How Rescued Lab Beagles Learn How To Be Dogs

These dogs are not easy, and admittedly, Rob Wadd and Sharon Giest had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

They figured another beagle would be a breeze. After all, they already had the best-behaved beagle one could hope for, so they figured they were doing something right. If not them, then who, they rationalized.

The idea was to find a companion for their beagle Badger, who was 11 at the time.

They’d already decided that this time they’d rescue a beagle after reading about facilities such as the Kindness Ranch, near Hartville, that rescues product and clinical test beagles after their research trials are done instead of euthanizing them.

This resonated with the couple, who liked the idea of giving dogs like this a second chance. They reached out to John Ramer, executive director for the sanctuary, who said they had an extremely traumatized beagle who he thought would do well with an older dog.

Giest heard “traumatized” and immediately agreed, so four years ago, they drove from their home in Billings to the 1,000-acre ranch in southeastern Wyoming to meet Gabe and see how he got along with Badger.

Immediately, the two dogs took to one another, and the couple also fell in love and agreed to adopt Gabe.

However, they soon realized they weren’t just dealing with any dog.

Though Gabe was fond of Badger, he wanted nothing to do with Wadd and Giest. It took more than an hour and multiple staff members to coax him into his carrier, and on the way home, the bathroom break didn’t go any better when he refused to be collared.

“It was a cross between a leaping Marlin and a bucking bronco,” Wadd said of that first attempt, so they put him back in the crate and headed home.

Once there, they let the dogs loose in their fenced-in backyard. Two hours later, Gabe was still running outside and refused to come in, until finally, Giest cornered him and carried him inside as he cowered in her arms.

“It was clear we were going to have teach Gabe to be a dog,” Wadd said.

Learning to be a dog

It was the little things at first, and the couple knew it would be up to Badger – not them – to teach Gabe the basics.

For starters, Gabe didn’t know how to lift his back leg to urinate. He watched Badger do the simple deed but lifted his front paw instead and seemed surprised that nothing was happening. He learned to lift the back one eventually, but even today, he still gets confused.

Then there’s the backyard in general. Grass freaks Gabe out, and the first time he tried to replicate Badger’s back roll, it was like watching Elaine from the popular television show, “Seinfeld,” dance, Giest said.

“It was just awkward,” she laughed.

Sounds still startle Gabe: planes flying overhead, helicopters, sirens. Even the wind is uncomfortable to him as is the dark, and in particular, flashlights, for some odd reason.

The couple has no idea what Gabe went through in the first years of his life but can only speculate based on his reactions to certain things.

Ramer purposefully does not disclose these details to those who adopt the rescue animals. Along with beagles, which constitutes the lion share of the animals they take in with more than 150 last year alone, the Kindness Ranch is also home to cats, goats, rabbits, llamas, pigs, horses and other animals.

Unless adopted out, the sanctuary is a no-kill facility where the animals will remain for the rest of their lives.

Ramer stays out of the politics of animal testing and maintains an agnostic stance about the ethics. Instead, he focuses on preventing the animals from being euthanized after their clinical trials by forming discreet, close working relationships with labs and veterinarian programs throughout the country.

He’s made a name for himself nationally after stepping in to help coordinate the rescue of 4,000 pups from the Envigo breeding facility in 2022 as well as his ongoing efforts on Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers of the viability of a post-lab life for beagles and other test subjects.

Depending on the type of medical or clinical trial, testing can take anywhere from three months up to two years, according to Ramer. During this time, the animals have had limited exposure to life outside a sterile, controlled environment and aren't used to the sounds of everyday life nor have they had any emotional connection with humans.

The first step when Ramer and crew receive the animal is to get them used to life outside the clinical setting. Part of the rehabilitation process is slowly getting the dogs used to the new stimuli without overwhelming them. 

There’s also a huge learning curve on behalf of those who adopt these dogs, so Ramer maintains close communications following an animal’s adoption.

“Keeping the conversation going after adoption is critical. It allows us to address any long-term issues, raises our awareness of what we can do better while the dogs are still here to increase chances of a successful adoption and to simply build the community,” he said. “We want this relationship forever, not just for the adoption photo.”

Love and patience

And as Wadd and Giest learned, adopting dogs like Gabe requires a lot of love and patience, which wasn’t a problem for them. From day one, they fell in love with the little pup, Wadd said, and over time also learned to master the necessary patience to make him feel at home.

As they learned, everything is on the animal’s time, which is just part of helping the dog adjust to its new environment. Often it requires a lot of patience, even for the beagle to warm up to its new owner.

Though Gabe took to Giest right away, it took more than three years for Gabe to allow Wadd to pet him. Though frustrating for a dog owner who wanted to snuggle with his beloved pet, Wadd adjusted to Gabe’s schedule.

Now, he allows Wadd to sit on the couch next to him and pet him. More than love and patience, Gabe has inspired the couple in unexpected ways through his resilience and capacity to love.

Out of curiosity one night, Wadd allowed himself to watch the start of a covert video from a testing facility done by PETA and was immediately horrified by what he saw and the manner in which these animals were handled.

The fact that Gabe can still love people and trust them continues to blow him away.

“He should hate all of us. There should be nothing but disdain for the entire human race for what he's been through, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.

