Fall 2007 • V ol. 42 No. 3 - San Diego Humane Society and SPCA

cover story
One-on-One Training Helps Pets Succeed
For many pet parents, training
consists of a few puppy classes
or basic manners courses.
However, for other pet parents,
group-training settings don’t always
serve the needs of their pet. For example,
how would you train your pet if he were
too shy to leave your home, or he simply
didn’t like to be around other pets?
Luckily, San Diego pet parents with
this dilemma have a wonderful resource
available to them right here at the San
Diego Humane Society and SPCA.
The Humane Society’s Behavior and
Training Department offers in-home and
private training sessions and behavior
consultations for pet parents in need of
one-on-one or in-home training help.
For friends and roommates Kathy
Muth and Doreen Rock, training their
one-year-old Miniature Poodle Abby hasn’t
been easy, but they say it would have been
nearly impossible without the help of the
San Diego Humane Society’s in-home and
one-on-one training sessions. Group puppy
classes were too overwhelming for Abby
and the trainers didn’t have the time to
dedicate to Abby’s particular needs in a
group setting without detracting from the
positive class experience of other students.
“When we first started training Abby
we had trouble getting her to calm down
and she also had issues with being
touched,” said Doreen. “So we got on the
Internet and found the Humane Society’s
services – now life is livable and we have
peace in our house.”
On a recent sunny day in June, Kathy
and Doreen brought Abby to the Humane
Society for a private training session with
San Diego Humane Society Behavior
Trainer and Certified Pet Dog Trainer
Margaret Lenoir. As Kathy walked with
Abby through the Humane Society’s
courtyard, Margaret walked by her side
and gave Kathy moment-by-moment
commentary on how to encourage all the
good behaviors Abby exhibited. Whenever addition, seeing the pet and family
Kathy was unsure on how to proceed, members in the home setting can also
Margaret was right there with an answer. give trainers better insight into why pets
“Private training and behavior
are having issues and how pet parents
consultations are a great answer for can most effectively modify their pet’s
those who need a professional to give behavior.
them their full attention and insight
“ ‘Margaret’ has become a household
into their pet’s personal training needs,” word for us,” says Kathy. “We didn’t
said Margaret. “And of course, one-onone
training can give you personalized Abby’s undesirable behaviors, but having
know how we were reinforcing some of
insight on how to apply training to your Margaret come to our home helped us
everyday life.”
figure it out. As a result of our at-home
The San Diego Humane Society’s training, we’ve been able to branch out
Behavior Training Department offers and take Abby through several of the
private training sessions and behavior Humane Society’s advanced group dog
consultations both at home and at the training classes.”
Thanks to the Humane Society’s private training
and behavior consultations, pets are able to
succeed in life, form better bonds with their human
families, and stay in their homes.
Humane Society. Training sessions,
which are $75 per hour at the Humane
Society and $100 in-home, focus on the
physical training techniques that will
help pet parents succeed with their pets.
Behavior consultations on the other
hand are $150 at the Humane Society or
$175 in the home and include an initial
one-and-a-half hour session as well as
an additional one-hour follow-up session.
This allows pet parents and trainers to
meet and discuss the pet’s particular
behavior modification needs, devise a
training and/or management plan and
then follow-up with the implementation
of that training.
For many pet parents, in-home
consultations and training sessions are
the most convenient, and make the most
sense, because it allows the trainers to
see the pet in a controlled environment
where the pet is most comfortable. In
Thanks to the Humane Society’s
private training and behavior
consultations, pets like Abby are able
to succeed in life, form better bonds
with their human family members, and
stay in their homes. For the pets and
pet parents whose needs don’t fit the
traditional group-training scenario, the
Humane Society’s private behavior and
training services offer a viable and
effective solution to building and
maintaining a strong bond between twolegged
and four-legged companions!
Interested in the Humane Society’s
private in-home and on location training
and consultations? For more information,
visit www.sdhumane.org and click on
“Resources,” or call (619) 299-7012, ext.
2273 to schedule a private training or
consultation.
SW
AnimalFare • Fall 2007
www.sdhumane.org
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