Category: Success Stories

Oliver is one of many animals that received loving care from Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) in 2019. This care included a loving foster home, behavior training by SAS Animal Behaviorists, and continued training and love in his forever home, which ultimately transformed him from a starved 18-pound puppy to a now 53-pound dog.

Oliver’s story was featured in the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation’s (SASF) 2019 Annual Report. Read more about Oliver’s journey below.

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Oliver came to Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) at the very end of June 2019. A Good Samaritan had brought in Oliver, a skin-and-bones pitbull puppy, to a local vet before he was transferred to SAS. When Animal Control Supervisor Brandi Homeier laid eyes on Oliver, who needed a foster home, she eagerly signed up. “When we first brought him home, he was scared, apprehensive, and would completely shut down. He’d often try to hide behind something when someone approached him.”

Eventually, after some time of respecting Oliver’s reservations, he warmed up to Brandi and her husband. “While still scared of strangers and other people, Oliver became more open as we introduced him to our own dogs at home. He became bolder as time went on and wanted to play more with other dogs,” describes Brandi.

While Oliver grew more comfortable in his foster home with Brandi and her dogs, he still remained uncertain and scared around other people. “I would bring him into the office with me and he was still one of the shyest dogs around people.”

To help overcome this apprehensiveness, Oliver worked with the SAS Behavior Modification team when he spent time in Brandi’s office. “I think one of the things that helped Oliver come out of his shell with other people was the way the behavior team worked with him. They respected his boundaries and allowed him to make the first moves.” By building this foundation of trust, Oliver made progress by becoming more comfortable around other humans.

Bryanna and Dylan Bowles, Oliver’s forever parents, used the same trust-building tactic when first introducing him into their home after six months in foster with Brandi. “We gave him room to make choices on his own terms and honored them through positive reinforcement,” says Bryanna. While he still acts a little unsure around other people, Oliver has shown greater curiosity in getting to know others. “The day we met Oliver at SAS, he looked at my husband and I like we were crazy people,” says Bryanna of their first encounter. Now when spending time with other people, such as Bryanna’s family, Oliver has slowly learned that although these individuals are not in his space every single day, they aren’t going to hurt him. Oliver has grown from an apprehensive pup to a more open and trusting animal around humans.

 Oliver is the strongest little fighter and lover we’ve ever met. His story and triumph are what made us fall in love with him at SAS. He deserves so much happiness, and we wanted to be the people that showed him patient, loving, and good people exist, just for him. Thank you to Seattle Animal Shelter and the Foundation for their support of Oliver during his foster care and his behavior training. Saving one dog may not change the world, but surely for that one dog, their world will change forever. We hope Oliver loves his world with us.

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To read more stories like Oliver’s, explore the SASF 2019 Annual Report. If you are interested in supporting the important work SAS does in getting animals to their forever homes, consider a donation to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation.

It’s been a long journey for Mimi, but this once reactive pup is now in her forever home. Mimi first came to Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) in 2018 when she was surrendered due to reactivity towards other dogs. Mimi would often lunge, bark, tremble, and growl at the sight of other dogs. Laura, a foster program volunteer, took Mimi in and, with the help of the animal behavior team at SAS, worked on her reactivity towards other dogs.

Mimi went through a few adoptions, but unfortunately, things never seemed to work out. Laura continued to work with Mimi for almost two years to address her fear-related issues. When the new Animal Behaviorist Lead Kimberlee Spicer joined SAS, she worked with Laura, digging deeper into the behavioral issues. Mimi would work directly with Laura two to three times a day and with Kimberlee once every other week. With the support of Kimberlee, Laura trained Mimi to look at her and away from other dogs using a “stunt dog” while on walks. Tactics like this helped Mimi reduce her level of reactivity, decrease her “bubble” to 10-15 feet (distance at which she would react), and recover from a reaction much faster. Kimberlee also assisted Laura in changing Mimi’s emotions towards other dogs by creating positive associations. Through these strategic training sessions, Mimi’s behavior improved drastically.

