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The Life of a Dog Before and After a Puppy Mill

October 28, 2006, 12:0AM MT

By Michelle Buckalew

by Liz Finch, Best Friends Animal Society

by Liz Finch, Best Friends Animal Society

Breeze only has to hear someone call her name and she’ll begin to prance excitedly around the yard. Twix’s bottom wiggles non-stop whenever people are around, and Taffy will gladly accept a chin-scratch whenever she can get one.

Spend more time with these Australian shepherds, however, and you will see a different side of their personalities.

Even after six months of hard work, Breeze still tries to hide under the kitchen table every now and then. Twix may love the company of humans, but he completely shuts down if those same people try to touch him. Taffy often looks like she wishes she could melt into the floor, even while enjoying the loving attention of her caretakers.

“Sometimes I just can’t imagine what has been done to these dogs to make them this way,” says a mystified Carolyn Mueller, who has been caring for Breeze, Twix, Taffy and four other Aussies in her Missouri home since this past spring.

In fact, the way these dogs lived before coming to Mueller’s home is just business as usual within the world of puppy mills. From the time they were born, they probably lived in small, dark crates stacked atop one another under a three-sided structure that didn’t even provide protection from the elements.

Until they came to Mueller’s home, they likely never had a chance to feel sunshine on their backs or grass under their feet. To this day, Twix still high-steps across the lawn, confused at the way the earth gives beneath his steps.

These seven dogs were lucky enough to escape that nightmare life, though the real reason for their liberation is still murky. The Midwestern breeder who unloaded the dogs first claimed she was shutting down, then later told someone she just planned to downsize to a smaller breed of dog.

Neither explanation jibes with the fact that only a dozen or so of the 500 Aussies on her property were part of the “going out of business” sale, and that those dogs obviously were just surplus to be discarded.

Half of the dogs were so sick and riddled with tumors that they were euthanized almost immediately for humane reasons. The remaining seven currently living with Mueller are healthy, pretty dogs, but the reality is that they are not viable in the breeding business because they don’t have the colors and markings most sought-after by consumers.

“Solid red with tan points is a qualified color under the breed standard, but people want the more typical, flashy colorations - merles or solids with full white collars,” Mueller says.

They also don’t want dogs that are damaged goods, like Twix, who is blind; or Snickers, who is sterile, or Skittles who is painfully shy - traits resulting as much from how the dogs were bred as from how they lived.

“Everyone wants the cute puppy in the window,” says Laura Allen, the attorney who manages the Animal Law Coalition on the Best Friends network. “No one stops to think about the conditions under which the puppy was bred and raised until it was shipped to the pet store.”

The Animal Welfare Act (AWA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are supposed to regulate those conditions through licensing requirements, standards of care, and rules for identification of animals, inspections, record-keeping and staffing. The USDA regulations are enforced by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency that has fewer than 100 inspectors for the thousands of facilities - including exhibitions, circuses and research facilities – they are tasked to oversee.

Most discouraging for the animals living at puppy mills is the fact that the USDA has interpreted the AWA to exclude breeders who sell puppies or kittens directly to the public. Very few states have laws that apply to these businesses either, and there is an ongoing struggle between animal welfare advocates and puppy millers to change what little legislation does exist at the state level.

“Every year, there is a bill that the puppy millers’ lobby to get passed in Missouri that we call the photo bill,” Kathi McDermott, Community Programs Manager at Best Friends. “Essentially, it would make it illegal for anyone to take a photo of a puppy mill, whether they were trespassing or not. It would even be illegal to take a photo from across the road. So far, animal welfare advocates have been able to stop the bill, but it’s always a challenge.”

Without photos to document the situation at the mills, the public can never see the casualties of this business. Instead, they have to rely on the statistics compiled by organizations like Last Chance for Animals, which notes that approximately 400,000 to 500,000 puppies are born to breeders each year but only half ever make it to the pet store. The other half die from the mill’s squalid conditions, hypothermia or starvation.

Others don’t make it through the rigors of transport. In August of this year, 60 puppies from a Missouri breeder were en route to Northeastern pet stores when the trailer in which they were traveling caught fire. All of the dogs died.

Babies are not the only victims of these businesses, however. Each of the 4,000 to 5,000 puppy mills in the U.S. keeps between 75 to 100 breeding adults who also face horrific fates. They may remain at the breeder’s long enough to be bred until they develop cancer, or they may die of the same issues that kill their pups. They may be killed when they no longer serve their purpose. Others end up at auction, are dumped at the local pound or are sold to a research facility to be the subject for experiments and testing.

Mueller’s seven Aussies are incredibly lucky in the face of such odds, though it might not have appeared that way when they first came to her home.

“Initially these dogs were so traumatized that they could not stand or walk,” Mueller says. “They just lay in a rigid fetal position in their crates and had to be carried to their kennels. They didn’t know how to interact with one another or with us, they didn’t know how to play, and they would frequently ‘shut down’ in response to any stimulus, including light and fresh air.”

