The Beginning and End of Boone
We are dog people, have been most of our lives. Three of our dogs have been therapy dogs, dogs that their people share with other people for comfort, enjoyment, stress relief and more. March of 2022 we lost our boy Dakota. He was a therapy dog among other things. He was my wife’s best guy. Dakota was also my adventure dog. He and I went on many hiking and biking adventures. Miss Mocha is still with us and we love her so much. She does most of her therapy dog work at her Mom’s school with the reading program. Mocha’s body does not let her be an adventure dog. She has the heart for it but just can’t physically do it.
We weren’t really looking to adopt another dog but I was missing having an adventure dog when someone sent me “Benny’s” adoption profile.
I really wanted to meet him so we took a ride over to La Crescent Animal Rescue to meet him. We were told he had been there about a month since he was removed from an abusive household. We were told he didn’t like car rides, wouldn’t eat treats unless he caught them in his mouth and didn’t like going to the veterinarian. We were told he would need lots of exercise and training to keep him happy. We went home and talked about it since we had already filled out our application. Two days later we went to adopt him. Let the adventures begin.
Day 1 we took newly named Boone to Grounded Coffee as we like to do with all our dogs. We sit on the patio and have some coffee while they hangout and often mingle with other patio guests.
We also took Boone with to get my semi moved from the repair shop to my work yard. He rode with in the semi like a champ. We continued the first weekend with walks, bike rides and lots of play and bonding. I think he even got to go to Farm & Fleet to pick out a new toy that same weekend. We take our dogs with us as much as we can instead of leaving them home.
- The first week of going to work with me Boone had gained my trust with his listening ability and his great recall. He was off leash most times while I loaded or unloaded equipment. Boone had a knack for finding sticks that kept him busy. He even had a great ability to encourage others to throw that stick for him, even complete strangers. Boone would also follow me around right by my side often jumping up on the trailer to “help” me. He would also climb in the equipment with me while I was moving it. Sometimes he would get bored or tired and go stand by the semi door and I would open it and he would jump in and hangout there until we were ready to roll again. I never worried about him running off.
Home life with Boone was an adventure, especially the first week. He would come in the house and speed walk through the whole thing unless we let him out or told him to go to his kennel, which he did with no hassle. After the first week he seemed to relax and fit in better. This house (kennel) was something he would go lay in on his own. Or he would sit by one of us on the couch or loveseat. Playing with Mocha was a challenge at first because they both wanted to wrestle while on their feet which caused a lot of acrobatics to go on. With some encouragement they would just lay on the floor and wrestle, then just lay by each other when tired. With Mocha’s health concerns we didn’t want her jumping around too much. Boone would also just grab a toy and play all by himself. Other times he would want out in the backyard to do zoomies back and forth ripping up the grass. Then he would just sit on the back step and look around like a king surveying his kingdom.
Boone continued to go to work with me putting on about 9,000 miles in the semi. We would get up at 4:15 and start our day. Some mornings we loaded the truck outside the fence and Boone would hang around with me thinking he was going to chase a newly found rabbit into the tall grass and out to the wild areas near the marsh. Boone was my adventure dog and he wasn’t leaving me.
We got Boone microchipped incase he ever got lost. We also had him DNA tested to see what he really was. I bought him a vest and custom made patches for it. I even created an Instagram account to share his adventures. I was 100% in on having Boone with me as much as possible.
About 6 weeks went by and all was good until it wasn’t. One day Cindy went to sit on the loveseat and reached over to pet Boone who was already sitting on the other side. He growled at her for this attention he often sought from us. I can’t count the times he would climb on us to give kisses and get rubbed, the belly was his favorite spot. This one growl was not the only one. He started to growl when people were near his food. He snapped at Mocha a few times for what appeared no real reason, she was just standing there. The growling got worse especially if someone gave him direction to do something. This behavior was primarily at home and mostly with Cindy. We changed up how we were trying to train him hoping that would create a better behavior. We really focused on positive reinforcement even buying hotdogs for good rewards for even the most basic things. This had little effect on his growling. Sadly he even bit Cindy’s hand one day when we were trying to play Jolly Ball with him. He got a piece of hotdog for just coming back with the ball. It was going good until Cindy gave him a treat and then went to pet him, he snapped at her gloved hand and got it. It hurt even through the glove and Cindy just walked away. She had enough and I don’t blame her.
