Dinah's first photo

Dinah and Jesse play in the grass

Dinah was found wandering the steets by Elysian Park in Los Angeles. Her rescuer, Marsha Perloff- dog trainer extrordinaire- asked me if I would like to foster Dinah through the Glendale Humane Society. At that point her name was Skye and I agreed to take her in. I picked her up on December 23, 2004. She was a very skinny, scared, sick, little girl. She cringed when I tried to touch her. She stayed in the corner of my bedroom for the first week or so, sleeping in her crate which she loved. After two weeks of fostering I decided to adopt her and rename her Dinah. We enrolled in Marsha's basic manners class and began training. We walked every morning in Runyon Canyon. Dinah did just fine off leash for a couple of months until one day she barked at a passer by. She then started climbing hills to avoid people. The clincher was her uncontrollable behavior when a friend came walking with us. It was starting to get scary. Marsha referred us to Elaine Allison, a trainer familiar with German Shepherds. During Elaine's first visit with us she noticed that Dinah had tatoos in her ears and indicated to me that this meant she was a "working dog," which meant she had probably been trained to be a protection dog of some kind. In our second session Elaine tested Dinah to see if she recognized German commands used in Schutzhund training. She did, but shook and cowered as she executed the command. Elaine stopped the test and said it was clear she had been abused as part of her training. I also mentioned to Elaine that Dinah was fascinated by women with cell phones. Elaine suggested that an electronic collar was probably used on Dinah. Elaine's guess is that Dinah was an import brought into this country as a very, young puppy. Whoever purchased her stuck her in a crate and only took her out to train and abuse. This explained a lot of her behavior. So, we began a whole new approach to life and training.

We have taken Marsha's basic manners class six times. We've had four sessions with Elaine who gives us plenty of homework. In September, 2005, Dinah and I moved to a fabulous house and property in Tujunga. Our friend Marsha lives two doors away with her pack. Our immediate neighbors recently rescued a beautiful German Shepherd girl, Jesse. Dinah and Jesse are becoming fast friends, walking in the morning, playing in each other's yards and hanging out together on their respective sides of the fence. Dinah is still very shy of people, but she is so much better. I really love my beautiful and happy girl.

Best Friend Jessie Dog Group Bow Wow Bungalow