(upbeat music) - Hi, I'm Karen Kalunian and today we're gonna talk about how you can adopt an adult dog.

(upbeat music) So today we're here with Heather Gutshall and Thomas.

We're gonna introduce you to an adoptable dog and give you sort of an idea of the types of dogs that come through the Handsome Dan's Program and become available for adoption.

So, Heather, tell us a little bit about Thomas.

- Thomas is a couple years old.

We don't know exactly how old, he was a bite of unknown origin, found running, injured, stray in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

He went to the shelter.

He had to unfortunately spend about six months in quarantine due to that bite of unknown origin.

We had shelter dog enrichment specialists go into the shelter to work with him.

Allison and Lori went in and had to be outside of the the kennel, but worked with him on his training from a distance.

- [Speaker] What a good boy, wait, good boy.

- So I know a lot of the dogs that come through your program have behavioral issues or have been through some really trying times.

I know that for Thomas, he's probably gonna be one of the lucky ones that finds the perfect home.

And so how do you go about when you find these dogs that need so much help, like Thomas, what is the first step besides going into the shelter then, do they come here with you and you work with them?

Because I think he's been here for a while with you now.

- He has, he has.

So typically the dogs are evaluated and see if they fit into any of our programs.

We have Compassion Hold program, a shelter dog enrichment program where folks go right into the shelters to work with the dogs.

And then we have a foster care program, which is what Thomas is in right now.

And he happens to be in my home for foster care.

We have a network of homes, but he's in my home.

He's a very fearful dog, as you can see.

- Yes, you can see by the ears.

And when he was standing up earlier, we saw that his tail was tucked but he seems to be coming out of his shell a little bit with the work that you're doing with him, of course.

- Yeah, it's a team effort between Allison, Lori, and myself, and some of our other volunteers.

He's developed some friendships with people.

He especially likes Valerie.

- [Speaker] A good boy.

- Yeah.

And he's starting to trust and learn that he can start to let his guard down.

You'll see his body language kinda loosens up especially when we bring the treats out.

- Well, who doesn't love a good treat?

And so if someone is interested in a dog like Thomas, they should just contact you at Handsome Dan's Rescue and then you can walk them through the process and let them know the type of behavior that they might have.

And not all of them have behavioral issues but most that you handle... - Medical or behavior, yeah.

- Right.

Because that's the work that you do.

Well, Thomas, we gonna wish you the best because you're just a great boy and I think you're gonna have a wonderful life, thanks to Heather and her team at Handsome Dan's Rescue.

- [Speaker] To watch more videos like this, visit ripbs.org/animal talk.

(dog barks)