Dog owners can keep training up to date thanks to Lost Dogs Home virtual canine classroom
A virtual canine classroom has been launched to help locked-down pet owners get their disobedient dogs an A-plus in best behaviour. And the new cyber school is also open to cats. Here’s what you can expect.
Inner South
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Pets across the state can go back to school this week too, thanks to an innovative web-based training program.
The Lost Dogs Home has launched an online version of its popular Pet Squad behaviour training so animals can learn in the comfort of their own home.
The virtual sessions include behavioural consultations and group training classes with experienced and qualified instructors.
Lost Dogs Home spokeswoman Suzana Talevski said the sessions would allow people to continue their important pet training during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have so many clients who attend our training sessions and we needed to find a way to continue offering that service,” she said.
“We understand how important it is to keep up your training routine, especially if you’ve just recently welcomed a new furry friend into your home.
“You can now attend private consultations for your cat or dog from the comfort of your own home by joining us remotely.”
Ms Talevski said common behaviours addressed by the training included dog reactivity, separation-related distress, anxiety-related issues, under-confident dogs and aggression-relate issues.
Pet Squad trainers use force-free, positive reinforcement training methods, she said.
“Positive reinforcement techniques use non-confrontational methods to stimulate the animal’s brain,” she said.
“There are no harsh verbal or physical corrections.”
Ms Talevski said there had been a cat adoption boom at the shelter, with lockdown boosting demand for feline companions.
“We’re struggling to put them all up on the website because by the time we do, they’re already adopted,” she said.
“We’re so busy putting up their photos and bios that we published one called ‘no name’ and even little ‘no name’ got adopted within five minutes.”
Ms Talevski said before the pandemic hit, there were about 750 cats at Lost Dogs Home shelters and now there were only about 200.
“It’s great because we want them to be adopted but we also want to make sure they’re going to the right families because we don’t want a mass surrender happening when this (lockdown) is over,” she said.
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Dog adoptions had remained fairly stable since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Ms Talevski said.
“We can’t have people walking into the shelter anymore so it’s appointment only which means we’re taking longer to get people through the doors but there’s still been steady interest,” she said.
“And our foster carer program has exploded because people are home during the day and prepared to foster pets.
“We had 600 foster carers before (the pandemic) and within a week or two jumped to 1000.
“Now we’ve had to stop applications because there’s over 1000 people on the waiting list alone — it’s disappointing having to tell people they can’t get on the list yet but the support for our animals has been incredible at this time.”
For more information on the classes available, visit the Lost Dogs Home website.