Doggie Discipline Owners Bring Pets In For Training Hoping By Session’S End, It’S Worked

They teach tolerance, patience and understanding. For the sake of the community this training is crucial.

“When they first come through here they’re lunging and barking. But that all changes in a short time,” said Claudette Longoria.

No, this isn’t corporate diversity training. It’s just good old-fashioned “sit,” “stay” and “come here” lessons for dogs and their owners.

“A dog that comes to obedience class is a lot less likely to be roaming through the neighborhood,” said Longoria, a volunteer with Lilac City Dog Training.

What originally started as a club of a handful of German Shepherd owners 24 years ago quickly evolved into a gathering of volunteers eager to share their love and knowledge of dogs with others, according to Longoria.

“We don’t train dogs. We train owners so they can train their dogs,” she said.

At 1612 E. Houston, dog owners from all over the city bring their best friend’s with hope - sometimes prayers - that they will have an obedient dog by the end of an 8-week session.

The 8-week courses cost $40.

At a beginner’s class Monday morning, Marisa Fulton displayed total control while Tekoe, her 6-month-old Rotteweiler, almost displayed complete subservience.

Fulton and Tekoe were in their fourth training session together. Class instructor Carol Munkers had owners and pets working on increasing their physical distance from each other when their pet was in the down position.

Owners also worked on calling their dogs to come to them when their names were called.

As for other commands, Munkers told owners to be specific.

“It isn’t enough to just say their name,” Munkers said. “Please make your instructions really, really clear.”

For most, it works.

“When we first got here he did everything wrong,” Fulton said of Tekoe. “He was really impatient. The biggest thing I’ve learned here is that you need to be the boss.”

When Tekoe performed tasks properly, he was praised with affection and then given a treat. Only a few times did she have to scold him for being disobedient.

Of all the courses available, Longoria said the beginning training class is the most important.

“This is the point where you see the greatest change in the dogs,” she said. “To me it’s the most rewarding to teach.”

But Lilac City goes beyond just pet training. Here, extensive information about dogs is passed along.

During Munkers’ lesson, she talked to the class about breeding. She encouraged them to think twice before breeding their dogs. Nationally, 13 out of every 15 puppies born will be destroyed.

“Forty percent of all puppies will be given up in their first year,” she said.

Also, once a year, Lilac City volunteers make trips to the Humane Society and Spokanimal to help those staffers bathe and groom their dogs to help those dogs find homes.

“This is a hobby with us,” Longoria said. “We love passing on our knowledge and expertise to other dog lovers.”

DOG TRAINING Classes Here is a list of dog obedience classes available through Lilac City Dog Training. Classes meet once a week and are one hour long. * Puppy kindergarten - Open to puppies 3 to 5 months. * Family pet - For dogs 5 months and older. A first class for dogs that have had no formal training, or for newly acquired dogs whose owners have no experience training. * Beginning novice - Open to any dog. Basic commands and control for family dog or future obedience trial competitor. * Advanced novice - Off leash control and polishing to make your dog a reliable and well-behaved family member. Also covered are rules for novice class competition. * Open class competition - Upon completion of advanced novice. Retrieving, jumping, drop on recall and other techniques to prepare owner and pet for competition. * Utility class competition - Hand signals, directed jumping, scent discrimination, directed retrieve. The highest level of competition for obedience trials. * Conformation - Ring experience show dog. * Agility - Open to dogs that have successfully completed beginners novice. Obstacle course including jumping, running, tunnels and ladders.