Panama City, Fla. -- Two panhandle animal rescues will partner with The DogSmith National Training Center during their scheduled new franchise training. Both the Bay County Humane Society and Alaqua Animal Refuge will have dogs attend this 14 day training.
The Humane Society of Bay County and Alaqua Animal Refuge will each send two shelter dogs to the DogSmith National Training Center in Bonifay, Fla. beginning Aug. 24. The dogs will become the wards of new DogSmith franchise owners, who will train them over the course of two weeks to take the American Kennel Club's "Canine Good Citizen" test. The 10-part test certifies that the dogs can sit, lie down, stay, come when called, walk nicely on a leash through a crowd and greet friendly strangers and friendly dogs politely. The dogs with also be crate-trained and housebroken.
"These dogs will be in training for two to four hours daily, said DogSmith Franchise founder and president Niki Tudge. "And on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 2 p.m., we'll conduct CGC tests on each of these dogs, Tudge said. "It's my hope that we have people lined up at the DogSmith Training Center waiting to take these Canine Good Citizens home," she said, noting that interested potential owners may submit applications through the Humane Society of Bay County and Alaqua Animal Refuge. New owners will get a free consultation from local DogSmith franchise owner, Catherine Zehner, on the dogs' training and care, Tudge said.
The two dogs from the Humane Society of Bay County that will undergo training are "Zoey Ann" and "Doozie," both which are year-old female greyhound mixes. The dogs from Alaqua Animal Refuge are border collie mixes, said Laurie Hood, president and founder of the Freeport animal sanctuary. "We're excited to be part of training some exceptionally well-mannered pet dogs," she said.
Members of the media are welcomed and encouraged to attend the Canine Good Citizen testing of the shelter dogs, which will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3.
Rachel Training Two Alaqua Animal Refuge Pups