There are a lot of jobs Dennis Owens could be spending his days doing: brokering real estate… practicing massage therapy… training dogs privately. He’s qualified to do all of those things, but he chooses to work full-time at one of the largest municipal animal shelters in the United States—New York City’s Animal Care & Control—where he evaluates the dogs made available for rescue placement and adoption.
"When I meet with potential adopters here at the animal shelter, I always tell them to remember the Head-Heart connection," Owens says. "Your head should lead your heart. Please don’t select a dog based on looks alone—really think it through." Luckily for New York City’s thousands of homeless animals, Owens followed his heart when he chose his career path, fulfilling his childhood dream of working with dogs.
"I’ve been training dogs for more than 30 years—three quarters of my life," he recalls. "As a kid, I had a neighbor that had a German Shepherd, and he would leave the dog in his yard while he was away at work. I used to climb the fence and play with the dog—that dog was my best friend. And one day my neighbor came home and found me curled up on the lawn around the dog and—I was 8 or 9— and he panicked because he was concerned that I was going to get bitten."
"Then one day he told me he was going to get rid of the dog because the dog was dragging him down the street, and I didn’t want that to happen because I was crazy about this dog—so I told him I would train the dog. I had no idea what I was talking about. And he was like, you can’t train a dog—you’re a kid! This was a big, intact male German Shepherd, about 80 pounds, and I wasn’t much bigger. I tried to find someone who would help me train the dog, but I didn’t know anybody."
"I eventually came across a pretty well-known dog trainer, the late Captain Arthur Haggerty, but unfortunately the Captain laughed me out of his office and told me to come back when I could drive! Years later I reminded him of this and he got a good laugh. So I eventually went to the public library and found books about dog training. I worked with the dog, then taught the man how to handle his dog on a leash. He was very surprised that this kid was able to do it. So the dog was fine—the owner just wanted an excuse to get rid of him. He got rid of the dog anyway."
But Dennis never abandoned the animals that crossed his path. Wanting to spend as much time as possible with dogs, Owens began helping other people in his Queens, New York, neighborhood by offering to train their pets. "Eventually, I started accepting payment," he says. "And by the time I was 14, I was the one in charge of my family’s Doberman." That dog, Inga, set Owens on his chosen career course.
"Early on, I wanted to learn more about the psychology behind how to work with dogs," he recalls. "And I made a conscious decision to move away from forcing dogs into obedience, so I learned how to encourage good behavior with positive motivational methods. It’s all about the dog’s perspective, so I’ll take whatever works for the dog—treats, toys, games—and I’ll use that motivation to communicate exactly what I want the dog to do."
Owens turns the work of dog training into a fun game dogs can’t wait to play. Instead of physically dominating dogs, he establishes their trust. When he shows up for a lesson with my Pit Bulls, he’s greeted like a rock star—and his methods are so effective that the dogs remember everything they learn, even if they don’t see him for years. Little wonder he’s become one of New York City’s most sought-after dog trainers—but he sees private clients after he’s done working at the shelter.
"With any dog, but especially shelter dogs, it’s important to take a positive approach to training," he says. "These are dogs that have been uprooted from whatever their normal life was, and they’re making the transition into a new home. They’re already under a lot of stress, so punitive methods are counterproductive because they often cause stress, fear, and aggression, and do nothing to teach dogs desirable behaviors. Positive, reward-based training is a kinder, gentler way to communicate with them—and it gets much better results than using force."
Because of New York City’s high incidence of animal abandonment, Animal Care & Control often becomes overcrowded with dogs. "Some animal shelters turn dogs away," Owens explains. "Animal Care & Control takes in every dog that’s brought here. But the challenge is getting adopters to come in and see the available dogs." Homelessness happens to dogs as well as people, in New York City and all across the country. Yet shelter dogs, no matter where they are, can’t seem to shake the stigma caused by a common misperception that they wound up sheltered because something’s wrong with them.
"A lot of times people are afraid that dogs who wind up at a shelter are ’defective’ in some way," Owens says. "But they’re not defective. One family’s headache is another family’s heartthrob. A dog winds up at an animal shelter because he was a bad match for the household he was originally in, that’s all. And one person’s pest could be another person’s ideal pet."
Owens ought to know: Years ago, he adopted a Pit Bull he named Asha from a couple who were ready to surrender the dog to an animal shelter because she was wreaking havoc in their home. "If Asha was hungry, she’d open the refrigerator door; if she was thirsty, she’d jump up and take a drink out of the sink; if she was left in a room where she didn’t want to be, she’d go through the wall," Owens explains. "I was told this dog was just a pest. But from my perspective, this was a dog that could be motivated to do any kind of work I wanted her to do—she was a dream. So I began a process of socialization and training, and Asha became the greatest dog I’ve ever had. She was my partner, my friend, and, when I sustained an injury, my service dog. She was also my best business card. You’ll never know how much I miss that dog. And there are literally millions of dogs like her in animal shelters across this country."
Luckily, individuals and families looking for dogs are becoming increasingly aware of what Owens calls "the potential gold mine of love" available at their local animal shelters.
"Here at the shelter we’re matchmakers," he continues. "A family comes in to adopt a dog, and we help them make the love connection that makes sense for their lifestyle. Every so often someone will adopt a dog and they’ll keep in touch. It’s very satisfying when we find out that one of our dogs—a dog that essentially someone else threw away—is so appreciated. People will send us postcards, photographs of their dog at Christmas—because they’re so grateful to have found this great new dog… a dog that might have been left behind in an apartment when someone moved. The landlords might have brought the dog in, or called the police, who called us to go pick up the dog. So essentially many shelter dogs were not wanted, and now they’re valued and loved—here at Animal Care & Control, we operate the ultimate lost and found."
So, while there are many jobs that might earn him more money, there are none more rewarding than the one he’s chosen. As Owens concludes, "Working with people and animals, assisting families with the selection and adoption of a shelter dog and supporting them once they’ve brought their new pet home—this is among the most fulfilling work that I do."
