By SHEILA ABRAMS
Remember when you got your first bike? You may very well have had training wheels to
help you learn to balance, so you could move forward and enjoy your new acquisition.
Sometimes, new pet owners find their lives knocked a little off balance by the addition to
the household. How do you get the adorable bundle of fur to stop leaving smelly puddles
around the house? How do you keep two kittens from turning into an army of cats?
Training Wheels® is a national program that takes shelter services out into the
community, offering pet owners expert help in solving pet-related problems.
“You help people become better caregivers for their pets,” said Jane Kopelman, a
guiding force behind Training Wheels. “What has traditionally happened is that shelters
wait for people to bring their pets in, usually at the end of a relationship.”
Instead, Training Wheels makes the shelter proactive, reaching out to pet owners,
offering help with problems and building relationships in a non-judgmental way.
“The vast majority of pet owners love their pets,” noted Kopelman, “and just need some
help sometimes.”
Training Wheels began in 1999 at Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption, a small shelter
in Accord, New York, about two hours north of New York City. It was the brainchild of
Rondout’s founder and director, Sue Sternberg, a trainer and animal behaviorist.
Together with Kopelman, who is a program director and shelter manager at Rondout,
Sternberg has worked to spread the message throughout the country, enlisting shelter
personnel and volunteers in the effort. The goal is to at least partially stem the tide of
animals ending up in shelters by tackling problems before they get out of hand.
A mobile outreach, Training Wheels involves two people — shelter workers or volunteers
— and a vehicle with a banner on it identifying it as the Training Wheels car or van. The
vehicle is equipped with pet food, supplies such as leashes and collars, pet toys and
information. It travels through a community looking for pets and owners. During cold
weather, Training Wheels might sponsor a rabies clinic or other pet-friendly event in an
accessible location.
Sometimes, local animal control officers are great sources of information as to where
help may be needed. Past shelter experience as to parts of the community from which
many turn-ins have come may offer a clue. Otherwise, observation is the key.
Seeing a pet outside, a volunteer might stop and approach the owner, offering a friendly,
non-confrontational greeting and a free gift. The gift can be something as simple as a
dog biscuit. Admiring a pet is often a good way to begin a give-and-take with the owner.
“Once you break the ice,” said Kopelman, “you get into a conversation.”
Often, she explained, it doesn’t take much to start talking. People love to talk about their
animals. If housebreaking is an issue, for example, a Training Wheels volunteer who
has had similar experiences may be able to offer productive tips. Constant barking,
chewing, jumping and not coming when called are also the sorts of behavioral problems
that can and should be addressed early with relatively simple assistance. Intervention at
this level may make the difference as to whether the pet stays happily with its owners or
ends up in the shelter. (Kopelman stressed that problems of serious dog aggression
need to be dealt with by an expert, and reported that local trainers are often willing to
volunteer some assistance when needed.)
The importance of spaying and neutering can be addressed in a comfortable, non-
judgmental way at this point. For many people, the expense of sterilizing a pet is
prohibitive. Though people who work with animals might find it hard to believe, the
average new pet owner may not have the faintest idea that there is financial help
available for spay-neuter. Training Wheels volunteers should come equipped with
information about both the desirability of spaying and neutering and the availability of low-
cost treatment.
“The vast majority of people out there would spay and neuter if they knew it was
accessible to them,” Kopelman remarked. “The shelter has to be out there finding
sources for low-cost spay and neuter.”
The same is true about veterinary treatment in general. A shelter may work out a low-cost
vaccination program with local veterinarians. Volunteers should be aware of publicly-
supported rabies clinics and how pet owners can access them. A shelter might have
discretionary funds at its disposal to help when an owner is faced with a large veterinary
bill he can not afford.
Kopelman told a story about a young couple with a dog that had an injury requiring
expensive surgery. Unable to pay the bill, the heartbroken couple surrendered the dog.
The vet in question suggested that if the shelter covered half of the bill, he would treat the
dog and then turn it over to the shelter for adoption. It seemed to Kopelman that if the
shelter were to pay half of the bill, it would be better to reunite the dog with its owners.
That was the eventual, happy solution.
Lack of money, the source of so many of life’s problems, is often at the heart of why
owners have to surrender pets. “Sometimes people love their animals and are wonderful
caregivers but they’re going through a financially difficult period, and they need help
feeding their animals,” said Kopelman. “There is no reason you should be taking those
animals into the shelter. We should be out there helping the person keep those animals.
We should be offering food and help.”
The basic philosophy behind Training Wheels is that humane work should be humane
toward people as well as toward animals. “The shelter world has spent an enormous
amount of time arguing over kill, no-kill, who you adopt out, who you don’t,” Kopelman
noted. “It’s really helpful at this point to start thinking outside the box. Instead of arguing
about what to do when we get them in, why don’t we start thinking about not getting them
in in the first place? Why don’t we try helping as many people as possible keep their
pets?”