After working with Laura and Mimi closely, Kimberlee knew it was important to find the right adopters. Mimi’s adopters would need to understand her behavior issues and work to make her feel comfortable in her forever home. To do this, Kimberlee prescreened all potential adopter applications. In about a month, she was able to find the right home for her with Brad. Both Laura and Kimberlee offered support to Brad post-adoption so that he could continue working with Mimi on her reactivity. Kimberlee went with Brad to the store to find items to set up her new home and went on a walk with both Brad and Mimi so that Brad could see what would be required for walks with her.

“I’m on the lookout for squirrels, cats, and such on our walks. I’ve found the best walk routes to avoid other dogs,” shares Brad. While Mimi requires a quieter walking route, Brad doesn’t mind. “It’s worth the tradeoff; we fit well together.”

Although Mimi may be excitable and anxious on walks and a leash, Brad shares that she is chill and relaxed at home and around other people. “She is on my couch and lap 24/7. The silliest thing she does is trade me her toys for treats. She’ll bring them to me when I get home. Otherwise, she never plays with them.” Laura fondly remembers Mimi’s sweet personality and silly toy trading routine, as well. “She was so sweet. Very polite, always asked to get up with you, loved to snuggle/cuddle on the couch or in bed.”

When asked what made Mimi “the one,” Brad shares, “I needed her, and she needed me. There were several dogs I looked at when I wanted to adopt and she was the first… and there was just something about her. All she needed was love.” Thanks to Brad’s love, and the help and support provided by Laura, Kimberlee, and the Animal Behavior team, Mimi is happy in her forever home after two years of hard work and searching.

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To support the important and valuable programs Seattle Animal Shelter runs, like the Behavior Modification program, consider donating to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation.

Before Molly was adopted, she had to overcome some big behavioral obstacles. Molly had taken to becoming very aggressive when guarding her resources, especially when items were taken away from her. Molly’s first owner also noted that she would become aggressive and bite when a harness and leash was put on her. Due to the owner’s travels, age and own health issues, she decided to surrender Molly to a local rescue in Washington. Molly was later adopted, and her new family was given strict guidelines regarding her biting history. The rescue required her adopters to conduct training to address her behavioral issues while in their care.

Unfortunately, after about a month, Molly was surrendered to the Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS). Molly was surrendered to SAS on January 12, 2020, but because she did not exhibit any behavioral issues or aggression while at the shelter, she was made available for adoption on January 14. Molly was returned to SAS on January 19, 2020 after the behavioral issues and biting resurfaced.

This is when SAS Animal Behaviorist Lead Kimberlee Spicer stepped in. Spicer gathered as much information as she could on Molly to formulate a plan that would work to help Molly address these issues in the long run. During her research and digging, Spicer learned that Molly’s first adoptive family hired a trainer that utilized adverse training methods, which did not suit Molly’s needs. Instead, Kimberlee outlined a plan for a foster parent who agreed to foster Molly and use positive association training and desensitization of resources (like food and toys) with her. Spicer’s training plan (a seven-phase approach) ultimately made Molly comfortable around her resources by rewarding her with higher value items (like cheese) and giving Molly the space she needed. Kimberlee noted after reading up on Molly’s history that she exhibited high anxiety when being forced to do certain tasks, like going on walks. Spicer stressed the importance of allowing Molly to slowly build up to more activity as she became more comfortable.

“Molly’s resource guarding is her way of showing stress and anxiety,” said Molly’s foster parent Shalini. “It took me a while to understand where it stems from, but I started noticing that she’d pant with wide eyes closer to the object she was guarding and growl if I came closer. With tremendous support and consult from Kimberlee, I tried training techniques that seemed to work and made her resource guarding manageable.”

