Dog Tails - Maddie

I do believe my friend Linda Wells is the dog whisperer.  She is a retiree who volunteers to go to the AHS in Newark a few times a week to evaluate the temperment of dogs.  She tests each one for food aggression, toy aggression, walks them around other dogs and cats, and spends time with each one.

A few years ago I worked with another rescue.  We had brought in a small black puppy who had just been neutered.  When we got him to the kennel, he refused to move from the carrying crate and snarled at everyone who came near him.  They put him in a cage and he stayed there, refusing to eat his food or drink his water.  He wouldn't let anyone touch him.

Linda drove the 45 minutes from her house to the kennel, and she climbed into his kennel with him.  She sat with him for 3 hours until he suddenly stopped snarling, looked up at her, and climbed into her lap.

Linda, to the amazement of everyone at the kennel, picked him up and carried him home, where she fostered him.  Within a few days, Linda sent us all pictures of "Little Opie" happily playing with her grandchildren.  A few weeks later, Linda found him a new home with a loving family in her neighborhood.

She is the dog whisperer of North Jersey, my friend Linda.  Well, there we were, setting up for Woofstock when Linda came to our booth, Maddie in tow.  Maddie is one of the Newark dogs who have been in Newark a long time. Too long, and summer is here.  With summer comes massive overcrowding of shelters, and long lists of otherwise adoptable animals being put down.

"I want to foster Maddie.  She's a nice girl."  She's asking me because to pull a dog to foster from Newark AHS, the dog would need to be taken in by an approved rescue.  I look at Maddie.  She does seem to be a nice dog. If Linda wants her, I will always say yes.  Linda doesn't ask for much of anything when she fosters.  She takes the dog home from the shelter, shoos away my offers of bags of donated dog food.  She always manages to housebreak each dog and they always seem to love her.

When it's time to adopt Maddie out, Linda will go with me to the potential adopters home.  She'll talk to them for quite a while, until she is sure if they would be loving, responsible owners.  Then, and only then, will she hand over the leash.

If you would like to meet Maddie, contact me at 862-703-0637 and visit us on the web at Sitstaylearn.org.