Wordless Wednesday 4

Notes from Home - 8.22.2008

One of the reasons we were able to adopt such a young dog (still a puppy really) was the fact that Jan could be home with her after a heart-attack and subsequent bypass surgery sent him in to early semi-retirement.

I confess to being a little jealous that he got to spend his days with her while I trudged off to the office so he offered up little notes throughout the day to fill me in on things and all of Bella's antics. It didn't take long for me to realize I had the easy part of this dog-raising equation.

I envision these brief little interludes being an on-going feature of the blog. I hope you enjoy his reflections on "Bringing up Bella" as much as I do.

August 22, 2008: Remember how you said that Bella couldn't get up on our bed by herself? You were wrong.

The stair master (mistress?)

It stands to reason that a dog who has lived their entire life outside in a tractor-trailer park probably hasn't encountered stairs before. This, believe it or not, never actually occurred to us until we headed downstairs to watch TV shortly after bringing Bella home and realized she had no idea of what to do with them. She stood at the top of the stairs doing a little dance, wanting to be with us but absolutely baffled about how to maneuver the long, scary drop in front of her.

She was small enough back then that we were able to pick her up and bring her downstairs with us, and she was pretty quick figuring out how to get back up, but that option was only going to last us so long. We thought she just needed some encouragement to go down but sitting on the top steps with treats garnered only a wary peek around the corner at the "abyss". Stepping off into the unknown just wasn't going to happen. After a few unsuccessful attempts to coax her down the whole staircase, it was time to brainstorm an alternate plan. We began carrying her most of the way and putting her on one of the bottom steps. Oh hey, look, that worked. A dozen or so trips down the stairs to plop her an ever-increasing distance from the bottom and finally, one day, she just did it. I wasn't watching at that exact moment but I heard some noise and then a single bark. Wait, what? I went over to the stairs and there was Bella at the bottom looking up at me just as proud as could be. Lots of "Good girl!"s and "Yay Bella!"s brought her scampering back up the stairs before she promptly ran back down again. And then back up. And down again. And up. And down.

12 times. Yes, 12. (I counted.)

It's almost impossible to describe how it felt to watch her do this - conquering something which had so frightened her. She absolutely beamed with her new-found courage.

It was an early lesson about "training" a scaredy-dog: every behavior, every "trick", every lesson starts three steps before what they tell you in the books. Before you can teach a scaredy-dog to come, you need to teach her to trust. Before you can teach her to jump, you need to teach her the pole won't be used as a weapon. Before she can tackle the staircase, she needs to tackle a step. And before you give up on her, you need to look in at yourself.

Wordless Wednesday 3 - Saying hi

Sato 101

Bella is a Sato.				Rescued Satos
Sato is Spanish slang, a slur really, for "street dog". They are dogs left to fend for themselves in the cities and on the beaches of several Caribbean islands, most notably Puerto Rico. Often found starving and infested with parasites, they are dogs who have been abandoned by their owners, neglected by the community and abused by people who consider them pests. While Sato doesn't mean mixed breed and there are plenty of pure bred dogs among the thousands of Satos on the island, pure bred dogs are considered a status symbol and are not quite as routinely "thrown away" as the mixed breed dogs. Since sterilization hasn't been a priority on the island, intact Satos are abundant and a major contributor to the over-population problem. As a result, mixed breed Satos have a tendency towards similar features after years of breeding without human intervention: they are generally small to medium sized dogs (usually 35 lbs or less) with big ears and long and slender snouts. They are also very smart, charming dogs who have learned how to survive, many learning how to "work a room" coaxing tourists and islanders into offering scraps of food that help them stay alive. My earliest experience with Satos dates back to 2001 when I was volunteering at Buddy Dog Humane Society in Sudbury, MA, a partner shelter of Puerto Rican rescue group, Save a Sato. Founded in 1996, Save a Sato rescues dogs off the streets and beaches, nurses them back to health and sends them to partner shelters in the states. New England has a very low rate of stray dogs due to extensive spay/neuter efforts over the years. Our shelters had space, our families had desire and the dogs of Puerto Rico had need: a long and enduring partnership ensued. Save a Sato is not the only rescue group in Puerto Rico, in fact, a handful of organizations on the island are working hard to save the dogs but their task is daunting. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 stray dogs on the island and cultural attitudes and lack of governmental support have been hindrances in efforts to promote low-cost spay and neuter programs for the island dogs. Campaigns to raise public awareness and change the laws are ongoing. Progress is being made but much work still needs to be done.

Please see the links below for more detailed information about the hardships these dogs endure and ways you can help.

Rescues in Puerto Rico:

• Save a Sato - The first group I knew of helping dogs on the island. They have been rescuing Satos for over 15 years. A very nice profile of the group with links to news articles and an interview with then outreach coordinator Twig Mowatt can be found at this link: "Shelter Spotlight: Save-a-Sato in Puerto Rico"
• Amigos de los Animales - Not a physical shelter, ADLA still rescues and rehabs both companion and farm animals in need. With a focus on working to change laws and minds, their commitment is to creating a more humane Puerto Rico. They are featured in this article "Dead Dog Beach" from 2009.
• Island Dog, Inc. - Offering low-cost spay/neuter and vaccination clinics as well as humane education programs, Island Dog is working to promote responsible pet ownership on Puerto Rico as well as St. John, Vieques and Culebra.
• PetsAlivePR - A relatively new group affiliated with PetsAlive, a no-kill sanctuary in New York, and armed with financial support from Sidewalk Angels Foundation, PetsAlivePR is building a sanctuary "Bed and Breakfast" on the island where volunteers can stay and help care for the dogs. They also send dogs to the states for adoption.

For more information:

• Working for Change in the Caribbean - An extensive article on Satos in Animal Sheltering magazine (a resource of the HSUS.)
• Scrutiny for Puerto Rico Over Animal Treatment - A New York Times article regarding the October 2007 "Puerto Rican Pet Massacre".
• In Puerto Rico, dogs without a home - An audio slideshow about the dogs of Puerto Rico.

See also:

• 100,000 - the movie. We are still hopeful that "100,000" the movie will be released in the states soon. (Google can translate the page for you if your Spanish is not what it was in high school. :)