We looked into hiring a professional trainer that specialized in this behavior but that was going to be about $1,000 and her schedule was not open for in home visits for about 2 weeks from when we needed it to start. I could handle Boone, even though he growled at me at times he still listened to me. The weird part was he was perfect when we went to work. At home he was starting to get mad for me telling him to do things we had been doing for weeks. He didn’t want his feet washed when he came in even though that started day one. Feeding time became uncomfortable because he would growl when we were anywhere near him. We initially started hand feeding him as a way to keep him from being food aggressive. With 2 dogs in the house we couldn’t have that going on.
I spent my free time listening to dog trainers online and in between household actives I would try working with Boone to learn what was bothering him and teach him good behavior was more rewarding. If I wasn’t right there to keep an eye on him Boone would be in his kennel, which he didn’t seem to mind. I even bought a muzzle so he could be out and training could happen in between other things without the worry of him biting. He would even play with his toys with the muzzle on. I tried everything I knew and things that I had used on all the dogs I had before. Boone wasn’t having any of that.
It was a very hard decision we made to return him to the shelter. They couldn’t take him for two weeks due to staffing issues. This made things very uncomfortable at home. I was still hanging on to the hope Boone would come around. Cindy was very worried about a confrontation between Boone and Mocha and herself. I had those concerns as well but hope was trying to push its way in front. Cindy helped me see the right thing to do was to return him to the shelter. I was a bit blinded by all the stuff he and I did together.
Boone had so many things going for him. He was 100 potty trained. Not a fan of going potty on the leash when we stopped at rest areas or truck stops but that was solved by teaching him to go off leash to the grass and then come right back to me. His recall was about as perfect as it gets. I took him for a hike on Seven Bridges Trail and had the hardest time getting him to even go more than 100′ away from me. I like to have the dogs run down the trail then photograph them as they run back full speed but Boone really didn’t want to go too far from me. While out there he was off leash and we were off the trail by 200′ or more when we saw 2 dogs and people. I called for Boone and he came back immediately even after seeing the dogs. Those 2 young black labs chased him down and commenced climbing all over him as I was trying to get the owners to call them back. I went as far as trying to pick him up just to avoid anything since we didn’t know how he would react with 2 strange dogs climbing all over him. Eventually those 2 dogs went back to the trail and their people. I was rather gruff with them about their dogs and them not calling them back. As they walked away I heard the woman call me an asshole. Not sure what gave her that opinion, my dog was perfect and was under my control. So many things Boone did correctly.
Boone was the perfect adventure dog. He could jump in the semi, could run for miles, loved the snow and was always ready to see what was next. The aggression was a deal breaker though. I’ve been in contact with the shelter offering to visit him and bring toys and treats. I was told no. They said the trainer was coming to asses him. Recently I asked about the possibility of getting him back if the trainer thought there was hope and was told they never give a dog back to someone that surrendered one. They also said the reason we returned him has not changed. I’m not sure what that part means. Does it mean he is still aggressive? That is why we sadly returned him. They said they are making him available for adoption on Saturday 1/28/23. Not sure how they feel comfortable with that if nothing has changed. I never got a response as to why they thought he turned aggressive after about 6 weeks in a loving home. The day we returned him Cindy rode along and Boone climbed into the front seat to kiss her.
We feel terrible that this couldn’t be resolved. Not knowing what it meant to come from an abusive home makes it tough to know what might have triggered him to change. But even after the aggression started he would still seek out Cindy to get attention or give her positive attention. He was great with anyone that stopped by to visit. None of this make sense and I’m so hurt by all this. We feel things were left out of his story by the shelter. After this aggression started I contacted the veterinarian he was seen by while at the shelter. They have it in their records that he was to be muzzled because he was a bite risk. As I said earlier we were told he didn’t like the vet, not the same thing as a bite risk. We were told he didn’t take treats unless thrown time or like car rides. Those were both dispelled right away, he loved car rides. I would put treats between my lips and he would gently take them, even when was growling about his food he would gently take bits of food from my lips. I told you I was hopeful, who else would try that? Too many things we were told seemed to wrong or contradictory to things said early on. If we were told he was a bite risk we probably would not have adopted him and fell in love with him. We can train a dog to be a good dog but know nothing about rehabilitating a dog that needs more help.
I really wish the shelter would be more open about what they thought happened. We need to know. We need to know Boone is going to go to a home that knows his past and can help him be the great dog he can be. This is probably a lot of rambling but right now my heart and mind are pulling at each other. My mind knows we did what we knew and could but my heart still keeps trying to tell me that there was still a chance if I just stuck in there longer. I just want everyone to know we are heartbroken over this whole thing. Mocha was in a slump after Dakota’s death and the first few weeks with Boone had picked up her spirits. She had a friend to play with and snuggle on the couch with.
Ramble over. More photos below if you have made it this far. I loved this dog!
