Celebrate National Train Your Dog Month
January is National Train Your Dog Month, the perfect time to take advantage of the many free and low-cost behavior and training resources available at San Diego Humane Society! Year-round, our Behavior & Training team offers more than 50 different classes, with more than half now available online via Zoom! Attendance spans from San Diego County to around the world!
One of our most popular classes is Marvelous Manners. A dog’s behavior is based on feedback from consequences of previous behaviors — meaning it’s never too early or late to begin training or working to change behaviors.
If quarantine has brought a new furry friend into your life, start training right away. This will teach which behaviors are appropriate and what your expectations are. “If there is a silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that we see the benefit of training pet owners via Zoom while they are at home,” says Community Training Coordinator Juliette Nash. “We have seen tremendous results with our families because there are fewer distractions in their living room where their pet is already comfortable than if they bring their pet to an outside venue and ask them to focus.”
In addition to basic behaviors, we offer specialty classes that address different aspects of high arousal behavior in dogs (Shy Dog, Fabulous Focus for Impulse Control, Reactive Rover and Feisty Fido), enrichment-based classes such as nose work and living room friendly dog sports. We even offer several classes for cats!
“We are a resource for all pet families in San Diego County who need help with their pets,” says Director of Behavior Programs Amanda Kowalski. “It is our goal to keep pets with the families who love them, and we never want a behavior challenge that can be solved with training to be the reason someone has to give up their animal.”
While January is National Train Your Dog Month — don’t leave your cat (or rabbit or bird or iguana!) out of the fun! All animals are trainable and, believe it or not, they all learn the same way! For a full list of pet behavior classes, visit sdhumane.org/training and tune in to San Diego Humane Society’s social media channels throughout January to learn more.
Published: January 4, 2021
