caninecountryacademy

Marty, Honey, and Frances have recently found their forever homes!!  We are so happy for these great C.L.A.S.S. dogs!

We are so thrilled that Marty found a great home with the Jenkins family!!

Honey left the shelter for her new home on Saturday!

Frances followed right behind Honey and was sleeping in a her own comfy bed with her new family on Sunday night!

Please take a moment to meet one of our exceptional C.L.A.S.S. dogs, Marty.  Marty is eagerly awaiting adoption at the Gwinnett Animal Shelter.

Marty is a very bright Lab/Shepherd mix that the shelter believes is about two years old and weights around forty-five pounds.  He has learned basic commands such sit, down, look, stay, wait for the food bowl, wait to go outside, loose leash walking, shake, touch and spin.  We think he will soon be ready to test for his B.A. level in C.L.A.S.S. (Canine Life and Social Skills).  Marty has impressed all his handlers with his focus and work ethic.  He is also the star of the shelter’s Nose Work class, which meets once a week.  Nose Work is a sport where dogs use their nose to locate a target scent or odor (for Marty it is chicken).  The shelter’s Nose Work program gives dogs enrichment and the opportunity to build confidence and problem solve.  Marty has a great personality and deserves a loving home with an owner that would enjoy keeping his brain stimulated with fun activities.

Check out Marty’s loose leash walking skills and amazing Nose Work progress in the two videos below!

Meet the three great dogs that have recently started the C.L.A.S.S. program.  Frances, Spice, and Honey are currently available for adoption at Gwinnett Animal Shelter.  We will keep you updated on their progress!

FRANCES

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Frances is a beautiful chocolate Pit with a cream-colored brindle. The shelter thinks she is about four years old. She is every bit as sweet as she is pretty. So far, Frances has learned to sit, down, touch, wait for the food bowl, and is working on loose leash walking. She takes her treats so gently and is such a quick learner.

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SPICE

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Spice is a Retriever mix that the shelter thinks is about a year old.  She is a very outgoing girl with lots of energy.  She is brilliant at sit, down, look, and waiting for the food bowl. Spice is also a participant in our weekly Nose Work class and is quite the searcher.  Wouldn’t you like to add a little spice to your life?

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HONEY

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Honey is a sweet Shepherd mix that has just started the C.L.A.S.S. program.  She has quickly learned to sit and is working on other behaviors.  Honey is also a new student in the shelter’s Nose Work program, which gives dogs the opportunity to build confidence and problem solve.  Come meet Honey today!

We wanted to update you on some recent adoptions from the C.L.A.S.S. program.  Gracie, the beautiful and sweet Pit was adopted into a loving home with another dog.   Bubba, the American Bulldog mix was just adopted over the weekend and we are so happy he will now get the consistent love and attention he so desperately craves.  Little Roscoe was selected to be part of Operation Second Chance, a new program that allows inmates to train dogs and find them permanent homes at the Gwinnett County Jail.

Click here for more information about Operation Second Chance.

Roscoe

Bubba

Gracie

We would like to take a moment and showcase our C.L.A.S.S. dogs that are currently waiting for their forever homes.  If you are interested in meeting any of these wonderful dogs, please visit the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter.

ROSCOE

Roscoe is a very intelligent and sweet male Terrier mix that the shelter believes is about 5 years old.  He started C.L.A.S.S. training with volunteer Melissa on Nov. 10th.  So far, Roscoe has learned to sit, down, touch, and wait for his food bowl.  He is very friendly, engaged, and food motivated.  There is a whole lot of personality packed into this little pup!

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BUBBA

Bubba is an incredibly sweet young American Bulldog mix with beautiful ticking marks and a cropped tail.  The shelter thinks he is about 2 years old.   He LOVES to be pet and cuddle up with anyone that will let him.  Pam, his volunteer,  has this to say about his progress: “Bubba has learned to sit, sit nicely when approached (puppy cha-cha),  is working on loose-leash walking, patiently waiting while his harness is put on, check-ins and making eye contact, recalls with treats being tossed out for him, targeting (“touch”), twist and turn (spinning in either direction – even without a lure, he is really good at it!).  He can down very nicely.  He is calm going in and out of his kennel and sits politely to have his leash put on.  He also excels at snuggling and taking treats gently!”

