*** Look Who Got Caught!! ***
This beautiful Husky-ish mix was spotted by our Good Samaritan, Florine, when she moved to Princeton, Texas in June. Neighbors told Florine that this beautiful white dog, who she named Olivia, had been there for at least 8 months, but would not let anyone get close to her.
Florine reached out to the Duck Team 6 for help, and Capture Team coordinator Lana went out to Princeton to meet with Florine and discuss our capture approach. Florine was more than willing to follow our instructions on how to acclimate Olivia to the feeding station, first putting food outside the trap (which was locked open so that Olivia could enter and exit freely), and then moving it slowly further into the trap.
Our feeding stations serve multiple purposes: 1) it keeps our target coming back to the same location, 2) it keeps the dogs nourished, and 3) it establishes trust between the dog and the feeder. As you’ll see in the video, it didn’t take long for Olivia to start associating Florine with her favorite part of the day! Our approach does take time, but it is very effective.