News Archives: Training: 2002-11-20
Please Note: Information in this archived article may no longer be accurate.
20 November 2002Caleb, Henrietta, "Big Red", Yoshi, these are just some of the dogs that have been adopted since they began the new training program at HSPC.
Linda Laughlin, an experienced dog trainer, works at the HSPC shelter four days a week with dogs assigned to the program by the HSPC Shelter Committee. The focus of the program is to socialize older, long term dogs in order for them to become more adoptable.
Linda teaches them
basic manners such as "sit" and "down", but more importantly, she helps
them to enjoy human attention, brushing, nail trimming, and walking on a
leash without pulling, all things they will need to be familiar with
when they go to a home.
Linda, who owns K-9 Camp Laughlin in the Conway area, has raised and trained dogs all of her life. Several years ago she became interested in the canine sport, dog agility, and she and her Jack Russell Terrier, Pecabo, recently became the first and only handler and dog team in Arkansas to win the title of Master Agility Dog.
Linda also takes referrals for evaluations of dogs from the staff, consults with staff about specific behavioral problems, and assists potential adopters find the right dog for their homes. Because of her interest in agility, she brings tunnels and jumps to the shelter and teaches the dogs to play with the equipment. Her most promising student to date has been Lyra, who learned so many tricks so quickly that Linda had to borrow a book of dog tricks to find new things to teach her.
For some of the dogs, just learning to enjoy human companionship is the most important part of the training. Old timer, Dillon, who has been at the shelter for years, now looks forward to his time with Linda and readily asks to go for walks with other staff and volunteers. For some of the HSPC dogs, love is definitely the most important part of the training program.