More rescues

It’s these qualities that make beagles ideal test animals in general due to their docile nature, resiliency and manageable size. And for Wadd and Giest, the love far outweighs any of the work, and they’ve since adopted a second Kindness Ranch rescue, Kai, after Badger died.

Kathy and Rob DeStefano, of Casper, also happily took on the challenge of adopting a beagle rescue without quite understanding what they were getting themselves into.

Kathy won’t say that she tricked her husband into adopting Sophie but does admit that she knows his weak spots. After losing their remaining Labrador retriever in 2019, Rob told his wife no more dogs. The grief was too hard.

Less than three years later, however, the couple found themselves driving home with a beagle after they’d earlier learned about the ranch and spent a day volunteering for Kathy’s birthday. Though they worked with the cats that day, the beagles continued to pique her interest until one day she filled out an application on their site.

She figured she’d apply and then work on Rob later if they were accepted.

They were. Three days later, Kathy received a call from Kindness Ranch staff that her application was approved, and they would have a batch of beagles ready to go by the weekend. Kathy was not looking forward to that conversation with Rob, who predictably was “a little negative” at first, but ultimately agreed to go take a look at the beagles.

Kathy packed all the necessities just in case. They only made it as far as the gravel parking lot when they were greeted by a male staff member carrying a shivering beagle.

The guy told the DeStefanos that he thought this beagle, Sue, would be a good fit for them.

He set the 18-month-old quacking beagle on the gravel, and she immediately peed out of nervousness. That’s all it took; they were hooked.

“She was the cutest thing we had ever seen,” Kathy said. “She was so scared to death, she just shook, and shook and shook.”

Needless to say, Sue – now Sophie Sue – Kathy's concession to Rob who named her after the Italian actress, Sophia Loren – returned to Casper with them that day.

Not the money, please

Much like Gabe, Sophie was slow to warm to the DeStefanos and was skittish at first. She, too, was startled by outdoor life and had no idea how to respond to critters like the birds, squirrels, deer and turkeys that share the backyard.

“At first she had no clue or what anything was,” Kathy said. “She didn’t show any interest like other dogs.”

It took time for her to adjust to her environment with all background noise causing her to shiver.

Potty training Sophie by far was their biggest challenge, a feat that took eight months rather than the typical couple weeks. She also has food issues, and Kathy has to carefully monitor the amount Sophie eats to keep her weight in check.

Kathy guesses that Sophie may have been in a nutritional study given her propensity for food, which is also her greatest motivator.

Despite the challenges, the DeStefanos say Sophie is their best dog yet, perhaps because of how affectionate she now is with the couple despite it taking more than a year for her to warm up to them.

Luckily for Sophie, the DeStefanos are forgiving people given her propensity for shredding. Not only does she shred toilet paper, but she also likes to shred money which Rob found out the hard way – three times – after he left his pants on the chair where Sophie grabbed his money clip.

The first time, Rob ironed what was left of the bills in an attempt to piece them together. This worked for a couple bills, but then he gave up. He didn’t bother the second or third time, and Kathy estimates he’s out about $1,000.

“I keep telling him to make sure to put his pants away,” Kathy said with a laugh.

From the West Bank to Wyoming

Along with the beagles, Ramer made an exception to adopt 10 refugee pups from the war-torn West Bank last spring. Typically, Ramer is strict to only take in former lab or clinical test animals, but made the exception when he learned about efforts to rescue the mostly strays that would otherwise have been euthanized.

Susan Weidel was one of the first people in line. The retired Laramie-based attorney has deep roots in the rescue community both with dogs and horses.

Though she’d initially gone to the Kindness Ranch to adopt a beagle, Weidel was immediately drawn in by Platine’s eyes as she hunched in the corner of her kennel. Weidel had seen those eyes before and recognized the hardship capture in the downtrodden look and cowering body.

She’d seen that look before, particularly in the badly scarred pit bull, Little Red, that she’d rescued from Michael Vick’s infamous dog fighting operation and who had since passed away.

“I looked at her eyes and thought, that was the one,” she said.

Platine, named for the platinum rods in her front leg, is a Canaan breed common to Israel. She was a street dog, who likely had been hit by a vehicle that caused her debilitating injuries. She had primitive surgery to put the rods in before arriving in Wyoming and later had a hip surgery in Torrington after she arrived.

Despite the prior surgeries, Weidel learned that Platine still needed medical work after the pins ended up coming undone and a second hip surgery to shave down the bone in her hip circuit.

She wants to run, Weidel said, which is why she’s investing in acupuncture and other holistic treatments to get her up to par. Like the beagle rescues, Platine was comfortable with other dogs and gets along well with Weidel’s other dogs but is skittish with humans and had a hard time adjusting to indoor life.

Her first day after being coaxed into Weidel’s home was to sit on a couch staring out a bay window with her back turned to the room. It also took her months to warm up to Weidel as she slowly continues to introduce her to other humans.

“It’s just a matter of time,” Weidel said, “and you have to meet the dog where she is, not where you want her to be.”

She’s been with Weidel since last March and is gradually adjusting to the sounds of the world like sirens and cars. Slowly, she’s learning to become a regular dog and even treats herself to one toy from the communal toy bin.

It’s always only one, Weidel said, as if she’s afraid of appearing too greedy.

For all of the adopted families, the dogs are a lot of work, but the effort is worth it in the end because of what the dogs have been through in their short lives and the many ways they’ve inspired them with their unconditional love and resilience.

Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.