Inside a Dog Rehab Center | National Geographic

We're going behind the door, so it'll be a tight squeeze.

S.K. and Robin arrived in early 2015. They came to us from Humane Society International, who rescued them in South Korea. They had, you know, told us that these dogs really exhibited behavior that needed, uh, help. We knew that the place for these dogs was going to be in the rehab center with the ASPCA.

The goal of this facility is to help undersocialized, fearful dogs that can't be adopted because of the severity of their behavior problems. We also want to document what we're doing and then share what we're doing with other animal welfare organizations across the country. We started the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center on the grounds of St. Hubert's in March of 2013 because we realized undersocialized fearful dogs needed a place where they could get behavioral healing.

St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center is really about not just, you know, taking in animals to our center, but also helping to elevate the field overall and keep animals in the homes that they already have. With our training expertise here, we were able to take animals that often other rescues or shelters were not able to take from these scenes.

This is a one-of-a-kind facility. It's unique. We're doing research, and we're working with dogs in a way no one has worked with dogs before.

God, so when we started working with Robin and Ka, both of them showed severe behavior problems. They were first at a shelter, and the shelter quickly realized that they couldn't be put up for adoption because they were so fearful. They were extreme cases; you could not get near them. You couldn't touch them. They were trembling. Even if you simply went into the kennel, they would lose control of their bladder and bowels. They were just terrified.

These two dogs, I think, are probably two of our most difficult cases. They both progressed slowly compared to other dogs in the program, and then Robin had a breakthrough. She just took my finger. The thing that enabled us to move forward with Robin was play. When we introduced her to toys and took her to an outdoor area, she suddenly started to blossom.

We were very careful at first, but we were quickly able to play with her and then get close enough to touch her. Then she discovered that petting felt good, and then we were in. So, it was great to have those tools to use with her.

Ka didn't seem to progress nearly as quickly as Robin did. She simply could not behave. She was so terrified that she was shut down all the time. Over the past few days, Ka has actually made even greater progress, and she's started to show social behavior toward me. She'll wag her tail. She started to wag, and she gave me a lick on the arm yesterday. It was a wonderful moment.

We are so surprised that we have been as successful as we have been, given how severe the behavior problems were and the dogs coming into this program. We thought, "Gee, I hope we can help 50 to 60%," but it's been more like 80 to 90%. We've been thrilled that these dogs have been able to change as much as they have.

Look at you, happy!

C, say bye!

Thank you! We're actually taking her home.