In June of 2006 the York County Dog Training Club joined forces with the SPCA in an effort to improve the chances of dogs staying in their homes. Deb Sangrey began offering free training seminars to the public on the first Monday of each month so that people can bring their dogs and receive guidance on how to solve some of their problems. A year later, the seminars continue to be well-received.

UPDATE December 2007: The seminars continue to be well attended.  We can measure the effectiveness of the free public seminars by the number of people who take their dogs to Basic Obedience classes at Bella Vista with Deb, Rick and Cathy.  Many continue to Basic 2 to earn their Canine Good Citizen awards from AKC (American Kennel Club).  We also see volunteers from the SPCA at our classes.  We love it that we can be a tool to help people train their dogs to overcome problems and become well-behaved members of families.  We also love it when volunteers from the SPCA attend classes with their dogs because the knowledge they receive helps the shelter dogs and makes our training program stronger.

Shelter dog and Canine Good Citizen —two terms that are rarely spoken in the same breath, but that started to change on March 19, 2007.  That is when we started the CGC program at the SPCA. We have several goals with our work at the shelter:

• To help the shelter dogs be more adoptable by training them not only to the CGC standard but also to help them become better pets so they can find permanent homes and remain in those homes. 
•  To provide free monthly seminars to help solve problems of the dogs that already have homes so they can remain in those homes.
•  To share our knowledge with SPCA staff so they can help train the shelter dogs too. 

 We will add something new to the SPCA seminars in 2008.  Rick graduated with a Natural Health Consultant title.  He will use his new knowledge and combine it with his research on dog diets and share it at the seminars.

The team of trainers consists of Deb Sangrey, Cathy Hivner, Jill Whorl, and Janet Sutley.  Rick Sangrey is the CGC evaluator.  We held a training seminar for SPCA staff and volunteers on May 20, 2007 at Bella Vista Training Center. By learning techniques of walking, how to prevent jumping, etc., those working at the SPCA can now help to extend the work of the training team and maintain more consistent behavior in the dogs.

A dog once known as Scrappy became our first success.  A red pit bull, renamed Noah by the SPCA staff to signify his new chance at life, was found starving in a garage in York in December of 2006.  He quickly formed a bond with Deb Sangrey and learned very fast.  In fact, he thrived on learning new behaviors and earning rewards.  Consequently on April 30, Noah easily passed the CGC test.  He was featured on “Meet the Pets” and happily showed off the freestyle moves that Deb had taught him. Noah’s next big adventure came on May 13 when he competed in the John Rogerson Train-A-Thon at John Rudy Park.  Noah thoroughly enjoyed his day in the park and displayed his talents by successfully completing many of the stations in the Train-A-Thon even though he had little experience with many of the behaviors he had to perform.  The good news is that on June 7 Noah was adopted.

Cathy started training a pretty mixed pit bull named China on March 19.  Initially afraid and lacking in confidence, China, after a few weeks, walked with her head up and looked forward to training.  She passed her CGC test on June 11 and is currently waiting to be adopted. 

UPDATE: China had a potential family wanting to adopt her and her life looked very bright.  The adoption fell through and a series of very unfortunate occurrences happened and China was euthanized.   Our training team misses her and mourns her loss.

Stella, a pit bull that had been at the shelter a very long time, started training with Jill on March 19.  We noticed early on that Stella would sometimes be lame and had a weird personality.  Most of the time she was happy and loving, but sometimes she displayed a darker side of her personality.   On June 21 a volunteer was walking Stella, and there was a negative incident with another dog. Believing that there might be a physical cause for her changeable attitude, we suggested that she be checked for abnormal thyroid levels and diabetes.  Eventually, however, the SPCA staff determined that Stella was a liability due to her physical condition and sometimes negative behavior, and she was euthanized.

Janet began training Tiny, a small terrier type dog, on March 19.  Tiny’s owners were no longer able to care for him, and he was not adjusting well at the shelter, an environment that was very stressful for him.  He enjoyed working with Janet, though.  She even knew how to massage him and make him ‘talk’.  The SPCA staff tried to massage him but did not look for feedback from the dog, and suddenly Tiny found himself in quarantine for 10 days.  Fortunately, Tiny was given another chance, but the shelter environment did not allow the brighter side of Tiny’s personality to shine.  It was then that Janet decided to foster him and eventually found him a home.  Tiny was adopted and is enrolled in BVTC’s Basic 1 class in August 2007. 

UPDATE: Tiny graduated from Bella Vista Training Center Basic 1 class on 10-04-07.

Maddie was Janet’s next dog, but she was soon adopted and did not complete the CGC program.

On May 21 Janet moved on to Tug, another small terrier type dog.   After just a few weeks, he is responding to training and is allowing himself to be touched.  Tug is also learning new behaviors.

UPDATE: Tug was adopted by Janet and now has a very happy life.

Deb’s newest training partner is Allie, a brindle pit bull, who started in the program on May 21.  Initially, Allie had no interest in training, but it did not take her long to understand that training rewards were worthy of a wagging tail.  The reward that Allie enjoys best is to roll in the grass. 

UPDATE: Through training Allie’s personality opened up and her fun side became apparent.  She offered tricks and really looked forward to training.   She was adopted in July and now has a permanent home.

Cathy began training a little black and white pit bull named Lilly on June 18.  She’s a happy girl who already knows how to sit and lie down, but she’s a bit confused about the difference between walking and jumping.

UPDATE:  Lilly was determined a liability by the SPCA staff and sadly she was euthanized. 

