PURPOSE:
To provide a therapeutic intervention for at-risk adolescents through dog obedience training.
OBJECTIVES:
- To offer adolescents an opportunity to develop a positive sense of accomplishment, self worth and pride.
- To offer adolescents an opportunity to improve specific living skills such as assertiveness, patience, staying on task, communication and commitment.
- To introduce adolescents to career opportunities in animal related fields.
- To provide a successful experience for the adolescents and dogs.
- To increase the adoptability of selected adult dogs through basic obedience training.
- Through a series of classes, a canine obedience instructor helps student trainers teach basic obedience commands to dogs from an animal shelter.
- Suitable dogs are selected from a local animal shelter and medically and behaviorally screened. They are given a standard series of inoculations, neutered or spayed, and boarded at the class site.
- Student trainers are adolescents from residential centers for treatment of substance abuse, behavioral or alienation problems. They are selected by the staff of their agency and are transported to the class site for the classes.
- The student trainer commits to one four-week course, meeting two times per week. Up to three agencies may furnish student trainers to work with one group of dogs. They train on different days. The dogs get up to 6 hours of quality attention each week.
- Each dog is placed in a suitable home after graduation.
Through a series of classes, a canine obedience instructor helps student trainers teach basic obedience commands to dogs from an animal shelter.
Suitable dogs are selected from a local animal shelter and medically and behaviorally screened. They are given a standard series of inoculations, neutered or spayed, and boarded at the class site.
Student trainers are adolescents from residential centers for treatment of substance abuse, behavioral or alienation problems. They are selected by the staff of their agency and are transported to the class site for the classes.
The student trainer commits to one four-week course, meeting two times per week. Up to three agencies may furnish student trainers to work with one group of dogs. They train on different days. The dogs get up to 6 hours of quality attention each week.
Each dog is placed in a suitable home after graduation.
Sponsored in part by the University of Tennessee
College of Veterinary Medicine
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