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The first PROJECT GRADE training session kicked off with 10 adolescent boys and carefully tested dogs from the Harris County
shelter.
Twice weekly for eight weeks, the trainers attended two-hours of classroom instruction followed by lunch and hands-on
experience with their canine students. Classroom topics included the reasons dogs end up in shelters, pet overpopulation,
breed characteristics,, pet care, dog communication, training tools and methods, and pet selection.
The youths toured all functions at the shelter and observed its veterinarians caring for new arrivals.
The Harris County Sheriff Department provided demonstrations of its K9 drug detection unit and worked with the youths, some
who had substance abuse issues, on different dog training methods.
Each teen taught his charge to sit, down, stay, walk on a loose lead and perform a bonus trick.
The dog friendly, positive reinforcement dog training methods emphasized a "reward the positive, ignore the negative"
philosophy as well as techniques of patience, learning one step at a time, and the importance of teaching the dog that "nothing
in life is free."
The teens remarked that they learned as much as the dogs did.
At the end of the program, trainers and dogs took the American Kennel Club "Canine Good Citizen" test, followed
by a graduation ceremony.
All dogs that successfully completed the program eventually were adopted.
PetShare assists PROJECT GRADE with curriculum development, program planning and hands-on training classes.
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