Think a shelter is the end of the road for a dog that’s been surrendered, abandoned or abused?
Think again.
With the right owner and the chance to realize their potential, shelter pets routinely find new purpose as loving family members.
And some even go on to do remarkable things, such as starring onstage at the Lyric Opera or earning certification that enables them to help authorities search for missing persons or becoming a comfort ambassador to former soldiers at a veterans home.
Stage dogs
Mike Gonzalez is a huge fan of shelter dogs. He said he wouldn’t think of getting a pet through any other means.
And now, thanks to the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of “Der Rosenkavalier,” his dogs have a fan base all their own.
Oscar, Butler and Jasper all perform in Act One of the comic production, which continues through March 13.
“They even made it into the reviews,” Gonzalez said, with one critic calling them “an adorable trio.”
Gonzalez adopted all three small dogs from South Suburban Humane Society in Chicago Heights. He’s had 13-year-old Oscar, an owner surrender, since the white shih tzu was 7-months old and Butler, a 6-year-old gray and white Yorkie mix that was rescued from a puppy mill, since he was 1.
His most recent adoption, Jasper, also 6 and also a Yorkie mix, was brought to the shelter last August as a stray. Soon after, Gonzalez brought him home.
Gonzalez, of Chicago Heights, said he’s been fortunate that all of the dogs, including the puppy mill survivor, have been easy to train and seem to suffer no residual social issues from their traumatic experiences.
An employee of the Lyric, Gonzalez said recently a call went out for three dogs that looked like they were from the same litter.
“I submitted pictures of my dogs anyway, even though they don’t look alike, and they decided to go with them,” he said.
The dogs perform in multiple performances. They’re onstage for about 15 minutes with tenor Alec Carlson, who is cast as an animal trainer.
“They do a good job,” Gonzalez said, even during a somewhat chaotic comic scene.
Gonzalez said he loves rescue dogs and often goes online to check out new arrivals at SSHS. If an animal catches his eye, he pays it a visit.
“Sometimes I make multiple visits; sometimes it’s love at first sight,” he said. “I’m starting to get a hankering for another one.”
A working dog
David Sullivan, retired chief of Will County Emergency Management’s Search and Rescue Division, hadn’t planned on adopting Soni in 2013.
The female German shepherd had been brought to Peoples Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Tinley Park after her first family fell on hard times.
“A friend asked me to take a look at her,” Sullivan said. “I did and I said I thought she was wonderful.”
But when the friend decided against adopting Soni, Sullivan decided to take her in.
“She got along well with my other dog, Zeus,” he said.
Sullivan has done extensive work in the field of search and rescue, when he was with the Will County Sheriff’s department and since his retirement. He has worked on the Stacy Peterson, Lisa Stebic and Rachel Mellon missing persons cases and is currently a Community United Effort Searcher.
He said while any big robust dog with high energy can become a search and rescue dog, German shepherds are the most common breed sought for the job.
So, he began to train Soni.
Last fall, Soni, now almost 4-years old, became certified by The American Working Dog Association as a Human Remains Detection K9 at the CUE Missing Persons K 9 specialty training seminar. She also attended the Western North Carolina Human Remains K 9 Seminar.
This spring, Sullivan plans to train her for the North American Police Work Dog Association certification test.
In a few weeks, Sullivan said, Soni will participate in a search in Missouri for a young man who has been missing since last summer.
Sullivan, who lives in Wilmington, said Soni also has received the Canine Good Citizen Award from the American Kennel Club, which means she passed a 10-step behavior test.
She is proof that shelter dogs can often bring love and comfort to a family and sometimes even contribute to society, he said.
“This work is important and she’s doing a great job [learning the skills] so far,” he said.
Therapy dogs
Marty Sullivan owns Black Dog K9 Training and Pet Services in Alsip.
He also owns Gladys, a 7-year-old Polish Tatra Sheepdog that he adopted from the Animal Welfare League (AWL) in Chicago Ridge three years ago after she and other animals were rescued by authorities from a locked barn in Palos Park.
He worked with Gladys and now the therapy dog is so well behaved that he brings her several times a year to the Veterans Home in Manteno to meet and greet residents.
“She walks the halls and brightens everybody’s day,” Sullivan said.
Gladys also participates in a class for special needs adults run by the AWL at Sertoma Center in Alsip.
Sullivan said he also is training another shelter dog, Lacey, a victim of cruelty, to be a therapy dog for a firefighter/EMT that is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The 1-year-old lab-pit bull mix, is not only therapeutic for the firefighter, she is providing comfort to the woman’s daughter, he said.
“It’s interesting because both the firefighter and the dog endured domestic abuse,” he said. “Now, they are a comfort to each other.”
Sullivan said dogs are brought to shelters for all kinds of reasons.
“Not all are behavior problems,” he said. “But even those dogs, given the right rehabilitation, can go on to do good things.”
Many shelter dogs now work as service animals, he said.
“Their potential is just as good as any dog from a breeder,” he said.
@dvickroy
For more information on South Suburban Humane Society in Chicago Heights, visit http://www.southsuburbanhumanesociety.org/
For more information on PAWS in Tinley Park, visit www.pawstinleypark.org/
For more information on Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge, visit http://www.animalwelfareleague.com/
For more information about “Der Rosenkavalier” at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, visit https://www.lyricopera.org/concertstickets/calendar/2015-2016/productions/lyricopera/der-rosenkavalier
For more information on Community United Effort Center for Missing Persons, visit http://www.ncmissingpersons.org/
For more information on Black Dog K9 in Alsip, visit www.blackdogk9.com