Six months later, the Muellers have seen tremendous progress in the dogs, though they are still struggling to undo the damage done to Breeze, Twix, Taffy, and littermates Toffee, Twizzler, Snickers and Skittles

The greatest changes have occurred in Breeze, who was so thin when she arrived that the Muellers didn’t realize she was pregnant until they heard newborn pups whimpering in her kennel one night. Breeze was quickly moved into the house with her babies – all of whom have been adopted – and is thriving due to all the exposure she is having to being part of a family.

One by one, the others also are being accustomed to home life as well, and the Muellers have been using a combination of obedience and clicker training to help the Aussies learn to trust them.

Such a slow approach is vital to the progress of shy, unsocialized dogs, according to Best Friends trainer Ann Allums.

“I never force anything on dogs that are in this state, because the dog isn’t really learning anything since he’s so scared,” she says. “Actually, he’s only learning that if he freezes, no harm will come to him.”

Allums waits until the dog is comfortable around her then uses non-threatening body language such as no eye contact, no frontal approaches, and no fast movements. Food is her main resource for bringing such dogs around.

“They have to eat to live,” Allums explains. “So I start by having the dog eat and drink with me sitting near, so he learns to trust me more. When he’s comfortable with that, I have him eat closer and closer to me until he is eating out of my hand. Then I change the approach so that I get to touch the dog before he gets a bite of food, and once he’s okay with that I make him touch me to get a bite of food. At that point, I’ve usually conditioned a positive association with being touched by humans.”

Allums ignores aspects of a shy dog’s behavior that she does not want to reinforce and rewards more outgoing behavior with something of value to the dog.

“Do a lot of that with the dog to associate people with good things like long walks, treats, or car rides,” she says.

Friendly dogs are also good positive role models, and Mueller has three older dogs that have helped tremendously in socializing.

“They are very interested in my dogs, and they have also been fine with my cats and with my grandkids,” says Mueller. She and her husband have been putting them on leashes and walking in the yard with them as much as they can, and they are growing more accepting of men because of her husband’s interactions.

“Routine, boundaries, and small doses of exposure to things they had never known are working with these dogs,” says Mueller, who spends every spare moment working with them. “We have seen changes brought on by individual handling and care, but two people can only do so much.”

Each dog needs a lot of attention and patience to undo a lifetime of neglect. The plan has been to work on rehabilitating the dogs one at a time and then to find them good forever homes. However, winter is fast approaching in Missouri and Mueller says the thought of the dogs still being kenneled outside during the cold is heartbreaking.

“We really need more foster or permanent homes so that each of these wonderful dogs can get the attention they deserve now and make the kind of progress that Breeze has made,” she says. “She was such a serious girl when she first came here, and I never would have believed that she’s only two years old.

“Today, however, she’s lightened up and is doing nutty things. She’s really just a puppy,” Mueller continues. “In fact, for the first time recently she displayed play-posture. She did it clumsily as she has no idea what she was doing, but it’s as if one day a light went off in her brain. She did a little pounce, a bow, and then stood erect with a confused expression on her face that seemed to say, ‘Wow, is this joy?’”

Breeze, Twix, Taffy, Snickers, Skittles, Toffee and Twizzler are all in need of loving foster or permanent homes. If you can help, please contact Carolyn at kidseverywhere@msn.com

Pictured: Twizzler after a bath

You can also see clips of the dogs in action at the following links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6M9iIf8-lI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2UnwpcedD0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFII63j_X5Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnu5wM5OCpA

Visit the End Puppy Mills community on the network.
click here

Comments

Posted November 03, 2006, 4:30PM by ILuvBambi

I saw the video what beautiful animals. They are so happy now!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! You guys are so great to work with these babies. God Bless You!!! The story was so sad and Puppy Mills shouldn't even exist in the United States. Its a horrible horrible thing. I cry everytime I see things on Puppy or Cat mills.

Posted October 31, 2006, 10:44AM by lmiller

Its amazing what you have been able to do. I watched the videos and you could see the fear in Toffee's eyes and the fact she did not want to move. I hope all of these dogs get good homes.

Posted November 12, 2006, 12:58PM by dmomma

Carolyn,

You are doing a great job. I adopted an Aussie puppy mill breeder 5 years ago. It took a lot of work but she is happy and healthy today. She is truly part of the family. I am sure your dogs will be happy in their forever homes.

Posted November 09, 2006, 3:45PM by meowgirl70

Hi Sammi1,

Thanks for your offer to help with these dogs! They are truly beautiful and are making amazing progress with Carolyn, but could clearly use homes of their own.

Please contact Carolyn directly at kidseverywhere@msn.com to let her know that you are interested in helping out.

Best regards,

Liz Finch
Animal Help Specialist
Best Friends

Posted November 07, 2006, 11:8PM by sammi1

I have never heard such a sad story as these dogs went thru. I would be willing to take one, possibly two. We live in Wisconsin and at the moment our dogless. Had to put our 13 year old dog to sleep in July because of degenerative mylapthy. I've always had dogs and miss not having them. I have many cats because of people dropping them off we live on a farm. They are mostly barn cats but I do have 6 in the house. I have time and a whole lot of love to offer. How do I go about getting these dogs?