From its beginnings at a small shelter
in a rural area in New York State, Training
Wheels has taken hold in communities in
Alabama, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The Somerset
Regional Animal Shelter in Bridgewater, New Jersey, became the first certified Training
Wheels program in New Jersey this past fall. Kopelman is planning a trip to Puerto Rico
to help set up a program there. Training Wheels has flourished in urban, suburban and
rural environments.
Another issue that Training Wheels has addressed is dog fighting. This is not, Kopelman
emphasized, the highly organized criminal activity that law enforcement comes up
against, but rather informal neighborhood sparring matches frequently staged by young
men. While betting may bring in a few dollars, the real satisfaction comes from having
the tough dog that can beat the other dogs.
In place of these matches, Training Wheels has launched a sport called Lug Nuts. This
is a weight-pulling competition. Dogs are harnessed to plastic sleds and urged to pull
loads of dog food. No physical coercion is permitted, and owners must urge their dogs
on without touching them. The winner is determined by the distance pulled and the ratio
between the dog’s weight and the weight it pulls. Thus an eight-pound Yorkie who pulls a
ten-pound bag would beat a 50-pound pit bull that pulls a 50-pound bag the same
distance. It should be said, though, that pit bulls and other bull dog breeds excel. Prize
money or pet supplies are awarded for first through third or sometimes fourth place, and,
if the dog is spayed or neutered, the prize is doubled.
The response to the exciting, competitive but bloodless sport has, Kopelman reported,
been enthusiastic, with competitors sometimes buying sleds to work on training their
dogs to pull. Some have returned to compete after having their dogs sterilized. A Lug
Nuts competition in Philadelphia actually made the evening television news, arousing a
lot of interest.
Kopelman, a dog trainer, sees the interaction of young people and animals having great
benefits for both. Because working with animals teaches compassion and humane
values, she has launched the Training Wheels Urban Solutions Adolescent Alternatives
Program. This offers at-risk teens the opportunity to perform court-assigned community
service as Training Wheels volunteers, instead of incarceration.
Participants, working one-on-one with shelter dogs, learn reward-based training
techniques, leading to the understanding that results can be achieved without force or
intimidation. They develop empathy as well as communication skills. Kopelman has
expanded the program “to bring kids into an environment in New York City where they will
be exposed to veterinarians, all sorts of pet people, groomers and trainers with the idea
of getting the kids to go back into their communities as part of the Training Wheels
program,” Kopelman said. “Kids talking to other kids is much more effective than me
standing there talking to them.”
For more information about Training Wheels, contact Kopelman at (845) 687-7619, ext.
202, or by e-mail at janekopelman@hotmail.com. Information is also available at the
website www.suesternberg.com.
First published January 2007 in The Animal Companion.
Remember when you got your first bike? You may very well have had training wheels to
help you learn to balance, so you could move forward and enjoy your new acquisition.
Sometimes, new pet owners find their lives knocked a little off balance by the addition to
the household. How do you get the adorable bundle of fur to stop leaving smelly puddles
around the house? How do you keep two kittens from turning into an army of cats?
Training Wheels® is a national program that takes shelter services out into the
community, offering pet owners expert help in solving pet-related problems.
“You help people become better caregivers for their pets,” said Jane Kopelman, a
guiding force behind Training Wheels. “What has traditionally happened is that shelters
wait for people to bring their pets in, usually at the end of a relationship.”
Instead, Training Wheels makes the shelter proactive, reaching out to pet owners,
offering help with problems and building relationships in a non-judgmental way.
“The vast majority of pet owners love their pets,” noted Kopelman, “and just need some
help sometimes.”
Training Wheels began in 1999 at Rondout Valley Animals for Adoption, a small shelter
in Accord, New York, about two hours north of New York City. It was the brainchild of
Rondout’s founder and director, Sue Sternberg, a trainer and animal behaviorist.
Together with Kopelman, who is a program director and shelter manager at Rondout,
Sternberg has worked to spread the message throughout the country, enlisting shelter
personnel and volunteers in the effort. The goal is to at least partially stem the tide of
animals ending up in shelters by tackling problems before they get out of hand.
A mobile outreach, Training Wheels involves two people — shelter workers or volunteers
— and a vehicle with a banner on it identifying it as the Training Wheels car or van. The
vehicle is equipped with pet food, supplies such as leashes and collars, pet toys and
information. It travels through a community looking for pets and owners. During cold
weather, Training Wheels might sponsor a rabies clinic or other pet-friendly event in an
accessible location.
