How We Work

Posted 14 October, 2005

General Rules

Owners surrendering dogs are encouraged, but not required, to contact their breeders. If they are reluctant to contact their breeders, we ask it is ok for us to contact them once the dog is in rescue. If given the ok, we will contact the breeder and let them know we have one of their dogs and why.

All dogs receive a health check, are brought up to date on shots and preventatives and treated for existing conditions. Dogs coming in directly from owners with a full health history, complete medical records, and UTD for at least 6 months are not taken to the vets unless we observe something not mentioned and deem it necessary.

All dogs are spayed/neutered before leaving LeoRescue, unless they are too young (under 6 months) in which case the adoptive owner pays a deposit, which is refunded once we recive proof of spay/neuter within a given timeframe. The Regional Rep who placed the dog will follow up to ensure the dog is spayed/neutered. LeoRescue reserves the right to repossess the dog if the owner fails to comply.

All dogs (with the exception of young puppies) remain in foster care for a minimum of two weeks before we attempt to find a permanent home. Most dogs stay in foster care much longer, especially special needs dogs. Puppies 10 weeks and under are not required to stay the two weeks, unless we see health issues or early sign of behavioral problems; instead, pups are placed as soon as possible so that this crucial period in their development is disrupted as little as possible.

Our working rule for placing dogs is to find out what the dog is about, what its needs are, and match it to a family able to provide the best possible context for the dog to succeed.

Dog Intake

A) Owner surrender

We find out the reason for the dog coming into rescue and get the dog’s full history, including any health information. If lack of training or easily dealt with behavior problems are the cause, and if the owner is willing, we attempt to help the owner keep the dog by offering training suggestions and resources.

If the dog’s behavior is too much for the owner or said owner is not willing to work with the dog, then one of a few things may happen. If the dog lives close enough to a volunteer experienced enough to do a basic evaluation, the dog is evaluated and matched with an appropriate foster home. If not, the dog is transported to the Regional Rep or another experienced evaluator for fostering.

Dogs with basic issues are evaluated by experienced volunteers, some who are trainers. In many cases, the change of enviroment coupled with consistent training is all it takes to correct behavior problems. However, if the evaluator feels that a professional review is warranted, LeoRescue pays for it. If the dog needs training beyond what the foster parents can provide themselves, LeoRescue pays for it. In short, we do everything we can to correct any behavioral issues.

B. Shelter dogs

Volunteers are sent to identify the dog as a Leo. The dog is evaluated by volunteers in a kennel setting, taking into account the shelter worker’s experience and the fact that the dog is in a highly stressful situation. If the volunteer feels the dog is a Leo, the dog is removed from the shelter and transported to the regional rep or a foster home with the experience to deal with an unevaluated dog. From here fostering proceeds as for owner surrender.

C. Puppy Mill dogs

Mill dogs turned over to rescue typically have had little to no human interaction, and have a wide range of health issues. These dogs are almost always placed in a kennel or vet/kennel situation where we can begin treating the health issues and start to gradually introduce human contact. The dogs are also evaluated by a professional with the knowledge of the specific issues these dogs have. These evaluations tend to be performed over more than one encounter, to allow the dogs to adjust to the changes in their enviroment and health as well as to become accustomed to human contact. These evaluations are flexible and limited in their breadth; we look for relationships between the dogs, who depends on whom, and whether it is better to keep them together or separate them.

So far, we have seen no aggression, only severe under-socialization and shyness. A surprisingly high number of dogs have made remarkable progress in the right foster homes and have been shown to have a solid genetic background in terms of temperament. Others have not been able to overcome the dreadful nature of their life in the mills and their personality will always reflect that experience. So far, none have been so devastated as to not find a level of peace when in the right setting. I say so far, because we have at least two that are not out of the woods yet and may never reach the point where the good things in life outweigh their fears and unrelenting stress.

Fostering a Mill dog requires special and experienced, in those issues, foster homes. We are in desperately need of such homes; if you have that experience or are interested in learning how to deal with these dogs, PLEASE let us know. As a rule, the foster period for a Mill dog is much longer than other dogs.

D. Dogs with aggression issues.

Here we step into a complex area. LeoRescue's policy in dealing with aggression is highly flexible. To begin with, we recognize that “aggression” is a term that doesn’t come close to representing the various behaviors collapsed into it, let alone the many levels of these behaviors.

If an owner calls LeoRescue wanting to relinquish an aggressive dog, we thoroughly investigate the situation. We ask that the dog be given a thorough health check, as there are several health-related triggers for aggression, such as thyroid imbalance. We ask detailed questions about training, environment, changes in life/lifestyle, the target of the aggression, the predictability of the behavior, the level of aggression, whether the behavior is escalating, whether or not the dog has bitten, the type of bite, etc.. In other words, we make every attempt to quantify the behavior and identify the cause.

Decisions are made on multiple levels. Is the dog clearly in the wrong home? Does the dog’s history of bites allow us to place it? Can the dog be trusted to not harm anyone when placed in a home (keeping in mind that most homes think they can handle much more than they actually can)? Liability comes into play, but our interpretation of liability goes beyond financial issues – and yes, LeoRescue has insurance. We consider the family adopting the dog, the kids, the neighbor’s kids, the fact that dogs do get away from the most experienced owners. We consider the dog’s welfare should it do harm. We consider the reasons the dog bites and what that says about the quality of their life, what it says about the demons they are fighting. We consider the potential damage to the breed in general should the Leonberger become identified as a "dangerous" or "aggressive" breed.

LeoRescue will not place dogs whose aggressive behavior is unpredictable and manageable only by keeping it safely contained away from everyone. As heartbreaking as it is, LeoRescue cannot and will not base its decisions on the fact that 90% of the time the dog’s aggression was not the dog’s choice in the first place but the only way it knew to control its world. The decision has to be based on whether the dog is likely or not to cause harm again. The smallest indication that the dog might indeed cause harm means the dog cannot be placed.

If we decide the dog cannot be placed, we inform the owner that we cannot accept the dog into rescue. If the owner knows that the dog must be euthanized but cannot do it themselves, we will take the dog and do it for them. We recognize the difficulty in making such a decision, and do not pass judgment on owners either way.