If man’s best friend is a dog, then dog’s best friend is Galit Reuben. Reuben is the founder of Dogs Without Borders, a rescue organization that holds adoption fairs at Tailwaggers in Franklin Village.

Reuben is often being pulled in 10 directions during the weekly adoption fairs, whether it's helping an interested owner find a dog that fits her lifestyle, assisting in adoption paperwork or giving new dog owners some tips.

Reuben, who owns one adorable black dog, Mazzy, of her own, also has a special talent for training pups and gives basic training lessons to pet owners. In 15 minutes of mini-training, she is able to turn an angry, scared puppy into a confident obedient pet. She exudes patience and love for these furry friends.

Hollywood Patch caught up with Reuben at a recent adoption event to learn more about Dogs Without Borders.

Hollywood Patch: When did you start Dogs Without Borders?

Galit Reuben: It started in 2006, after Hurricane Katrina. I saw all the dogs in need and I wanted to foster one. I called an organization that was working with some Katrina dogs, and I wanted to foster a small to medium dog, and then they ran out so they gave me this tiny terrier. And I loved him a lot, and I ended up adopting him. Then I found out he was from Taiwan, and I wondered why a dog from Taiwan was in L.A. So, they put me in touch with their organization in Taiwan, and they asked me to take more dogs since dogs are violently abused there, are caught in traps, and all sorts of things that are so inhumane. So, I wanted to help a few of their dogs, but no organization would take them in. So I thought if I started my own organization, I could help dogs from here, but I could also help some from Taiwan. So I would say 95 percent of our dogs are from high kill shelters in L.A., but our borders are open to a dog from other places, because a dog is a dog no matter where it’s from.

Patch: How many dogs do you have in the program at a time?

Reuben: We usually have about 50 dogs at a time that are adoptable.

Patch: How many would you say get adopted at an event?

Reuben: Our goal is only about five. Sometimes we’re under that goal, sometimes we’re over that goal. We hope to get at least five per week.

Patch: Tell us about the adoption process.

Reuben: We start the application process sometimes a week before when people apply online, and we just do the house check before the adoption, sometimes we have to do it during the adoption event if it’s close, sometimes they have to wait a few days for the house check. If everything looks good and it’s a good match, then we go forward. So an adoption doesn’t take very long. Some people complain that rescue organizations take a long time to go through with adoptions and they ask for way too much information. If we get a good feeling from the person and the application checks out, we do it really quickly. From the same day to maybe a few days, it never drags on.

Hollywood Patch: How many volunteers do you have?

Reuben: I’m lucky. I have some really good volunteers. I don’t know how many. Including fosters, I’d say about 50. They are not all volunteering all at once, but we always have about 10 volunteers that we can call on for things—pickups, rescues, house checks.

Patch: What’s the difference between Dogs Without Borders and other rescues? 

Reuben: I think the difference between Dogs Without Borders and other rescues is we’re still a business, we’re not crazy dog ladies. There’s not drama here. We just don’t allow it. We don’t get involved in all the stuff that goes on in the rescue world. We just want to get the dogs out and find them good homes.

Patch: What are the benefits of having a dog?

Reuben: First of all, every dog needs a home, and every home needs a dog. They just remind us that it’s not all about us all the time. They make things seem like less of a bigger deal. When it just seems like life is just too tough, it’s really not, we just make such a big deal of everything. We have so much to learn from dogs. They need us as much as we need them.

Dogs Without Borders holds weekly adoptions most Saturdays at Tailwaggers. If you are interested in adopting or volunteering, check its website to find out the date of the next event.