Our Someone 2 Know this week, is a 'Someplace 2 Know:
The Truckee Meadows Dog Training Club was formed in 1971 by a group of dog enthusiasts to promote dog training and competition - to the public. Some 52 years later the non-profit is still proudly teaching humans how to co-exist with our pets.
We caught up with a class and were greeted by all the wet noses, wet kisses, and wagging tails. While a class at Truckee Meadows Dog Training Club may look like cuteness overload - it's really, serious business.
When we visit, volunteer trainers Robin and Cindy are running the Beginners 101 class.
Volunteer and social media manager for the club, Wendy Peukert, explains, “it certifies that they can be held by a stranger for a minute, they can sit and stay and walk past a friendly dog and walk past a friendly stranger, all things you would encounter in the real world we're getting them ready for.”
Because teaching your dog to be a good citizen is important for so many reasons.
"That means a lot of times the dog is, for example, not being removed from a home because they couldn't control the dog,” details volunteer trainer Cindy Smullen, “or the dog hurt themselves because they ran out in the street and they didn’t know how to come when the handler called them."
Truckee Meadows Dog Training Club is an American Kennel Club sanctioned obedience group - membership is $45 per year. They offer fee-based classes; "We're over 250 strong and these 250 members run the club, solely on their free time,” confirms Peukert.
Most volunteers have decades of training experience.
Smullen smiles wryly and laughs when she recalls, “Well, I got my first dog in 1959, so you don't wanna know how long."
Classes go well beyond basic and even advanced obedience. “We have agility here, we have trick dog,” Cindy lists. There is also STAR Puppy, Scent Work, Conformation, Carting, Freestyle and more. Plus, Wendy adds, "we're working with training our local veterans for free and in their class, they can learn different way to train newly adopted dogs or dogs they already had.”
The club also offers training classes for the popular and in demand therapy dogs.
Peukert reassure all are welcome. "We have resources for people, you don't have to be shy about asking questions or worried about what your dog does, we'll help you with anything that you need.”
Smullen whole-heartedly agrees. "I just feel we make life better for everybody.”
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Truckee Meadows Dog Training Club is located near Oddie Boulevard close to the Reno-Sparks border.
Membership is $45 per year. Classes vary in price with discounts for youth and seniors, and no charge for veterans.
For more information, here is the link to Truckee Meadows Dog Training Club -
1901 Silverada Blvd, Reno, NV 89512
(775) 747-7387
