Last month, the Weed Elementary Wellness Center hosted Karen Topping’s popular Rescue Ranch Youth Training Team Camp for the second year running. The camp brings kids and rescue pups together to learn skills in a safe, supportive environment. This year, increased attendance brought some new challenges but also supplied lots of fun. And at the end of the week there were plenty of reasons to celebrate.
Can kids really help rescue puppies learn skills?
Karen Topping of Meghan’s House Rescue says you bet! The strategy is simple: youths are grouped into teams with one puppy per team. Over five days of camp, these teams teach their rescue puppies basic obedience, providing socialization for canines and humans too. That’s ten hours of practice, play, cuddles, and of course, a little mayhem. The result? Happy kids, confident puppies, and everyone a little wiser than they were before.
Of course, nothing goes exactly according to plan. Attendance was higher this year, but there were also fewer aides on hand to help Karen supervise. Twenty-five children participated, but they didn’t all return each day. This uncertainty, combined with the drop-in registration, made it necessary to repeatedly restructure teams. Despite the hiccups, kids and pups settled into their grooves by mid-week. On Friday, trainers presented their puppies to an audience of parents and peers. Even the shyest children were proud to demonstrate what their pups had learned.
This year, a special celebration at the Rescue Ranch Adoption Center capped the week, with the weekly puppypalooza event featuring all twelve puppy graduates. Visitors enjoyed free hot dogs courtesy of Sandy Nolan of Jack’s Dogs, with Rick Formanek acting as grill master. Rescue Ranch provided chips and drinks, and several young trainers came to play with their proteges. Two lucky pups even celebrated with new adoptive families. Yay!
Training camp benefits rescue pups and kids, too
The benefits of the training camp for the rescue puppies are clear. On Monday, the shyest puppies were trying to find a place to hide. After just five days, these same puppies could calmly sit and stay in front of an audience while their young trainers walked away to the length of the playfield. Moreover, the puppies learn skills that stick with them later. Karen says that weeks and even months afterwards, puppy grads are noticeably calmer and better-behaved.
But the dogs aren’t the only ones who grow. The program benefits children, too, cultivating life skills and giving trainers self-confidence. Looking forward, Karen hopes to find sponsors who will help her bring training camps and other programs to under-resourced communities. As more kids join up, Rescue Ranch will improve the lives of still more dogs, and so on, widening the circle of change in the local community–and beyond.
