Daboo (Feb 2007-2019) was a free farm puppy (Lab mix) we brought home at 3 months old in May 2007. Boo was a certified Canine Good Citizen and through her life, worked as a therapy dog, educational dog, and demo dog helping in group obedience and behavior modification classes. Boo was also a capable scent detection dog and had successfully found a few lost cats and lured back lost dogs during her working years.
Lennier (2007-2019) was a shelter dog for half his life when we brought him home at about 1 and a half years of age in 2009. He’d originally come in as a stray and was friendly with everyone, but his appearance kept him in the kennels, especially when he grew reactive because of people banging on his kennel. So Lenny basically grew up in the shelter. After he was adopted and then brought back (through no fault of his own) with a new reactivity and deep-seated fear of other dogs and kids, we talked it through and decided we could help him while keeping everyone in the family safe. (He remembered Boo from before his adoption and loved her.) In at least one of his previous homes, he’d clearly been physically abused. According to his DNA test, he was a Rottweiler/St Bernard mix with a lot of mutt in him. To us, he was just silly, lovable, damaged Lenny, who it was our joy to work with him and help him find confidence in the world again. Intensive socialization and desensitization as well as behavior modification helped him become a calm, capable dog who was able to work as a demo dog, help other reactive dogs, and enjoy draftwork and scentwork.
Zelda (2017-present) was brought in to join the family in February 2018 at 1 year of age. Zelda came up as a stray from Arkansas along with her ten puppies and took over for retired demo dog Boo, learning obedience skills. She is a mutt with Australian Shepherd, Great Pyrenees, Golden Retriever, Chow, and more in her heritage. Her friendly demeanor and excellent dog socialization and communication skills have made her invaluable for working with fearful dogs, puppies, and helping to rehabilitate reactive dogs. Z has her AKC Canine Good Citizen, Advanced CGC, CGC Urban Canine, and her Novice Trick Dog titles. She has also become Mel’s service dog for medical alerts.
In 2019, Paw In Hand said goodbye to Lab mix Daboo and Rottweiler/Saint Bernard mutt Lennier.
Carrot (2021-present) joined us in July 2021. He is a pit mix who had been through at least 3 homes by the time he got to us at 6 months old, all through no fault of his own. Though he battles with his confinement and abandonment phobias, Carrot, also known as Captain FOMO, has gained his AKC Canine Good Citizen, Advanced CGC, CGC Urban Canine, and Novice Trick Dog titles. He adores kids and loves cats and dogs, livening up life while his clownish antics. His good natured friendliness has made him a great help for rehabilitating reactive dogs (though he wishes they’d stop yelling at him and play instead). He is learning draftwork and dabbling in Augmentative Interspecies Communication (AIC) (FluentPet buttons). Nearly all of his training has been done by Mel’s kids.
As for cats, we’ve had two!
ZugZug (2006 to April 2025) was an orange tiger shorthair stray we adopted from the shelter at ten months old. He was a friendly, intelligent guy who had no issues standing up to bratty dogs and walked with all the confidence one could dream of. We lost him in April 2025 after a prolonged battle against thyroid disease.
Friendly (2010 to present) is an 18 lb black and silver tabby Maine Coon mix who was originally a foster cat, joining Lenny as a failed foster in our home. His mom Princess had been brought in as a stray with Friendly, his brother, and his sister, who were all 3 weeks old. We raised them in our home, keeping them safe from Zug’s initial aggression toward them. Once they were old enough, we sent them back to the shelter to be adopted, but Friendly was the runt of the three, so he alone stayed with us (with Zug’s aggression fixed by then, so he was safe) until he was 3 months old and finally big enough to go back to the shelter. Except he came down with a virus and so came back to us. On it went, as a cycle, repeatedly fostering him due to illness, until finally we gave up and decided that since he only sneezed at the shelter and never at home, clearly he’d decided where his home was and we should stop fighting him on it.
