Dog School Val Ellingson Teaches Unruly Canines Proper Manners
Alexander, like Mike Tyson, was a biter.
Kenzie needed to learn better social skills.
And Derreck, well, Derreck just wants to please.
Three dogs, three different personalities.
Spring and summer is puppy season, and while they’re still young, it’s time to correct bad habits like biting, digging and barking.
Like most humans, dogs can benefit from education, early-childhood intervention and discipline - as well as a tasty snack for a job well done, said Val Ellingson, a South Hill resident who has been training dogs for more than two decades.
Ellingson owns and operates the The Family Dog, which provides group classes and individual instruction for dog owners and their pets. Classes are conducted at the Manito Veterinary Clinic.
Her most famous pupil and her own beloved companion is 10-year-old Jack, a golden Labrador who has appeared in local theater productions and TV ads.
Not every dog owner, however, cares whether their dog is star material.
Lisa Mackey just wanted 8-month-old “Alexander the Terrible” to stop biting.
Before Mackey enrolled Alexander in Ellingson’s “Puppy Preschool Class,” she said she nearly returned the now lovable mutt whence he came - SpokAnimal.
“He used to bite me 99 percent of the time,” Mackey said.
Biting can spell the demise of a dog. Catch the behavior early, and it can be corrected, said Ellingson, who also has trained dogs for the deaf.
She explained to Mackey that some dogs don’t know the strength, shape or feel of their jaws.
“Alexander didn’t understand where the ball or Milk Bone ended and where my hand began,” Mackey said.
But with proper training and perseverance, Alexander learned that Mackey’s hands and fingers were not the same as a hard rubber ball or a crunchy Milk Bone.
“He learned where the ball ended and my skin began,” she said.
Rose Mary Volbrecht’s dog Kenzie didn’t bite. She just played rough.
Volbrecht signed up 2-year-old Kenzie for “Finishing School,” a series of classes for dogs 6 months and older.
Kenzie lives with Derreck, the good-natured dog who lives to please. But Derreck, a nonaggressor, was getting pounced on by Kenzie once too often.
Volbrecht and her roommate, Kathie Yerion, discovered a neighborhood toddler was harassing Kenzie, who lives behind a chain-link fence with Derreck.
Once discovered, the toddler was asked to stop, and Kenzie’s manners began to improve.
By the end of two or three of Ellingson’s classes, most dogs have learned the basics - not to bite, pull on their leashes or run away. More sophisticated training requires the owner to outwit his or her dog.
Such is the case with digging.
“This is the time of year when most dogs dig,” Ellingson told students in Monday night’s “Finishing School” class.
“I am an avid gardener, and my dog likes to garden too,” she said.
A dog’s natural instinct is to dig. The trick, said Ellingson, is to make your dog a miner.
“Plant some gold,” she said.
Ellingson told class participants that one afternoon she buried Milk Bones in her back yard without her dog’s knowledge.
Later in the day she took her dog outside. In full view of her pet, she got down on her hands and knees and proceeded to dig.
“When I got to a certain level, the Milk Bones started to fly,” she said.
Her demonstration inspired her dog to try his paws at excavation, and he too began to dig.
“Restock the pit with Milk Bones, and your dog will confine his digging to one hole,” she said.
Ellingson’s classes provide the foundation for good behavior, but ultimately it’s the dog’s owner who has to keep up the good behavior, she said.
In return, an owner can expect a polite dog that knows how to socialize with people and other canines.
For some, the rewards of dog ownership extend beyond companionship.
“Having dogs gives me a different perspective on life,” said Volbrecht, who teaches ethics at Gonzaga University.
“It puts you in touch with a broader world,” she said. “Here are these critters who meet you at the door, forgiving of your deficiencies.”
, DataTimes