From Marley and Me to Temple Grandin's groundbreaking books to Cesar Millan's television show, America's many millions of pet owners eagerly seek new insights into animal behavior, and one of the most popular sources of compelling stories and practical advice is DogTown, the National Geographic Channel's latest hit show.

A national rescue organization with more than 200,000 members, DogTown is the area where dogs live at the nation's largest companion animal sanctuary run by Best Friends Animal Society. This informative, inspiring book presents representative stories of dogs considered unadoptable by other shelters. They come from many backgrounds: some were abandoned; some prowled the streets as strays; others suffer from mysterious illnesses, serious injuries, or antisocial behaviors that discourage potential adopters. But good fortune led them to Best Friends and the dedicated people devoted to helping them recover and find welcoming homes.

I will never forget the day when, standing on the porch of the Old Town Hall, one of the buildings at Dogtown, a chink of light shone through my consciousness, and in a flash, I could see Dogtown through the eyes of the dogs. I saw that they had created their own society in spite of our attempts to control every aspect of their lives. It was easy to assume that we humans were calling all the shots. After all, we arranged who lived with whom, what time food appeared, and when cleanup happened. But what became clear to me in that instant was that at Dogtown, dogs rule.

I am one of the co-founders of Best Friends and Dogtown's first manager. When we were fortunate enough to build our facility in Kanab, Utah, we knew it was a special opportunity to change how dogs were sheltered. Right from the beginning, all of us knew we didn't want to replicate the concrete-and-wire prisons of traditional shelters at Dogtown. We all had groups of dogs living in our homes, so why not have them live in groups at the sanctuary? As a result, we came up with new building designs to accommodate dogs living in family groups.

I had always been fascinated by the interactions and relationships between dogs. Dogs speak a different language, and it takes a while for people to pick up on the subtleties. But once those of us who started Dogtown got the hang of it, we started to see how they relate to each other, who leads, who follows, who hangs back, and who needs some manners. We had to learn new dog-to-dog introduction skills to keep things peaceful in their groups. And we had to become adept interpreters of this language - for instance, when is a growl a good thing, and when is it a bad thing? When does that bark mean "Hello, let's play!" or "Get out of my face!"?

We learned that each dog presents a set of behaviors different enough from another to be unique. What works for one dog might not work for another. It's easy to want to group dogs by breed, by general characteristics.

Georgia: A Love Story

John Garcia is under attack. With single-minded focus, a playful, tawny pit bull named Georgia is staging the assault of a thousand licks. She launched the affectionate assault as John, her trainer at Best Friends' Dogtown, entered her enclosure, and now her wriggling, joyful body pushes its way through the 27-year-old's upraised forearms to find his face with her warm, wet tongue. Then she playfully pins his arms and licks some more.

"Oh, baby! Oh, darling! You're killing' me!" John laughs, breathlessly. "Oh- Georgia!" But Georgia does not stop. She seems intent on covering every square inch of John with her tongue, finding his ears, his nose, his checks, his lips. John cannot stop laughing and surrenders to her affection. Victory secured, Georgia joyfully bounds and jumps around him, her body dancing with happiness. It's plain to see that Georgia and John share a special bond, one that will be crucial in helping her overcome a traumatic past.

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© 2009 by Stefan Bechtel.

Tags: Pets

About the Author

Stefan Bechtel is a member of Samaras's tornado-hunting team. He is founding editor of Men's Health and the author of seven books. More