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Show Parting hard for trainer who raises dogs to help disabled Page C2 THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Friday, December 3, 1993 Animal behavior specialist studies the relationship between people and pets By BOB BLATTNER By MARK VOSBURGH Newport News Daily Press Orlando Sentinel When Fido's problems require a psychiatrist's couch more than an operating table, veterinarian Paul Gustafson calls in Rick Tve-li- a, private eye and canine therapist. ' "He is, to my knowledge, the The work is about done, the hard part about to begin. Kerry Young of Pine Kills, Fla., is parting with Gray, a yellow Labrador retriever whom she has spent the past year raising, training and, unavoidably, loving. "He's going to be great for somebody," Young said as she stroked Gray's head and fought off tears. "He'd be excellent for someone with kids." Young, 35, is a volunteer puppy-raiswith Canine Companions for Independence, a national organization that breeds and trains dogs to place with people who have disabilities. Gray, the third dog that Young has raised in three years, came to her last fall as a puppy from the CCI breeding center in San Rafael. Calif. Now he is bound for a CCI school in New York and six to eight more months of training to assist disabled people with tasks like placing a phone call, grocery shopping or banking. For many of the disabled, these activities must be done from a wheelchair. The Orlando Sentinel is following Gray's progress. Young and Gray were first featured last February, shortly after woman and dog began their bittersweet relationship destined to end too soon. only person (here) who works with animals' special behavior problems," says Gustafson, whose practice is in Newport u i to dominate the other family members just as it would in the wild snarling, growling and biting. As the dog sees it, Tvelia says, "Daddy's number one in the pecking order, I'm number two, d female is and this ' number three." the that It's no surprise female doesn't like that situation. Many of Tvelia's clients are couples having problems with dogs that remain from their single 110-poun- 110-pou- nd "f V , A. er "Daddy's number one in the pecking order, I'm number two, and this female (his wife) is number three." d female It's no surprise that the doesn't like that situation. Rick Tvelia, private eye and canine therapist, explaining how a dog reasons 110-pou- i tug-of-w- ar - K-- 200-pou- slap-fightin- g. tug-of-w- I It's time for winter pet - proofing has racked up most entries at nation's premiere dog event Chinese shar-pe- i By DEBORAH LAWSON Knight-Ridd- non-sporti- Newspapers er The Chinese an shar-pe- i, un- usual animal with sandpaper skin and multitudinous wrinkles, has racked up the largest entry at the nation's premiere dog event, 1 18th annual Westminster Kennel Club show. will With 89 entries, shar-pe- is second the place far outdistance dachshunds in the show Feb. 14 at New York's Madison Square Garden. There will be 57 daschunds of all three varieties, 55 d Rottweilers, 49 German Australian 46 pointers, shepherds and 45 poodles. Westminster president Chester Collier said he was "astonished that, though nine weeks had been allowed for entries to come in, we reached our limit of 2,500 dogs in only four days. This is the earliest we ever had to start turning people and 15 short-haire- because he wants the dog treat. He loses all control." Dealing with tellers is supposed to be serious business, for Gray may one day do the banking for someone who cannot reach a teller's window from a wheelchair. At the CCI school, Gray will learn 20 more commands. Upon graduation, he will be able to take a telephone off the hook, select items from a supermarket shelf, and turn lights on or off. away." Show chairman Ronald H. Men-aksaid he was "delighted" that all 148 AKC breeds and varieties will be represented at Westminster 1994. Since the show is limited to er They are skills much in demand. Disabled individuals often wait are not years for a dog because there The around. dog to go enough shortage is another reason why Gray's schooling is being expedited. "CCI didn't ask me, I volunteered it," Young said. "I realized there are people who have been waiting (to get a CCI dog) for two years." . New Kerry Young will go to see to York Gray graduate. That will be the hardest moment. It was the first time, too. She watched her pup, Havana, look