Thanks to the careful behavior modification training outlined by Spicer and carried out by Shalini on a daily basis for three months, the Quality of Life team at SAS felt that Molly was ready to be made available for adoption. Spicer prescreened all 75 applications for Molly and looked for an experienced family that was able and open to continuing her training and giving her time to acclimate to her new home. After the extensive application reviews, Molly found her forever home.

As with Molly’s foster parent, Spicer was in constant contact with Molly’s new adopters every couple of days, offering behavioral support until the family was able to find a positive reinforcement trainer in the area. Molly has shown immense improvements and is continuing her behavior modification training in her forever home thanks to the wonderful work of Spicer, her foster parent, and the behavior team at SAS.

If you are interested in supporting SAS programs like the behavior modification training that helped Molly, consider donating to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation. To learn more about the behavior and foster care programs at SAS, click here.

Meet Sugar and Loki — two easygoing and calm rabbits who won over the heart of their foster-mom-turned-forever mom, Helen.

Loki (originally name Mighty) came to Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) as a stray. He was in tough shape with a severe skin mite infestation. In addition to the skin condition that needed to be treated, Loki was underweight, had matted hair, ear and eye infections, and had a large abscess at the base of his right ear, most likely from scratching with dirty feet. The vets at SAS trimmed away Loki’s mats, started him on ear/abscess antibiotics and Revolution medication for his mites, and gave him lime sulfur baths to eradicate the more stubborn mites.

Through the combined treatments provided by SAS and the foster care of Helen, Loki beat his mites, lice, and infections during Helen’s three months of fostering him. As she began getting to know Loki’s calm and easygoing personality and realizing his more mature age, Helen made the decision to adopt Loki and provide him with a happy and healthy rest of his life.

Sugar (top) came to SAS at almost 10 years old, after being surrendered because her family was moving. Although she had fewer health issues than Loki when arriving at SAS, Sugar had lived in a cage in the garage and had developed territorial issues. Helen was able to address and resolve these issues by providing Sugar with more space in her home. The instant bond that Sugar formed with Loki was a sign for Helen, and she adopted the senior rabbit as well. Since Helen has adopted Sugar, her personality has blossomed. She’s become more confident and demanding for attention.

The strong connection Loki and Sugar share has provided benefits for both rabbits. While Loki is very low-key and easy-going, Sugar is assertive and is protective of Loki. Loki repays Sugar’s loyalty with routine grooming. In addition to Sugar’s blooming personality, Loki has also become more social and adventurous over time. “When I first adopted him, he was happy to stay in his pen —usually in his litter box or a box house. Now he enjoys hopping all around the living room,” said Helen.

Loki is not the only one who enjoys moving around. When asked what her favorite thing about Sugar is, Helen shares, “She runs big loops, figure-eights around the yard, and zooms around when she’s happy.” Another similarity that these two rabbits share is their love for food. According to Helen, Loki only moves quickly if food is involved and Sugar makes sure Helen knows when the food bowl is empty.

These sweet rabbits have formed a strong partnership thanks to Helen’s foster care and adoption. “I’m happy that they can live out their lives together,” said Helen.

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Looking for ways to support Seattle Animal Shelter? Consider becoming a foster parent or volunteer, or donate to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation to support the work of SAS.

Azul came to Seattle Animal Shelter as a very sick and frail kitten. She was found on the side of the road by herself with a broken tail. When she arrived at SAS, she was diagnosed with fading kitten syndrome, a period in a kitten’s early life when they are most vulnerable to hypothermia, dehydration and infection. Azul’s first days at the shelter were hard – she refused to eat and caretakers were unsure if she would recover from the fading kitten syndrome. Thankfully, Azul was moved into foster care and began eating consistently and gained back energy in her foster home. She made a full recovery and came a long way from her first days in the shelter.

