A Valentine to Shelter Dogs: 7 Marin Owners Share the Story of Their Rescues

Let’s get one thing clear right away: All dogs do indeed go to heaven, whether you purchased yours from a breeder or adopted from a rescue organization. But knowing your pet may have gone through some kind of hell can add a special layer to the bond you share. Below, seven people who opened up their hearts and homes in Marin to rescued dogs share snippets of their love stories.

Sharing Aloha

Hapa Boy and Ipo Girl

Leader of the pack:

Shawna Alapa‘i, a kumu hula (hula expert) originally from Kailua, Oahu. A longtime resident of Lucas Valley, Alapa‘i recently moved to Sonoma, where she works at Pet Food Express when not teaching hula, including weekly classes in Greenbrae.

Current companions:

Nani Roo, a 9-year-old Australian cattle/border collie mix, and senior cats Ramsey Ikaika, Sylvan Kolohe and George Kealoha. Nani Roo “is absolutely low-key and the perfect dog that I could ask for when I have three cats,” Alapa‘i notes.

Previous loves:

Alapa‘i didn’t grow up with pets, so her very first pet was a puppy adopted from Marin Humane in 1996, whom she named Hapa Boy, after his half-Dalmatian, half-German shorthaired pointer appearance. Although Alapa‘i quickly realized she didn’t know how to take care of him, his gentle nature made it easy. “A first pet owner could never ask for a better teacher — I called him my kumu aloha, my love teacher,” she says. He was “a little needy,” though, so Alapa‘i later adopted a cattle dog/pointer mix puppy from Marin Humane and named her Ipo Girl. Years later, after both Hapa Boy and Ipo Girl had died, “I felt like my life was just empty,” Alapa‘i says. “They had gone everywhere with me. I was really lost.” 

A chance encounter with Sherri Franklin, founder of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco, led to Alapa‘i caring for the first of six senior dogs in hospice care, Roxie Mama. “She was with me for almost 11 months. I wanted her to have a lot of love in her life and so I took her to every hula class and she knew she was loved at the end,” Alapa‘i says. Nani Roo has served as a nurse for all the hospice dogs. “She watched over them all, loved them all and was just amazing,” says Alapa‘i. 

Love lessons:

Adopting rescued animals has taught Alapa‘i “what love really is — coming from me and coming to me,” she says. 

“I had a difficult childhood with a lot of abuse and that just creates all kinds of stuff, like a lack of self-worth and self-love. My mission became to love all these discarded and mistreated animals. They’ve really taught me how to be loved and to be present and I am filled with that kind of love to give. That to me is aloha.”

Ambassadors of Joy

Pup Riley Jumping
Riley

Leader of the pack:

Lisa Kirsten, a retired advertising account executive who lives with husband Doug in Mill Valley.

Current companions:

Poodle mixes Chloe, 10, and Riley, “a little tougher to age because she’s older.” Both came from the Kern Project, a rescue organization founded by the owners of Tamalpais Dog Grooming in Corte Madera and Doggie Styles in Mill Valley that helps Kern County’s many abandoned animals find homes in the Bay Area. Chloe was adopted first, as a similarly nonshedding companion to the Kirstens’ then 10-year-old female goldendoodle Razzle. “She was about 6 months old and very sweet from the get-go,” Kirsten recalls.

When Razzle died, Kirsten says, “it became very apparent that Chloe had never been alone… you heard this pathetic, lamenting howl if she didn’t think you were home. We said we need another dog for Chloe and not just for us.” Enter Riley, who may have been part of a backyard breeding program and showed signs of trauma. “She was a learning curve for me: very skittish, extremely nervous, and if you went to pick her up quickly, she screamed,” Kirsten says. “I think it was PTSD — someone had been rough with her, but now she’s fine. She turned into the happiest little thing.”

Now, when the Kirstens walk both Chloe and Riley, their fluffy white tails busily wagging, “People just smile,” she says. “I call them ambassadors of joy.”

Rewards of rescue:

“You can get one that doesn’t shed. It’s a big commitment, but it’s very gratifying that we have a dog who really had a hard time,” Kirsten says. “When you start to see a glimmer the dog is feeling better, you know you’re having a direct impact. I’m going to rescue forever, assuming I get more dogs.”

A Sense of Family

Kristin Ahlquist's 3 pups
Watson riding shotgun; Daffy and Olive ride in the back of the car.

Leader of the pack:

Kristin Ahlquist, who raised three children with husband David Kirn in Mill Valley and now also spends time at their ranch in Glen Ellen.

Current companions:

Pit mixes Olive, 6, and Watson, 5, plus senior tabby cat Berkeley, four miniature donkeys “that are exactly like dogs,” three goats and 10 chickens.

