Wednesday, April 1, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Local couple adopts another rescue dog
By Jodi schneider McNamee
Correspondent
Sometime last fall a three-
to four-month-old black
German shepherd mix dog
was found roaming the streets
of Yakima, Washington. He
had no tags or microchip.
Luckily for this homeless
pup, someone picked him up
and brought him to Wags to
Riches Animal Rescue and
Sanctuary near Yakima.
Sisters City Council mem-
ber Wendy Holzman and her
husband, Alan, have faced
the challenges of adopting a
shelter dog more than once,
and when they saw the sweet
face of the black shepherd
mix puppy on Petfinder they
decided to meet him.
“Our daughter Maya was
home for Christmas and I
had mentioned that we were
thinking about getting another
dog. It’s been over a year that
our dog Sadie passed away,”
said Wendy.
When they adopted Sadie
from Heartland Humane
Society in Corvallis 12 years
ago, she was a headstrong
seven-month-old black and
white Border collie mix that
loved people.
“My daughter and I started
looking on Petfinder. We
found out that the animal
rescue organization kept the
puppy that was found wan-
dering in Yakima for about
a month to see if someone
would claim him, but nobody
did,” Holzman said.
“Then he went to foster
care, and that’s where we
adopted him from. By then he
was already over five months
old and very healthy. We
brought him home on January
3, right after the new year,
and named him Colby.
“We had a honeymoon
period with Colby where
things were great. And then it
was couple of rough months,
so we turned to dog trainer
Anne Geser.”
According to the ASPCA,
most newly adopted dogs are
in a state of severe adjustment
to what is a whole new world
for them. It’s a new envi-
ronment, with new sights,
sounds, people and possibly
other animals, and can result
with a dog sort of shutting
down as he absorbs all of
this new information and
tries to figure out his place
in his new world. Think of it
like a human being plopped
down in a new country. The
new dog seems fairly calm,
passive, and quiet, but as he
becomes adjusted and more
comfortable his true person-
ality shines through. Many
people end up calling a dog
trainer for help after weeks
have passed with their new
dog.
The behaviors aren’t really
new to the dog; they just seem
new to the dog to his pet par-
ents. So when these behav-
iors start to show themselves,
people are often caught off
guard.
“I remember Colby try-
ing to bite our feet while we
were walking,” said Alan
Holzman. “And when we
were sitting down eating din-
ner he would jump right into
our lap! He didn’t understand
what we wanted from him.”
“We worked with Ann
Geser, and she really helped
us understand more about
Colby and his behaviors,”
Wendy said. “Without her
help I don’t know what we
would have done; she did a
wonderful job and we learned
clicker training. He was in a
negative behavior pattern and
he needed positive reinforce-
ment. Colby has now turned
a corner to where everything
is fitting into place. It’s been
fun watching him really come
around, he’s a great dog.”
Colby goes to Central Bark
for daycare once a week, and
photo by Jodi sChneider mCnamee
Alan and Wendy Holzman with Colby. It’s not always easy adopting a
rescue dog, but hard work brings a new family member.
will be going to group lessons
at Dancin’ Woofs in Bend.
“We had one private les-
son with Kristin, owner of
Dancin’ Woofs, and she rec-
ommended a harness for
Colby since he was never
leash trained, and that’s what
we’re working on. One thing
about Colby is that he plays
nicely with other dogs,” said
Wendy Holzman.
“Colby now has a much
better idea of what we want
from him, and he’s a wonder-
ful part of our family.”