On August 18, 2019, Azul was adopted by Paige and her partner. Paige instantly fell in love with Azul when she first laid eyes on Azul’s bright blue ones at the shelter. Although signage on Azul’s cage informed visitors that she wasn’t up for adoption, Paige was hopeful in bringing her home. Paige continued checking in with the shelter to get updates on Azul’s progress in foster care. When she finally made a full recovery, Paige and her partner made plans to visit her in her foster home. As luck would have it, Azul’s loving foster home was just a five-minute walk away from Paige.

Paige’s initial feelings of connection to Azul were intensified during her visit and she and her partner adopted Azul that day. Azul adapted quickly to her new home after being adopted. “We got the sense she was very grateful to finally be in her forever home after her tough beginnings,” says Paige. Azul has continued great progress in physical health with a healthier coat of fur and a newfound love of food. “We have had to really watch her with food in the house,” shares Paige, who welcomes the behavior change from the once very frail and malnourished kitten.

Apart from trying to sneak food from her parents, Azul loves to be a part of everything her parents do. She enjoys snuggling at night with mom and dad and loves car rides and plane trips. Her spunky and sweet personality has been especially valued by Paige during these uncertain times. “We love ZuZu so much. It’s been especially nice to spend all this extra time with her as we work from home.”

If you are interested in supporting the work of Seattle Animal Shelter, like the foster care program and connecting cats like Azul to their forever homes, consider supporting the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation.

From scabby and scared to floofy and fabulous  

Age is nothing but a number when it comes to Rose Nylund, an eleven-year-old Poodle Pomeranian mix. Although she is a senior dog, Rose’s mom Erika says that she still has a lot of “spunk and moxie.” Seattle Animal Shelter foster parent Krista shares similar observations from her time with Rose and mentions that her favorite thing while fostering her was her sassiness.

This little golden girl went into the care of Krista in April 2016. Before moving to Seattle, Krista and her husband fostered in their home state of Maine and have been fostering for nearly 10 years. When she settled into her new home city of Seattle, Krista was drawn to the community-based group of volunteers at Seattle Animal Shelter, and how much other support and resources the shelter is able to offer. Rose was Krista’s first small dog foster and was a change of pace, having fostered larger dogs like pit bulls and boxers in the past.

While Rose behaved well, she had issues with her physical health. She was very under-weight and had rough scabs all over her body, in place of the little fur she had. Krista, her husband, and the veterinary team at SAS all provided Rose with medicated baths multiple times a week to help with her skin condition.

With this careful and consistent care, Rose made great strides in a short period of time. Her scabbing reduced and was replaced by a fuller coat of fur as time went on.

Erika adopted Rose in July 2016 and is happy to report that Rose is now “a glorious 13 pounds of pure floof,” a huge improvement from being very skinny and scraggly when she first arrived at the shelter. Rose is small but mighty, and her mom shares that she is “like a little princess cloud who knows she’s better than everyone else.” That being said, Rose is amazing with humans and enjoys the sweeter things in life, like a good lingering walk and a nice long nap. She enjoys napping so much, she can disappear for a few z’s without you noticing.

“One time I could not find her,” said Krista. “But she had snuck into a bedroom closet and hopped into the clothes hamper for a nap.”

Size also does not stop Rose from enjoying a good treat. While tiny, Rose can enjoy and destroy her favorite treats. She is also a sucker for belly scratches and will often almost roll off the couch in scratching bliss.

Erika was looking for a smaller dog who would be better suited for apartment life. She was won over by the pictures she saw of Rose that exuded her sassiness. Although they’ve moved on from their apartment to a house in Tacoma, Rose is still a little royal ruler of the household.

If you are interested in supporting SAS’s programs like foster care and for critters to have their medical needs met, consider donating to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation.

You may recognize Duck, a 1-year old Cattledog mix, from Seattle Animal Shelter’s 2019 Year in Review video, which debuted at last year’s Furevermore Gala. Since her time on camera, Duck has made great strides both behaviorally and medically with her foster-turned-forever parent, Sarah.

