So You Want to Run a Dog Rescue? A Podcast

05/12/2026

At a national Best Friends Animal Society conference for shelter professionals, this was presented as the prescription for dogs in transition: trazodone, gabapentin, or both. Drug the dog, mask the symptoms of stress, and move the animal through the system faster.

This is the institutionalization of the Best Friends agenda disguised as “welfare.” An industry increasingly driven by optics, liability management, and carefully selected metrics tied to the coveted “no-kill” label is chemically managing an epidemic rather than confronting the societal and environmental conditions creating it. Ed Boks has written extensively about the politics shaping modern animal welfare, and more people in this field should be paying attention.

Behavior medication *may* have a legitimate place in veterinary medicine. But when psychoactive drugs become the first-line response for intake stress and dogs are sent home with adopters medicated from day one, the ethical questions become impossible to ignore. Are we helping dogs heal, or making them easier to warehouse, market, and move through the system?

The animal welfare movement has drifted dangerously far any semblance of actual welfare. A chemically subdued dog is not proof of emotional wellness.

And what message are we sending adopters when medicating distress becomes normalized before decompression, relationship-building, or training are even seriously attempted?

I am disgusted by how casually this is now presented as progressive animal welfare.

04/28/2026

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you are not entitled to pet a total stranger's dog.

Today in line at school pickup, I stepped out of my vehicle for maybe 3 seconds to open the door for my six-year-old. Apparently that’s all the time it takes for a grown ass adult to reach into my vehicle and start petting my German Shepherd Küsse like it’s a drive-thru petting zoo.

We have never met. You are not her person. You are not even on her radar as someone invited into her space.

No eye contact. No “is she friendly?” No hesitation. Just confidence and a shocking lack of boundaries.

My dog and I both looked equally flabbergasted, which prompted me to mutter "good girl" and this (come to find out from my son) actual elementary school teacher to offer a giggling, “Sorry, I just love dogs so much I can’t help myself.” A sentence that might be cute from a toddler, but from an adult entrusted with teaching children boundaries? I was genuinely dumbstruck.

Thankfully, my dog handled it. Two years ago? That could have ended differently.

And this degree of ignorance or outright entitlement is not a one-off. Yesterday at a t-ball game, another grown ass adult approached my 80lb German Shepherd Mando, who was in a perfect downstay – my foot on the leash– while I had one eye on my daughter's at bat and the other on my youngest on the playground.

My dog: unconcerned. Head down. Resting.
Until he popped up... because some random dad treated a stranger’s sleeping guardian-breed dog like public property.

Zero communication. Zero permission. Infinite gall.

At this point, I no longer wonder why I spend so much time telling kids to ask before petting a dog… because the adults are out here modeling the exact behavior that is not okay.

It's easy for me to tell a child (since their parents haven't) never pet a dog without asking. I consider it a moral obligation. But adults? Natural consequences might teach faster—except in the real world that means a bite that heals, and a dog that pays for it with its home or its life.

Ask me how I know.

So to recap, since common sense has gone down the toilet:

→ A dog in public is not public property
→ A calm dog does not equal consent
→ Reaching into someone’s car to pet their dog is absolutely unhinged behavior

Ask first. Always.
This isn't about dogs. It's about boundaries.

04/18/2026

Koli’s story (and why I’m telling it)

Three years ago, we pulled a Malinois from Tulare. Her name was Abuela – Abbie. She was one of several Malinois surrendered by a family losing their home.

She spent nearly six months in the shelter. No aggression. A staff favorite.

She came to Dog Gone Seattle and was fostered with Dan and Scott (Shady Pine). Experienced fosters, multiple dogs, real structure – and she thrived. Social, stable, affectionate, fun.

She was adopted by a thoughtful, committed couple. Not first-time dog owners. They researched the breed, met her, prepared, followed decompression. They did everything right.

They renamed her Koli.

And then they did what we recommend to all adopters: Enrolled in training.

