After receiving a Labrador puppy and taking it to obedience classes in Connecticut, a friend told Claire Moxim the dog would change her life.
“Sure enough, she was right,” Moxim said. “I quit my job and started working part time at the veterinarian’s office.
“I always liked animals, but once I got into the science of communicating, that’s what I really enjoyed,” she added. “We learned how to speak and teach the dogs behaviors. It’s our job to teach them what we want to know.”
Previously vice president and public relations director for Monroe County Friends of Animals, Moxim now serves as a board member.
“First of all, she does a lot of our (public relations) for us,” Cathy Barrett, board member and rescue coordinator at MCFOA, said of Moxim. “She’s also done some training because she is a — I don’t know if the correct terminology is a certified dog trainer. She has shown volunteers how to work with the dogs, so they’re more friendly when people come to visit. She really has brought a lot because of her knowledge to help the shelter in becoming a better place.
“She and I have been on the board together for three-plus years,” Barrett added. “I think we are all passionate about finding homes for these dogs and cats that end up at the shelter. We had almost a 77 percent rehome rate. For a county shelter in the south here, that’s a pretty good number. We send quite a few of our dogs up north. We’re fortunate that they have better laws and more populations and are in need of dogs. That helps our rehoming rate quite a bit.”
In January, Moxim began as hostess of “Pets and Their People,” a program through Tellico Village Broadcasting that features pet-related inverviews.
“I think I need to practice,” she said, laughing. “When I looked back at the most recent episode, it appeared very stilted to me. I didn’t think I’d have any problem talking with cameras around, but asking questions is a whole new ball game. If you let fear guide you, it stops you. You have to learn to plug on through it.”
Moxim is also involved with Rosana Dropkin of Sunshine K9s in Louisville, who currently teaches nose work classes at the Oak Ridge Kennel Club.
“I found out about her from a friend of mine,” Moxim said. “You teach the dogs to find the rats by hiding them in this tube with holes in it. Then I discovered nose work through another friend of mine. She’s one of the best trainers I’ve ever met. I have to humble myself. I’ve been doing nose work for many years. I love it because the dogs are doing it. We wish we could do it, but that odor they’re finding is all over the place.
“When we smell a pizza as humans, we know what that smells like,” she added. “When they smell pizza, they smell yeast, tomatoes, cheese and all those types of things. They’re picking up odors all the time, but we have to let them know what we’re looking for. Similar to a dog looking for drugs. He can pick up on it, but we have to train him how to show us he’s found it.”
Remaining consistent in expectations while training dogs is important, Moxim said.
“Dogs understand sometimes or never,” Moxim said. “Similar to when I’m dressed in my church clothes, they know not to jump on me. They understand black and white, and they’re fine with it as long as the expectations are set out before them. They don’t understand gray areas.”
Educating families about proper pet care begins in the schools, she said, with children relaying that information to parents.
“It’s been a little difficult working here with the education component,” Moxim said. “We had to start in the schools. They haven’t ever done it that way before. We began in Madisonville Middle about appropriate pet care. We also had a poster contest thinking that would be a great way to get students involved. We had over 3,000 entries. We also found out some hard stories of what takes place at home.”
Learning is an important part of what Moxim does, whether teaching dogs or herself, including information about a diet for Andy, her 15-year-old Labrador.
Moxim made Andy a homemade diet after he started experiencing seizures the first two years she owned him.
“I did a lot of research before I came to that conclusion,” she said. “Even though some veterinarians wouldn’t agree with me, it’s the only thing that stopped his seizures. I know there’s multiple things that cure seizures, so to say that is probably not accurate, but I know it stopped.”