Duck came to Seattle Animal Shelter when she was about 6-months old in April 2019 with a skin condition that created open sores and wounds. Duck received specialized treatment for this condition while in the Shelter’s care, including an analysis of the condition and treatment with antibiotics. After being adopted into the loving home of her foster mom Sarah, Duck’s condition has been closely monitored by her parents.
In addition to better treatment for her skin, Duck has made great improvements behaviorally as well. In the beginning of her foster care, Sarah noticed that the normal puppy “stranger-danger” behavior that usually goes away continued with Duck as she continuously barked as strangers approached. However, after successfully completing a puppy training class, Duck is now comfortable out in public and crowds having overcome her stranger-danger!

“She’s even mildly internet famous in the craft beer community,” says mom Sarah, sharing a photo of Duck at local brewery, Skookum. In addition to frequenting craft breweries with her parents, Duck enjoys anything involving food, going for neighborhood walks, hiking, beach exploration, and (playfully) harassing her feline brother. She’s also a fan of sleeping on her bed in front of the heater or curling up with her humans on the couch. When asked what silly things Duck does, Sarah shares, “[She] likes to lie on the dog bed in front of the fireplace and roll around on her back and sides making her signature grunty duck noises,” thus proving that Duck is a befitting name for this adorable pup.

Pictures: Top  – A rare tender moment between Duck and her feline brother, T’Challa. Left – Internet famous Duck in front of Skookum brewery in Arlington.

“Duck has a sweet temperament, with an impish naughty side,” shares Sarah. Her favorite toys are anything she can destroy to snack on the stuffing – a reason why Sarah has restricted play time with Duck and her favorite toys. When she’s not destroying toys, she enjoys figure out treat puzzles with Sarah. “Duck is calm, relaxed and affectionate. When she decides she loves you, she really, really loves you,” says Sarah.

When asked what made Duck a foster fail, Sarah shared, “Some foster dogs just need help getting through a medical or behavioral issue prior to adoption, and you can tell that just given the right situation, they’ll be a confident, happy dog ready for a new adopter. Other foster dogs require significant dedication and work to get them to that point. Duck, of course, was the latter, and she really needed us to walk that road to recovery with her. It was really this work, this labor of love, that caused us to foster fail. Since my husband and I both work in the animal field, our jobs can be stressful and depressing, and Duck has given us not only a reason, but a requirement to get up, stay active, and stay dedicated to her schedule, and ultimately her medical and behavioral improvement. She looks to us for confidence, permission, and reassurance that whatever she’s doing is okay, and we look to her for the same! We make a great team and we couldn’t imagine our little team without her.”

Looking for ways to support Seattle Animal Shelter? Consider becoming a foster parent or volunteer, or donate to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation to support the work of SAS.

“Lovely.” “Such a sweet boy.” “Gentle and mellow.” These are just a few of the many praises that has been bestowed upon Frosty. A lovable, three-year old white pitbull, Frosty came to Seattle Animal Shelter (SAS) from The Humane Society of Tacoma & Pierce County as a transfer. Frosty needed an FHO surgery, or femoral head ostectomy, to restore mobility in his hip and back leg after being hit by a vehicle. Unfortunately, Tacoma Humane was unable to provide this specialized care for Frosty and he was transferred to SAS. Due to his complicated injuries, the mobility in Frosty’s back leg was not regained with the FHO surgery and will need to be removed.

Despite his limited mobility, Frosty is energetic and always eager to show his caretakers love. “I spent time with Frosty in his kennel after his [FHO] surgery. He liked leaning on me, gently coaxing treats from my hand, and licking my entire face, even with the cone of shame on,” mentions Maria, a volunteer who helped care for Frosty after his first procedure. His foster parents echo his affectionate and loving nature. “The kid does not seem to know what it means to have a bad day,” says Frosty’s foster parent Kira. Even in stressful situations, Frosty remains cool, calm and collected, following the direction of his caretakers as they diffuse the situation.

