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Caring K-9s 4-H Club was founded in September of 2006 with one member and has since grown to include 4 members. Members may range from grades 4th
to 13th.
Caring K-9s focuses on teaching members how to train their dogs in obedience, as well as tricks, with the goal of our members becoming certified as therapy dog teams.
Julie Perrine, leader, was once a member of 4-H herself. She wanted to start a club that would focus solely on enabling members to provide residents in care facilities with the benefits of therapy dogs.
Having no experience herself in training dogs she contacted Steve LaVallee. “I knew I would never be able to teach the members how to train their dogs,” Julie stated, “but with Steve supporting us, we have all that we need to accomplish our goal.” Steve teaches the members how to train their dogs and works individually with members as well as providing any support needed when dealing with problem areas.
Julie is also training her dogs along side the members. She believes that allowing the members to see her work with her own dog makes the members feel more comfortable. The club meets twice a month and plans to take the certification test this fall.
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Julie Perrine has been a member of
Hunterdon County 4-H since 4th grade and is now a junior
in College at Delaware Valley College. She has always
loved giving back to the community and started Caring K-9s
4-H Club so that others may receive the same benefits that
she did when she was younger. Julie trains her dog, Lacey;
along side of her members and feels that it really makes
the members more comfortable. Lacey is a Miniature
Australian Shepherd and came home with Julie in September
2006. She has a wonderful personality even though she is a
little shy around new people. This is something that Steve
has been helping Julie to work on so that Lacey may be
ready for certification come fall. Julie and Lacey enjoy spending time together and go for runs weekly. They also love to practice their tricks and show off to anyone who will watch. Julie really looks forward to allowing Lacey to bring the same amount of joy to residents in long term care facilities as she does to her owner. |
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My name is Allie and my dog's name is Tod. Tod is a Welsh Terrier and he is very energetic. We got him from a breeder in Indiana. Tod has learned how to sit, lie down, and stay. He is also in the process of learning a few tricks which include rolling over, spinning in a circle, and crawling on his tummy. Some day we hope to be a well trained therapy dog, but we have some work to do. Welsh Terriers have a mind of their own and tend to use it when they should be training. When Tod gets really hyper he runs around the whole house making large circles and expects everyone to join in. When I play my viola he barks and jumps away from me. Before we had moved to New Jersey, Tod was quite the hunter he devoured 1 bunny, 1 rabbit and quite a few blue jays. He also almost got into a fight with a possum. We sometimes call him wolf since he likes to hunt down other animals. If you want a small dog that doesn't shed and is really sturdy and has a great personality then a Welsh Terrier might be the dog for you. Just remember Welshies are terriers and they do act like one. |
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My dog is a black Miniature Schnauzer named Roxy. She is the sweetest dog I have ever met and is great around all people. Roxy is also very funny. If you play with her and chase her out side, she’ll make the funniest howling noise and hop back and forth. When we let her out of the house, she doesn’t run down the front lawn, she hops like a bunny! Sometimes Roxy can be very odd. She has two beds but refuses to sleep in them! She prefers to sleep on the carpet, tile, or any part of the floor! The best thing we’ve trained Roxy to do in Caring K-9s is to lie down. I have always tried to teach Roxy this trick and she would seem to learn it, but then she would forget how to do another trick like ‘shake’. I tried to re-teach that, but then she forgot ‘down’! Caring K-9s helped me learn how to teach Roxy many tricks and how to get her to remember them all! |
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My Dog Luna.. Luna is an American Bulldog. She was born on July 3rd 2003. We bought her later that year from our friend, who raises American Bulldogs. As a puppy Luna was playful and fun loving. She still is today although she grew A LOT. She is a people loving dog and enjoys human company. That is why when Julie informed us of her new dog club we thought Luna would be perfect. She has done extremely well on her basic training but we hope to perfect it in the following months. She loves doing tricks like spin, crawl and roll over. Roll over was a problem for a while but with Steve’s help we managed to simplify it into two parts. Now she rolls over with the best of them. We hope to get her certified as a therapy dog this fall, and then we can go help people. |
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