WATSON IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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02/04/2026: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

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Watson came off the bus screaming and kicking! At first introduction we thought we had our hands full, however, within a day or so of acclimating to his new environment the real Watson stood up. Watson is very intelligent and came pre-loaded with basic commands such as sit, down, and stay. He has accepted all his new handlers well and has a friendly demeanor in general with people and other dogs. He does get ahead of the lead and tends to pull when he is interested in something.

The commands we worked on this week were our markers; good, yes, and his name. He shows good response to his name and is picking up the markers quickly.

For playtime we introduced Watson to a few other dogs. He did well with the majority of the pack but had a bad interaction with Thor. When playing with Tanner he attempted to mount him a few times and needed correction. While with Pickle there was a lack of interest between the two and Watson exhibited some resource guarding with toys.

One interesting thing about Watson is his intense play drive. He loves toys and bones, and will do almost anything for them. We will be using this to our training advantage.

Watson was whining the first few nights he arrived and received a few water corrections. Now that he knows hes in a safe place his crate training is improving. He willingly goes into the crate and doesn’t whine anymore. One thing we need to improve on is Watson’s impulse control.

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FOR MORE INFO ON WATSON? CLICK HERE. 

DIVA IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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02/04/26: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

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Diva loves everyone. She is such a happy dog. I gave her a 9 due to her excitement and comfort around her new environment.

Diva likes to put her paws up on people and beg for pets so we really wanted to get away from this behavior fast. We are working with giving her rewards for not jumping on people and sitting politely for petting. Our team is also focusing on her walking on a loose lead.

Diva likes to play keep away. We are having a blast throwing the ball and then trying to get it back. We are shaping her fetch pattern by rewarding her for bringing the ball back. She also likes to play with Tanner who is another dog at the facility.

Something interesting we noticed was Diva’s inability to feel comfortable turning certain ways due to her vision being out in one eye. We are working on alternative positions to make her successful.

Our team did a great job at communicating and shaping her behaviors consistently. She is making quick gains.

Our team could improve on working through difficult situations. Building resiliency is key to improving the self.

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For all of weekly progress reports please check back here or visit the PAWS Facebook page!

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FOR MORE INFO ON DIVA? CLICK HERE. 

TANNER IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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02/04/26: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

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Tanner is very timid and unsure in this environment. He struggles with a lot of movement and loud noises. He doesn’t seem to be scared, he just seems very unsure. He wasn’t taking food inside this week at all. He would eat a little bit outside when things were calmer, but would not perform any kind of commands for the kibble. He would shut down when we tried to expect anything from him. Tanner does like affection from people and is very friendly when the environment is calm. I think he will settle in more throughout the week and become more social.

We really didnt have any expectations for Tanner this week we just wanted to build a bond with him and get him to trust us. Even this was difficult because Tanner really just wanted to go back to his crate where he feels comfortable and safe. Hopefully he becomes more food motivated this week and we can work on some basic commands and charging his name so he will respond to it. He did finally start to play with Big Boy after four days of being reserved. They both got the zoomies and had a very good play session which helps his social skills and allowed him to feel more safe and comfortable. We will continue to be patient with Tanner and help him develop some basic obedience and social skills.

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FOR MORE INFO ON TANNER? CLICK HERE. 

 BIG BOY IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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02/04/26: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino. 

 

This week Big Boy showed up and upon his arrival, he was pretty curious about his surroundings and just as shy and timid towards most everything. At first, I let him explore the yard and gave him a chance to sniff and use the bathroom which he did immediately. We eventually came inside and Big Boy didn’t seem too overstimulated or nervous, and once we got to our room he was fairly relaxed. The first day and night he did excellent going into his kennel and remained calm throughout the day and night. We have not had a single issue with him in his kennel yet. Big Boy goes in super easy, doesn’t chew his bedding or whine, and once the kennel door is opened he waits before coming out. Later in the first day I gave Big Boy his first bath with us and he did pretty good! At first he was a little nervous but with lots of pets and encouragement he relaxed and stood there for the entire bath. Afterword’s, he was very easy to dry off with a towel and never tried to run or resist at all.

