7 eon SMucch North Shore News Wednesday, Woman's best friend CORRECTIONAL CENTRE’S DOGGIE BOOT CAMP ONE OF the best things about dogs is their unconditional acceptance of us, provided we feed them, of course. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to tell who benefits more from the pet- person relationship, the feeder or the feedec. The SPCA knows the people-animal relations. Seven years ago the B.C. branch began a hospital-pet visitation program called Pets and Friends. It was so successful, a separate self-sustain- ing society was set up, ap- propriately named B.C. Society for Human-Animal Interaction, or In- tera.t for short. One of Interact's successes is an innovative program started up last year, modelled on one used in the States, in which unadoptable SPCA dogs are paired with inmate trainers at) Burnaby’s Lakeside Correctional Centre for Women, Needless to say, even in its inau- gural year, it has been a howling success. So far, 13 inmates have transformed I4 dogs from undesirable orphans into well- mannered pets. North Shore dog trainer and behaviorist. Kathy Gibson is the trainer for the Lakeside program, which is funded by B.C. Correc- tions and the Vancouver branch of the SPCA (who provided start-up funds). She chooses dogs from the North Vancouver and other Lower Mainland SPCAs to participate in the obedience training. What she gets are not the tongue value of I"lI-do- anything-for-you charmers chosen flapping, tail wagging by rosy-cheeked children to be their new pet. Gibson gets che un- ruly ones, the submissive ones, the aggressors. They get a new home in one of Lakeside’s four kennel: — still “behind bars,"" sa ta speak, but with a chance ata new fife. Here, the dogs undergo basic obedience training, anywhere from eivht to 12 weeks, under the euid- ance of Lakeside female residents. Says Gibson, “We want to make the dog a “civilized city canine.’ We teach the basig obedience commands applied to the contest of living in a house, such as sitting properly and not jumping on fur. niture.”’ These skills are Caught in a classroom simulating an indoor environment. There is alse outdoor training in the doggie boot camp. The out- door course. built: from scrap lumber by one dedicated resident, is designed to build strength. body awareness, climbing and juniping skills and to increase intelligence. As suon as possible after train ing, the dogs are offered up for adoption. * ‘Yodo t want them eo- ing back to the SPCA, Gibson comments, ‘Un the stress of that place a dog can quickly lose his obedience skills.0" (As if on cue, two dogs at Gibson's feet begin squabbling ill-manneredly over a bone.) If the dog shows special prom- ise, it might be trained as a service dog. Service dogs help handicapp- ed people to retrieve and deliver objects, open doors, operate light switches and generally “act as an extra pair of hands and legs," says Gibson. But tet us not forget the other factor in this two-way equation, the Lakeside women, who, if you'll excuse the pun, work dog- gedly for the success of their caning counterparts. They get to see the results of many weeks’ ef- forts in the dogs’ newly acquired self-discipline. ‘And those skills play back on them (the women), too.”’ observes Gibson. cht becomes a process of self-discovery for them.” The dog becomes 4 sort of non-judgmental friend, uncon- ditionally supportive in the way See Program Page 40 we a x a qv v after 45 is okay PAGE 43 NEWS photo Terry Peters NORTH SHORE dog trainer and behaviorist Kathy Gibson poses with one of the many dogs up for adoption at the North Vancouver SPCA. Gibson chooses dogs from Lower Mainland SPCAs to take part in a unique training program at Lakeside Correctional Centre for Women in which female inmates teach obedience skills to the canines.