in her direction and then trot off with someone new. "I knew then," she said. "All ties were severed." champions Working, terrier, and herding dogs will be shown and judged Feb: 14. Sporting, hound and toy groups will be in the spotlight Feb. 15, and Best in Show will be chosen that evening. The USA cable channel will carry group judging and best in show from 8 p.m. to conclusion (about 11 or 11:30) both nights. Shar-pehave been eligible for competition championship regular only since August 1992. Once touted as the world's rarest and most expensive dog, with a price tag of thousands per specimen and other from Nieman-Marcu- s the shar-pin the 1970s, sellers early a furious is at bred being today rate by responsible hobby breeders, as well as in puppy mills. In China, where they were almost wiped out by the Communist 'Tis the season to change your antifreeze. So here's a warning about the poison hazard that antifreeze poses for pets. Animals are attracted by its sweet taste, says Kenneth Drobatz, director of emergency service at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine. A mere half- - one-to-on- Drobatz also offers this seasonal y tip: Cats like to curl home-safet- I BUVNOU' CHARGES MO "m&MTS UMTIL L ( II FINANCE UlOTlL N0U)f 8UW ei government's by Cathy Guisewite cathy APRIL' MO PAW- Sing, - V ",-- MARCH?.. FEBRUARV UAJTlL MM, Oram and the number of entries so restricted, it's unusual that a member of all AKC breeds have been D ) j I- VOU 1 VCU WILL PflV ; fj B (HOUDAV wie i&- ) ' FAULT If IT OUR WEN DON'T F0K HOW U o , - A "VM Np 1 . HAH NOTICE ) THE DISCLAIMERS? ---- - c : . program, they had been used as guard and pit fighting dogs. 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'1 ; X3M Time: Ccndv Coursa 2 team to make: V C make.- - cherry chocolates, bon bons, holiday suckers, fit assorted candies, pecan ' BfeV-l- B PROVO STORE (ADULTS ONLY) I i T V-- X ruvM att picnrkkicTnATiAiu y - II PH'TIKC! H'l PHT Q Oreni irWk sm I 'If. Hi MOO It f f 7f UJILLPW? ITS IRUlNG.f HI.CATHW. it's the only yautica" UnmmW RfltfUf ICflTlONS EMOTIONAL - Yl NO show in the country ' h NOW? CAllflE And If heat 0f me engme off. To make turned just you've sure your cat's nap isn't violently-- ' interrupted, give the hood of the car a couple of thumps before you start up. That'll alert your cat that it's time to wake up and get out of harm's way. f om e, is No Appointment Salons. l up in warm places including tne hood 0f your car which is nice and ounce of antifreeze can kill a 10- pound cat, even after it has been with water, diluted, Drobatz warns. So wipe up any antifreeze spills, and if you see your pet licking any or looking stuporous or drunk, rush it to the vet. Newspapers Knight-Ridd- er "The people there have spoiled him rotten," Young said. "He won't even look at the money Leather and Nature Photo If pooch doesn't have handles, don't despair. For $16.95 from The Safety Zone, you can pick up your days. "When you're training a dog, pet and portage him. Carry Fido to social functions, just as you would your cellular phone or briefcase. botDon't leave home without it. you have to tell it it's at the tom of the pack," says Tvelia. venturing Even when the kids ing kennel in 1986, Tvelia came there's no gray area. Things are The way many families introwere off at school, the pets were aboard as the resident shrink. duce their newborns couldn't be one way or another. evenhis These days he spends usually at home with housewives. For instance, Tvelia's German worse. Feeling guilty that Fido aginand Today, Tvelia says, many peoSaturdays tempering will be neglected, the parents Shepherd, Magic, is so certain of ings obediare nostalgic for those days of she ple that her place in the hierarchy gressiveness, teaching troduce their new infant apologetand and puppies often are owners childhood, even with coaching ence, brother little like even a won't play ically, almost roots. communitheir deaf puppies to purchased as a way to relive him. She knows she has no place Take animals' aggressiveness to the dog. them. His hand cate compasignals. by Dogs don't get that, Tvelia in challenging his position by biting, snarling, growling. But times have changed, Services Coastal Inc., Dog ny, fighting with him, even ritually. This belligerence almost always says. not eveiyone realizes it. he calls what in though doesn't catch he specialize when as the plays Likewise, baby occurs because dogs are confused