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Former Research Dogs | Trauma & Behavior Specialist

@keeper.and.kin

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North America’s only training & rehabilitation initiative specific for dogs bred for/used in laboratory research
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I need to say something no one else seems to be saying….

For these dogs getting released from labs and breeding facilities all over the US….. their freedom is a *big* part… but it’s just the FIRST part.

Helping former research beagles actually settle, recover, and learn how to live in a home is arguably, (in my opinion!) the MOST IMPORTANT part of this.

This part needs more than good intentions and a “just give them time” comment from someone on Facebook who once had a nervous rescue dog..

These dogs need support that is hyper-specific to former research dogs.

That’s what we do. This is our whole mission.  We’ve created resources for the Keepers of former research dogs, because we want to support YOU.

Here's how we can help:

• First Steps to Forever: my ebook on what to expect, what to avoid, and how to set these dogs up thoughtfully from the beginning.

• Free 4-Week Course: our step-by-step online course for the first month at home, including decompression, home setup, stress signals, early handling, routine building, and how to avoid overwhelming them while still helping them move forward.

• 1:1 Coaching: individualized custom rehabilitation coaching for you and your dog; because a shut-down dog, a frantic dog, a touch-sensitive dog, and a “looks fine” dog should not all be getting the same rehabilitation plan.

• Virtual Town Hall + Q&A with @thebeaglealliance and @kindnessranch and me: a space for fosters, adopters, rescues, and professionals to talk through what these dogs need after release and ask questions.

All resources are linked in my bio.
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#animaltestingsurvivor #ridglanfarms #beaglesofinstagram #fearfuldogtraining #rescuebeagle by @keeper.and.kin

This isn’t your typical rescue story.

Dogs, primarily beagles, are being released from research at a record rate thanks to policy change.

While the world celebrates…their troubles are far from finished. They're being released into a world they’ve never known.

The right rehabilitation and training plan isn’t optional. It’s the difference between a second chance and another crisis.

After years of working with former research dogs under @command.canine - they now have something of their own. We built The Keeper & Kin Project for them... and for the people who are ready to step up.

Let's make sure their second chance isn't wasted.

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#formerresearchbeagle #researchdog #animaltesting #dogbehaviortraining #animaltestingsurvivor #beagleig #rescuebeagle #beaglesofig #beagletraining #dogbehaviormodification #rescuedogtraining #dogswithtrauma #beaglesofinstagram #adoptionstories #rescuedogtraining #rescuebeagle #fosterfail #dogrehabilitation #formerlabbeagle #animaltestingsurvivor
#doganxiety #fosterdogtraining #rescuedogtraining #virtualdogtraining #dogbehaviortrainer #fearfuldogtraining by @keeper.and.kin

An open letter to the Keepers:

Keeper & Kin is more than a name. It’s our promise. We promise to be the bridge between the release from research and the life these dogs deserve.

This work isn’t easy or quick, but I promiseeeee it's worth it. These dogs deserve training and rehabilitation that is specifically designed for THEM, and YOU deserve to get support that actually makes sense and actually helps.

If you’re ready to be part of something bigger than yourself, welcome, Keeper.

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#beaglesofinstagram #adoptionstories #rescuedogtraining #beagletraining #rescuebeagle #fosterfail #dogrehabilitation #formerlabbeagle #animaltestingsurvivor
#doganxiety #fosterdogtraining #rescuedogtraining #virtualdogtraining #dogbehaviortrainer #dogswithtrauma #fearfuldogtraining by @keeper.and.kin

Veterinarian and animal advocate Dr. Crystal Heath joins a candid conversation about the Ridglan beagles, the divisions within animal advocacy, and the responsibility that comes with rescue.

The conversation also confronts difficult questions about protest tactics, competing accounts of what secured the dogs’ release, and whether a movement can hold its own leaders accountable. Dr. Heath challenges the idea that working with people inside research facilities means compromising your commitment to animals, and shares her vision for more humane veterinary training and the next generation of advocates.

An honest, sometimes uncomfortable discussion about looking beyond the headlines and keeping the dogs’ long-term wellbeing at the heart of the work.

#animalwelfare #rescuebeagle #ridglanfarms #ridglanbeagles #animaladvocacy by @keeper.and.kin

This week, we go straight to the source.

Malaria researcher Brandon Wilder joins us for a conversation and the questions most people can only argue about from opposite sides.

When is animal research justified?
Who gets to decide whether an experiment is necessary?
What happens to the animals during the research, and what responsibility exists after the study ends?
How do animal researchers feel deep down?

We ask the questions directly. Brandon answers them.
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#animaltestingsurvivor #animalwelfare #animaltesting #animaladvocacy #beaglesofinstagram by @keeper.and.kin

Let me save you from feeling super rejected and guilty…

I know you want so badly for your beagle to understand they’re safe. You start wondering if you’re somehow making things worse instead of better like you promised them.

A lot of the time, its not even about you or what's happening in the moment... sometimes it's just their brain and nervous system still doing exactly what it think it’s supposed to do: anticipate danger.

They are not necessarily “forgetting” that they are safe. Their brain is still learning that safety can be expected.

When we rehabilitate, we need to give their brain enough safe, predictable experiences that those expectations begin to change. But we also have to give the nervous system enough time to catch up.

Because knowing *logically* something is safe and *subconsciously* expecting safety are not the same thing.
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#rescuebeagle #fosterfail #formerlabbeagle #animaltestingsurvivor #rescuedogtraining by @keeper.and.kin

What if we stopped measuring former research dog's progress by where they've been? I think we owe them more than that.

Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with hundreds of former research beagles.

➖ I've watched dogs who were once terrified of the outdoors become cross country adventure partners.

