about COLONEL

Some dogs enter rescue loud, chaotic, and demanding attention the moment they arrive. Colonel was never that dog.

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Instead, Colonel quietly wandered the streets of south central Sioux Falls for days, dodging traffic, circling neighborhoods, and repeatedly returning to the same area searching for someone who never came for him. Neighbors watched him narrowly avoid cars while clearly trying to figure out where he belonged. And honestly, the hardest part about Colonel’s story is that it was immediately obvious this dog had once meant something to somebody.

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Colonel already knew commands. He understood routines. He became excited when the leash came out and naturally looked to humans for direction and leadership. This was not a disconnected or feral dog trying to survive on his own. This was a dog who had once shared life closely with people and suddenly found himself completely alone and unsure what happened next.

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Ironically, despite all the places he could have gone, Colonel continued wandering back into the same yard over and over again until eventually his foster mom earned enough trust to safely bring him inside. Foster Mom jokes that she’s not sure how animals always seem to find her, but somehow Colonel just kept choosing her yard like maybe the universe had already decided where he was supposed to land.

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Since entering rescue, Colonel has been settling into decompression slowly and thoughtfully while also receiving extensive veterinary care with Dr. Tom and the incredible staff at Tea Veterinary Clinic. What was expected to be a fairly straightforward neuter turned into abdominal surgery after doctors discovered Colonel was a “one ball boy,” meaning one of his testicles had never descended properly. On top of that, he was also dealing with severe bilateral ear infections that were undoubtedly causing significant discomfort for quite some time. Thankfully, his X-rays looked excellent overall, and despite surviving loose on the streets for days, Colonel somehow managed not to eat rocks or foreign objects during his adventures, which Foster Mom considers an impressive accomplishment for a shepherd mix.

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Dr. Tom estimates Colonel to be somewhere around 5–8 years old, and honestly, it feels like the perfect age. He still enjoys adventures, enrichment, walks, and learning, but he’s also settled enough to appreciate calm routines and simply existing near his people. Colonel has been learning gentle leader walks and has quickly shown how intelligent and observant he truly is. He rarely pays attention to rabbits or squirrels, reads his handler well, and genuinely wants guidance once he feels safe enough to trust the person providing it.

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That trust, however, is something Colonel does not hand out freely right away.

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Like many dogs who have experienced abandonment, instability, or emotional stress, Colonel needs time to process new environments and people at his own pace. His foster home has focused heavily on structure, routine, decompression, and leadership because pushing dogs like Colonel too quickly rarely creates lasting success. Every positive interaction matters. Every routine matters. Every opportunity to build confidence matters.

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And slowly, Colonel has started letting his walls come down.

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He has discovered the joy of toys again. He enjoys his morning walks. He watches his humans carefully, wanting so badly to understand what comes next. Once he settles in, there is an incredibly loyal, deeply connected dog underneath all of the uncertainty and survival mode.

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Colonel is not looking for perfection. He is simply looking for someone patient enough to allow him the time and consistency needed to fully exhale and become himself again. We truly believe there is an exceptional dog hiding underneath the confusion of everything he has been through, and every single week we see more glimpses of that dog emerging.

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Somehow, after all of it, Colonel still chooses connection. And we think that says absolutely everything about the kind of dog he really is. 🖤

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SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO COLONEL'S FOSTER FAMILY FOR THEIR TIME AND DONATIONS:

Rachael & Eric