MARATHON COUNTY YOUTH CONTRIBUTE TO DOG PROJECT'S SUCCESS

SITUATION
Marathon County 4-H has many youth interested in the dog project. Last year, at the Wisconsin Valley Fair, the dog superintendent noticed that there were inconsistencies in dog handling techniques. Marathon County 4-H has never had a county wide dog project program. Youth who wanted learn how to train dogs were taught by a club project leader, a professional trainer or learned independently. Besides not having a consistent county dog training program, there were not any specific training requirements. Some youth who brought dogs to the fair were unprepared and did not understand what to do. This also became a safety issue because dogs that are not trained in a class format often lack good social skills with people and/or other dogs.

RESPONSE
In December 2006, Amber Brei, Marathon County 4-H Advisor met with 4-H dog project leaders. The leaders were interested in forming a committee to teach dog obedience and education classes at a county wide level. The goal of the committee was to develop more consistency in dog handling techniques, offer more education about dogs for youth who choose not to actually show their animal and to educate youth about the importance of safety around dogs.

RESULTS
In order to have more consistency in dog training, there needed to be classes offered to all youth. The committee has planned an educational meeting in February for all dog project members. This meeting will explain to youth and their parents the reasons for changes to the dog project. This meeting will also include education about dog health and safety. The committee has also set up six dog training session for the winter months and six training sessions for the summer months.

EVIDENCE
The development of the committee is evidence that the dog project needed improvement. The long term impact of the committee will be determined by the growth of dog project participants and attendance at the county-wide project meetings.

Amber Brei, 4-H Youth Development Advisor - 2006 Success Story

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