Welcome to the very first episode of The Dog Files, a brand new web video show that we hope will become a steady, and dear, part of your internet diet.

But this episode is special to us for quite a few reasons.

About six years ago, I was laid off from a company in New York City in the aftermath of 911 and I was at the point in my life where alcohol and staying out late at night began having diminishing returns for me.

I knew I was finally ready for the discipline and responsibility of having my very own dog.

I went out to a few shelters to look, but found only barking pit bulls waiting for me. No offense, but I’m a “floppy-eared dog” kinda guy. In hindsight, I’m not even sure why I chose the shelter route. At that time I didn’t even know what a puppy mill was.

After pounding the pavement for a week or two, my friend’s wife recommended a beautiful shelter in Madison, NJ. So we travelled to St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center and an hour later, I walked out with a furry hound that would change my life. 

I’ll be honest, it was pretty rough the first few weeks. This pointer/american foxhound mix had a tough first year of his life. The people who previously owned him kept him in a crate all day while they were at work. He didn’t exactly have the social skills he should have at his age and he developed separation-anxiety because of the whole “twelve hours a day in a crate” thing he endured the year before. 

But then a month turned to two and then to three. And that, in combination with me having a lot of time on my hands due to the lay off, changed everything.

I noticed, with the help of some treats, how attentive this hound, now christened Max, was to me. More so than usual I thought. I mean, I grew up with an English Springer-Spaniel and he liked his treats, but not quite like Max. With a little work he began to learn almost anything I asked him to do.

It started with a quizzical look on his face. He was clearly trying desperately to figure out what I wanted him to do. I could actually see the gears spinning in his head. And then, most times within 20 minutes tops, he figured it out. I taught him to sit, stay, lay down, roll over, crawl, speak, play dead, get his leash, shake, give me high fives, growl on command, spin in a circle, you name it and this dog would learn it…for a treat, of course.

And during that first year with him, he just kept getting better and better. He seemed incredibly happy and satisfied to finally have a place to call his home, and a human to call his trusted friend.

About two years ago, spurned on by my ever-growing love of all things dog, I got an idea for a show. What if we went out there and filmed all the amazing things that are going on for people to do with their hounds? What if we made a show that was a celebration of dogs and the people who love them?

I thought the shelter where I found Max would be the perfect place to start, so I called my friend, Jenn Schulz, who used to work there and she thought so too. She recommended their upcoming event, the ice cream social.

We had a great time shooting the social and both my co-producer, Courtney and I, knew we were on to something. That we might really have something special here.

And if that wasn’t enough, when we left St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center that day, Courtney took with her, an eight week old ball of fluff she named Buddha.

Courtney couldn’t have picked a better place to adopt him at.

Kenn Bell
Creator of The Dog Files  

Episode Links:
St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center