➖ Dogs who couldn't make eye contact now stare into their human's soul every time they're hoping for one more game of fetch.

➖ Dogs who once avoided human touch now jump into bed, shove their noses under a hand, and demand more scratches behind the ears.

The dogs that make those transformations aren't always the "easy" ones. They're the ones whose families never stopped believing there was more inside them. Because at some point, their past will stop being the most interesting thing about them.

That doesn't mean pushing them too fast or pretending their trauma doesn't exist. It means refusing to let their history become the ceiling for their future.

Our job is to help you bring extraordinary to life.
Invest in their potential.
You might be surprised by who they become.
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#animaltestingsurvivor #beaglesofinstagram #rescuebeagle #formerlabbeagle #beagletraining by @keeper.and.kin

What an honor to interview @keeper.and.kin they are doing such incredible work! You don’t want to miss this interview! Stream at 10pm tonight on the WCNC app to catch them! #braggaboutit #podcasters #charlotte #northcarolina #rescuedoglife by @keeper.and.kin

People think former research dogs need freedom and exposure, but if we’re being honest, their new life is profoundly overwhelming, and too much can do more harm than good.

When I first met Carrion, he was not just shy. He was in a deep freeze state.

What I was seeing was a nervous system that had gone into conservation mode because he did not yet have enough safety, information, or regulation skills to know how to deal with his new emotions.

Freeze often means the dog does not yet feel able to do anything. But as they come out of freeze, they may also gain the ability to say, “That is too much.”

Carrion needed decompression, yes.

But he also needed environmental management, controlled exposure, low pressure human interaction, recovery time, and a plan that could shift as he moved from freeze into fight, and then into actual regulation.

That is why this work is more nuanced than simply waiting for them to “come around.”

All former research dogs need time.
Some need another dog nearby to feel safer.
Some need less dogs altogether.
Some need slow, soft touch.
Some need no touch at all.
Some need a smaller space.
Some need a larger space.

That is the point.

Former research dogs do not just need to be rescued. They need rehabilitation that understands what survival has done to the nervous system, and what it actually takes to help that dog feel safe enough, skilled enough, and supported enough to begin living inside the life they were rescued into.

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#animaltestingsurvivor #rescuebeagle #beagletraining #dogswithtrauma #beaglesofinstagram by @keeper.and.kin

Rescuing a dog feels heroic.

But there’s this other part; the exhaustive work that happens after all the cameras leave and the excitement dies down.

Here's what I think is heroic: showing up for your dog, day after day after day, even when you can’t even see a light at the end of the tunnel... following your rehabilitation plan, even when you can't see the proof of the success, yet.

Angelique came to me with Oliver, a former research dog she had just adopted, who was anything but easy. He wasn’t a "few sessions and some patience" situation. He was more of a “this is going to take a lot of really hard work, and certainly a lot of time” situation.  
Angelique knew she had made a decision about adopting this dog and she honored that decision even on the days it was almost debilitating.

To me, that is, genuinely, one of the most heroic things a person can do.

Angelique didn't get a headline in any news article. She got an extremely difficult dog, a steep learning curve, and a commitment that she honored every single day for over a year.
I am so proud of both of them.

Want to know how Oliver is doing now?   Listen to Dogs Beyond the Lab podcast, episode 4.
Link in bio
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#rescuebeagle #animaltestingsurvivor #fearfuldogtraining #beaglesofinstagram #dogswithtrauma by @keeper.and.kin

You and your former research beagle have something in common…

I bet you’re both a little lost and just trying your best..

Let’s think this through a second. A former research beagle has spent their entire lives in an environment where every single thing was decided for them. Then we bring them into our home and wonder why they seem lost.

A dog who has never made a choice should not be expected to suddenly make good ones.

That’s biology. That is years of lived experience that does not disappear because the environment changed.

Taking in one of these dogs is a profound responsibility, and part of that responsibility is understanding how to actually help them. You *maybe* got a short adoption guide telling you to keep them safe, give them time, and “they’ll figure it out.”

That’s not reasonable.

Former research beagles need to be taught, slowly and deliberately, that choices are safe to make, and that the world responds to them, and that they have some control over what happens next.

That is not something that happens in a couple of weeks. It is *not* something that happens without the right support.

The dogs who thrive after release are almost always the ones whose adopters had an expert in their corner who understood this work specifically; not just dog training, not just rescue dogs, but specifically this.

You chose this dog. Time to get the support that actually matches what they need.
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#animaltestingsurvivor #formerlabbeagle #beaglesofinstagram #rescuebeagle #fearfuldogtraining by @keeper.and.kin

I wasn't planning on responding to this, but here we are.

I’m answering it because - I get it. I understand how working with a dog who's shut down could look like I'm rushing things. It can look like I should just back off and let the dog be.

I also understand where that concern comes from: the love for dogs.

Former research dogs need people who are willing to question things, advocate for them, and speak up when something doesn’t sit right.

So no, I’m not offended by the comment. I welcome it.

I’m very intentional about the work I do with these dogs, and I’m always willing to explain the why, when, where, what, and how behind the choices I’m making. This work should be explainable and thoughtful. It should be based on the individual dog in front of us, not an idea of what things are supposed to look like.

This is how we build trust and respect with each other. I'm not here to hate or be offended when someone questions me. People SHOULD be questioning things, especially when it comes to the care of former research dogs.

Ask questions. Stay curious. Learn from others. Treat dogs with respect. Treat people with respect. Work together.

That kind of collaboration is what will help more former research dogs get the support they actually need.
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#animaltestingsurvivor #beaglesofinstagram #beagletraining #rescuebeagle #fosterfail by @keeper.and.kin