Gabbs Dogs Update #1

From Steve Markwell, Executive Director:

I thought it might be interesting for our supporters if I wrote weekly updates about the Gabbs dogs' rehabilitation, since we're dealing with five animals that never had human contact before they went to Reno a few weeks ago, and these five were the least social of the 149 from the Gabbs hoarding incident.

The dogs have settled into my apartment, which is usually a new dog's first stop at Olympic Animal Sanctuary. In addition to the living room, which has been stripped and made reasonably 'dog-proof', I've provided them with a small room where they can hide when they're not feeling especially confident. I also use this room for short, social interactions between myself and the dogs, since they can't run from me in there and have no choice but to accept a few gentle touches. I keep these sessions very short -- usually around thirty seconds, several times a day.

Abel and Dixie have both approached me and initiated contact with me on multiple occasions, especially when i bring Clyde, Charlie, and Lupe into the apartment to play. Dixie is especially interested in Lupe, and Abel likes the boys.

Itsy and Tippy remain shy, but they are gradually letting their guards down. Tippy is willing to be in close proximity to me as long as I don't try to touch her. Itsy keeps her distance except in the little room.

Herbie still thinks he needs to protect the other dogs from me, so he tries to stay between them and me, and always looks me right in the eye. I generally ignore him, because despite all of his bluffing, he is the most afraid. This affirms what I've frequently said about 'alpha dogs' -- the overly dominant behavior they display is typically a result of their proportionally greater fear of humans, other dogs, etc. Herbie is coming closer and closer every day, though.

The plan for now is to continue to get the dogs familiar with me without pushing them too hard; one thing that I will be changing, however, is the amount of space they have. My living room turns out to be a little too big for these guys; I need to have them more confined to take away their option of running away from me. I have ordered some kennels and special floor panels that should arrive in a few days. The dogs will stay in the kennels and undergo a slightly more intense socialization program, which will consist largely of me lying down in the kennels with them and watching TV. Then, as they lose their fear of me over the next few weeks, they can come out, learn to walk on a leash, and start going outside. I don't expect it to be easy, but I have no doubt that the Gabbs dogs will learn to love people and will continue to enjoy their new home at Olympic Animal Sanctuary.

Additional news: Abel has now been vaccinated (he was the only dog they were never able to successfully give a shot), but we still don't know whether or not Dixie is pregnant. If she is, it should become obvious within the next week or two. She looks pregnant to me, but sometime a dog can have a false pregnancy that's pretty convincing.

Check back next week for another update.

Posted on February 29, 2008 | Link

The Gabbs Dogs

Last May, Dama Louise Wirries passed away unexpectedly, left no will, and her family had to sort out the details of her estate more or less unaided. The scenario is nothing new, with the exception that her estate happened to include 144 dogs on a ranch in Gabbs, Nevada; one was pregnant, later bringing the total to 149. Further complicating the matter was the fact that the property was a rental. Wirries' last wishes, while not put into writing, were that her dogs all be euthanized, because certainly no one could give them the level of care she had provided.

That level of care included flimsy pens constructed with light gauge welded wire, houses made of hay rolls where more dominant dogs kept the others from coming inside, and for most of the animals, no human contact whatsoever. Many of the dogs were running free, or going from pen to pen at will. While the first 70 or so dogs on the ranch were spayed or neutered, as more dogs arrived, Wirries lost control of the situation and uncontrolled breeding began to take place, resulting in inbred puppies and an ever-growing, impending disaster. Only two things separated the nightmare in Gabbs from most other animal hoarding cases, that the dogs were not starving, and that Wirries' landlord and her family, most notably her niece, Linda Bailey, stepped in to ensure that an end came to the situation and the dogs found new homes. Euthanasia for 149 dogs was out of the question.

Bailey called the Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, current home to the pit bulls confiscated from Michael Vick. They were unable to take all the dogs, but through their contacts with other animal welfare organizations, including the Humane Society of the United States and California-based United Animal Nations, two organizations specializing in emergency sheltering, they were able to ensure that all of them got another chance.

Over the following months, the dogs went to no-kill shelters and foster homes a few at a time, and about a month ago, UAN took the 32 least social dogs to a temporary shelter in Reno, Nevada. There they were given individual attention from UAN volunteers at "Camp Reno", and one by one, the dogs came around, and were able to leave the shelter for adoption or fostering. By February 20, only a few dogs remained -- the ones that were going to need more time and a lot more patience before they would ever trust a human being.

There were Herbie and little Abel -- no one had been able to touch them since their arrival at Camp Reno, and Abel was so wily he hadn't even been successfully vaccinated. Itsy and Tippy were skittish girls that could be petted a little, but had a very hard time relaxing with people, and weren't making much progress. Then there was Dixie, who had simply "shut down"; she barely ate, barely moved, and didn't react to human contact, the overwhelming stress 'turning her to stone'. For these five, special dogs, typical shelters or foster homes were not going to work, so United Animal Nations called Olympic Animal Sanctuary to seek permanent placement for them.

Steve (and a documentary film crew) drove all day and most of the night through intense fog and blizzard conditions to get to Camp Reno. Once there, Steve took a few minutes with each dog to get a feel for their individual personalities and challenges to their socialization. He was able to pet Abel for a few minutes -- something no one else had succeeded in doing. One volunteer said that Steve's visit was the first time she'd ever seen Dixie prick up her ears. The dogs were loaded up and brought back to Forks. Here, they'll undergo rehabilitation at their own pace, and eventually be integrated into a larger pack. In their first few days at Olympic Animal Sanctuary, the Gabbs dogs have already made progress, especially Dixie and Abel. Steve's looking forward to getting them socialized so he can have his living room back, but he also knows that authentic, lasting rehabilitation takes more than a few minutes and a few jerks on a choke collar -- it takes time.

More on the way? Let's hope it's a false alarm, but Dixie appears to be pregnant, and a phone conversation with Linda Bailey confirmed that it's a strong possibility. Our vet will examine Dixie this afternoon and give us the verdict.

New lives, new names: Dogs don't distinguish between consonant sounds the same way we do, and the names Tippy, Itsy, and Dixie (especially the latter two) sound too much alike, so before they learn their names and things get too confusing, we need to come up with new names for the girls, and probably for Abel as well, whose name sounds a bit like one of our other boy's, Caleb. Check back for pictures of the Gabbs dogs, and once you've seen them, you can email us your ideas for their new names.

Posted on February 26, 2008 | Link