02/08/2026
Tonight we said goodbye to our resident dog, Rodger 🌈🐾
His story with All Breed Rescue & Training began during the Black Forest Fire in 2013, when we stepped in to temporarily house adoptable dogs so the Humane Society could make room for evacuees. When things settled, most of those dogs went home.
Rodger didn’t.
He was just about 7 months old when we got the call that he still hadn’t been adopted.and we went back for him. What followed was a path that wasn’t easy.
Rodger was adopted and returned multiple times over the years. Each return came with the same explanation: he bonded intensely to one person and became fiercely protective of them. When people ignored the warnings, Rodger responded the only way he knew how. Those moments labeled him “difficult,” but they never defined him.
After his final return, we made the decision that Rodger would stay.
He became our resident dog and it’s where he finally belonged.
At ABRT, Rodger thrived.
He earned his Canine Good Citizen, participated in Rally and Nose Work, and became one of the most valuable tools in our behavior and training programs.
To many of our clients, Rodger wasn’t “that dog with a history” he was the neutral dog. The steady presence. The calm counterpart. The dog who helped hundreds of other dogs learn that seeing another dog didn’t have to be scary.
He taught dogs how to walk parallel without reacting, exist calmly at a distance and breathe through big feelings.
And he taught people, too especially volunteers. Rodger was often the first dog a new volunteer walked. He wore a muzzle not because he was unsafe, but because he would happily eat anything he could find (and with a grain allergy, that could get… messy).
He was infamous for stealing treat pouches, swallowing Nose Work bags whole, and proving, repeatedly, that management was key.
Rodger wasn’t perfect.
He wasn’t easy.
But he was invaluable.
He gave more than he ever took. He worked every day of his life. And he belonged here.
Run free, Rodger. Thank you for the dogs you helped heal, the people you taught, and the space you filled in our hearts. 🌈🐕
