Sophie's tale: A dog's long road from Katrina

'When is this going to end?'
I was reaching my breaking point in mid-January, when Steve and I went away for a weekend. We left Sophie in the care of our vet, and when we got her home, she had a raging case of diarrhea. We learned that in addition to the heartworms, she had hookworms, whipworms, ringworms and tapeworms — parasites that had likely incubated in her system following the storm. “When is this going to end?” I asked the veterinarian. “Hang in there,” she urged. “You’re doing a good thing.”

Sophie's "quiet period" ended, and we were eager to get her better socialized.  I contacted Off Leash Adventures, a local company that took dogs out for romps during the workweek. The owner, Tamara Stanley, came over to meet Sophie, who promptly tried to bite her and then glared from her dog bed.

Although Sophie was still too aggressive to go out with her group, Tamara took pity on me. “You’re in over your head,” she wrote in an e-mail. “But I know someone who can help.” She pointed me to Ewe-topia, a dog-training facility in rural Roy, Wash. Although training champion sheep-herding dogs is their main business, Joe Kapelos and his wife, Linda Leeman, also help reset problem dogs. 

Tough-love training
I’m not a big believer in overnight miracles, but after just one session, Sophie was a different dog. Joe, who trained and handled sentry dogs in the Air Force, takes a tough-love approach to dog training — choke chain and all. “If a problem dog was running in a pack, the pack leader wouldn’t give him doggie Prozac,” says Joe. “The pack leader would say: ‘Straighten up, or we’ll kill you, or run you out of the pack.’”

Joe and his assistant Becky pushed Sophie to the breaking point — she reared up on her hind legs, teeth bared — and then corrected her. And after that harrowing session, Sophie got in the ring with a flock of sheep. She was tentative at first, throwing Steve and I an “are you kidding me?” look, but then those herding instincts kicked in. And so, it seems, did her confidence.

By the time spring rolled around, Sophie was a happy, loving, playful dog. She conquered her understandable fear of the water, and went bounding after tennis balls in the Sammamish River. Slowly, we started to have visitors over — my brother braved two repeat (and bite-free) visits. Sophie became a regular at the dog park, and was even cleared to go on off-leash adventures led by Tamara, who is still amazed at the change.

Things aren’t perfect. Sometimes, Sophie will nip a dog or bare her teeth at an overeager puppy that doesn’t yet understand dog-park etiquette. A return visit to Joe is probably in order.

Animal situation still dire
And things are far from perfect in Sophie’s hometown. Anne Bell, the owner of the New Orleans-based Southern Animal Foundation (SAF) clinic, where Sophie was initially treated, says the animal problem in the entire Gulf region is still acute: “The numbers (of homeless animals) are growing exponentially because they’re reproducing.”

Animals in distress How you can help Thousands of animals remain homeless in the Gulf Coast region. If you'd like to help (or adopt), here are some resources to get you started: Best Friends Animal Sanctuary Petfinder Dandelion Dog Rescue The Southern Animal Foundation The Humane Society of the United States

The shelters in the Gulf region remain crowded to the breaking point. At the Terrebonne Parish shelter in Houma, La., 152 adoptable kittens were euthanized in June alone, said Bell.

“There’s just nowhere for them to go,” she says.

Bell’s daughter, Elizabeth Sprang, the office manager at SAF, says that the areas outside of New Orleans are perhaps even worse off: “People forget that New Orleans did not receive a direct hit,” she says. “There are thousands of animals in Bay St. Louis and Waveland that need homes desperately. Thousands.”

Dandelion is still taking in animals left homeless from the hurricane — as are shelters all around the country. And organizations, like Kanab, Utah-based Best Friends Animal Sanctuary are working furiously to try and reunite pets who need homes with their original owners.

As for Sophie, she and I are both a long ways from where we lived a year ago. But we're both adjusting to our new lives — together, we are home.

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