Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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dogs • connnucD FROID1 used to be that dogs should not be trained until they were six months old, but by then it’s too late. “They’ll already have their bad habits established,” she said. “We used to do dog show training, then we realized that most people don’t want to show dogs, they want good house pets,” said Davis. “They want their dogs to not jump up and stay off the counters.” In basic training, the dog learns some of the basics, such as “sit,” “stay,” “come” and how to walk on a leash. “It’s important to get the dog’s attention every time you say his name, and he will be 90 percent better behaved than most dogs,” said Vesalo. “You can teach a dog to sit and stay when the pizza man comes. You want to set the dog up for success.” Vesalo teaches a fancy move called a “puppy push up,” handy for redirecting the dog’s attention when the mailman comes. You make a loud noise, such as by dropping a book on the floor, say the dog’s name to get his attention, and then have him sit, go down, sit and go down again — known as the “push-up.” Through all this activity, the mailman melts away. You can also train the pooch to ignore accidental pain in a smooth move called “ouch training.” You pull the dog’s ear and go “ouch,” then give him a treat. You work on this scenario until ultimately, if someone steps on his tail, the dog ignores it and starts drooling. You can even teach dogs to love being held by doing just that, cradling them like babies, said Vesalo. Working with. your dog deepens the bond between owner and animal, a relationship that can become quite profound, even spiritual — just check out your neighborhood library for a wealth of books on the topic. Participating in classes socializes the dog, exposing him to new and different settings and people, including children. He learns to be friendly and a likely return customer of the local dog park. “If you don’t put the time into training, eventually people will get rid of the dog,” said Davis. “If you’re willing to put in time for training, you’ll have a good pet for the life of the animal.” Thirteen people and eight dogs gathered in a circle of chairs in the center of the PetsMart store for a graduation ceremony, the culmination of an eight week beginner class. It was a feast of giggling, sniffing and wagging as the dogs and their masters trotted up to Vesalo in a display of “pomp and circumstances” to collect their certificates and a toy. Nobody hurried off at the top of the hour. They lingered to hear Vesalo share stories about how she tricks her own dogs, Jersey, a Great Dane; Spooky, a sheltie mix; and Spanky, a husky-Lab mix; into coming to her every time she calls them by using variable treats — throwing the ball or the stick, giving them a cookie or hollering with delight. They never know what the reward will be. “They are thinking that if I don’t come this time, they might miss the stick,” she said. Retrieving the stick is their favorite. “I’m passionate about this connection. We’re really learning how to love one another.” Meanwhile, Heather and her dog have become practically inseparable; their bond, golden. “Buddy has become such a caring and loving dog,” said her mom. “If you’re willing to put in time for training, you’ll have a good pet for the life of the animal.” LINDA DAVIS Assistant trainer and member of the All-Breed '['raining Club of Akron Jocelyn Williams / A7?7" Campus Dog-training classes cover basic commands as well as topics such as how to discourage mailman-chasing. i-1 GlflflTS • CORTinueDPROmi later, they are keeping the idea alive by running weekly installments of a TV news style show on their Web site, www.tmbg.com, where they release music videos to studio recordings of the venue songs. A DVD of all 11 venue song videos and four bonus videos is available at the band’s Web site. It comes with a companion CD which features ■ live and studio recordings of the songs. The plot of the show involves They Might Be Giants being contacted by a deranged millionaire the day before they set out on tour. The millionaire tells them of a “bold artistic challenge:” Either they write a new song every day celebrating the venue they were performing in, or they will lose their “magical song-writing talisman.” Further, the deranged millionaire will set loose roving baseball gangs and monstrous creatures into Brooklyn if the band fails. -The show opens with an introduction by a man whose appearance can be described as a newscaster in “emo” glasses. He tells of the deranged millionaire’s plot, then identifies himself as the deranged millionaire. The deranged millionaire introduces each video, giving an inaccurate account of how the band drove from their last city from the next (for example, claiming they drive from Asheville to Glasgow) and usually making comical remarks about the name or nature of the city and the venue. So far, the band has released eight videos, their most recent one being inspired by The Garage in Glasgow, Scotland. This song tells of rather unpleasant experiences in a garage, such as paying forty bucks to park there, then getting your car keyed. Much worse things happen to the car used in the video. One video that may hit closer to home for USC students was made for The Orange Peel club in Asheville, N.C. This song tells of the sorrow felt by an orange peel after being peeled from his orange. “I’m the peel that you left on the floor/You took the good part and walked out the door/and I hate you for that,” sings Linnell. Comments on this story? 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