They chose CGC Prep classes with Diana Simonsen Dog Training.

Strong reviews. Credentials. Certifications.
It felt like the right choice.

They trained every week for three years.
CGC. Rally. Classes. Time. Money. Effort. Commitment.

On paper, this is exactly what success is supposed to look like. But real life isn’t a controlled training class, and maybe a year in, things started to change.

At home, on walks, with real triggers.
Koli began dragging her owners toward other dogs. Pulling the leash out of their hands. Escaping her harness.

Then she started biting other dogs.
Once. Twice. Three times – one requiring stitches.

And then the incident that changed everything: She got out of the gate and bit a man across the street.
Police report. Documented Level 3A bite. Devastated owners.

So the question is: Why?

Why does a dog go from CGC to a canine criminal – biting dogs and people?

It’s not a mystery.

She’s a Malinois. High drive, wired to engage. If that drive isn’t given appropriate outlets (hint: not a snuffle mat), she will find her own outlet.

Throw in a harness, and now the behavior isn’t just happening – it’s self-reinforcing.

And the part no one wants to say out loud: She had no reason not to. She's never been told No.
No control. No clarity. No consequence.

This is not complicated.

When Koli first started acting out, the owners reached out to their trainer for help. The recommendation?
Muzzle conditioning. A "better" harness. Management.

After the human bite, the trainer advised that rehoming would be unethical and returning to the rescue would likely not be an option, so she recommended:

Medication!
“Double-layer management.”
More muzzle.
Or euthanasia.

When the owners reached out to us for support, they requested we contact the trainer to understand the full picture.

And the explanation?

“In my professional opinion, this was an inappropriate placement.”
No.
This was not a placement failure.
This was not an owner failure.
This was a training failure.

A failure to control a high-drive dog with appropriate tools.
A failure to establish clear expectations around behavior.
A failure to adapt when risk escalated.

And it’s not random.

It’s the predictable outcome of a dogmatic training ideology that prioritizes the avoidance of stress or discomfort over effective behavior change – marketed as “Fear-Free,” backed by selective appeals to “science,” and delivered with moral superiority.

"Positive only" training sounds great in theory. But when it breaks down in the real world, it leads to management, medication, rehoming or euthanasia.
Death before discomfort.

And how is that kinder?

Kinder for Koli, facing a life muzzled and medicated?
Kinder for her owners, managing every movement?
Kinder for the community – other dogs and people – still at risk?

Because the current plan is to continue managing the behavior, not change it. And management fails.

To be clear, Koli is not a bad dog.
She is a trained and driven dog. She doesn't need more training. She needs different training and appropriate outlets.

But she didn't get that, and now she’s paying for it.

The most frustrating part? This was preventable.

Not with more treats or a better harness. Not with more management. But with clear communication, appropriate tools, and actual behavior modification training when the first challenges presented.

The right thing to do would have been to refer these owners out to a professional trainer with a track record of actually helping resolve aggression in dogs.

That didn’t happen.

We’ve offered to help. We’ve even offered to take Koli back, now, and get her the training she needs.

But by the time many owners reach us, they’ve been told for years that aversive tools are harmful, that punishment will make behavior worse or damage their relationship with their dog. That management and medication are the only humane options. That death would be kinder.

They’ve been fed this dogma by people who have no real-world experience using punishment to safely and effectively change behavior.

This is Koli’s story with one trainer but it’s not unique. It's the same story I hear every day: Different dog. Different trainer. Same outcome.

Owners do everything right. They invest time, money, effort into "positive-only training." And the behavior escalates anyway.

Then the "solution" becomes manage the dog, medicate the dog, rehome the dog, or euthanize the dog. Because they "tried everything."

This is a travesty that's playing out everywhere, right now.

And it’s time for people who actually care about dogs to start saying it out loud. Because when ideology is prioritized over outcomes, dogs like Koli are the ones who pay for it – with their lives.

And this is not welfare.

