It was back in 2011 that I was working with some problem dogs at Watermelon Mountain Ranch (WMR), a private shelter in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. I managed to help them get adopted, except for one. This guy was wild, and gave me more scratches than all the others combined. Only a few volunteers could walk him, and at four years old he had been there nearly two years.
at Home
What’s in a name? It seems he had been found in an abandoned car, wearing only a red bandanna. So he got the name of Bandi, and decided to keep it.
Now, I was looking for a special dog, so I spent several days testing him for the qualities I needed. And, he passed. WMR had considered him nearly unadoptable, and was surprised when I came to adopt him. After four months of nearly daily training, Bandi was then ready to start his new career, as a dog trainer.
With problem dogs there’s only so much a person can do. For those scared of other dogs but liking people you can start training, but they will stay afraid of dogs unless they learn how to meet them. For others who were scared of people, getting close is so much faster if you have a social dog who will calm them down.
Now, some trainers have a very calm and laid back dog they use, which scared dogs quickly grow used to. But, that really doesn’t teach them much of anything. I needed Bandi to be a calm and very confident dog, who they could go to whenever scared, and who would help teach them manners. Over the years, Bandi became so good at that, that he seemed to specialize in the the most fearful or aggressive dogs around. While those may seem to be opposites, they are generally not, as aggression usually comes from fear.
In order for him to learn more about various dogs, we found the busiest local dog parks, and spent several hundreds of visits there. Initially meeting a new client dog can be difficult, and this gave him the opportunity to practice on many dogs having at least some amount of socialization. And then, on the occasional newbies coming into the dog park.
For his first client, it took me three days to stop this guy’s biting people (resource guarding), while Bandi cured him with other dogs in only two days. For the next few years, with a new dog coming in I’d carefully introduce them and guide Bandi when he needed it. After that, Bandi started handling all the meet-and-greets, as well or better than I could.
When he first arrived, Bandi was just crazy about catching balls. But, over time, he mastered a frisbee, a ring toss, and even an RC car.
Along the way, Bandi learned how to meet people, and especially young kids. At one point, one of the fathers taught him a little soccer, and he’d go play with a bunch of 5-year olds. Over the last decade, Bandi’s met hundreds of people and many dozens of kids. Not from training, but from learning appropriate social behaviors, so that Bandi could easily walk into a group of people, kids, or dogs, decide who he wants to see, and handle everything with no assistance.
While walking a parade he got tired. Bandi walked over to the side and introduced himself to the parents, then went to take a break and visit the kids. He also liked stopping in a few friendly stores, to say hello.
At about 11 years he started to slow down, a little more each year. Hitting his teens, he basically retired. A morning walk to slowly sniff around, then evening in the park, meandering around and rolling in the grass. Occasionally stopping in the dog park to visit some friends, or play very briefly with a few of the pups he liked. At that point, Bandi was still chasing his radio-controlled car around the park, often with a few friends joining him. But, turning 15, his heart murmur became too severe for that, so only calm walks remained.
On August 31, 2023, Bandi seemed a bit wobbly, having some difficulty laying down. That evening he apparently suffered a major stoke, and was effectively gone. I waited a few days to see if there was any meaningful recovery, but he only grew weaker and, a few days later, passed on at the vet.
The picture collage shows many of his fifty fosters. Then there were the other clients he worked with. A few where people had either given up, or were told by dog trainers there was nothing to be done. But, after a few sessions with Bandi, they saw proof of what was really possible, and often continued from there.
Most every dog becomes special in some manner. But few of them have ever helped so many others.