The Wiener Dog Whisperer

One of the central figures in Rocco’s rescue odyssey, is the woman who runs the NW Dachshund Rescue.  I will call her the Wiener Dog Whisperer.  This is how I think of her, anyway, as I have never met anyone so in tune with the idiosyncrasies of this breed.  Beyond her incredibly big heart, she is also a kind of wiener dog training/retraining wizard.  Anyone who has tried to train a Dachshund, even as a puppy, will understand that RE-training a Dachshund is a task tantamount to teaching a small child to do a backward summersault, while reciting the alphabet with a mouthful of marbles.  Her skill at retraining Dachshunds, that have had some kind of abuse or neglect, defies description.  Even my chronic hyperbole doesn’t really capture it.  Her love and devotion to these rescue dogs plus her skill - make her extraordinary.

She is also good with the humans who sometimes lead with their hearts rather than their heads, when it comes to adopting dachshunds.  During the process of figuring out if we were the family for Rocco, I marveled at how she managed to be compassionate yet very clear with the boundaries – for the doggie.  I couldn’t do it –it would be too easy to give in to the wants and wishes of the would-be-adopters, just to place the dog (and because I have a neurotic need to please).  The Weiner Dog Whisperer is committed - not to just placing dogs, but placing them in the very best home - for them.  Placing them into homes that will last forever.

The day we arrived to meet Rocco there were 20 dachshunds running around the place. Two that permanently live there and 18 waiting for adoption, they were all shapes, sizes and colors – with a range of issues.  It was so cool.  I think of her rescue as a “free range” rescue, in that the dogs are not kept in kennels.  They live with the Whisperer and her husband as a pack, and all the training takes place in the milieu.  Her love, treats and consistent discipline work a kind of magic on dogs that have been hurt and neglected.  

I won’t say too much about Rocco’s former home.  In reality, we don’t know much and the whisperer is very strict about never giving out identifying information for either party in an adoption.  It’s just as well, as the things we do know make me angry, and what happened could easily have ruined a good dog, if not for the swift and significant retraining he received from the wiener wizard. 

When he arrived at the rescue, Rocco was biting, hiding and so unhappy he didn’t want to eat.  He couldn’t trust people or the environment.  When we got him, after six weeks with the Wiener Dog Whisperer, the biting was on it’s way out and he was eating with the help of treats, though he was still hiding some. We have had him a week and though it does take patience, his rehabilitation is going well.  We are continuing the instructions we were given and Lily helps a lot, as she is an old hound who knows the ropes around here.  Rocco is very social with us – though sometimes still scared, he is eating with Lily like a real dog and treats are only needed for training.  The behaviors he learned - to survive - in his old environment are slowly receding.

What the Weiner Dog Whisper did with Rocco was a marvel, and the result is that a gentle being who was thrown away by a family – and likely would have been euthanized for the nipping alone, now has a new life.  A life that is happy, healthy and joyful.  He is a dog that goes quickly to delight, who loves being loved and is getting more comfortable with being handled.  He eats plain old dog food when it is offered, doesn’t hide at all and loves to play with his toys.  That change was affected in six weeks.  It is a miracle made possible by one woman’s devotion and we will be forever grateful.