Animal Welfare League Of Alexandria's Dog Training Focuses On Relationship Building

ALEXANDRIA, VA — For new dog owners, helping them adjust to their home while grappling with behavioral and training issues may seem like a daunting task. That's where the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria wants to come in.

The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria doesn't just run the city's animal shelter, but it also provides a range of services to animals and pet owners in the city and beyond. One of those services is the Alexandria Animal Academy, an eight-week virtual training course to help dog owners with training.

This is the fourth time the training program is being offered, Joe Miench, AWLA's behavior and training manager, told Patch. The next program starts Jan. 12 and is open to dog owners even beyond Alexandria.

The program differs from a standard obedience class, because it's not focused on learning tricks and commands.

"It's more focused on relationship building, and we're actually teaching the owners how to read dog body language and listen to what the dog is telling them, letting the dog be their feedback and really showing them that this is what your dog's trying to tell you, and how do we react to that," said Miench.

There are three different tracks for the training program focusing on the most common behavioral concerns: Confidence Building, Chilling Out, and Leash Reactivity. Miench says the program can help dog owners whether they've had a dog before or have one that is different from a previous one.

"Each dog is different. So even if you've had dogs all your life, and you've had dogs who are fearful before, or you do have some issues on leash before, everyone's different," said Miench. "All dogs are individuals, so it's really a lot of learning who this dog is that's in front of you, not comparing them to who maybe you've had before, or a friend's dog, or family member's dog."

The Leash Reactivity is AWLA's most popular training course offered, helping dogs adjust to the small city life encountering other dogs, people and squirrels often.

The Confidence Building Class focuses on helping fearful dogs that may respond in aggressive ways.

"Living in a city, you know, especially since a lot of our population gets transferred in from more rural areas, this can be a culture shock for a lot of dogs coming in here and living in this new area, in this new environment," said Miench. "Confidence building is also good for puppies."

Lastly, the Chill Out course is for excitable dogs "who have a lot of big feelings," Miench says. The course works on identifying the cause of the excitement, overactivity, jumpiness or mouthiness and how to work with it.

The courses are run virtually, which makes them accessible to more people. AWLA can offer more spots in the course, since they are not running it in a room full of dogs and dog owners.

"We're working with a bunch of dogs, and especially the leash reactivity. It is usually very common that the dogs are reactive to other dogs or people on leash," said Miench. "So getting them into all into a room together really isn't a great recipe. So having the classes virtually eliminates that problem as well."

Along with the group format, attendees can set up one-on-one sessions with the instructor. Dog owners are encouraged to send over videos of the dog's behavior to help the instructor help understand each individual situation.

AWLA has heard positive feedback about the courses not just being a basic obedience class and providing help even after classes end.

"Just because the class ends doesn't mean that it's over," said Miench. "This is all stuff that needs to be practiced, that needs to be worked on, and behavior changes. So just because your dog is acting one way today doesn't mean that in six months, or even six weeks or six days is going to be acting the same way."

AWLA is offering the courses at $200 for one track, $300 for two and $350 for three. Scholarships are available for those with financial need. See the Alexandria Animal Academy website for registration.

All sessions are recorded in case a dog owner cannot make one. If a dog owner misses the Jan. 12 round of the Alexandria Animal Academy, the classes are offered quarterly.