News
Sheridan County Dog and Cat Shelter rehabilitating dogs to find a forever home
Published
4 years agoon
The Sheridan Dog and Cat Shelter offers a place for animals that through various circumstances have lost their homes and opportunity to find new loving families.
Some of those animals are dogs that through neglect or abuse don’t have an understanding of simple commands, may have grown aggressive toward human interaction or out of confusion and fear have lashed out in the past.
Shelter Executive Director Jill Moriarty and her team developed The Bite Club.
Shan Foster is the instructor of Bite Club and has trained dogs used by law enforcement and was a K-9 Officer himself. Foster earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Administration of Justice and subsequently earned a Master Canine Trainer Certification from the National K-9 Learning Center of Columbus, Ohio. There he learned many disciplines of dog training, including Pet Obedience, Assistance Dogs for the Disabled, Scent Detection and Tracking, Search and Rescue, Personal Protection, and Police K-9 Training. At National K9, Foster trained under Scott Mueller, a founder in the training of support dogs for disabled individuals. Foster was a K-9 Police Officer in Colorado. From there he deployed to Iraq as a private contractor with certified dual-purpose Explosives Detection and Patrol dogs for the Department of Defense. Upon his return from Iraq, Foster worked with a Shelter to Service organization based in California. He continues to train dogs in the private sector from Country Pet Inn in Sheridan, which he owns and operates.
Foster and the shelter team take the time needed to train and give dogs a good foundation to grow on with their new family. After a dog arrives at the shelter, many need time to adjust to the new surroundings, sounds and workings of shelter life. The crew at the shelter then begins with simple commands and teaching the dog how to walk on a leash.
According to Moriarty, on average a dog will be a member of the Bite Club for three to five weeks. If needed, the dog may be held and trained for a longer period of time until they are ready to find their new family. Visit the Sheridan Dog and Cat Shelter’s website to view the animals available for adoption now.
Sue Marston
May 25, 2021 at 12:53 am
Outrageous having a K9 trainer involved. I worked in law enforcement and saw firsthand the horrific cruelty K9’s are subjected to, and also how it’s well hidden and lied about. I also did a lot of research and saved a great deal of documentation which shows that this isn’t about “one bad apple” here or there, but INSTITUTIONALIZED cruelty, which is taught to all of them, and is the standard.
I am so sick of the media cheerleading for these monsters and creating fantasy scenarios to push onto the public.
Karen Davies
May 25, 2021 at 9:56 am
I personally worked with Shan and my dog and never saw one bit of cruelty. My dog is doing great. It doesn’t make sense that a “cruel” trainer would be training dogs to live in homes with inexperienced people. Everything he does is to benefit the dog and the adopter. That’s my opinion, anyway.
Cindy Livingston
May 26, 2021 at 8:56 am
Have you personally worked with or watched Shan work with dogs? It is great that you bring this to the attention of the public so that they will do their research before hiring a trainer, however, if you have not actually watched this trainer it would be nice if you did not demonize him.
Sue Marston
May 27, 2021 at 4:46 pm
I am only going on my own department (lies, lies, lies, and what goes on in private is exact opposite of the public relations), and then the additional research I put in, and found the same secrecy hiding the exact same things. To get the facts, one has to go undercover. As long as any training is only done in your presence, that is a good thing, but don’t leave your dogs alone with them. Links are often not allowed, so look up Stop K9 Torture. That is my story, but I have saved dozens of corraborating articles and documentation, right up to the present.