After living in an Aroostook County shelter for more than a year, 5-year-old shepherd mix Mosey earned himself a permanent place on the sofa next to his new human mom when training taught him good dog manners.
In August, The Houlton Humane Society partnered with Purpose Pups, a Newburgh-based dog training business, to help the shelter’s dogs learn basic obedience, socialization and integration skills to give them a fighting chance at staying in their adoptive homes.
“Dogs know nothing unless we show it to them,” said Tyler Jones, Purpose Pups’ owner, who has now trained more than 6,000 dogs.
Like most Maine shelters operating at or near capacity, the Houlton shelter has experienced a surge in the number of surrendered dogs who wait a long time for adoption or are returned after a few days. Experts point to the economy and a lack of affordable housing as part of the problem.
“These dogs are sitting here way too long and we need to be trained to help them get the best second chance at life,” said CJ Virgie, Houlton Humane Society director. “We’re their last stop and we need to give them the best tools that we possibly can.”
That’s why Virgie, who has worked with Jones over the years, decided to start weekly training sessions at the shelter. Jones first taught the shelter staff, then the dogs, and the staff and dogs together before passing on the lessons to new owners.
When dogs come into the shelter, they should be evaluated for character traits and then enter six weeks of obedience training. When they’re ready to be adopted, there’s a transition session with the owner, Jones said.
“All the things the dogs learned in those six weeks are now translated to the owner. They know it’s up to them to continue it, and [it] sets both the handler and the dog up for success,” he said.
Mosey, the pup who had been at the shelter the longest, started in the initial training sessions with shelter staff and easily learned all his commands such as “sit,” “wait,” “heel” and “leave it.”
A lot of times people’s hearts are in the right place with wanting to adopt, but they don’t succeed because they don’t realize when you adopt a shelter dog there’s a lot of baggage that comes with it, Jones said.
“It doesn’t mean that shelter dogs are bad, it means they need more attention, more compassion, more empathy to be successful,” he said. “I find a lot of owners don’t get dogs based on their lifestyle. They say, ’He is so cute.’ OK, great, but what breed is that, and what do we need to do to give that dog enrichment to be successful?”
Houlton resident Eileen Voisine suddenly lost her dog in August.
“He started having seizures and he died in less than 24 hours,” she said. “He was my companion and we had been through so much together. It was very lonely. “
But when she saw Mosey at the shelter, she was smitten, although his shelter bio said it was unknown if he was good with children or cats. Voisine has both, including six great-grandchildren 6 and under, she said.
Still, she wanted to give it a try, so she started fostering Mosey to learn more about him.
“Right away he made himself at home,” she said. “And he’s been wonderful, but Tyler had already started working with him.”
Nonetheless, she didn’t dare walk him outside because he was pulling her while leashed. With her health issues — hip replacements, serious back surgery and a terrible accident that affected her legs — she could not afford an outdoor tumble, she said.
Jones worked with Mosey on such things as impulse control, heeling properly, “stay” and “come” commands and basic handling techniques to make the dog more adoptable.
“I think we definitely did that with Eileen and Mosey and I was happy to be a part of that story,” Jones said.
Voisine trained her other Houlton rescues, but this was her first experience with a professional trainer, she said. The experience helped her decide to adopt Mosey.
“He’s a very loving dog, a very sweet dog, and I feel sad he was [at the shelter] for so long. He’s a good companion and he follows me everywhere,” she said. “As soon as I got him he decided he liked the love seat, and I sit on half of it and he sits on the other side.”
Jones has been teaching Voisine how to continue training Mosey through weekly public sessions, which has become part of their daily routine. Now, they go for daily outdoor walks.
“It’s a cool story,” Jones said. “I listened to what Eileen said and that she wanted to be able to walk him outside. I really targeted his heeling and his ability to do that. I think it’s awesome because it shows that when you put in the time to establish a great foundation and put in the love, consistency, it works.”
For more information, contact the Houlton Humane Society, 207-532-2862.
