Helping Fund Dog Rescue

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Charlie Pepos always has loved golden retrievers — from their beautiful coats to their effervescent personalities.

“I’ve been a golden retriever fan since I was a little kid,” said Pepos, who has owned retrievers for two decades. “You very (rarely) see one that’s mean.”

The Stockett man held onto three of his golden retrievers — Maggie, Lily and Bella — Friday morning in the Trades and Industries Building at Montana ExpoPark during an obedience and rally event that runs through Sunday.

The sponsor of the three-day event is the Great Falls Dog Training Club. If you want to attend, it’s free to watch well-behaved dogs run and pick up large bones, jump over barriers and do other tricks during the sessions.

In a higher category, some dogs must heel without a trainer or owner talking to it, though hand signals are OK.

A test track on the rally side of the building helps challenge the skills of both the dog and the handler.

“All the dogs are AKC (American Kennel Club)-registered dogs,” said Cecile Smiley, the show’s photographer. “They’re all operating under commands from the owner. They’re on their best behavior. Not only is the dog being judged, the owner is being judged.”

If a dog show is a beauty contest, this rally and obedience event is more of a talent show.

Lex Van Tighem of Great Falls, chief ring steward for the event, entered her two Papillion dogs, Tango and Cash, in the competition, although she enters dog shows as well.

“In my opinion, this is less stressful,” Van Tighem said of the rally. “I have control over the outcome.”

The three days of events can allow a dog owner to obtain an AKC title in one weekend, if the dog and handler perform up to snuff each day.

Van Tighem said she could have done more training with her younger Papillion, Cash, so she wasn’t expecting a record-breaking performance Friday morning from the big-eared dog.

Pepos said two of his dogs were taking part, but added he enters the competitions mostly for fun.

Seven-year-old Maggie was a little shaky in her performance, he said.

“It’s the first time in the ring after her ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) blew out,” Pepos said.

Van Tighem, who started training dogs in 1978, said her approach to training the animals is to reward them either with a cookie or a toy for a good performance.

“I don’t use any force at all,” she said. “It’s all positive.”

Prizes are awarded on each day of the trials.

In addition, if you have a poorly behaved dog you would like to train, club members are willing to help. The group’s dog-training classes are on Monday and Tuesday evenings, beginning Sept. 20. For more information, call Marie at 761-5603.

Posted: Sep 4, 2010 at 6:05 AM [Yesterday]

The Canine Good Citizen Program is a two-part program that is designed to teach responsible dog ownership to owners and certify dogs that have the training and behaviors needed to be reliable, well-behaved members of their families and communities.

When we conduct the CGC Test at the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club, the Supervised Separation is station 4, the last item for the handler and dog taking the test.

Since we want to provide for you the exact rules and regulations of the test, we will use copy directly from the Evaluator Guide of AKC Canine Good Citizen Program. It is a noncopyrighted document, but what we use from this guide will be set in quotes to credit the American Kennel Club.

ITEM 10: SUPERVISED SEPARATION

“This test demonstrates that a dog can be left in the presence of a trusted person and will maintain its training and good manners. Evaluators are encouraged to say something like, ‘Would you like for me to watch your dog?’

“An Evaluator will hold the leash of the dog while the owner goes out of sight for 3 minutes. In the early days of the CGC Program, evaluators were asked to not talk to the dog so that the testing of this skill could be standardized across evaluators. We realize that most owners would not leave their dogs with someone who did not talk to the dog. Evaluators may talk to and pet the dog but should refrain from giving the dog excessive attention, playing with the dog, etc.

• “The dog does not have to stay in position.
• “If the dog continually barks, whines, or howls, it should not be passed.
• “The dog should not pace unnecessarily, should not show signs of agitation.
• “A dog that simply walks back and forth and looks for the handler is passed. There should be no signs of extreme stress, including panting, breathing hard, etc.
• “If a dog begins to look very upset or distressed (barking, whining, panting, pacing, pulling), the test should be terminated. The CGC test is an activity that should be fun. We do not want dogs or handlers to have a bad experience with the CGC. If a dog is extremely distressed, training is needed. (This training should not be done during testing.) This one incident of giving in to the dog’s insecure behavior is not enough to cause any lasting effect. The owner should be told nicely that separation is an issue for the dog and that some training would help the dog feel more secure.
• “If the Evaluator for Item 10 is sitting in a chair and a small dog tries to climb into the Evaluator’s lap, the Evaluator should stand up.
• “If a dog pulls on its leash (trying to get away) it should not be passed.
• “Any dog that urinates or defecates during testing should not be passed. The exception to this is in Test 10 when the test is outdoors, or between exercises (e.g., the dog urinates on a bush while being walked to the next test station). Dogs should not stop to relieve themselves while they are working with the handler in the exercises.”

At the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club, the Evaluator for this test sits in a chair along a wall and near a door to a hallway. A small grooming table with a three-minute timer is against the wall where the Evaluator sits. For this exercise, you approach the Evaluator and give her your leash. You may put your dog in a sit-stay, a down-stay, or just leave your dog standing there. You walk out the door into the hallway. When the exercise is over, the Evaluator will call you back into the room.

