Advertisement

Washington trainer works to turn bad dogs good

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

For Washington state-based dog rescuer Steve Markwell, so-called ‘bad dogs’ are a stock-in-trade. Aggressive or fearful dogs -- often with records of attacking humans and other animals -- have a home at Markwell’s Olympic Animal Sanctuary. As for Markwell (who got his start rescuing unwanted reptiles, explaining that rescue was ‘a way to get free snakes’), his theories on dog training are intriguing, to say the least. Our colleague Kim Murphy has the story; here’s an excerpt:

There have always been good dogs and bad dogs. The good dogs come when you call, romp happily with the children and stay off the sofa. The bad dogs chase after cars, trample the flower beds and pass wind under the coffee table.

Advertisement

Then there are the really bad dogs -- the cat-killers, face-biters and snarling, drooling wretches so mean even their owners want them shot. Those are Steve Markwell’s kind of dogs.

‘When people create these monsters, I think it’s people’s responsibility to take care of them. Not to just kill everything because it’s inconvenient,’ said Markwell, who operates a sanctuary for canine ne’er-do-wells in the Olympic Peninsula rain forest.

‘The fact that they have their quirks, the extra things you have to be cautious of, in some ways it’s almost endearing. It’s kind of like, the world hates you, but I don’t,’ he said.

The Olympic Animal Sanctuary caters to the worst of the worst from around the country: dogs who would be euthanized or turned away at any other shelter, and those with records so bad that no animal welfare group would consider adopting them out.

Among the more than 50 animals currently at the sanctuary are domestic coyote mixes, guard dogs who once belonged to drug dealers, cat-killing huskies and one creature who appears to be 90% wolf and about as interested in being petted as a demon is in being in church on Sunday.

THERE’S MORE; READ THE REST.

Advertisement
Advertisement