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MARDI

Mardi is a Lab/Shepherd mix that loves to work and is a very quick learner.  The shelter thinks he is about 2 years old.  So far, he can sit, down, touch, look, and wait for the food bowl.  Mardi is also participating in the shelter’s Nose Work class, which he truly enjoys and excels in.   Mardi is neutered and ready to go to a loving home.

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ALLIE

Allie is a gorgeous Retriever/Shepherd mix that the shelter believes is about a year old.  She has stolen the heart of her volunteer Pam, who loves her sweet and outgoing personality.  Allie has a very impressive sit and down and has also learned touch, look, and spin.  Allie is looking for a forever home or rescue group.  She would do best as an only pet.  Allie also loves to use her nose, she makes it very difficult to stump her in nose work class!!

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GRACIE

Gracie is one of the sweetest dogs you will ever meet!  She is a beautiful brindled Pit that is about 2 years old and weighs about 45 pounds.  So far, Gracie has learned to sit, down, look, touch, spin, and wait for the food bowl.  This is a dog that loves EVERYONE she meets, including children.  She is a serious snuggler and will love to keep laps warm this winter.  If you are looking for faithful companion that will supply endless affection, Gracie is the girl for you!

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PORTHOS

Porthos is affectionately named after one of the three musketeers by his volunteer trainer Jorie.  Porthos is a Lab mix that the shelter believes is around 7 years old.  This sweet and easy going guy has learned to sit, down, wait, watch, and touch.

Thank you to Julie Rask for letting us know the rest of the Wiggles story which has a VERY happy ending!

Check it out here: Wiggles Happy Ending

This lovely Pit was started out this week in C.L.A.S.S. with our volunteer Kim.  She’s such a sweet dog and is a fast learner!!  We will keep you posted on her progress and her adoption status.  Right now she’s available and in class on Monday learned Sit, Down, Touch (hand target), Loose Leash walking and Spin!

Well, the C.L.A.S.S. training program has been going so well at the shelter that Lt. Respess has agreed to let us start some Nose Work classes for some of the dogs!  We are so excited to have a bunch of volunteer handlers signed up right away to run searches with the dogs.  Since we have a couple dogs who are more sensitive in the group class environment, Nose Work will be perfect for them because they will get to do their searches on their own without the stress of other dogs in the room.  We have several dogs already who love to have their noses peeled to the ground so this will be a wonderful source of enrichment for them!

Nose Work class starts tomorrow night so we’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

Here were some of the great articles written on our program at Gwinnett County Animal Shelter:

http://loganville.patch.com/articles/gwinnett-animal-shelter-graduates-georgias-first-class-certified-dog

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2011/oct/06/training-program-turns-shelter-dogs-into-class/

Yesterday was a great and momentous day at Gwinnett County Animal Shelter.  This is what happens after you take two wonderful dogs and two wonderful volunteers and put them in a room to test their skills!!   Jennifer took Mandy through the C.L.A.S.S. evaluation and Jorie handled our little Rotti mix (now named Gigi by her new owner).  Lt. Respess had invited the press to come and boy did they show up!  We had 3 different news channels represented, one big newspaper and a reporter from a local patch site.

Mandy struggled a little with focus with all those flashy cameras in the room and was not able to complete all the skills on the evaluation, but Jennifer did a wonderful job with her on the items they did complete and after the test Mandy trotted off with her new owner!  We were so excited that she has a forever home to go to.

Gigi was the second dog to be evaluated and after the test was over she became Georgia’s very first C.L.A.S.S. certified dog!  She passed with Honors, which means she executed two tricks in addition to the required behaviors.  Jorie handled her extremely well and got to pass her off to her new owner after the evaluation as well.

The next thing we knew today was not only had all this been aired on the local news stations, but the article was on the front page of the Gwinnett Daily Post as well as the Loganville-Grayson Patch site!  This recognition and exposure was wonderful and will hopefully help us to recruit more volunteers for the program at the shelter.  We are so fortunate to have the dedicated volunteers helping out that we do and the more volunteers we have, the more dogs we can train and hopefully get moved more quickly out of the shelter.  I have never been more proud of the C.L.A.S.S. program than I was today.  After spending 18 months of my life to develop it, to see it now being utilized to save dogs lives through training and mental stimulation and to encourage the humans that work with these dogs that they can make a difference, is an awesome thing.