that time, I think I had too much knowledge and too little understanding,” Huebner said. She was worried about potential health consequences with her foundation bitch, so consulted with a veterinarian who evaluated the puppy as not having a genetic disorder, but the only way to really prove it was to do a “close mating.”

Huebner decided to heed this advice and bred a son from her first litter back to the dam as a rough test of the genetics. “We had no blind puppies,” Huebner said. “And so I understood inbreeding very early in my career.”

“I never really had the same barrier to inbreeding that others do (as a result),” Huebner said. “It can be a useful tool in certain situations.”

“At this stage, all I’m selecting is for my show dog,” Huebner said. She decided she needed to go see more dogs, so she attended the U.S. National to look at dogs from Ann Bowley’s Wallbanger kennel.

Her research led her to “draw up the pedigree I’d like. If I had my choice of dog, this is what I’d like its pedigree to look like,” Huebner said.

She proceeded to contact breeders asking if they had a dog with a pedigree similar to the one she created.

Bokar Artful Dodger, bred by Carolyn Nusbickel, was the dog Huebner selected. “(Today) he is the dominant sire in our kennel,” Huebner said.

“This dog clicked with the English lines I had,” Huebner said. “It was a full outcross, but it clicked.”

Breeding is Art, Science and Luck

Breeding is a little art, a little science and a little luck, Huebner notes she’s seen Dodger bred to other lines where it didn’t nick.

At this point, Huebner decided she didn’t want to waste time, “I wanted to get what I wanted quickly.” So she bred Dodger to two half sisters.

“One of the difficulties preservation breeders face, where close breedings are not condoned, where we’ve applied almost a human incestuousness measure against what we do with dogs,” Huebner noted. “It makes those close matings difficult. To accelerate quality has become more difficult.”

Huebner then bred Dodger back to one of his daughters.

“I was cementing what I want,” Huebner said. “(These breedings) are telling me genetically what I can get. I’ve always believed if you have constant outcross matings, you may prevent seeing the problems, but the problems are still there.”

Cordmaker Mississippi Mud

One of Huebner’s most successful dogs was Cordmaker Mississippi Mud, “Amish,” a Dodger son. Amish was bred to an outcross bitch with predominately English lines, allowing Huebner to begin the development of two separate lines, one American and one English, allowing her to cross one to the other.

Listeners might remember a discussion on this topic with AKC judge and renowned Corgi breeder Bill Shelton. For folks who missed it, listen here.

“I had a simple objective,” Huebner said. “In every litter I wanted a higher percentage of dogs I believed were of true quality. … I focused in on a particular dog, a type,

Sue Huebner and Cordmaker Pulik

Sue Huebner is the legendary breeder of Cordmaker Pulik, including Preston, the winner of the 2016 AKC National Championship.

In 1978, Sue Huebner and her husband were looking for a family dog. They researched carefully and chose the Puli, acquiring their first dog from a litter near their home in Melbourne, Australia. Little did the Huebners know that they had never seen a fully coated Puli until after they acquired their new puppy.

Huebner laughs about that now, noting all of the ways people have to research their new dog these days.

“There is no excuse for ignorance (today),” Huebner observed. “Accessing information, pictures, videos of dogs working is easy. I’m still growing in understanding the breed standard 40 years later. I love the research."

The surprise of a corded dog coated to the ground notwithstanding, the Huebners stuck with the breed, attending obedience classes and competition. Her first conformation competition was sparked when an acquaintance told her that first dog would not be “good enough” to show.

“He wasn’t a great show dog,” Huebner said. “But he finished his championship. He was a good learning dog for me.”

Shortly thereafter, she bought two more Pulik, keeping the better of the two after “running them on” in order to make a decision after they had matured. That dog “didn’t have what I consider a good temperament. Because he was difficult, I had to learn. I didn’t breed from him. It’s why temperament became paramount for me,” Huebner said.

Temperament is Job #1

She strongly believes a dog’s temperament is the result of both nature and nurture.

“As a breeder you need to keep certain key things in your mind. It may not be the most beautiful dog you have. But if you have a very clear goal, temperament must always come first. Then as time goes on, I believe, you are now genetically breeding temperament.”

Huebner also encourages new breeders to understand that family homes are a critical part of a breeding program. “Not because they are necessarily going to breed those animals. You need companion homes. If you produce five puppies in a litter and only one suits the goal you set at the time, there are four others there (who need homes).”

Preservation breeding is a primary focus for Huebner. She calls it a “focus we desperately need to have.”

But she describes a “tension” between preserving the “historically correct temperament” which in some breeds is going to be very different than the societal pressure to have dogs which are all “like Golden Retrievers.”

“Does preservation breeding include temperament when temperament seriously impacted on the purpose of a breed. Or do we have to take account of the fact that our dogs go into family homes (that may not be suited to that temperament),” Huebner asked rhetorically.

Huebner’s advice for breeders whose breed’s historically correct temperament may or may not fit into today’s society?

“I do think the first step is awareness (of the breed’s correct temperament),” Huebner said. “Understand it. Experience it. We have a strategy in place, particularly with dogs going into companion homes. The amount of time we spend educating them before they get the dog is significant. We try to help them understand they’ve bought his temperament, because that’s what you have to live with. And we have life long involvement with our companion families.”

Successful assessment and selection of puppies,

 

Lori Wells and Piglet – Heroes in Tragedy

Lori Wells and Piglet were winners of the AKC Humane Fund Award for Canine Excellence in the Search and Rescue category. They were honored at the AKC National Championship in Orlando, Fla. last month.

Volunteer and Rare Breed Dog Provide Families Closure in Tragedies

Piglet is a 7 year old Catahoula Leopard Dog trained and certified to discover human remains, one of fewer than a half-dozen of her breed working in Search and Rescue.

