When I was walking into the shelter on Saturday I saw a beautiful Rottweiler mix standing with it’s owner in the waiting room. Realizing this was a surrender, I approached the dog and started to pet her. The owner explained that she was a good dog, but was too wild. My heart sank. I sat in the chair and let her climb up in my lap.

I tried not to think about what she was about to endure in the shelter. I tried not to think about the decision her owner made.

Dogs are resilient. I’ve seen dogs that have been abused all their life maintain the most gentle temperament around humans. I’ve seen dogs rehabilitated from fighting rings begin socializing with other dogs. I’ve seen dogs categorized as ‘human aggressive’ live peacefully in family homes. But as resilient as these animals are, long stints in the shelter ultimately change them.

Upon intake, a dog will be quickly evaluated for it’s aggressiveness towards humans and other dogs. Any sign of aggression will put them in a separate area, which usually results in euthanasia within a few weeks unless an experienced handler or rescue steps up.

However, most dogs are put into the common area, which contains 40-50 dog runs. These dog runs contain 5-6 dogs each. This many dogs in such a tight space causes chaos.

Lack of exercise, being forced to pee and poop in the run, constant barking and living with dogs outside of their pack creates a very stressful situation for most dogs. Dog fights are frequent and utterly unpreventable within this type of environment.

Frankie, a large pit bull terrier, who has been at the shelter for several weeks is now in the Quarantine area. He was doing fine with other dogs, but several weeks in that environment began to stress him out. Instead of shutting down, Frankie began to act out by fighting with the other dogs in his run.

I spent the day playing with Frankie, trying to get him as much exercise as possible. We threw a tennis ball around for 30 or 40 minutes and I watched him run back and forth. He was so happy, bouncing around the yard. When our time was up, I dragged him back into his cage as he was just staring at me. I could hear his desperate barks as I walked away.

For those interested, Frankie has been tested with other dogs and cats. He is a fun loving 2 year old pit bull, who would love his own space to run around. Please email me at neelyannconway@gmail.com if you are interested in adopting this guy.