AWS Canine Training

11/17/2024

11/10/2024

Join us Wednesday evenings in November! New Pop-up Agility classes now online: https://animalwelfaresociety.dogbizpro.com/public/registration/index.aspx?cat=4

11/06/2024

Congratulations to Beth! She is now a Certified Professional Dog Trainer through CCPDT in addition to being a long-time volunteer with the AWS Canine Training Team. We have the best group of staff and volunteers and they make us all very proud!

11/05/2024

Sign up online: https://animalwelfaresociety.dogbizpro.com/public/registration/index.aspx?cat=12

11/04/2024

You've been seeing us post about the Spotted Lantern Fly study for months, now you can learn about it in person here at AWS on November 19th! Join us at 6:30pm and meet Melissa as well as one of the dogs from the original study.

10/31/2024

Happy Halloween!! 🎃 Today is the last day of Pop-up Packs walks until next year, but we do have lots of Intermediate Pop-up classes for November! Check them out here: https://animalwelfaresociety.dogbizpro.com/public/registration/index.aspx?cat=4

10/30/2024

Congratulations to Roxie on earning her AKC Community Canine certification!

10/28/2024

Eight years in the making—Stomper passed his CGC! Brenda, an AWS trainer and Stomper’s proud mom, adopted him as a puppy and soon began working through his reactivity, which emerged at a young age. Their journey has had its ups and downs, but they recently reached a point where they felt he was ready to take the AKC Canine Good Citizen test—and he passed! Brenda says, 'It takes a village of kindness, patience, encouragement, support, and no judgment to help a reactive dog.' We are so proud of you Stompy! ❤

10/21/2024

AWS alumni, Jordy, just graduated from Basic Training! Looks like he found the perfect home. ❤

10/18/2024

The newest AKC Community Canine certificants: Walter, Lucy and Willow! What a fun class this was. Check back in the spring for our next session. 🤩🤩

In the meantime, you can earn the AKC's prerequisite, Canine Good Citizen for 20% off this fall!

Class starts Wednesday - use PROMO CODE BTFall20:

https://animalwelfaresociety.dogbizpro.com/public/registration/index.aspx?schedule=407

10/15/2024

Tonight!

The Maine 6: How Six Pet Dogs Were Trained to Hunt Invasive Species.

On Tuesday, October 15 at 6:00 p.m., dog trainer Melissa McCue-McGrath will be at the Kennebunk Free Library to share the story of how six local pets were trained to hunt an invasive species. 🐾🐾

In April of 2023, researchers at Texas Tech and Virginia Tech teamed up to run a proof-of-concept study - could pet dogs around the U.S. be trained to find one of the most environmentally damaging invasive species, the spotted lantern fly (SLF)? SLF is presently in 17 states, including New York and Massachusetts, and leaves the environment looking like "scorched earth without the fire.” It's predicted to be in Maine by 2026. When the study started in May, Maine was absent from the roster.

Local dog trainer, Melissa McCue-McGrath, received an email in November. The researchers were looking for a second cohort of dogs and trainers to complete the study that winter. Six dogs enrolled in McCue-McGrath's scent work classes at the Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk were tapped to represent Vacationland in the study. These pet dogs, already trained to find a variety of oils on a q-tip for fun, pivoted their focus to save the environment.

They were shipped dead SLF eggs, packed them in a Pokemon lunchbox, and got to work. This presentation describes the six teams’ journey helping researchers across the country, how they trained their dogs to find SLF, and the challenges they overcame training in a brutal Maine winter as another environmental threat - climate change - threatened their plans.

Melissa McCue-McGrath grew up in an accidental sled dog family in Midcoast Maine. She spent most of her 20 years training dogs and working challenging behavior cases in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2015 she wrote Considerations for the City Dog, a book targeting the urban dogs and families who are left out of conventional training books, and has spoken internationally on the subject. She's given up the conveniences of ride shares to come back home to Maine. Melissa's family resides with two ancient cats, fourteen bougie chickens, and Captain Love, one of the dogs involved in a nationwide study on training pet dogs to detect invasive species.🐾🐾

10/14/2024

NOW 20% OFF!

Is your dog ready to be the GOODest boy or girl? This is your LAST chance to sign up for our AKC Canine Good Citizen Prep class until next year!

It starts 10/23/2024 @ 10:00 AM.

Sign up online: https://animalwelfaresociety.dogbizpro.com/public/registration/index.aspx?schedule=407

10/08/2024

WOW! Check out our amazing trainer Melissa McCue-McGrath (and her dog Captain Love) who was on ARC Maine this morning. 😍🤩https://m.wgme.com/news/arc-maine/sniffing-out-trouble-maine-dogs-trained-to-find-invasive-insects-spotted-lanternflies #

They may have a pleasant-sounding name but there's concern about the spread of spotted lanternflies.