03/31/2026

Look at this sweet boy. I went back and forth on whether to say anything, because I genuinely appreciate what Pasado's Safe Haven does for animal welfare in our community. But what’s happening to Arthur isn’t welfare; it’s ideology, and we’re not going to stay quiet about it, because it’s fu***ng wrong.

Here’s the reality:

Arthur has been at Pasado's for almost two-and-a-half years, with whatever limited outings a kennel-based facility can provide. Not a home. Not a family. Just staff and volunteers.

He was taken in as a puppy. He’s now a 100 lb shepherd mix who needs structure and leadership, but instead, he's been living in a kennel on max doses of multiple psychotropic drugs after several failed, very short adoptions along with multiple Level 1 and 2 (read: not serious) bites.

Several months ago, we were asked to take him on:

"Arthur has been deemed not adoptable at our facility due to his behavioral issues that are not able to be fixed here. As a GFAS accredited facility, only positive training methods are able to be used, and with the lack of onsite behavioral staff, Arthur has not gotten the exposure and life experience needed to learn appropriate behavior. We believe that Dog Gone Seattle may be the only hope for this dog’s recovery and long-term placement and we’re hopeful you would consider assisting with this transfer."

And so -- as we do -- we showed up. We met him, and we fell in love. Not surprisingly, he was just a dog who needed more information about how to operate in the world. We agreed to take him on, and put in the time and energy to secure a foster. And then, suddenly, Pasado's said "JK never mind."

To give you a clear picture of the evaluation:

Arthur came in intense. Specifically, he jumped and snapped in my face. I disagreed with his behavior with a slip lead correction (preventing any contact) and we carried on with introductions.

When you're getting to know a dog, time sometimes slow down. We walked, moved together, back and forth. I talked. Not so much touching but filling the space with my presence, too. I am here, and I am here for you. I am here with you.

We went inside. Reportedly he had to be sedated for weight checks since he refused to go on a scale. Literally sedating a dog rather than "forcing" him onto a scale. I cannot. So, I put him on the treadmill (just led him onto it, didn't turn it on) to demonstrate how to navigate weight checks using leash pressure. The same way we would get a resistant dog into the crate. The first time was slightly tough for him but the second time was easier and the third time was cake.

The shift in him over that time with us was real. The volunteer who advocated for him was floored to see him settle, engage, and connect. She saw what we saw: a dog who is absolutely capable of more.

We left that evaluation committed. We didn't have a foster in mind for Arthur, but we were going to figure it out. So we spent hours coordinating, reaching out, and communicating to secure an appropriate foster who could give him a real shot at a different life.

And then, just after we lined up a foster, an email. Not even from Pasado's leadership. Just from the gold-hearted volunteer who had advocated for him in the first place: I'm so sorry for wasting your time, I don't know what the issue is all of the sudden but the Director will no longer approve transfer to Dog Gone Seattle.

No clear explanation. But the transfer was shut down. And reading between the lines, it was obvious: they were not willing to transfer him to a rescue that uses balanced training methods.

Whether that was new information or not, I don’t know. A simple Google search would have made that clear and saved everyone a huge waste of time and emotional energy. We don’t have time to waste. There are countless other Arthurs out there right now who need help, and time is our most limited resource.

But if it wasn't, then why ask us to care? … and then pull the rug?

Because I care a lot. And a month later, I’m still thinking about Arthur. Still living in a kennel at Pasados "safe" haven. Still not living a real life. And probably back on all of the drugs that we asked he be weaned off of, so we could actually evaluate him.

And when I say all the drugs, I mean heavily medicated.
We're talking literally, every day:
40 mg Prozac
0.3mg Clonidine
800-1,000 mg Gabapentin
(Yes, Gabapentin -- a neurological pain reliever that essentially "turns down the volume on the nervous system" and is increasingly used off-label as a catch all for behavior problems.)

So, a full cocktail of psychotropic meds for a physically healthy young dog who, in reality, is soft and responsive; and just needs some subtle no's.

