Bill and AJ Russell founded Dancing Brook Lodge, a shelter for wolf-dog hybrids, about four years ago in Lempster. Bill is a retired state trooper and AJ is a nurse. They moved to their new location, in Alexandria, about six months ago where they live in a tent and take care of the animals. They currently have nine packs of wolfdogs and go through between 500 and 1,000 pounds of dog food a week.
"Anthrozoology" is one of four weekly features produced by staff photographers that appear in the Monitor on Mondays. Inspired by her own absurd adoration of her cat, photojournalist Preston Gannaway seeks to explore the quirky and often surprising ways that people relate to animals. The text is all in the subject's own words and compiled by interviews. Contact Gannaway with feedback or ideas at pgannaway@cmonitor.com.
Bill: We follow the Native American path. We look at the wolves and understand a lot of the beliefs that the natives have about them. The dog will let you know what he wants; the wolf is just a little better at it.
AJ: They're not watered down. They're able to do what they're able to do. We haven't domesticated them.
Bill: Just the fact that (dogs are) domesticated means that they've become servants.
AJ: We do not own them. We don't dominate them. We try to be in balance with everything here.
We just let them be who they are. We have a friend with lupus who would have really bad pain and different issues. She spent time with the animals and went to the doctor's to get her lab work checked and he goes, "There's something wrong with this test. Your numbers are better. They never get better. They're always bad. What are you doing?" She goes, "I go play with the wolves." That's what some of the natives would call "wolf medicine."
AJ: We provide a safe haven for abused, neglected or abandoned wolf dogs. We try and pick animals that have been someone's pet. There's not that many rescues in the country and there's a lot of wolf dogs that need rescuing, so we kinda pick and choose who we take right now.
Bill: We are not set up to take the ones that have been taken in because they were fighting with other animals or attacked people. We just decided that at the beginning. It's not only a risk to the animal because if they do bite somebody, they'll be put down. But it's also a risk to the volunteer staff.
A wolf hybrid, by New Hampshire definition, is any dog that has within four generations been bred with a wolf, or if a owner claims a dog to be having wolf in it. They're legal to have in New Hampshire. They have to be vaccinated for rabies every year versus every three years for a regular dog. And if they were to bite a domestic animal or person, they would have to be euthanized. In Maine, it's legal to sell them. In quite a few of the southern states, it's still legal.
Most people are doing it for the right reasons. The wolf, for a lot of Native Americans, is a very spiritual animal. A lot of them have fallen in love with the wolf, and it's the idea of having something as close as you can but still having that domestic side to it.
AJ: Every single animal in the pack has a purpose. They all watch out for each other. In the wild, they all spread out through the mountain. We're not real close to them; we're down the hill from them. Every so often, every one to two hours, you'll hear someone call out. You'll hear a howl. Like a mom would bellow out the window to a kid, "Are you okay?" They do the same thing. Sometimes we just yell, "Thank you." They will call because we're part of their pack. You acknowledge that you're okay, you're acknowledging that they're okay, then you're good for a couple of hours again.
Each and every animal has their own personality. They each have their own little treats they like, their special spot to rub. You know them.
Bill: We've never been blessed with kids, but we have 43 kids up here.
AJ: My paycheck pays for the animals, his paycheck takes care of me. What we've done for the last three or four years, I have a set amount taken out of my paycheck. Every single week, there's $50 out of my paycheck straight to the vet. And that's usually not enough. If there's issues or surgeries, we pay the extra.
Bill: About a year ago, we found this place (in Alexandria). We came up on snowshoes, fell in love with the property and the energy here. The closest neighbor is just short of a mile away.
We planned on getting a road so we could at least drive up here. But then we had a problem with the bridge; that stopped that. We were gonna have a solid shelter instead of what we have now. We have an outfitters tent, 14-by-17, with a wood stove and propane heaters, dirt floor.
AJ: Till spring.
Bill: This is our permanent address.
It's almost three miles from the base camp here down to the parking lot. I'll go down on a snowmobile with a sled on the back of it for a trailer, get a couple loads of wood, I'll get food. Take them out of the truck, transfer them across the bridge into the sled, and bring them up by snowmobile.
AJ: And you bring your gas cans for the generator and the snowmobile, and the propane tank for the lantern and the heaters. It's just too cold with the woodstove in some of this real bad weather.
Bill: Last night after going down to Keene, and coming back up again, the fire had gone out. When I got into the tent it was 18 (degrees). It takes a few hours to get everything warmed back up again.
AJ: Come spring, when we can find the ground under the many feet of snow, we'll put more pens up. We'll save more animals. Until it's better access up and down, we can't snowmobile in much more dog food than for the 43 or 50. I don't think we'd ever do more than 100.
Even our own family is like, "Just open the gates and let them go. Come back to civilization." No, we can't. We made a commitment to these animals. That's what we're gonna do, even if we have to rough it. It does build character.
Jen Wojtas, dog grooming student Jen Wojtas (right) and Ginny Carr try to coax 10 year-old Maggie back into the wash tub during their grooming class at the Thompson School of Applied Science at the University of New Hampshire. Wojtas talks about the class.
March 17, 2008
Kate Van Francis, owner of Chloe Kate Van Francis of South Sutton feeds a hot dog to Lucy, 8 months, as her husband, Scott Neal, watches Monty, 8 years, and Chloe (left) at Arnie's on Friday. The couple got Lucy after they found out Chloe, 10 years, was dying of cancer. Van Francis promised to take the three German shorthaired pointers to the Concord ice cream shop as soon as it opened for the season if Chloe was able to hang on long enough.
February 25, 2008
Kathy Purington, dog cookie baker Kathy Purington makes dog cookies in her bakery at Charlie's Paw Wash on Route 106 in Concord. She owns and operates the pet boutique, where she sells natural and organic dog food, has a self-service dog washing facility, and houses a training gym. In addition to the cookies, she makes dog birthday cakes to order. Purington talks about Lucy's Canine Treats.
January 21, 2008
Louis Holland, oxen caretaker Louis Holland, 33, leads the oxen across a field at D Acres, an organic farm and educational homestead in Dorchester. D Acres executive director Joshua Trought brought the oxen to the farm about four years ago. One goal of the farm is to limit its impact on the environment, including the consumption of fossil fuels. Henri (left) and August (right) are used in place of machinery for a variety of farm work like cart pulling and hauling logs through the woods. Holland talks about working with them.
November 26, 2007
Jason Weiss, camel walker Jason Weiss, of Florida, (right) leads a dromedary camel named Hadji around a riding ring at the Deerfield Fair. Weiss works for owners Larry Records and Alexandra Burpee who operate Records and Burpee Traveling Children's Zoo from their home in Dudley, Mass. A child can ride a camel for $4 dollars; two can ride for $7. Records talks about the business.
October 29, 2007
Thomas Voyer, taxidermist Thomas Voyer, 47, of Canterbury, mounts a spitting cobra in his workshop. Voyer, who started learning taxidermy as a teenager, runs his own full-time business called Wet-N-Wild Taxidermy. He specializes in reptiles. Last year, he won second place reptile in the World Taxidermy Championships.
October 1, 2007
Maureen Clark, bear keeper Maureen Clark, 48, is a third-generation bear keeper and trainer at Clark's Trading Post - a roadside attraction since 1928. Several times a day, trained black bears perform stunts and are rewarded with ice cream. Currently, they have eight bears, including Ursula (pictured). Retired bears live up the road in pens behind Maureen's house.
September 3, 2007
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