FOR THE KIDS : A Wild Benefit : Moorpark College’s exotic animal training program plans a fund-raiser in which dogs will walk, run and perform.

Move over David Letterman. Moorpark College has a leg up on stupid pet tricks.

The college’s Exotic Animal Training and Management Program (EATM) is looking for the best of the worst dog tricks Sunday when it hosts a sort of “day of the dog” fund-raiser.

Billed as the program’s first annual dog run, the event features a one-mile walk and a two-mile run for dog owners and their leashed pets. On the sillier side, there will also be a dog-owner look-alike contest and a stupid dog trick competition.

Proceeds will go to the exotic animal program, recognized worldwide for its two-year curriculum that teaches students how to care for and train wild animals--everything from lions on down to prairie dogs.

There won’t be any prairie dogs in the running Sunday, but all other types of dogs are expected. And don’t get the idea this frivolity is just for adults. There is a children’s division for each event.

Ambitious race participants can even collect pledges to benefit the animal program. The dogs must meet certain etiquette standards, according to the entry form. Race officials have the right to eject unruly dogs from the run, but they won’t be sticklers when it comes to racing form.

“Owners can run with their dogs, they can carry them or put them in a backpack, and they can even have the dog pull them,” said Lori Wainio, a student in the program and one of the event coordinators.

The racing course over the campus has received the blessing of a veterinarian, and the dogs’ needs have been carefully thought out by the organizers. Cooling-off tubs will be placed along the course for overheated animals. Food will await both dogs and owners at the end of the race.

The dogs will have their own racing numbers, attached with bandannas given to each entrant. That’s not all they’ll get for their efforts. Purina is a co- sponsor, and dog dishes, collars and leashes will be doled out.

EATM students recruited for the day’s events will serve double duty, Wainio said. They’ll mediate canine squabbles and clean up after the animals.

“We’re used to that,” she said.

A few celebrity dogs will be honored guests for the day. Comet from television’s “Full House,” Darla from the movie “Silence of the Lambs,” and Bo from the movie “Summer School” will sit for pictures.

Pet shops and animal organizations will staff booths during the day. Even a dog-washing service will be provided.

Families can wrap up the day by taking in the exotic animal show put on by the EATM students at 3 p.m. every Sunday. Spectators will see some of the 220 animals housed at the school.

They’ll see students haul out the 65-pound lizard, Misai, who appeared with Marlon Brando in the movie “The Freshman.” For his role in the film, the lizard was trained to endure being buckled into a custom-made car seat.

They’ll see Jackie, a muntjac deer, which are the smallest deer in the world. The deer, about the size of a beagle, has been trained to jump hurdles.

Students also might show their handling prowess with pythons, a sparrow hawk and a golden eagle.

Most Sundays 200 or more people fill the bleachers around the arena for the show. Between 2:15 and 2:40 p.m., spectators are allowed to tour the grounds where the animals are housed.

The exotic animal program began with one class some 20 years ago, according to Lynne Doria, assistant director of EATM. That blossomed into a full program drawing students from all over the world. Each year, 50 new students are accepted for the program.

Just over a year ago, the program and its animal collection moved to expanded quarters, a nine-acre site atop the campus where plans call for construction of a larger amphitheater that will seat 400 for shows, Doria said. Within one or two years, the program expects to open a zoo on the premises.

Graduates of the program go on to work in the field of wildlife education or they become zookeepers, she said. A small percentage end up working in the television and movie industry.

* WHERE AND WHEN

* Moorpark College’s Exotic Animal and Training Management program hosts its Dog Run 1991 on Sunday on the campus. Races start at 9 a.m. followed by other events. For registration information, call 378-1441.

* The exotic animal program offers a family show every Sunday at 3 p.m. at the program’s arena on the campus. The cost is $2 for adults and $1 for children.