Skyler, another mixed pit that Jill trained, was adopted.

 Janet began working with Watchy - a small terrier type dog.  A member of the SPCA adopted Watchy.

For five weeks, Deb worked with a mixed pit named Dingo.  Dingo came in with his sister whom SPCA workers reported was the dominant of the two.  Separated from his sister, Dingo was very reluctant to make contact and appeared particularly fearful of hands. It was a triumph simply to get Dingo to take a treat off Deb’s knee. Dingo never progressed to a place where he could learn, so Deb decided to begin working with a dog that would benefit from training.

 UPDATE; Dingo was determined unadoptable by the SPCA staff and was euthanized in December 2007.

Deb’s next venture would be a combination of dog and people training.  Mike, an SPCA volunteer requested to be involved in the training so he could better help the shelter dogs.   The dog was Axe a Dalmatian mix.  Initially Axe did not understand the concept of leash walking and proved to be very high energy.  His personality was very tolerant and he learned how to learn.  Mike also had to learn the value of a food reward for the dog.  Training seemed to go slowly, but all at once things come together and on Dec. 10, 2007, Mike guided Axe through the CGC examination administered by Rick Sangrey.  Axe met the qualifications of Canine Good Citizen.  On 1-3-08 Axe was adopted.

Cathy began working with a shepherd/husky mix named Dodger.  The volunteers reported that he was a bit difficult to walk because he pulled.  Dodger was quick to learn, however, and is a very loveable fellow.   Dodger is a happy worker and he loves to train.  Dodger is calm and relaxed while Cathy sits on the bench.  This is an important skill because when he is adopted his new owners may also want to stop and rest when he goes for walks in the park.  He responds well to praise and he loves cookies.  He has progressed so well that he will be evaluated for the CGC in January 2008.  We hope he finds a family who wants to adopt him and make him a part of their lives.  Dodger was adopted on 12-29-07 before he could be evaluated for the CGC but we are thrilled that he found a home. 

Deb’s next dog to train is Zion a Pit Bull Mix.  Zion has been at the SPCA since he was a baby.  He injured his leg by jumping to high in his kennel.  While his leg was in a cast he was fostered in the home of SPCA volunteers.  He grew up and became too big and strong for his foster family to handle him.  He was transferred back to the shelter and then adopted.  He lived with his new family for almost 5 months and was returned to the SPCA.   He was renamed Parker by his adoptive family but a typo names him Packer on his cage.   It was decided to revert to his original name – Zion to remember happier times and make training more fun for the dog.  Initial contact shows Zion to be a quick and motivated learner.  

Chris Hivner joined the training team and worked with Deb to train Zion.  Zion and Chris quickly formed a bond and began to work on some of Zion’s fear issues.  Zion is more comfortable inside and is unsure of himself outside. He also has some sensitivity to new sounds.  One of Zion’s fear issues was the bathroom.  He was able to work through that fear and he became so comfortable in the bathroom that he was able to perform behaviors such as spin / touch / sit.  It was discovered that Zion likes music and in particular he responds positively to 'Best Friend' by Queen.  With the song playing while he walked, his head came up and he strutted!  His whole body posture and attitude came alive and the transformation is amazing.  He definitely walks in time to the music and his tail wags like a metronome.  His ears even flop in time to the music!  It seems to make him happy.  He lets go of his fears and a whole new Zion personality emerges.  On March 24 Zion guided by Chris became a Canine Good Citizen.  Chris did a fantastic job with him and Zion not only met the requirements of the test but he also had his tail wagging the whole time and he was happy!  We are thrilled by the happy transformation and look forward to seeing him adopted by a loving home that will complete his life.

Mike is training Davidson, a pointer.  Davidson was very unsure of the spin and turn moves, but Mike had patience and showed that an older dog can indeed learn new tricks!  In April 2008 Mike decided to foster Davidson and we hope it turns into a permanent foster!

Cathy started 2008 with a new canine partner – Maverick.  Maverick is a Border Collie mix.  He is a fast learner and has a zest for the teamwork between Cathy and himself. Maverick had been adopted but was returned to the SPCA partly because he kept darting out the door of his home.  Reports from that owner indicated some nervousness on Maverick’s part, but that has not shown up so far in his training at the SPCA. This friendly fellow has been easy to take in and out of his cage, loves walking, sits nicely, and is having fun learning new skills.  Maverick was adopted in February and very happy in his new home.

Jill started to train Chowder a Chow mix.  On the first night of training Chowder had some stress but seemed to be having fun.  We discovered she had a very negative reaction to food and was quite possessive.  Further testing by the SPCA staff determined her to be a liability, and sadly she was euthanized.

In March of 2008 Cathy was paired with Reggie, a dog not even a year old yet who had been at the SPCA from an early age. He had been adopted at least twice but returned. The observation of the SPCA staff and our training team was that his problems were basically puppy issues like nipping and pulling on the leash when walking.  Cathy found him to be very smart and eager to please once he knew what was expected of him. We believed he would make a good pet for someone willing to spend the time to train a puppy.  Happily, Reggie was adopted after only two weeks in our program.  We certainly hope his owners continue his training and that this home will be forever.

By the end of March, Cathy started to work with a cute little black mixed breed named Blair who had been surrendered as part of a cruelty case in which the owners had too many dogs and did not properly care for them.  Blair has only three legs, but she is nonetheless a bundle of energy.  On her first night, she quickly learned that she can have fun on a walk without pulling and was happy to begin learning “touch,” “spin,” and “turn.”  Blair was adopted and is happy in her new home.