"Dreyfus Ogonowski"
ARF dog graduates from college after given second chance.
One of the luckiest dogs I ever met was an ARF dog named "Dreyfus". I can't say that this dog ever liked me very much and even though I thought he was a cool looking dog, I didn't care much for him, either. We basically tolerated each other week after week. If Dreyfus liked you, he loved you, but for some reason, he loved almost everybody but me. People said it was because I wore my Red Sox hat all the time and it scared him. Who knows, maybe some guy who wore a hat was mean to him before we had him. I had a different theory. He was probably just a Yankees fan and hated my Sox cap. That's most likely why we we didn't get along.
Dreyfus was one of the dogs rescued from the ARF shelter fire November 23, 2008. Within feet of Dreyfus's cage, a structural fire was beginning to catch. All of ARF's animals, including Dreyfus, were securely latched in their cages at the time of the fire. If someone didn't let them out, they would have all died. Smoke inhalation can kill an animal faster than fire. Dreyfus was given a second chance at life. Getting a second chance is all a dog needs sometimes.
Our Dreyfus in many ways is the poster dog for what could be accomplished by a second chance. Just recently, Dreyfus' owner, Bonnie, enrolled him an agility class. Bonnie trains her dogs at the Canine Sports Center of Goshen and is associated with the Obedience Dos Club of Waterbury, located in Oxford.
Bonnie was very proud to announce that her Dreyfus would now join his sister, Maize, another former ARF dog, in having agility titles. Both Dreyfus and Maize are older dogs, and when Dreyfus joins Maize in retirement, Bonnie will be the owner of 2 ARF alumni who graduated with honors. They went from being homeless to college graduates. Even the fire couldn't stop Dreyfus. He is the definition of going from rags to riches.
No position at ARF is more important to the success of our adoption program than our dog trainers. As dogs look for home at ARF, we teach them to be social, loving pets with lots of manners. Many, many hours are spent working one-on-one with our dogs and cats. Bonnie had been in the trenches working with animals at ARF for about 10 years.
Sometimes at ARF we find some diamonds in the rough at the Bristol and Waterbury dog pounds. There's nobody better than Bonnie to shine, polish and clarify our diamond dogs. We look forward at ARF to updating and increasing the training portion with Bonnie's never ending drive and enthusiasm. We are lucky to have her and are confident she will lead in advancing our program. We at ARF are fortunate to have her as a volunteer and animals are truly lucky to have her as their trainer.ARF strives to make a difference in our local community helping homeless dogs and cats. Bonnie Ogonowski is a volunteer that truly makes that difference.
Thank you Bonnie ARF!
Go, Dreyfus, Go!