Wells said that the dogs feel the intensity of a search that ends with sorrow.

“Absolutely. They know. They’re very intuitive,” Wells observed, while Piglet cuddled closer to her handler, responding to Wells’ emotion. “There’s such a relationship and bond you make and build with these guys through the training. You’re in tune with each other. These are our companions. Our family.”

Family Bonds in Search and Rescue

Wells and her husband met doing Search and Rescue. They work with an entirely volunteer organization that will deploy wherever their help is needed. Working to locate human remains is a very hard and emotional aspect of the Search and Rescue job, but “it’s a fabulous answer for a family that’s grieving,” Wells said.

“When they told me we won (the ACE award), I was overwhelmed,” Wells said. “It’s such a huge honor to be recognized.”

Piglet the Catahoula Leopard Dog

Catahoula Leopard Dogs may not be common in Search and Rescue work, but Wells said their hunt drive makes them well suited to the task.

“(Catahoulas) are the state dog of Louisiana,” Wells noted. “They were bred to herd and hunt. American Indians developed the breed in the early 1800s. Their heritage includes Beauceron, a little bit of hound dog, Spanish mastiff. And red wolf.

“Any good search dog has to have phenomenal hunt drive. Piglet comes from cow dog lines. There are cow dogs or hog dogs. Cow dogs are more settled, sensible minded.”

 

Wells added that the breed’s stamina helps them succeed in Search and Rescue where multiple, grueling three to four hour shifts are normal.

Lori Wells and Piglet’s Success as a Team

Piglet has successfully located the deceased victims of air crashes and drownings. In one case finding a victim in California underwater after eight days of searching by rescue and law enforcement personnel.

“It takes a lot of blood sweat and tears (to train the dogs for the work),” Wells said. “A lot of hard work. A lot of time. It’s expensive with the mileage driven. But it’s a bond with your dog. There are a lot of books you can read (to learn how to train), but there’s nothing like doing it.”

Training a Search and Rescue Dog

Just like anything our dogs do for us, search and rescue dogs work for a reward. For some dogs it is toy drive, so they want to play tug or ball.

“For mine,” Wells said, “I always trained them to want mommy’s love. They are so happy they’ve made me happy, so just a whole bunch of love. Because I always have that. Handlers forget treats. I’ve always got love. That’s how i do it.”

Wells has trained five trailing dogs for Search and Rescue, but Piglet is the first she’s trained for locating human remains.

Lori Wells and Bloodhounds

Lori also trains Bloodhounds for Search and Rescue.

“When (Bloodhounds) are on scent, they’re on scent,” Wells noted wryly. “They go. You better just keep up. Just that go forward.

Megan Leavey and Marine K9 Rex

Megan Leavey was a Marine K9 handler whose life and battle to have her working dog, Rex, retire with her were the topic of a movie, Megan Leavey, released in 2017.

Megan and Rex

Leavey made a special and powerful connection with the military working dog who saved her own and thousands of other lives in Iraq. While respecting that the K9 is a warrior in his own right, Leavey knew her dog, Rex, wouldn’t understand why she left without him.

She grew up with dogs, a total animal lover. “I had no idea there even was a K9 program until I was in military police school,” Leavey said. “I had to finish at the top of my class and be selected to go to K9 school.”

“I was new marine when I got handed this dog. Rex had an attitude. When we are first assigned a dog, we spend two weeks just rapport training. You are the only one feeding the dog, brushing him. You go for walks and play. You work up to getting to know mannerisms. When they see you, they associate that with a positive. The basic training is already done, becoming a team is what’s important.”

Leavey and Rex Survive an IED

Leavey and Rex were shipped to Iraq twice. On the last deployment, they survived an IED explosion on the dusty roads of Ramadi and spent their recuperation and physical therapy recovery together.

Megan Leavey @ Eukanuba

“Rex was a one person dog,” Leavey said. “Nobody else could have done that (physical therapy) work.”

A dual purpose dog in military parlance, Rex was both a patrol and explosives detection dog. “Rex was super aggressive,” Leavey said. “Right in his vet record it said in giant letters not adoptable… There’s a process to adopt military working dogs and I understood that.”

Parting Ways with Rex

While Leavey’s military contract was up after her recovery, Rex’s wasn’t. He continued working stateside after she returned home to New York state.

“He went through 12 different handlers after me,” Leavey said. “I had such guilt leaving him behind. You can’t explain to a dog that these are the rules. It haunted me every day.”

Leavey kept in touch with her friends in the K9 unit for years. “They weren’t his biggest fans,” she noted wryly. “Nobody bonded with him like I did. I kept hoping every day they’d change his classification.”

The Battle to Save Rex

“I finally got a call from a marine at the K9 section. Rex, now 11 years old, was going to be retired. My friend told me, ‘If you’re going to try and adopt him, get on it.’ Any day Rex could be put down. He was old and sick.”

Leavey went straight to her Veteran’s representative, who took her story to New York Senator Chuck Schumer. The Senator released her plea to the press. The publicity greased the wheels of government and helped Leavey cut through the red tape to have Rex retired with her.

“When he arrived, I just wanted to spend time with him,” Leavey said. “Getting him back really helped me close wounds, work on myself, be at peace with a lot of things.”

For a tough, working K9, Rex settled right in to civilian life with Leavey.

“From the moment I brought him home, he jumped right on the couch. He left the cats alone after getting swatted on the nose. He got along with my other working dog. He got to swim in a pool. See snow. Sleep on a bed and have all the toys and treats he wanted. I had a great eight months with him. I was so grateful that the process was expedited. If I waited any longer, we wouldn’t have had that time.