LINCOLN PARK — PAWS Chicago's brand new training facility seeks to not only help dogs with behavior issues, but provide training classes for the public.
Classes start Tuesday at the PAWS Chicago Training Center, located behind the main entrance at 1933 N. Marcey St., and focus on such topics as "the family dog," obedience and agility.
"It's really difficult if you have a problem with a dog here that's behavioral to find space and actually work with a dog in an environment that you can actually focus on the issue," said Joan Harris, director of training and canine behavior.
The new center also features a variety of obstacles, and even a dog treadmill, that will allow animals with pent-up kennel stress to let off some steam.
Harris, who is running the facility, hopes the animals that use the facility will be split between those waiting for adoption and pet owners seeking training.
"The dogs here should be able to get tons of enrichment no matter what's going on," she said.
Harris said PAWS has been growing quickly, and she realized that the nonprofit needed a behavioral department to work with the dogs it takes in, especially those in the Gold Star dog population.
Gold Star dogs are those that may have had a difficult past or behavior issues but are considered trainable.
Classes available to the public include a puppy class, basic obedience, intermediate obedience, agility, tails and trail, and the family dog, which focuses on educating families about dog body language and how to set up a household for new dogs.
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