I have receipts: Evaluation videos... and shelter notes: "Behavior is regressing: more growling on walks." The response? Increase medication.
Literally just 2+ years of adding meds and increasing doses.
Plus whatever "training" from their "pure positive" (GFAS accredited) behavior team.

This is a large guardian mix breed dog who never got the structure or training he needed. He was placed in homes that weren’t equipped, set up to fail, and returned... over and over again.

And now, just when he had a glimmer of hope, it's gone... due to twisted nonsensical and seriously dangerous ideology.

So Arthur stays where he is. In a kennel. On drugs. With occasional outings. On drugs. And that’s supposed to be “welfare."

This isn’t the first Arthur and it won’t be the last. Sometimes I keep it to myself. Tonight is not that night.

Their rally is: "Death before discomfort! Drugs before discomfort!"

A slip lead (or insert aversive tool here) may be uncomfortable, momentarily. But living your life in a kennel on enough drugs for a small pony. That's fine. Being not adoptable and euthanized. That's fine, too.

Make it make sense.

03/21/2026

🔥 HOT TAKE:
It should be illegal for rescues to export dogs sight unseen to adopters they’ve never met without a real contingency plan for when the adoption goes sideways (as it so often does).

Because when it goes wrong, dogs like Leo — a 100 lb “Catahoula Great Dane mix” (no… he’s just a very overweight Texas brown dog 👀) — end up housebound with Great Grandma Carol…

…and begging every rescue in a 100-mile radius to pick him up is not a contingency plan. That’s dumping on local shelters and rescues who are already cleaning up enough messes.

This isn’t rare; it’s constant. The last one we took in was a direct adoption of an adolescent Pyr mix to an inexperienced home with SIX cats. You can’t make this s**t up.

Rescue is hard enough without this nonsense. Make it stop.

Want the full story? (Spoiler: there’s plenty of blame to go around.)
Let us know and we’ll spill the tea in our stories.

P.S. Leo desperately needs a foster home ASAP. Basic requirement: knees with cartillage and skin thicker than a wasp nest.

01/30/2026

YELP: “Real people, real reviews.”
ACTUALLY: The armpit of the internet — where truth and accountability go to die.

Come for the reviews. Stay for the audacity.

PSA: If you come to Yelp to lie, deflect, blame, or rewrite history, do not expect platitudes. I will not do performative politeness, and I will not thank you for your bulls**t feedback.

Facts aren’t harassment.
Say less.

[Cue the 415 area code sales call. Totally not a racket.]

01/23/2026

I'll take, "Emails that make you want to throat punch someone thru the computer screen" for $500, Alex.

01/05/2026

Science isn’t selective citation.  
Dogs aren’t ideology experiments.  
  
🎙️ Ep. 3.7 with — possibly our best one yet!   
  
  
  
 

01/02/2026

We promised the highly anticipated SCIENCE SAYS episode with Dr. Melanie Uhde would drop in 2025.

And it almost did.
Uploaded at 12:00 AM. Missed it by one minute. Rescue happened. A strong effort was made. 😅

Still—what a way to start 2026.

This episode is 🔥. It cuts through the dogma, the weaponized “science,” and the shaming that’s hurting dogs and the people trying to help them. If you care about dogs, training, welfare, or rescue outcomes, you need to listen to this one.

Please share it far and wide. For the dogs ✊
🎧 Episode 3.7 is live.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pC5HBG00YmcnHyRdb7Z1z?si=Pw8NdfvgR7COHkiN3xraCw

So You Want to Run a Dog Rescue · Episode

12/31/2025

When training ideology matters more than the dog in front of you 🐕 💀
We've seen it. A lot 👀
Moral superiority doesn't save dogs.
🎧 Episode 3.6 is live
👉 Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/32m5cGcq2Wx7M2WW3RTZFk?si=zWS73WPXSq2zydo8kU33_Q