Where are They Now: Louie (Luey)

We are happy to say that we have seen all of our Laws & Paws dogs become adopted soon after completing the L&P program. So, where are they now? We will try to keep you posted on where our L&P dogs have gone!

Louie

Louie was part of the 2011 Laws & Paws training program. He is a hound and German Shepherd mix, estimated to be 10 months old when he joined L&P. We were told that he and his two brothers, Huey and Duey, were abandoned on a farm as puppies. His brothers had already both been adopted when he started with us.

He was a mellow boy from the start and loved to laze around in the grass with his handler during the bonding classes. While the dogs are in the program, they stay in a foster home and Louie had the privilege to stay with King County Sheriff's Office employee Johnny and his two lovely dogs. The four of them had a great time and Louie fit in with the pack. During the six-week program, Louie won first place in the obedience challenge!

Louie's L&P youth handler made this scrapbook page of Louie. 

The Saturday after the Laws & Paws training program was over, the foster parents had to bring their dogs back to Homeward Pet so they could be adopted by their forever families. The day Louie was taken back, our very own PAL Development Manager, Laurie, came in with her dog Sasha so they could meet Louie and see if he would be a good fit to take home. Sure enough, Louie and Sasha got along just fine and Louie went home with Laurie that very day!

Today, Louie is a happy, energetic, playful and loving boy who loves to run and play with the other dogs at the dog park. He loves to lay around outside and sniff the air and chase bugs. Here are some pictures of Louie at his new home!

When he's not running around and playing, Louie loves to be lazy :)

Louie and Sasha love to run around and play

They also like to play tug-of-war with their toys

Louis being a good boy!

Sniffing around the backyard

Graduation!

On June 6, 2011 the kids and dogs in the Laws & Paws program graduated from their 6- week training class. We are so proud of how far the kids have come in the training of their dogs. It has been a real treat to see their confidence grow as they make the connection with their dogs and master their training techniques.

As part of graduation, the kids took their dogs through a training course that included various "challenges" such as sitting, walking fast, walking slow, walking in a circle, laying down and making turns. The kids did such a great job and handled their dogs well.

Awards were given to the dogs for best agility course, best obedience skills and most improved. The kids received a mold of their dog's paw print and a framed picture of them and their dog to remember their time in the program.

After graduation the kids and their parents enjoyed a nice reception with cake and other goodies. During the course, the kids made scrap book pages of their dogs which would be given to the people and families who adopt the dogs.

We would like the give a BIG THANK YOU to the City of SeaTac! With their support we were able to provide a nice graduation reception for the kids and their parents.

Chief Graddon and Officer Davy with the Laws & Paws group after graduation. 

Setting up the graduation course

Some of the scrapbook pages the kids made of their dogs. 

Pictures of the kids and their dogs

The Laws & Paws Cake

About half way through

The kids and dogs are progressing nicely.  Yesterday, the kids got to experience a Rally course. Rally is an AKC approved obedience competition where the handlers and their dogs walk through a series of skills that are on cards posted on the ground.  Everyone did very well for their first time.  Our Rally instructor, Karen, was very impressed.

Mark working with Valory and Tia

Benny running the course. 

Ending of Week 3

This is the 3rd week of our program. So far the kids have been teaching the dog sit, down, stay and heal.  Some have come a long ways some have not but everyone is working hard.  Yesterday, we had Heather from the Point Defiance Zoo come to the school and talk about careers that are available through the zoo.  She also brought Fern, the skink , Honey the screech owl and Scooter the 3 ringed armadillo.  The kids were fascinated and asked some great questions.  Next week we will be continuing to work on the basic skills but will also be adding some agility skills. 

Scooter the three-ringed armadillo.

Honey was very interested in the kits hanging from the ceiling.

Fern and Tatyana (in the background)

Week 1

Yesterday concluded our first week of Laws and Paws.  It was also the first real training day. There was some shifting of student trainers and dogs. Our goal is to match the right trainer with the right dog so they will both be successful.  This year we have a total of 9 students.  We decided to welcome 3 non-shelter dogs into our group that need work.  One is Annie. She is a cute little Samoyed whose confidence level is on the low side. We matched her up with a young lady whose is out going and confident. That energy radiated through the leash and within just a couple of days Annie's tail came up and you could see the confidence raise in both dog and handler. 

This is Annie and her student handler. 

We also have a young man whose has some dog handling experience but is at risk and needs something that connects him to school.  Chinook's Assistant Principal shows Samoyed dogs. She came up with a plan to train the young man with one of her Samoyed dogs in show ring handling. Then if he stays in school, has academic progression and stays out of trouble we will facilitate his showing a the dog in a June dog show in Puyallup.  In just a couple of days, the teachers were already commenting on how much more engaged this young man was.  He was thrilled and told everyone about it.  Our Assistant Principal goes out of her way to help her students and this is just an amazing opportunity for one of our young people.

Day 1 Team Building

May 3, 2011. Today was the first day of Laws & Paws. Stacey Dow, our L&P dog trainer, taught the kids some name games and then went on to a team building activity. The mission was to get everyone through the lava field aka soccer field by stepping across stones aka towels Stacey brought. The twist:: everyone had to hold hands and if someone burned themselves in the lava they had to start over. The goal was to show the kids how to depend on each other to accomplish a goal.  As we start working with the dogs, it will become a team effort.  It reminds me of the saying "it takes a village to raise a child" or in our case to train a dog.  These kids may get frustrated when the dogs are doing their own thing, they will get grossed out when they have to pick up poo, they will laugh together and in the end they will cry together when they have to let the dogs go to their forever homes. They will learn to have patience, compassion, empathy, and respect for the dogs. By being a team and depending on each other they will also learn to have patience, compassion, empathy and respect for each other and others.

Stacey placed 4 small towels on the ground. The goal was to get everyone across the towels without touching the ground in between. Twist: they had to hold hands and if anyone stepped between the towels they hade to start over. Stacey's instructions were to think outside the box.  It took them awhile but they finally figured it out.

2011 Laws and Paws Schedule

Tomorrow is day 1 of the 2011 Laws and Paws session.  On day one we typically work with out the dogs. We work on getting to know the kids and doing some team building exercises. We also have a train the trainer seminar to teach the kids how we will be training the dogs, what positive reinforcement and why treating at the moment is so important.

 We will introduce the kids and dogs on Wednesday. This year is unique because we have 3 smaller dogs and only 2 larger ones. All dogs will be available for adoption once they are through their 6 week training session.  If you see a dog your interested in, you are welcome to email Homeward Pet at dogs@homewardpet.org and let them know what dog your interested in. Additionally, if you would like to see the dog in person please contact me at Karen.Davy@KingCounty.gov and we can set up an appointment for you to come to one of our training sessions.