On March 7, U. S. Army veteran Rebecca Price packed her car with clothing, bedding, kitchen items and her three-month old Dalmatian puppy, Percy. Leaving their home on Ohio Street in Clinton, Rebecca drove 230 miles to the Tom Rose School for Professional Dog Trainers in High Ridge, Mo., near St. Louis. There, she and Percy spent the next six months, living in a dorm apartment on the grounds, and spending almost every waking hour in training sessions.
“I got up at 6 a.m., and classes went until sundown,” Rebecca said. “I would get a quick bite to eat, and then go back to training that went into the evening.”
Due to the schedule, Rebecca and Percy made only a few trips back to Clinton, but at the end of July, finished the course and returned to Clinton, where Rebecca runs Dalmatia BnB, a “home away from home” boarding option for dogs. Now she is sharing what she and Percy learned at the Tom Rose School through “Board and Train,” a three- week course of basic and advanced obedience training through a combination of group classes and private lessons.
The training prepares the dog to pass the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test, for which a dog must exhibit good manners when meeting a stranger or other dog, walk on a leash through a crowd and sit, lie down and stay on command.
Rebecca also breeds Dalmatians — Percy is one of six puppies born to Oreo and Juliet, her adult Dalmatians, last year.
In addition to Board and Train, Rebecca offers Puppy Class, four sessions of basic training for puppies, in which they learn commands, socialization and CGC prep.
“If you are struggling with your dog’s bad behaviors or want your puppy to be trained in obedience, we are here to help,” Rebecca said.
She also offers private lessons for dogs, either at her home or the owner’s house, teaching basic or competitive obedience, therapy dog training or whatever the owner needs.
Rebecca also offers Schutlzhund/IGP Tracking, which combines tracking, obedience and protection, and AKC Scent Detection. Those became her favorite part of the Tom Rose curriculum, she said, because they were fun for both the trainer and the dog. Percy learned to detect a scent in a selection of boxes, along a long wall and among 100 items, indicating the item with either a pseudo-drug scent or anise by sitting.
Police officers brought their Malinois Belgian Shepherds and German Shepherds from around the St. Louis area to the school to train alongside the civilian dogs.
“There would be 50 police cars in the parking lot on the days we did scent detection,” Rebecca said.
Rebecca said living at the school was an adjustment at first — the hardest part was being around people all the time, as her dorm apartment was adjacent to a training room. But she soon realized the students spent so little time in their rooms, it didn’t matter. She kept in touch with her teen-age children in Clinton by virtual reality, she said, and her grown son came to the school and visited her.
As well as cooking in their dorm apartments, students got together for pizza or barbecues, she said, and she got to have dinner with Tom Rose, an author and celebrity in the dog-training world.
“He is soft-spoken and knowledgeable,” she said.
The training at the Tom Rose School was so intense, she had to get another Dalmatian, Arrow, to share the load with Percy. Then her female adult Dalmatian, Juliet, developed separation anxiety, so “Jules” also went to live at the school with Rebecca.
“I had to rent another room just for the dogs,” Rebecca said, “so that I had some space to study.”
Rebecca supports the Clinton Animal Shelter, and is volunteering her new skills by taking and training a shelter dog in basic commands. Her first subject was Jazzy, who was uncontrollable on a leash. In three weeks, Rebecca taught Jazzy to respond to sit, down and recall, and to walk calmly on a leash. Jazzy has been adopted by a family with two small children, and Rebecca said it was heartening to learn that even the youngest girl can walk Jazzy on a leash without the dog pulling.
Rebecca is getting another shelter dog to train, she said.
On August 19, Rebecca and her family will return to the Tom Rose School for a graduation picnic, where she will receive her professional certificate. To graduate, students had to teach their dog to perform a trick. Percy learned to do an “orbit,” which means the dog walks backwards in a circle around the owner, Rebecca said. Percy also learned to wipe her paws on a mat.
Arrow learned to jump over Rebecca’s arm, a prerequisite to jumping through a hoop. Dogs can also be taught to give a high-five and do a “handstand,” balancing on their front legs.
Tom Rose is the author of “Dog Training with the Touch,” “Training the Competitive Working Dog,” and “Dogs That Love and Protect.” Rebecca said she was originally motivated to go to the Tom Rose School to train a protection dog for a friend who had experienced domestic violence. Attending the school changed her life, Rebecca said, and although it wasn’t easy, she will be forever grateful to the instructors for the experience.
“This profession requires discipline, commitment, the ability to problem solve and more,” Rebecca said. “They have set me up for success.”
In addition to improving your pet’s behavior around other people and pets, training improves your bond with your dog, Rebecca said.
“You learn how to communicate with them and speak their language,” she said.
To sign your dog up for a Board and Train course, Puppy Classes or private lessons, go to the Dalmatia BnB Facebook page. For more information, go to dalmatiabnb.org or call 660-890-5766.
