Comment: Five months after forest fires, it’s always the SSPT for animals: pets trying to shake depression

From time to time, walking in Philly near the pink Bowl, I come across a dog coach named Eldon, who generously offers pointers.

My cheese -shaped beagle used to strike during the walks, but it partially improved to the advice of Eldon. I wanted to write about it, but Eldon said he was mainly retired and does not need advertising. His only new customers, he told me, are dogs who are still struggling with the SSPT of the Eaton forest fire in January.

Come on, I implored. It is a story alone.

Maybe yes, said Eldon. Dogs are usually creatures, he reminded me, as much as humans – or more. They love their houses, neighborhoods, smells and familiar routines. Rippish all of this during the night and they are unbalanced.

Eldon suggested that I call Natalie Langan, owner of Trailhead Hounds because her customers include displaced Altadenans and their decorated dogs. When Eldon showed me a photo of Langan, I realized that I had seen his hiking hike on the Gabrielino path above the reaction propulsion laboratory, with a garrison of 30 dogs or more in four-legged locking.

“I would say that about a quarter of all the dogs we collect for our pack hikes are Altadena dogs who have lost their house,” Langan told me when I called.

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Some dogs – and cats – have made several movements from fire and had to get used to a new environment again and again. This can put them on the edge and increase their separation anxiety, said Langan, and if their owners are depressed or hung on sorrow concerning loss and uncertainty, animals also absorb these emotions.

“Dogs see the world in models. This is how we are able to train them, “said Langan, who advises customers who have lost their house to establish new routines for their pets. “The thing n ° 1 is to create a new standard, and it is also for humans. My parents have lost their house because of the fire and I helped them” to make the structure in their days and to stay in motion “rather than sit around the condo being sad of what is happening.”

When I first wrote on the Impact of fires on dogs, cats, chickens and red fishI noted that Anthony Ruffin and Jonni Miller and two cats were seriously shaken. Especially Mr. Thelma, a cat who refused to go outside in their temporary rental at the Crescenta.

Dogs wait patiently because the bowls of water are filled after their walk at the Regional Park of the Crescenta Valley community.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Miller reports that Mr. Thelma, who was found wandering in the rubble of their courtyard several days after their house on West Palm Street in Altadena was destroyed, is ok, but will still not be released.

I also returned with Jessica Davis, who runs Boomer’s Buddies, A rescue of Malibu animals which helped families find wanders dispersed by palisades fires. She said that several movements in temporary neighborhoods have been particularly hard for pets.

“Yes, they can be resilient, but some animals have a trauma and they want to be back where they were,” said Davis. “We are starting to see a wave of people say:” I lost everything and I can’t keep my animal “before being reinstalled.

Davis said she was currently trying to find someone to promote a Bernese mountain dog.

In Altadena, Sharon Moon and Kimbop, his 14 -year -old Pomeranian, appreciated regular neighborhood rallies with dogs and their owners, and Moon’s mother joined her and Kimbop during sunset hike along the crest track.

“It all left,” said Moon, including his house. She stays in Silver Lake, plans to rebuild in Altadena, and Kimbop is doing quite well, but always adapts to different sites and lacked her friends. “We were all used to having fun and discuss and discuss [in Altadena]. It was our little enclave far from all the madness. »»

Meghan Malloy and his family, who lost their house in Altadena, moved three times before settling in a rental in Sherman Oaks. It was not easy because Malloy and her husband have a newborn baby, two cats (Felix and Mushu) and two Golden Retrievers (Arthur and Clementine).

Cats are ok, just like Arthur, but he misses his court and friends.

And then there is Clémentine, who was “a little anxious” before the fire, and more since then.

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1 and 1 Natalie Langan, co -owner of Trailhead Hounds. 2 Deputy coach Soyun Ahn obtains a kiss from Gus. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

“She was absolutely velcro to me or to my husband’s team,” said Malloy. “She has always been a pack pack and had to be with people, and with Arthur. But she was so sticky and is so upset to be left alone.”

Levi, a 4 -year -old Mutt, suffered “a month of real instability,” said owner Jenn Burt, while moving into temporary neighborhoods with a series of friends in the Pasadena region. “Having to get used to a new place every week … and not know what the rules were in each of the houses … was quite difficult,” said Burt.

Levi had benefited from the sofa privileges in Altadena, but these rights did not trace with him. He improves, but he is even more anxious than before and shaken by fireworks in the night warm -up for July 4.

Boudica, a mixture of shepherd, is “definitely traumatized,” said Katie Jordan. When they lost their house Altadena, she, her teenage son, two cats and brass, tried to sneak in the apartment of a bedroom of her boyfriend, but it was a tight adjustment, and a rental in Glendale was better.

Jordan once brought back to their destroyed district of Altadena, before the debris was removed, and realized that it might not have been a good idea. “It was heartbreaking,” said Jordan. “She just ran crying, as if she were so confused.”

Ruby, a Doberman Pinscher moved by the late Eaton, rolls in the grass.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

There is an activity, however, which always brings a relief to Boudica: “Being in a big pack is his dream, and she feels if safe,” said Jordan.

I know what Jordan means. Philly is excited whenever we get less than three house pâtés to drop him with the dog manager Burke Stuart, of the best friend of the man, so that he can run with his bag.

Wednesday morning, Boudica joined 23 other dogs during a hike by Hounds Trailhead in the regional park of the Crescenta Valley community. Langan was joined by two other coaches: her husband, Chase Langan and Soyun Ahn.

Boudica had a lot in common with Cosmo, Freckles, Lucy, Ruby and Levi, who all lost their house or were forced to move temporarily. But I could not have chosen them as those who have problems. The tails stirred and most dogs had this expression that looks like a smile, half open mouth, hanging tongue. With a lot of grass, trees, dirt and notes of scatological delights in the air, they were in paradise for dogs.

Dogs are all trained not to shoot the leash, stay in formation and avoid bell snakes through sight, sound or smell. All of this was very impressive, but I kept thinking that Philly – who went to the ground, zigzaging around the world – would have been expelled from the class.

Natalie Langan, Center, undertakes with assistant coach Soyun Ahn in a walk at the Crescenta Valley community park.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Halfway through the hike, the dogs went on a leash but remained close. Two of them fought on the grass, and some climbed on a twisted tree trunk to pose for a group photo that would be sent to the owners.

Overall, it was a fairly therapeutic way to start the day. And not only for dogs.

Steve.lopez@latimes.com