Pets of the Week
Obedience classes get a "paws-up" at the Animal Welfare Society
KENNEBUNK - "Why should I enroll my dog and I in an obedience class when he already knows how to sit?"This is a question often heard by the obedience instructors at the Animal Welfare Society in West Kennebunk.
The simple answer is: education of both the dog and their person.
The group class offers a challenge and a benefit to both humans and dogs in an atmosphere based on having fun. Many of the dogs that attend already know some of the basic obedience skills. However, working with these skills in a group of distractions is the challenge.
The benefit is learning to be responsive to their owners in public and being rewarded for it. This makes the dog confident, happy, and well-mannered. Most of all, the dogs will learn to use their intelligence to control their behavior to their benefit. When dogs are not taught to think, then they are left to react to their world.
"In the 25 years that I have been teaching classes, I have never seen a dog not improve considerably if the people attend class and put the training to practical use," said AWS Obedience Instructor Kim VanSickle, CPDT. "It is very exciting to see the relationship between a dog and their person become stronger and healthier."
By staying up to date on the latest in learning theory, Kim has developed a training philosophy based on positive methods and is able to individualize the program for each dog as wells as the entire class.
"The other benefit of attending the class I call 'Lessons in Leadership.' This is the education the people receive. Dogs perceive the world in a different way than humans and instinctively they desire good and trustworthy leadership from their owners. We teach people to be capable, confident, and calm leaders for their dogs. When leadership is clearly communicated in a way the dog understands, most behavior issues can be eliminated or prevented," Kim added. "At The Animal Welfare Society we believe that offering quality training classes for people and their dogs is a proactive way of keeping dogs from being surrendered to the shelter since many dogs come in for a behavior problem that we have found is mostly a lack of leadership and understanding on the part of the owner. In fact, at AWS, 98 percent of the surrendered dogs have never attended a dog obedience class. We have also seen a reduction in dogs returned to AWS after adoption because of the availability of a professional class."
The Animal Welfare Society offers many different levels of dog obedience classes. The classes are available to anyone who has a dog of any age or training level. The most popular class is Basic Obedience, a group class offered once a week for six weeks. Any dog from the age of five months and older can enroll.
Other classes include Puppy Kindergarten, Adolescent, Agility and AKC Canine Good Citizen classes, which begin on an a rotating basis. Call 985-3244, ext.111, to talk to Kim and enroll in a class soon. Your dog will thank you for it!
