P.R.E.P. Dog Training

P.R.E.P. stands for Patience, Responsibility, Empathy and Partnership; the behaviors and skills developed through participation in this program. Each team of two students is assigned a dog in need of basic obedience training and learns how to shape the dog‘s behavior by means of a non-violent, positive reinforcement approach to training.

  This program was re-started on Monday, August 31 2009. It has been redesigned and redeveloped over the past 18 months. We have received grants from the Rees Jones Foundation, the Stemmons Foundation and the Moody Foundation, as well as many individual donations.

Remi's Adoption Letter/Photo September 2009

  The primary goal of this program is to provide the selected young men the opportunity to experience the responsibility of teaching and leadership.  The key to meeting this objective will be to draw a clear parallel between the skills they are learning and applying to training the dogs and their own lives.  The idea of responsibility, of having a life that is looking to you for leadership without prejudice for what you may have done before is critical in the success of the program. The young men will sign a document that will be a part of their file.  They execute a “contract” between themselves and the dog with them, committing to the dog to provide leadership and education without anger and frustration, to be patient and understanding, to be strong in providing guidance and to understand the responsibility they are undertaking. The dog “signs” the contract by being there ready to work.  Through the success in training the dogs and the progress they observe every day,  these young men will come to clearly realize that if they commit to something and stick to it they can and do make a big difference, not only in the lives of the dogs, but in the lives of the dogs’ adoptive families.

  An additional benefit of this program is that it can help point and prepare the young men who are interested in a career with animals by giving them marketable skills that can give them a competitive advantage when they get to the job market.

  We are using the services of Canine Dimensions to run our P.R.E.P. program. They not only possess the expertise to administer the program from a protocol based dog training approach, but they also bring some unique skill sets to the table. Canine Dimensions Director of Training Juan Faura has been training dogs for more than 15 years, at first as a special interest working with family and friends’ dogs and ultimately grew this into a primary business and career.

  We expect to run 10 sets of 4-week training classes a year.  Each training unit will consist of one and a half hour session a day (Monday through Friday) for 3 weeks. There are 4 dogs with two young men per dog.  The fourth week will be used for results monitoring, preparation and selection for the next unit.  The following is the curriculum by week:       

Week 1

Human / dog relations

Dog to dog relations

Practical dog handling techniques

Temperament testing of all participating dogs

Complete Dog profile and execute “contract”

Three-phase training process

Body language (Monday exam)

Basic Obedience (Wednesday exam)

Aggression (Friday exam)             

Phase I practical (hands-on) obedience training (Come, Sit, Down, Stay, Drop it)

Life skills application (vocational and social)

Review week 2 Monday exam (How Dogs Learn)

Discussion and selection of field trip

Think about graduation “message”

Week 2

Refresh week 1 theory and practical learning

Begin phase two training (fading the lure)

How dogs learn (Monday exam)

Breeds, Groups general behavior issues (Wednesday exam)

Training, animal care careers and vocations (Friday exam)

Phase II practical (hands-on) obedience training (Come, Sit, Down, Stay, Drop it)

Introduction of mild distractions

Life skills application (problem solving)

Review week 3 Monday exam (Equipment)

Draft graduation “message”

Week 3

Review week 2 theory and practice

Wrap-up phase two training and begin phase three (Come, Sit, Down, Stay, Drop it)

Introduction of moderate distractions

Equipment (Monday exam)

Housebreaking and training protocols (Wednesday exam)

Other tools and training techniques (Thursday exam)

Graduation (Deliver graduation message)

 All participants will receive  a certificate of completion and all participating dogs will receive a K-9 Diploma which will be placed on their kennel and  become a part of their record for adoption.

Example of adoption followup lettes and photos:

Remi's Adoption

Gale Abe and DeLon

Abe

Photos of the 2009 Re-start of the Program

First week learning how to stay.

Juan Faura working with Sparkles and a couple of the young men.

The President of Canine Dimensions, Irias Faura working with

a young man and Remmy.