See Spot Sit : Keep It Simple, Says Dog Trainer Offering Free Classes

Every year, thousands of dogs are put to sleep at animal shelters simply because they bark, tear the furniture or dig holes, animal control officials say.

But officials at the animal shelter in Downey have a plan to keep those animals alive and their masters happy. This month, Steve Dornin, 39, a television producer and third-generation animal trainer, will begin teaching free one-hour training seminars for anyone who adopts a dog through the six Los Angeles County shelters.

Dornin, who began working with animals at age 8, has trained everything from teacup Pomeranians to tigers. He has developed a simple method that even children can use to teach dogs of any age, breed or temperament the basics of obedience and protection, he said.

Dornin said simplicity is the main difference between his classes and other dog training techniques. He does not use food as a reward, employ complicated commands or recommend long sessions.

“(Dog training) is so simple that trainers tend to complicate it just to make themselves seem necessary,” he said, laughing. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to teach a dog the basic dog commands of sit, stay, down, heel, come and stand. You’ll see change in your dog in the first five minutes.”

Such training will completely change a dog’s personality, the trainer said.

“An untrained dog is the one who is tied up, living in a dust bowl and lucky to get food and water,” said Dornin, a Van Nuys resident. “But once he’s trained, he goes with you to the park and beach because he’s fun to be with and can protect you, too.

“It’s the most loving thing you can do for any dog.”

County animal shelters took in more than 30,000 dogs last year, half of them relinquished by their owners and half of them picked up by animal control officers. Only about 15,000 were adopted. The rest were destroyed, said Kaye Michelson, administrative assistant at the county Animal Care and Control Department in Downey.

Those sobering statistics are part of the reason shelter Director Frank Andrews quickly accepted Dornin’s offer to teach the seminars.

Andrews said behavioral problems are one of the biggest reasons that people surrender their pets to animal shelters.

“It’s the hidden reason, the one they won’t admit to. But people just can’t cope,” he said.

Misbehavior often comes from boredom, Dornin said. The training gives them mental exercise and attention that relieves the boredom.

Just 10 minutes of training is more effective than hard physical exercise for calming a dog, he said.

“The mental exercise of training is more settling than having the dog run 100 miles,” he said. “And barking and other unwanted behaviors disappear because the dog is no longer bored.”

Dornin’s lessons are designed to teach dogs to heel and to sit on command. Information also will be provided about further training if owners want to teach their dogs to protect them.

And contrary to popular myth, any dog can be trained in both obedience and protection, he said, although obedience training must come first.

“People used to believe only certain ages and breeds could be trained,” he said. “But a dog is a dog at heart, and any dog can do what Lassie can do.”

To prove his point, Dornin, who has worked with dogs at city police and sheriff’s departments in Oregon, once trained a teacup Pomeranian to go through the same routines as a police dog.

Without the training, dogs will not naturally defend their masters, Dornin said.

“It really happens only in the movies,” he said. “And why let any animal make a decision as heavy as that? You make the decision.”

Dornin has worked for 10 years in television producing or directing such shows as ESPN’s “Bodies in Motion,” but his first love was animals.

As a youth, he trained dogs and chimps with his grandfather in Venice. By age 22, Dornin was holding obedience classes in Maryland.

One of the dogs Dornin trained is Yippie, who he says had been beaten.

Yippie went from a cowering dog with his tail between his legs to a self-confident animal, Dornin said. After six weeks of classes, Yippie competed in more than a dozen obedience competitions and was undefeated.

For information on registering for free training classes, call Michelson at (310) 940-8909.

8 Simple Rules in Training Dogs

Animal trainer Steve Dornin stresses eight rules in working with dogs:

Never hit a dog for any reason.

Socialize a dog by letting others pet him and be his friend. A dog who is not afraid of people will respond better to your commands.

Never use food as a reward in obedience training. Use only verbal praise.

Work with the dog around distractions, such as children playing, to get the animal used to focusing on you no matter what is happening.

Limit each training session to 10 minutes.

The first time the dog responds correctly to a command, praise it and finish the session.

If the dog has trouble learning a new lesson, go back to an earlier lesson and finish the session with praise.

Always keep the training fun for the dog.