We find that a number of dogs fail this test because they are not used to being with strangers without their owners. Owners of puppies are so intent on building a bond with their dog that they forget that at some point they may have to leave the dog with someone else. Some dogs are very good with strangers, but others have a difficult time if their owner goes out of sight. So, begin early to work with your puppy on stays, gradually building time and distance until you can go out of sight for three minutes.

If you would like to see a CGC Test or run your dog through a CGC practice session, the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club will have a CGC practice (a demonstration and run-through) at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 13 in Rooms 1 and 2. You may come and watch for free or run your dog through the test as a practice session for $10. No registration is necessary. Go online at www.aadtc.org to find directions.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Bruce and Tracy Willoughby have taught dog training at the Ann Arbor Dog Training Club for several years. They can be reached at bew@umich.edu.

Other action: Council renews ambulance contract

Council members voted 6-1 to shoot down Sheila Iyengar’s request for a permit allowing her to continue operating the business and nonprofit rescue facility from her home, which she purchased six months ago near the corner of Sossaman and Chandler Heights roads.

Approval would have allowed Lotus Dog Training & Boarding to maintain up to 50 dogs on the property.

The public hearing and debate among lasted over three hours and drew about 70 supporters and opponents of Lotus.

Iyengar said her training and boarding business supported her non-profit dog-rescue operation, Reservation Rewards Animal Rescue. She said she doesn’t know what she will do next.

“I’m not exactly sure,” she said. “I mean it’s a business set-back for me. It’s a financial set-back for me.”

She said she doesn’t know what she’ll do with the rescued dogs in her care, but is determined to care for them.

“I have 12 rescue dogs currently that I’ve rescued from the streets of Queen Creek - that I’ve actually rescued from foreclosed homes and on the side of the highways in Queen Creek,” she said.

Iyengar operated the 7-year-old business and rescue operation from rental homes before buying her house.

The topic roused passionate debate from both opponents and supporters.

One neighbor, Chuck Lopez, said he carries a stick or baseball bat when walking in his neighborhood because loose dogs wander the street.

“Now I have to watch out for 50 of them,” he told council.

Maryanne Strober, one of Iyengar’s customers, said later the loose dogs aren’t from Lotus’ property. “They’re assuming that they’re from her kennel, but they’re not,” she said.

Art Rispoli, a neighbor whose complaint over Lotus’ barking dogs triggered the controversy, said he has repeatedly complained to the town.

Rispoli, a maintenance supervisor for an airline who works the nightshift, said the barking was keeping him awake.

“The basic thing is it’s zoned residential,” he said. “It’s not zoned business. If I have to comply with the rules, then she does too.”

Regina Whitman, a Lotus supporter who operates her own rescue organization called Desert Cry Wildlife Rescue, said the public needs people like Iyengar, especially in an economy when more people are abandoning pets.

“She’s part of the solution and if the town council and Queen Creek doesn’t acknowledge that and doesn’t give her a permit to continue doing the work that she does, then they are part of the problem,” Whitman said.

Andrew Moore, a zoning lawyer representing Iyengar, gave a slide presentation with photos of the rescue dogs.

One dog named Lloyd was found roaming the base of the San Tan Mountains with a shattered jaw because someone shot him in the face, Moore said.

Councilman Craig Barns was her only support on Council.

Councilman John Alston said Iyengar should have sought the permit prior to purchasing the house

He said he realizes there are other home-based businesses, but “I think the magnitude of this business is greater than someone who sells candles out of their house.”

Councilman Jeff Brown added, “I would feel that I was giving an unfair advantage to a home-based business versus those businesses that do it right and have noise attenuation, that locate in the commercial district, that pay commercial sales tax, that are more protective of neighborhoods than this facility will be.”

WOLCOTT, Colo. (CBS4) ―

A facility that trains service dogs is trying to get back on its feet after a fire Tuesday night.

Ranch Alakrity is a nonprofit organization in Wolcott where service dogs are bred and trained. The ranch could have easily lost two dogs to the fire but somehow they were able to survive.

Firefighters believe an electrical fire started in the kitchen. Nobody was home when the fire broke out, but the building was still saved. If Ranch Alacrity’s owner, Titus Blackwood, doesn’t get some financial help, her dog training program might not be saved.

“They put the fire out. They wanted me to reconstruct what was in this zone,” Blackwood said.

Taking care of the service dogs now could be challenging to Blackwood.

“The kibble was contaminated, every single training tool that we have that has any form of nylon or plastic is ruined and unusable,” Blackwood said.

She trains the dogs to work with disabled people and then gives them away for free. In fact she doesn’t make any money from working with the dogs at all. With no way to continue to afford training the dogs, she may have to put them up for adoption.

“That one person who gets that lifetime match isn’t going to get that lifetime match. These dogs are just going to be adopted out as family dogs.”

Blackwood is disabled herself. She said she wants to find some way to stay on the ranch with her dogs. She wants to find some kind of trailer to live in on her ranch until the home is repaired.

Additional Resources

Those who would like to help Ranch Alakrity should make a cash donation to:

Attn: Assistance Dogs of CO or Ranch Alacrity Recovery
Alpine Bank
With Alacrity #6319
0069 Edwards Access Road Suite #5
Edwards, CO 81632

(© MMX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

www.servicedogsupport.org.

Puppy to Service Dogs Internship program in Peoria