For the first day and a half, Big Boy wouldn’t hardly eat at all unless it was super quiet and just him and I. I didn’t want to push him to eat food, so to bond I just sat on the floor with him giving him lots of pets and letting him do his thing. The evening of the second day, Big Boy was much more interested in taking food from my hand and it felt like a huge victory. I took advantage of him finally eating and worked on charging his name as well as our terminal marker “yes.” To work on his name I would go into a controlled environment and say “Boy” and when he would engage I would give him a food reward. Eventually I would say “Boy” and once he engaged I would give the terminal command “yes” as I ran backwards giving him a chase for his food. The reason for running backwards is to create engagement, drive, and it also teaches the dog that when I use my “yes” marker he is free to break from any position and come to me to receive his reward. Shaping the “sit” command this week was difficult but we have come a long ways since we started! At first, Boy did not understand what a lure was or hoe to follow one. After a few attempts I switched over to using a tad bit of leash pressure while heavily relying on putting pressure on the top of his butt to get him to sit, once he sat I would immediately turn the pressure off, heavily reward him and then release him. I relied on this method for a day and a half and he eventually started to sit with just the pressure from my hand on his butt. Once he knew what I was expecting from him once my hand touched his butt, I started to put the verbal command “sit” to the pressure as I would use a lure in front of his nose. We are now to the point where I can tell Boy “sit” while he is in front of me and attentive, and as I tell him I use the food lure and he sits quickly with a decent amount of short duration.

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FOR MORE INFO ON BIG BOYI? CLICK HERE. 

THOR IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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02/04/26: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino!

 

Thor has been here since Wednesday afternoon and he is slowly acclimating back to being here with PAWS. This week’s update for Thor is bare-bones as we are waiting for him to come out of his shell. Thor has had some behavioral issues since he returned last time he was here and we thought it would be good for him to come back up for another round. We have identified some areas we would like to work on while he Is here. Thor’s biggest issue is his overstimulation. Thor really is a great dog, he has a quiet and relaxed personality. When he is exposed to things that he is unsure about, that is when his behavioral problems come out. Fortunately, we are here to help him become more tolerant of things that might cause him to become overstimulated, and also help him learn to decompress in a healthy way.

Our primary goals with Thor this round are to create safety for him and others, to help him redirect his focus when environmental stimulus proves to be too much, and to help teach him to decompress on his own. The first goal, above all else, is creating safety. What that looks like for Thor is muzzle training. We do not think that Thor is going to bite someone, but Thor’s issues stem from fear – and a scared dog will protect itself. We do not want Thor to react negatively to something and potentially harm someone else, or even worse, put Thor in a scary situation without protecting him. The second part of that is we want to teach Thor a proper way of meeting people. We believe that if we introduce Thor to people the same way, over and over, he can come to rely on a pattern to meeting people and this will help him feel safer when he meets new people he is unsure about. Our next goal is to help him redirect his focus in areas and through situations that are too much for him. The way we plan on doing that is by creating strong bonds between his handlers and himself. We want Thor to feel safe with the people he is with, so even though situations might be scary, he can know that we have his back. Our final goal is to help teach him to decompress on his own. The plan for that is really just to get him used to his crate. Thor does not like his crate, and that is probably due to something that happened in his past. Some people do not like to put their dog in a crate, but for a dog like Thor, it is incredibly important that he has a space of his own that he knows he will not be bothered.

These goals sound easy and simple, but they are not. We plan on doing everything we can to help Thor learn positive skills while he is here that will help him on his life-long journey. Thor is not an easy dog, he struggles with things, but he really is an incredible dog that will no doubt settle down when he finds his forever home and can come to rely on people that he knows will love him and make sure he is safe.

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FOR MORE INFO ON AUTUMN? CLICK HERE. 

PICKLE IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

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02/04/26: Arrived at the Givens Hall PAWS Program in Orofino!

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We received Pickle’s four days ago, since then we found his behavior to be consistent to David Hardy’s evaluation and notes. Pickle’s is very friendly towards his trainers and people in general. His toy drive (especially his ball) gives us an alternative to food rewards, often choosing his ball over kibble. Pickle’s was greeted to our facility with a bath as soon as he arrived, and was very tolerant while bathing and removing excess shedding from kennel stress. He goes into his crate without resistance, he’s quiet while in there and does not chew his blankets. Dog introductions were kept short, but I did notice signs that might indicate dominate behavior; we will closely monitor future play sessions to maintain positive healthy social behavior.

Pickle’s is already: healing, sitting at doors, sitting and downing on command, with duration and distance. We have him dialed in at 3-3 1/3 cups of “Taste of the Wild”, Salmon, Smoked Salmon Flavor.

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FOR MORE INFO ON PICKLE? CLICK HERE.