DeBono Dogs

05/06/2025

In the summer of 2021, Steve was thrown from a pickup truck onto the road. He was 6 months old and terrified. rescued him and nursed him back to health, and he’s been living in various kennels ever since. Despite the rough start, Steve is one of the happiest, funniest, and goofiest dogs I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.

That same summer the were about to start a 22-50 season. wasn’t an all-star yet. had just graduated HIGH SCHOOL. was still in college.

Today is the MVP. is an nba all-star. would have been if not for injury. The are coming off a historic 68-14 record and are in the NBA finals.

Unfortunately for Steve not much has changed. His home is still a concrete kennel and he’s still his silly, happy and playful self. But he really deserves the chance to sleep in a warm bed and be loved by a family of his own.

Can’t adopt him? That’s ok, neither can I! But you can still help by sharing this post! And maybe even generate a bit of good Thunder karma!

29/08/2024

Had a great conversation with Jonathan from The Canine Oasis Podcast - we discussed getting harder shelter dogs into playgroups, overcoming barriers to adoption, how to approach problem solving, and some other stuff. The full podcast is on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts, just search for ‘canine oasis podcast’!

In this conversation, Jonathan Mecham and Steven De Bono discuss the importance of playgroups for shelter dogs and how to overcome challenges in integrating hard-to-adopt dogs into playgroups. They emphasize the value of socialization and providing support for dogs with behavior issues. They also hi...

06/07/2024

I’ve posted Part 1 of a seminar I held last year (link in comments!) with .austin.dog.center and called ‘Strategies for Introducing “Socially Challenged” Dogs to Other Dogs’ - basically a ‘how to’ for helping dogs who act kinda dumb when interacting with other dogs. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this topic really covered anywhere else and I think it should be helpful for people who regularly have to introduce dogs or manage playgroups. I’ll post Parts 2 and 3 at some point if enough people are interested!

20/05/2024

The last time Steve lived in a home, the were in the midst of a 24 win season and Steve was barking at every person and dog he saw. My how things have changed!

Thank you Thunder for a fantastic and exciting season, was so fun to watch night in and night out and can’t wait until the next!

Unfortunately, Steve wasn’t able to watch because he’s lived in a kennel for 3 years. But now that everyone’s got a bit more time on their hands, maybe it’s the perfect time for someone to adopt him and add him to their home before next year’s run to the finals! Contact me if interested! He is the best. .joe1 .wigg .wallace

28/09/2023

Met this guy a few days ago, he seemed very sweet and sensitive for what it's worth!

20/09/2023

Less than two months before this epic workshop begins!

Dog socialization ability is not static! So let's not treat it that way! Learn how you can help dogs reach the ceiling of their abilities to interact with other dogs instead of simply writing them off as "selective" or "aggressive".

16/08/2023

Austin! I've got a workshop coming up where we work on socializing socially challenged pups like Lily in this video in depth! Register or learn more at www.debonodogs.com!

Lily is the brindle dog & had been at a shelter for several months, was extremely reactive, & had gotten into fights whenever introduced to other dogs.

The 1st time I worked on socializing Lily I did the intro on leash, for safety. I saw that when she got close to another dog she would either lunge/bark or try to pounce on the other dog. I suspected that the leash made the problem worse so wanted to do an off-leash intro.

When introducing dogs I think in terms of space - who is likely to TAKE space & who is likely to WANT space. Lily was definitely a dog that would TAKE another dog's space very emphatically, in a way that most dogs would find threatening. In turn, they would probably respond defensively to her, & Lily would then fight. Leading to her being labeled as "aggressive" towards other dogs.

I knew I needed to get her past that very first initial nose to nose greeting, with minimal (preferably no) conflict. The first thing I needed to do was choose the right dog to help.

I was confident that this white pup Alvara could both withstand Lily's rude approaches without becoming defensive AND importantly also without becoming overwhelmed/fearful and trying to escape (GET space).

Initially, Lily was very reactive through the fence. Alvara was not too thrown off by that and kept approaching with friendly gestures. This went on for several minutes which unfortunately I did not video. At the point I started video-ing, Lily's behavior had become softer and I was starting to see more playful, friendly signals.

I kept Lily's long leash on, mainly so that I could help give Alvara space IF needed. You can see the initial approach where EVEN if Lily was being friendly, many dogs would get freaked out & try to defend themselves, which Lily would likely respond to by fighting back. But Alvara withstands it & expertly navigates the situation, & you can see Lily's behavior soften.

So success! But not the end, just the 1st step to maximizing Lily's ability to socialize. Lily was adopted a week later (sure helps when a dog is no longer seen as "aggressive"!) so was only able to do 1 more session (see Part 2).