SPANISH FORT, Ala.—Dawn Gilmore of Bay Minette enrolled her 8-month old boxer with the goal for LuLu to become a service dog for her 6-year-old son who has Spastic Cerebral Palsy and is wheelchair-bound.

Mark and Dawn Butler of Spanish Fort have a 6-month-old German shepherd, Louisa, who is learning scent discrimination now and will ultimately be trained in search and rescue.

Both dogs became friends with four more dogs when they met for intermediate education on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. in Petsmart’s enclosed training room in the Eastern Shore Centre store. All of them are are fulfilling training requirements for Canine Good Citizens and certifications for therapeutic work. 

Cynthia Clark-Pesce, accredited pet training instructor, taught the intermediate education course where the goal was consistent, healthy behaviors using a combination of verbal cues, hand signals and positive reinforcement.

The challenges for all the dogs were ‘stand’ and ‘stay’ commands and adding distractions, distance and duration to sit and stay in place. They could express a natural interest and curiosity, but couldn't panic, bark or show aggressiveness.

Owners said the veterinarians and groomers complimented the dogs at their appointments when they had proper stand/stay behavior.

The eight-week course concluded July 26. Each owner was presented a certificate of training after the dog performed these intermediate commands: ‘wait,’ ‘heel,’ ‘go to your spot’ and come when called with distractions.

Additionally, every dog had to do a trick: Dolce did a “ta dda” bow; Ratatouille went though a 10-foot tunnel then for an encore, jumped over it; Hoss caught a treat off his nose; LuLu spun to the right then spun to the left; Versace did a combo trick of speaking once for “yes” she was ready to do the Crazy 8, then she weaved between her owner’s legs, and the finale was “high 5, gimme 10”; Louisa did a “Find It” maneuver when her owner rubbed a treat on him, then hid the treat in an aisle for her to use scent discrimination and search for in Petsmart.

For more information about training and behavior classes at every lifestage, call Clark-Pesce at the Spanish Fort Petsmart store at  625-4025.

Visit http://training.petsmart.com for a complete description of classes.

Also through Petsmart, Clark- Pesce is doing obedience training for Paws for Patients, an animal-assisted therapy program that is organized by Covenant Hospice in Daphne. Volunteer pet-owners and pets have begun making patient visits at Westminster Village,

Robertsdale Healthcare Center, Homestead Village, Montrose Bay Rehabilitation and Golden Living Center.