Ever heard the expression, "a diamond in the rough"?  As it turns out, this saying can apply to dogs too.  At Paws 4 You Rescue our mission is to rescue dogs from euthanasia lists at local animal shelters and help them find loving permanent homes. 

Lenny with William from Canine Counselors

Our volunteers work endless hours each day to give shelter dogs a second chance. Sometimes the dogs we rescue have, for one reason or another, been properly socialized and are therefore easier to adopt. On the other hand, we have dogs that are wonderful animals but for a variety of reasons need a little extra TLC to be more compatible with their human counterparts.

For more than a year, Paws 4 You Rescue volunteer Judi Berger has been working with the team at Canine Counselors to teach basic obedience lessons to our rescued dogs.  It is truly amazing how fast they learn and how proper training makes a huge impact in finding them homes and giving their owners fantastic companions.

Judi with Peter and William of Canine Counselors

"We have had incredible results with the dogs we train from Paws 4 You Rescue," says

Zeik with William

Peter Arencibia, owner of Canine Counselors.  "Just because you don't know a dog's history, it doesn't mean they can't be trained. Actually, most of the dogs we work with wind up finding a home before we have completed the six to eight week training period. When that happens, we continue to work with the dog and will incorporate the owner into the lessons, which greatly improves the effectiveness of dog's obedience at home."

Berger offers some additional advice:

Ruby

"When taking a rescue dog I recommend socializing them and providing them with clear boundaries.

Take them for walks around your neighborhood before bringing them into house. Keep a four-foot leash on them while inside house the first week, except for at night.

Show them where their place is by providing them a spot for sleeping and a spot where the family hangs out. This way you

Ruby learning 'down'

can teach them to 'go to place' and ignore bad behavior and reward good behavior.  Most importantly be positive and loving. Dogs live in the moment not the past."

Simba

Paws 4 You Rescue currently has several dogs in the Canine Counselors program and they are all up for adoption.  Here's what the team at Canine Counselors had to say about the dogs currently in their program:

A special thank you to Judi Berger and Peter Arencibia for their time contributing to this article and for making a life-changing difference in our rescues.  Also thanks Debora Rosenn for the great pictures!