Many times while walking around Philadelli near the Rose Bowl, I bump into a dog trainer named Eldon, providing a pointer without any gene.
My cheesesteak-shaped beagle continued to strike during his walk, and he appreciates Eldon’s hints. I wanted to write about it, but Eldon said he’s mostly retired and doesn’t need publicity. His only new client is a dog who is still struggling with PTSD from the Eton Wild Fire in January, he said.
Now, I begged. It is a story in itself.
Steve Lopez
Steve Lopez is a California native who has been a columnist for the Los Angeles Times since 2001. He has won over 12 National Journalism Awards and is a four-time Pulitzer finalist.
Perhaps yes, Eldon said. He reminded me that dogs are creatures of habit. They like their home, their neighborhood, their familiar smells and routines. If you tear it all overnight, it will lose balance.
Eldon suggested calling Natalie Langan, owner of Trailhead Hound. Because her clients include evacuated Alta Denan and their dogs. When Eldon showed me a photo of Langan, I noticed that I had seen her running pack hike on the Gabrielino Trail above the Jet Propulsion Institute.
“Around a quarter of all the dogs we pick up for the pack hike are Altadena dogs who have lost their homes,” Langan told me when I called.
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Some dogs and cats have been in multiple motions from the fire and have had to get used to the new environment over and over again. It can put them on the edge and increase their separation anxiety, Langan said, and if their owners are depressed or sad about loss and uncertainty, the animals will also absorb those feelings.
“Dogs see the world in patterns, and that’s how we can train them,” Langan said. “No. 1 thing is creating a new normal, and it’s also for humans. My parents lost their homes due to fire and I’ve been helping them.
When I first wrote about the effects of fires on dogs, cats, chickens and goldfish, I noticed Anthony Ruffin and John Miller’s dogs and two cats were shaking badly. In particular, Thelma, a cat who refused to go outside for a temporary rental at Lacresenka.
Following a walk at Cressenka Valley Community Regional Park, the dogs wait patiently as the water bowl is filled.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
Miller found out he was wandering through the tile bleu in his garden a few days after his home on West Palm Street in Altadena was destroyed, and although it is OK, he still reports he won’t go outside.
We also checked in with Jessica Davis, a fellow Boomer rescuer, a Malibu animal rescuer who helped track down the family that was scattered around the Parisades fire. She said multiple movements to temporary accommodations are particularly difficult for pets.
“Yes, they may be resilient, but some animals carry trauma and want to go back to where they were,” Davis said. “We’re starting to see a surge in people who say, ‘I’m losing everything and can’t keep animals.’
Davis said she is currently trying to find someone to raise dogs in the mountains of Bern.
In Altadena, 14-year-old Pomeranians Sharon Moon and Kimbop enjoyed regular neighborhood gatherings with the dog and their owner.
“It’s all gone,” said Moon, including her home. She plans to stay in Silver Lake and rebuild in Altadena, and Kimbop is on a fairly good pace, but still adapts to the various sights and misses her friends. “We all had a really fun gathering and chat. [in Altadena]. It was our little enclave away from all the madness. ”
Meghan Malloy and her family, who lost their home in Altadena, moved three times before settling on Sherman Oaks rentals. That wasn’t easy as Malloy and her husband have a newborn baby, two cats (Felix and Muche), and two golden retrievers (Arthur and Clementine).
The cat is fine, and so is Arthur, he misses his yard and his friends.
And before the fire, there is Clementine, who was “a little uneasy.”
1. Natalie Langan, co-owner of Trailheadhound. 2. Assistant trainer So Yoon Ann receives a kiss from the gas. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
“She’s absolutely refined by my side and my husband,” Malloy said. “She’s always a pack dog, she has to be with people, she has to be with Arthur, but she’s so clingy and so upset to be left alone.”
Levi, a 4-year-old Mutt, suffered from “a month’s true instability.” “Every week you have to get used to a new place…and you didn’t know what the rules of each house were…it was pretty difficult,” Burt said.
Levi enjoyed the privileges of the sofa in Altadena, but those rights did not travel with him. He’s improving, but he’s still more uneasy than before, rattling on fireworks on the nightly warm-up on July 4th.
Boudica, a shepherd mix, “is definitely traumatized,” Katie Jordan said. When they lost their Altadena home, she, her teenage son, two cats and Boudica tried narrowing it down to her boyfriend’s one-bedroom apartment, but it fits perfectly and the Glendale rentals were even better.
Jordan once took Boudica to the destroyed neighborhood of Altadena, and then the debris was removed and realised that it might not be a good idea. “It was heartbreaking,” Jordan said. “She whined around like she was very confused.”
Doverman Pinscher’s ruby, kicked out by Etonfire, rolls through the grass.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
However, there is one activity that always brings peace of mind to Bodica. “Being in a big pack is her dream and she feels very safe,” Jordan said.
I know what Jordan means. Philadelphia gets excited every time he gets down within three blocks of dropping him down with his best friend, dog handler Barkstuart.
On Wednesday morning, Boudica joined 23 other dogs on a trailhead hound hike at Crescenta Valley Community Regional Park. Langan was joined by two other trainers, her husband Chase Langan and Soyoon Anne.
Boudica had a lot in common with Cosmo, Freckles, Lucy, Ruby and Levi. However, I couldn’t choose them as problematic. The tail was shaking, and most dogs had a smile, half their mouths, their tongues seemed to be hanging. With plenty of grass, trees, dirt, and hints of joy in scatology in the air, they were in dog paradise.
All dogs are trained not to pull the leash, staying in formation and avoiding rattlesnakes with their vision, sounds and scent. It was all very impressive, but I kept thinking that Philadelphia (traveling towards the ground, zigzagging the world) had been kicked out of class.
Center Natalie Langan sets out with assistant trainer Soyun-an on a walk at Cressenka Valley Community Regional Park.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
On the way on the hike, the dog was tied to a leash but was nearby. Two of them wrestled on the grass, and several climbed onto twisted tree trunks and posed for a group photo that would be sent to the owner.
Overall, it was a rather therapeutic way to start the day. And it’s not just dogs.
steve.lopez@latimes.com
