Seven, the Rescued “Police Dog”

By Officer Katie Zaimis

There she was, excitedly leaning against the door of her cage at the animal shelter. With trusting brown eyes, a white-tipped tail, and those floppy, spotted ears, she was the most adorable puppy I had ever seen. I had seen her for the first time a few nights prior in the hallway of the police station, on an early morning after my shift. I had not been able to forget about the 8-week-old abuse victim ever since. The officers who witnessed the incident had apparently seized the pit bull/beagle mix from her owner, and the puppy was going to be kept at the shelter until the court hearing. I didn’t know yet if she would be put up for adoption or returned to her owner, but I knew how much I wanted to keep her.

My husband Alex and I both love dogs, but we live in a small townhome without an accessible backyard. We had previously agreed that we wanted at least one dog but had decided to wait until we moved into a larger home. Now, a sweet little face and wagging tail were quickly convincing me to reconsider. Over the next month, I visited the puppy almost every day. I brought her treats and toys, clipped her nails, and took her for walks. Her name at the time was “Princess,” but she had not been treated as one. I decided that I wanted to name her Seven of Nine after a character from Star Trek: Voyager (the character on the show was also “rescued!”)

Animals are a special kind of victim—they can’t tell anyone that they are hurting, or seek help for themselves. It was a stressful month knowing that Seven might eventually have to go back to her owner. She would not likely get another chance to be saved.

When the court hearing came around, I was relieved to find out that the owner had decided to sign the puppy over to the county. I went to the shelter and filled out the adoption paperwork that same day. Seven was finally ours, and would have a loving home for the rest of her life.

Having had zero experience at raising puppies, I relied heavily on advice from friends and Internet research.  One thing I never expected was the constant biting during the teething process.  I came to realize that a dog’s natural reaction to touch is defensive, and they need to be taught to view humans as non-threatening.  This must have been especially difficult for a pup already injured by a human at such a young age.  Seven used to latch onto hands, arms, shoelaces, pants legs—pretty much anything that she could sink her razor sharp puppy teeth into.  With a lot of time, patience, and the occasional band-aid, we slowly taught Seven bite inhibition.  Ignoring bad behavior and praising good behavior goes a long way when training a pup.  I would yelp like a puppy and let my arm go limp if she bit me, and turn my head away and ignore her if she was pulling at my pant leg or shoelace.  We gave her chew toys, Nylabones, a Kong ball (I like to freeze it with peanut butter inside), and even pieces of ice.  I used to pet her while feeding her treats so that she was too distracted to start chewing on my hands.  It took time, but this type of training proved to be extremely effective and resulted in a much gentler puppy!

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House training is another challenge, even more so when it is raining outside.  Seven hates the rain so much that we got her a tiny raincoat for when she needs to go out during inclement weather.  I took her for a walk one day to allow her to do her business, when she suddenly decided she did not want to walk home.  I found myself walking down the side of the road holding a puppy in a raincoat, and an umbrella over both of us.  I could not imagine what passersby must have been thinking!

Anyone who has ever trained a hound knows how willful they can be.  Training is a challenge, but it can be very rewarding if done properly.  Hound breeds are extremely intelligent and can learn new things very quickly.  At five months, Seven already had a decent repertoire of tricks memorized.  She learned how to sit, shake hands, high five, and low crawl.  If I told her to “twist” she would spin around in a circle.  Our latest trick is my favorite—I point my finger at her and say “bang bang!” and she rolls onto her back with her paws in the air. 

At six months old, Seven has started baying and chasing squirrels.  Her beagle side is definitely asserting itself.  Our walks require a bit of patience since she wants to investigate everything along the way.  She seems to enjoy tracking and sniffs the ground with her nose down, tail up.  She began doing this while she was still at the shelter, but her senses seem to have developed more now.  She is a hunting dog at heart, but such a loyal and wonderful companion.

Seven has a ton of energy and we make sure she gets plenty of exercise to match it.  She runs with larger dogs at the park and gets several walks a day.  She seems to operate in short bursts—she will run and play for an hour, but then nap for the rest of the afternoon.  We play fetch games with her squeaky ball and Alex throws Frisbees with her at the dog park.  Once she has had her exercise, Seven loves to be held and prefers to use any nearby human as a pillow.  She even sleeps in our bed at night.

For all the challenges of owning a puppy, the rewards are tenfold.  We look forward to a lifetime of adventures with our sweet Seven of Nine!

Editor's Note: Beagles are "cousins" to coonhounds and foxhounds and we thought our readers would enjoy reading this engaging first-person account and excellent photographs! Our organization does encourage adoption of hound mixes.