Dog Training Club Teaches Canines Good Behavior

By Ryder Miller

With fatal dog attacks making headlines and natural areas being closed to off-leash dogs, it appears that many of our best friends in the city, dogs, are under fire.

But there is a solution to unruly dogs: training.

The oldest training group in City, The San Francisco Dog Training Club, which operates in the Sunset District on Armory Drive behind the SF Zoo, has been training dogs since World War II. The group also provides certificates to prove that dogs have passed a training regimen.

"With people getting bigger dogs, it is important that they are under control," says club President Ron Cole. "You need control to have your dog safely in society."

As Cole has written: "Dogs, like their wolf ancestors, stake out territory. They are also pack animals that establish a pack hierarchy that includes all human members of the household."

The most dangerous place is right in front of the door. Many attacks occur when people approach an entranceway. Dogs on-leash also guard the area of the leash like it is the dog's territory. When dogs are on a leash it is sometimes necessary to signal that strangers walking by are non-threatening by saying hello in a friendly manner.

Free-running dogs are less aggressive than when they are on a leash.

The Training Club, which has been in the City for 58 years, is not widely known.

"We need to be in a position to help train their dogs," said volunteer trainer Jeanne Bobbitt. "We need people to know that we are available."

Among other things, the Training Club has trained war, century and companion dogs. The training needs have followed trends and fads over the years. Training has become less militaristic and more "fun" over the years.

"There are a lot more things to train your dog than 20 years ago," said volunteer "training superstar" Susi Atwell. Agility, the ability to walk up ladders and on a plank, seems to be one of the latest fads. But there are also obedience, play training, water dog training, field training, etc.

Atwell has volunteered at the SPCA for 25 years and is happy the group is taking potential dog threats more seriously.

"They wouldn't put down any dogs that were viscous," Atwell said. "You were not allowed to use choke collars. Now we can use them again."

But can dogs be trained to walk off leash on Ocean Beach? Should the National Park Service enforce laws which restrict them from running free in the National Parks across the country? These are some of the big issues of importance in the debate over dogs living in an urban environment.

"On the beach, for example, dogs not under voice control chase flocks of shorebirds," said Dan Murphy, former president of the Golden Gate Audubon Society, and occasional critic of off-leash dogs when they harass bird or wildlife populations, like the endangered Western Snowy Plover that resides at Ocean Beach for part of the year.

"As far as ground nesting birds go, anytime we allow pets to become feral or go beyond control they are going to be a problem," Murphy said. "The problem is really a people problem. The people who don't train their pets when ­ like when they allow a dog to run free ­ is when there is a problem."

But getting dogs to not chase a bird or person is a challenge. At Ocean Beach and Fort Funston, dogs regularly run to "greet" people.

Atwell said dogs will chase anyone who is running because they think it is a game. And some dogs chase and retrieve downed birds for hunters.

"It's in their nature. They were bred for it," Atwell said.

But if untrained or trained poorly, dogs are often apt to attack, a danger some recent stories in the news have shown.

"Any dog can be nasty," Atwell said. "The ones that are trained to fight may be more inclined to fight. That's not the dog. That's the owner."

Commenting on the recent dog attack headlines, Cole said, "Most of them have been from dogs that are loose ­ off leash. No owners around."

Young children are also more likely to be attacked than adults because they are smaller. Cole said part of owning a dog is understanding that dogs have that behavior.

"Any dog can bite. That is what training is about. Keeping control," said Cole.

But even the most difficult dog can be trained to change environmentally insensitive animals.

"Most people underestimate the ability of dogs to reform," says Jean Donaldson, director of the behavior and training department at the SF Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

"We don't want any aggression. We want nothing," Donaldson said of training goals. "We have a very high standard."

Donaldson also recommends professional training for dogs. Training balances control with freedom.

The San Francisco Dog Training Club offers training once a week at the Fort Funston Armory on Armory Drive, behind the SF Zoo. Call Susi Atwell at (415) 585-2533, Jeanne Bobbitt at 386-2611, or e-mail Ron Cole at ronc@sirius.com for more information.