To the rescue!

By MITCH MAERSCH

Ozaukee Press staff

Dawn Boeselager doesn’t allow just any dog into her rescue service, and people who wish to adopt those she rescues must meet a high standard before she lets any go.

“It’s not that we don’t love them, but we have to be practical with who we bring in,” she said.

Boeselager is thrilled to help her favorite animals, and she wants to ensure success stories through Tailwaggers 911.

All rescues come from Texas and are immediately put into foster homes across southeast Wisconsin.

Boeselager’s organization is based in an office in the Town of Grafton. She has no facility to keep dogs but fosters some at her house in Saukville. All of her short-term four-legged residents take direction from her assertive bichon frise named Twelve.

“They know she’s the boss,” Boeseleger said.

Twelve has her own harrowing rescue story. She was one of 49 dogs that were pulled from a hoarding situation in Georgia. A couple kept 49 dogs in a 400-square-foot home.

When the dogs were rescued from the atrocious situation, they were each given a number, and Boeselager ended up with number 12.

Twelve soon got out of her collar and ran away during a February snowstorm. The dog ran a few miles until a business owner in Grafton trapped her and called Boeseleger at midnight to tell her the good news.

“How she ran—I should put her in the derby,” Boeseleger said.

Her love for animals began early in life. Boeseleger grew up on a hobby farm in the Rockfield area of Germantown with seven horses, three dogs and, unexpectedly, a cat. Boeseleger saw a stray sitting on a stoop during a snowstorm, scooped her up and brought her into the house.

Boeselager attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, got pregnant, transferred to Lakeland College in Cleveland and graduated early with degrees in marketing and business.

She worked as an executive assistant and in database management for Kohler Co. and Blue Cross Blue Shield before starting her own cleaning business, Dust-Til-Dawn.

She volunteered at area rescue organizations before deciding to start her own in her basement in 2007.

“It wasn’t easy. We sacrificed a lot,” she said of her and her two sons.

But Boeseleger made it work, and several years ago got the chance to have an office in the Town of Grafton.

Boeseleger sold her cleaning business and now just runs Tail Waggers 911. The nonprofit survives on adoption fees, donors and foster families.

“I run it as a business. I really do,” she said.

Boeseleger has one employee, Colleen Felli of Mequon, who adopted a dog from the rescue a year ago and came to work for the organization in February.

Felli has experience in graphic design, branding and real estate development, and she shares Boeselger’s standards for adoptions.

“We base (matches) on best fit, not first come, first served,” Felli said.

“We do deny people. We’re very strict about vetting,” Boeseleger said.

For example, Danny, the rescue’s 1-year-old, 80-pound sweet and active Labrador mix, will not be sent to an apartment. He needs space to run and play.

Boeseleger has a swimming pool in her backyard used by a swim team of 10 to 12-year-olds. She teaches them how to handle dogs, and a 12-year-old girl walks Danny. The other day she was happy to report that Danny came across another dog on the sidewalk and didn’t react.

Boeseleger has noticed a trend in dog demand throughout her years in rescues.

“Everybody wants a puppy,” she said. “But everybody doesn’t understand. Puppies are cute, but puppies are a lot of work.”

Tailwaggers 911 runs a five-day trial, allowing adopters to bring the dog back to the foster families if it doesn’t work out. The adoption standards and vetting help keep those to a minimum, as well as the foster families’ work with the dogs.

“These dogs will never see a kennel again when they come to Wisconsin,” Felli said. They will be put into a loving home to give them a preview of what’s to come.”

“Our return rate is very, very low,” Boeseleger said. “We want it to fit for life.”

Dogs come in with a variety of issues stemming from agonizing backgrounds, and Boeseleger knows difficult and time-consuming work has to be done.

“You have to reprogram their brains, and we work really hard at resetting,” she said.

Boeseleger has kept dogs in foster care for 18 months because she knew they weren’t ready for adoption.

Boeseleger has gone through many training courses and knows what to do and what not to do with dogs.

“Nobody ever, ever needs to hit a dog or do anything to that effect,” she said. “It’s with your tone of voice and body language.”

The rescue’s track record of success stories helps verify it is doing what is right.

“Oh, look at the wall,” Boeseleger said, referencing a large bulletin board of letters and photos of happy dogs and their owners. The rescue has allowed nearly 4,000 dogs to find their forever homes over 16 years.

Tailwaggers 911 website has even added a rainbow bridge tab that tells stories of adopted dogs who have died. While it’s sad to lose a dog, Boeseleger is gratified that she had a hand in helping man’s best friend live a good life.

Tailwaggers 911 has 29 dogs up for adoption. During the height of the pandemic, Boeseleger experienced firsthand the nationwide rush on dogs from lonely people stuck at home. She was down to about three at one point.

Now, the economy has taken its toll on the rescue. It has a need for a list of items from paper towels to treats and toys to training pads, and Boeseleger wants to get a volunteer to run social media sites.

A vet shortage is also affecting the organization, and some vets have stopped working with rescues. That limits Boeselger’s geographic range of foster families.

But she and Felli’s commitment to their favorite animals doesn’t waiver.

“They’re all different,” Boeseleger said of dogs. “And they love to be with people.”

“The loyalty” is what Felli loves the best.

Tailwaggers 911 is holding a fundraising event, Paws on the Patio, at The Brick Pub & Grill, 6343 N. Green Bay Ave. Glendale, on Saturday, June 24.

For more information on adopting, fostering or donating, visit https://tailwaggers911.com.