WILDCAT DOG TRAINING COMMUNITY PROJECT

Abstract

Dogs are widely recognized as “Man’s Best Friend” and have become one of the most popular pets in the US. Their success as a companion relies heavily on their unique ability to develop a close bond with humans and their innate desire to interact with them. A major contributing factor to this special bond is the emotional welfare of both parties. To date, traditional dog training has focused on ​what​ a dog is trained to do but more modern methods also focus on ​how​ this is accomplished. This thesis was a community project that provided no-cost, modern dog training classes to UArizona students, faculty and staff. The focus of the project was to explore the effect dog training has on improving the human-canine bond. Training classes were provided during both the Fall and Spring semesters. The Fall semester training focused on basic obedience and behavior management skills, while Spring semester focused on beginner level tricks. In total, 13 owner-dog dyads participated in training classes. Both training semesters presented many opportunities to explain common misconceptions regarding dog behavior, explain the species-specific requirements of companion dogs and assist owners in teaching their dog new behaviors that ultimately enhance the bond shared between the human-canine dyads. A post-class survey was given to participants to further look at the effect of training on the human-canine bond.