Olive joined the family when Ahlquist’s dog Zeus was “16 or 17, and on his way out,” and Ahlquist was volunteering for Hopalong Animal Rescue (now part of Marin Humane). At a foster event at the San Anselmo Pet Food Express, Ahlquist spotted Olive, “this stoic year-old dog who looked so calm and I thought that’s just what I want. She’s the love of my life.” Initially, though, Olive was extremely timid and wouldn’t let the family touch her. “It took a lot of patience and working with her, and now she’s just everybody’s favorite. She’s just a love bug,” Ahlquist says. 

Watson — “the most photographed dog and the most snuggled dog that I’ve ever seen,” Ahlquist says — was adopted as a puppy two years later when she volunteered at a similar event at the Pet Food Express in Mill Valley. 

Advice for the lovelorn:

“Having any kind of pet gives you a sense of family and purpose and responsibility,” says Ahlquist. “For me, I can’t imagine living by myself. To have pets around you, it just brightens your life.”

Still, adopting a rescue animal might require some education first. “If you don’t have any experience with animals, it’s definitely worth researching how to raise a dog and what you need to prepare; it’s not something you can wing,” she notes. And once you’ve done your homework, Alhquist asks, “Why go to a breeder and pay that kind of money when there’s a dog out there who’s a wonderful pet you can have and save their life?”

A Learning Journey

Duke in his 49ers jersey
Duke

Leader of the pack:

Alisa Moore, board member of consulting firm Environmental Science Associates, who lives with partner John Lessard in Marinwood.

Current companion:

Duke Kahanamoku, a 6-year-old boxer/pit bull mix they adopted as a 9- to 10-week-old puppy through the Petfinder app, which sources animals solely from rescue organizations. That was critical to Moore, who explains, “There are so many dogs that are in need and are at risk every day, so it doesn’t make sense to pursue a breeder dog.”

Duke came from a foster family in Chico, who had treated him for worms and house-trained him after buying him in a grocery store parking lot, according to Moore. “We got a puppy that was pretty great to go and pretty easy for us.”

Named for the Hawaiian surfing and swimming legend, Duke loves to swim in the pool and likes the beach, too. He wants to play with every dog and bonds quickly with housesitters, but can also be “pretty feisty,” Moore says. “He’s protective of our house, protective of women in particular. He tends to bark a lot at people he doesn’t know who come to our house, but he’s quite a baby. The one time somebody tried to break into our house, he barked really loudly and then peed on himself and hid in the corner.”

Parental love:

Moore says they’ve introduced Duke to “trainers and discipline and probably made some mistakes along the way … It’s been a learning journey.”

It’s also been a somewhat expensive journey, including allergy medications. “We’ve really invested in him. Having the professions we have, we’re really fortunate to offer him all the time and attention and resources we can,” Moore says. “We don’t have kids, so this is the first time we’re raising something that needs and deserves a lot of attention. This is basically our parenting. It’s a lot of work, but it’s really fulfilling because it makes us really happy.”

The Gentle Touch

Daisy of the Pinson family
Daisy

Leaders of the pack:

John Pinson, a freelance tech marketing writer who works from home in Novato, and Andrea, a kindergarten teacher at Hamilton Meadow Park TK-8 School.

Current companions:

None. After the loss of their third rescued dog, Daisy, at age 17 in September, “we’re taking a break for now,” John Pinson says. “We really loved Daisy a lot and it’s going to be a while before we adopt again.” 

Previous loves:

Amber, a fully grown Carolina dog adopted from Second Chance Animal Rescue (now part of Marin Humane), enjoyed chasing after deer and running up Mount Olompais. The Pinsons had three school-age children when they adopted her and “we had to train the kids how to interact with her because she was a bit different,” he recalls. “She was kind of a wild dog.”

The Pinsons had Amber only four years before she died unexpectedly from Addison’s disease. A year later, they adopted first Pepper and then Daisy from a Rocket Dog Rescue foster in West Marin. A small black shepherd-type dog, Pepper was “completely neurotic, especially when we first got her… a real character,” John Pinson says. Daisy, however, “was so low-energy. She was pretty bereft. We had to learn how to behave around her and what she would respond to. She was more terrified than anything.” 

Eventually, Daisy came out of her shell, especially when daughter Mimi and friends came home for lunch in high school. “Everybody just loved her so much,” Andrea Pinson says. “She’d be so happy to see them, and they’d be so happy to see her.”

Love lessons:

Gaining Daisy’s trust took time, but “it was a very good experience for the kids to take care of this creature that had been abused and needed a lot of care and patience,” Andrea Pinson observes. “They learned gentleness and being thoughtful.”