Foster trainers needed for city's stray dogs

SOUTH NORFOLK

The stray pit bull had a bullet in her neck, fractured teeth and was heartworm positive. But those weren’t her biggest threats: She was “rescued” in a locality where pit bulls are automatically put down when brought into the shelter.

Kelly Bradshaw and Rhoda Tucker want better for pit bull strays found in the city. They are working with the Chesapeake Animal Services Unit to foster rescued pit bulls to give them a better chance of not being euthanized because of the breed rather than the behavior.

“It’s how they are raised, not how they are born,” Tucker said. “We want to bring awareness to the public to dispel the myths and misconceptions about pit bulls.” Both women are members of the Coalition for Pit Bull Awareness through Animal Rescue of Tidewater.

Both Tucker and Bradshaw stress it’s the way their owners have raised the dogs that create the problems.

“A lot of people get dogs they are afraid of, like Rottweilers, German shepherds, Dobermans,” Tucker said. “... It’s a persona they want because it makes them look cool or bad.

“They don’t think about the training they require, so it’s human error when things go wrong. We have a fast food society and they want a good dog fast without the work.”

Training the dogs isn’t always enough. A dog in a shelter cage may show disinterest in people coming to adopt, or perhaps too much energy.

“The excitement level is the biggest factor why people pass on some of these dogs, and not just pit bulls,” Tucker said. “It’s their ‘please love me’ jumping, dancing around and wriggling. If we ... work on problem-solving their behaviors that got them here in the first place, they are more likely to be adopted.”

Tucker is so committed to the program she offers three free training classes at her Park Avenue Pups, 1401 Bainbridge Blvd., for anyone who adopts a dog from the Chesapeake Animal Services.

Volunteers who will foster the pit bulls are what’s needed the most. Bradshaw has fostered several, with many of them finding homes. Today she is at Park Avenue Pups where several pit bulls are seeking certification as Canine Good Citizens. The class teaches dogs good manners and basic commands.

Mani is Bradshaw’s sixth foster dog whose full name is Mandela, since she took the 2-year-old tan stray into her home on the African leader’s birthday.

With brow wrinkled, Mani stands patiently and calmly by Bradshaw’s side. His wagging tail belies his worried-looking visage. “Mani is the complete opposite of the myth of what pit bulls are supposed to be like,” Bradshaw said. “He loves to play with other dogs and kids.”

Instructor Jean Nohle tells the group gathered at Park Avenue Pups what she expects out of the dogs.

They must walk quietly with their handlers, stay calm while their handler greets a person in a wheelchair or using a walker, be taken by a stranger out of sight of their handler and remain calm; walk by a bowl with dog treats without snatching any, and the hardest of all: the sit, lay down and stay while the owner walks away.

For the final exam, the instructor gets up close and personal with the dogs, petting them on the head, stroking them with a brush and then touching their paws.

Nohle, from Newport News, was blunt when she sized up the problems people had with their dogs that afternoon. “You need to work with them daily, it’s their homework,” Nohle said of the dogs. “They have to be worked every day, but only for 10-15 minutes.”

She applauded the efforts of Tucker and Bradshaw. Of the six pit bulls – Mani, Bella, Honey Bee, Porter, Blue and Daisy – that went through the certification, only Daisy required a bit more training, too distracted to sit or lay down on command.

“Their temperaments are very good and they are very sweet dogs. There is no reason none of them wouldn’t be successful as adoptees,” Nohle said.

“Any dog can be dangerous,” she added. “It’s all how they are brought up. They need to be socialized.”

Mani’s biggest challenge now is finding a home. But he’s one of the lucky ones. Pit bulls who linger at the animal shelter are often put down when more adoptable dogs need space. Several more are in danger: Truffles, Spencer, Sammy, Swirly Girl, and Princess.

And the dog with a bullet in her neck? She was snuck out of the county where just being a pit bull is a death sentence and adopted by Lee Case of Norfolk, an Animal Rescue of Tidewater volunteer.

Named Honey Bee, she passed the CGC course and earned her therapy-dog certification, amusing those in the class with her clown-like antics of rolling on her back during the lay-down command. Like her name, Honey Bee is the poster dog for pit bull sweetness, even giving up smooches at the recent Bark in the Park kissing booth.

“With more volunteers, these loving, sweet dogs could be taken into their homes until they can be adopted,” Bradshaw said. “Otherwise, the clock will run out on them before they ever got a chance.”

Devon Hubbard Sorlie, 222-5202, devon.sorlie@pilotonline.com