Frosty is Kira’s 142nd foster animal! Kira and her husband have been fostering dogs, cats and the occasional critter for years now. They began fostering in Seattle in 2017, and know from past experience what a sweetheart they have in Frosty. In addition to sharing plenty of kisses, Frosty shows his affection by constant tail wagging. “He loves being petted (especially belly rubs!) and also thinks he’s a big baby. If you sit on the floor, expect him to crawl on your lap,” says foster mom Kira.

Frosty has also shown the he likes to build a strong bond to his family. When allowed off-leash, Frosty constantly circles back just to check in with you. His favorite activities include stripping bark off a brand new stick and laying in the grass with said stick. He’s shown greater interest in toys, often bring those offered to him to his bed. He’s got the basic training down (sit, bed, come, crate, potty-trained) but would benefit from further obedience training in his forever home. “Frosty would be a quick study because he is so eager to please his family,” mentions Kira.

Above all else, anyone looking to welcome Frosty into their home should be ready to have a confident, relaxed, tail-wagging sweetheart that doesn’t let a missing leg stop him for showing love and affection. If you want a loyal companion who will follow and support you wherever you go, Frosty is your man.

To see all dogs and critters available for adoption, visit Seattle Animal Shelter.

If you are interested in providing further support to help animals like Frosty receive specialized care at SAS, consider donating to the Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation.

By Bernie Rice — When Georgie first arrived at the Seattle Animal Shelter in March, he had seen better days. The gorgeous pitbull-mix puppy was hit by a car and suffered from fractured ribs, scrapes, and bruises all over his body. He was in bad shape.

After all that trauma, Georgie was still a loving, happy pup who wanted to find his forever home. Georgie had surgery to fix his fractures and wounds, and after some healing, he went to a foster home for his final recovery before adoption.

Well, it was Georgie’s lucky day when Cindy walked into his life. And Cindy would say it was her lucky day too.

Georgie was Cindy’s first foster dog since her own lovable pup passed away in January. Cindy knew that when she took Georgie in to her home that–due to his injuries—he would need to avoid running around or jumping much. He needed to heal, after all, and jumping is not conducive to healing. Well, Georgie had different plans. He wasn’t trained as a puppy so he was constantly jumping on the furniture and running up to people to say hello, especially the mailman, who loved seeing Georgie.

Cindy was on a mission to train Georgie and prepare him for adoption. Cindy placed chairs on the sofa to keep him down. And even then, the little wiggle worm squeezed his way between the chairs to find a tiny place on the sofa to sit. The Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation sponsored Georgie and placed him in training classes. In Cindy’s own words, “he failed that class.”

Once Cindy was able to get into a routine with Georgie, he calmed down enough to wane any signs of separation anxiety. He needed a safe place of his own, and with Cindy’s consistent routine, he found his safe place. He became comfortable and loved playing with rope toys and Kong toys filled with treats. He would bring his toys into the kitchen, wanting Cindy to play if he felt he wasn’t getting enough attention. He was a loving, happy, playful boy.

Finally, Georgie was doing great and was ready for adoption at the end of April. He was a perfect candidate for adoption—he was still a puppy and was so loving—and was quickly headed home to his new family to start a new life. But there would be more changes ahead.

Sadly, a week after adoption, Georgie became very sick. The emergency vet ran multiple tests on Georgie and the costs were becoming too expensive for Georgie’s new family. They made the heart-wrenching decision to relinquish him back to the shelter. Georgie was diagnosed with Polyarthritis, and has since made a full recovery. The cause of Polyarthritis is unknown.

After Georgie was given a clean bill of health by the Seattle Animal Shelter veterinarians, he was promptly adopted by his new family, where he is enjoying life today. Georgie has already lived many lives in his young age. Luckily, there are people like Georgie’s adoption family who care enough to realize the full potential of shelter animals who live happy lives. The world is your oyster, Georgie!