For these pooches, their "wild" lifestyle could actually help save wildlife.

Shelter dogs with high-energy can sometimes be less adoptable than their more docile counterparts, but a program based in Washington, DC, has found a way to save them by putting their unique traits to good use.

By partnering with Working Dogs for Conservation and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Rescues 2 the Rescue trains high-energy dogs to do scent-related jobs that support conservation work.

Trainers say the toy-obsessed, spirited pooches tend to thrive when trained to help locate difficult-to-find wildlife and plants, and can also help identify threats like poisons, and sniff out invasive plant species, which helps preserve wildlife.

Ultimately, Rescues 2 the Rescue hopes this will also improve their "adoptability."

"I certainly think that animals in shelters have a great deal to give," Carson Barylak, campaigns officer for IFAW, told the CS Monitor. "I hope we are saving lives, both of dogs and wildlife."

(READ more at CS Monitor) – Photo: Douglas M. Weston II