Youth-Canine

Student: “I liked that I was able to train a dog successfully and that my dog was adopted."

Student: “I liked the responsibility and the bonding with the dogs. I also liked how they listened and learned and showed me respect.”

Student: “It’s funny how dogs are just like humans. Sometimes we all have to be motivated to learn.”

Teacher: “. . . helped students learn responsibility.”

Youth Leader: “I support the Paws and Think dog training program because it is an excellent program. It pairs kids and teenagers with dogs to train in hopes of making them more adoptable. It’s great for the youth of the community because it gives them responsibilities and leadership opportunities that they might have never had before. It instills a lot of trust with the kids involved, and is known to be a life saver when dealing with at-risk youth who might otherwise be involved with drugs or violence or gang activity, and it has been known to improve the kids’ abilities in school. The kids enjoy it and they learn from it.”

Correctional Officer: “It’s so neat to see kids who have been in lots of trouble get so excited when their dogs learn a new command or one they’ve been working on for awhile. They form such a connection with their dogs and it’s so fun hear them talk about it. The interaction with each other is great to watch, too…they forget the façade they’ve worked so hard to build.”

Juvenile Detainee: “It made me feel great to be able to help the dog get trained so it could find a home. It felt great to do something positive for society like that.”

Social worker: “The girls were more nurturing with their children and were more consistent with their parenting skills.”