By introducing the And concenHe family dog is often left "show training." about where they belong in the Fido's little buddy instead of the with her, which she loves, Magic alonebehavior. basic on trates the ball several feet away, family pecking order, Tvelia dog's newest, smallest, master, drops "Nowadays," Tvelia says, tell the dog there's a allowing it to roll to Tvelia's feet. hu"My philosophy," he szys, the that finds often he And parents says. t "is if we dori'-- treat the serious "the kids are going to soccer But Magic doesn't resent Tvenew bottom to the pecking order. mans are unintentionally followballet problems, it makes no sense to practice, cheerleading, The babies don't do much to help lia, he says. In fact, their bond is ing a recipe for breeding such ' Nintenmall the to a want would I classes, not play on tricks. work of closer because of the clarity the situation, either, often urinatconfusion in their dogs. exclude the dog. backs their relationship. their on dog that bites to come when do These things or socialized are rolling ing highly Dogs need to rethink their afflPeople really called." The most common Although Tvelia is a former both signs of submission for pack animals who in the wild folbecause in sees dogs are a lot Tvelia iction priorities, dogs today policeman, his German Shepherd low a rigid chain of command dogs. The of dog is a responsibility. those however, isn't aggressiveness, days. Instead, the parents should be isn't a holdover from leading down from the "alpha be into wants It animal. in the profespack 9 but loneliness patrol. firmly implanting in the dog's He was never on the wolf," or leader. There anxin the volved family." sional jargon, "separation mind that however helpless the While working as a private eye, When the dog is a pet, its masaren't any shortcuts, he says. fun at for is he started human iety." the dogs training infant wolf. baby roll seems, of the fills ter alpha When he was growing up in Dogs need to be with their owna local club. Then, in 1982, his even of But often that master likes to lord and master ers. Long Island, Tvelia says, everyRottweilers. Dogs don't study of the canine psyche started roughhouse with the dog, playing "A lot of people are literally school when one had a dog. And in earnest, spurred by his unruly This, get bitter about being at the bottrailed the getting each pets for their pets," Tvewas out dogs day Tvelia says, takes the dog back to tom of the pecking order, Tvelia golden retriever. More people the kids through bicycle races, lia says. "Which isn't the anthe rules of the pack. As a result says. What drives them nuts is starting seeking his advice. And swer." stickball games and aimless ad of the roughhousing, the dog tries uncertainty. In a dog's world, when friends opened up a board- News, Va. Of course, the behavior prob- -' lems that Tvelia ends up fixing usually aren't the pets'. "Ninety percent of the behavioral problems with dogs are really caused by the owners," says Tvelia, a trim, intense man whose gruff accent betrays his Long Island the hall looking for me," Young said. "I'd say Ah, ah. Goto your room,' and he'd go slinking back." Gray also can fetch just about and can even a dime anything on his with standing banking by help hind legs and using his mouth to pass money or paperwork to the tellers. His only mental lapses occurred at a Pine Hills branch of Orange Bank, where friendly tellers induced his forgetfulness with dog treats. Both r, Knight-Ridd- "The children would laugh because he'd come walking down X nd 110-poun- After the training in New York, Gray will be placed, presumably for life, with a disabled owner. For Young, this will mean goodbye. However, she will remain in Orlando and take on puppy No. 4, to begin once again a new training regimen. Gray is actually starting his advanced education four months ahead of schedule, in part because the dog has proved to be such a fast learner. Since February he has outgrown a rebellious stage, the dog equivalent of teen years, and learned to respond dependably to about 40 commands including the basics: Come. Sit. Stay. "Now I can actually leave him in my office and give him a 'wait' command, and he will wait there for hours," Young said. Grav accompanied Young even to work at a everywhere church day-car- e program. Call it training for the dog and entertainment for the children. JF JV I A wast of 400 North lJ ' v li. lMW f f I II 1 11 I |