Sometimes, local animal control officers are great sources of information as to where
help may be needed. Past shelter experience as to parts of the community from which
many turn-ins have come may offer a clue. Otherwise, observation is the key.
Seeing a pet outside, a volunteer might stop and approach the owner, offering a friendly,
non-confrontational greeting and a free gift. The gift can be something as simple as a
dog biscuit. Admiring a pet is often a good way to begin a give-and-take with the owner.
“Once you break the ice,” said Kopelman, “you get into a conversation.”
Often, she explained, it doesn’t take much to start talking. People love to talk about their
animals. If housebreaking is an issue, for example, a Training Wheels volunteer who
has had similar experiences may be able to offer productive tips. Constant barking,
chewing, jumping and not coming when called are also the sorts of behavioral problems
that can and should be addressed early with relatively simple assistance. Intervention at
this level may make the difference as to whether the pet stays happily with its owners or
ends up in the shelter. (Kopelman stressed that problems of serious dog aggression
need to be dealt with by an expert, and reported that local trainers are often willing to
volunteer some assistance when needed.)
The importance of spaying and neutering can be addressed in a comfortable, non-
judgmental way at this point. For many people, the expense of sterilizing a pet is
prohibitive. Though people who work with animals might find it hard to believe, the
average new pet owner may not have the faintest idea that there is financial help
available for spay-neuter. Training Wheels volunteers should come equipped with
information about both the desirability of spaying and neutering and the availability of low-
cost treatment.
“The vast majority of people out there would spay and neuter if they knew it was
accessible to them,” Kopelman remarked. “The shelter has to be out there finding
sources for low-cost spay and neuter.”
The same is true about veterinary treatment in general. A shelter may work out a low-cost
vaccination program with local veterinarians. Volunteers should be aware of publicly-
supported rabies clinics and how pet owners can access them. A shelter might have
discretionary funds at its disposal to help when an owner is faced with a large veterinary
bill he can not afford.
Kopelman told a story about a young couple with a dog that had an injury requiring
expensive surgery. Unable to pay the bill, the heartbroken couple surrendered the dog.
The vet in question suggested that if the shelter covered half of the bill, he would treat the
dog and then turn it over to the shelter for adoption. It seemed to Kopelman that if the
shelter were to pay half of the bill, it would be better to reunite the dog with its owners.
That was the eventual, happy solution.
Lack of money, the source of so many of life’s problems, is often at the heart of why
owners have to surrender pets. “Sometimes people love their animals and are wonderful
caregivers but they’re going through a financially difficult period, and they need help
feeding their animals,” said Kopelman. “There is no reason you should be taking those
animals into the shelter. We should be out there helping the person keep those animals.
We should be offering food and help.”
The basic philosophy behind Training Wheels is that humane work should be humane
toward people as well as toward animals. “The shelter world has spent an enormous
amount of time arguing over kill, no-kill, who you adopt out, who you don’t,” Kopelman
noted. “It’s really helpful at this point to start thinking outside the box. Instead of arguing
about what to do when we get them in, why don’t we start thinking about not getting them
in in the first place? Why don’t we try helping as many people as possible keep their
pets?”
From its beginnings at a small shelter
in a rural area in New York State, Training
Wheels has taken hold in communities in
Alabama, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The Somerset
Regional Animal Shelter in Bridgewater, New Jersey, became the first certified Training
Wheels program in New Jersey this past fall. Kopelman is planning a trip to Puerto Rico
to help set up a program there. Training Wheels has flourished in urban, suburban and
rural environments.
Another issue that Training Wheels has addressed is dog fighting. This is not, Kopelman
emphasized, the highly organized criminal activity that law enforcement comes up
against, but rather informal neighborhood sparring matches frequently staged by young
men. While betting may bring in a few dollars, the real satisfaction comes from having
the tough dog that can beat the other dogs.
In place of these matches, Training Wheels has launched a sport called Lug Nuts. This
is a weight-pulling competition. Dogs are harnessed to plastic sleds and urged to pull
loads of dog food. No physical coercion is permitted, and owners must urge their dogs
on without touching them. The winner is determined by the distance pulled and the ratio
between the dog’s weight and the weight it pulls. Thus an eight-pound Yorkie who pulls a
ten-pound bag would beat a 50-pound pit bull that pulls a 50-pound bag the same
distance. It should be said, though, that pit bulls and other bull dog breeds excel. Prize
money or pet supplies are awarded for first through third or sometimes fourth place, and,
if the dog is spayed or neutered, the prize is doubled.
The response to the exciting, competitive but bloodless sport has, Kopelman reported,
been enthusiastic, with competitors sometimes buying sleds to work on training their
dogs to pull. Some have returned to compete after having their dogs sterilized. A Lug
Nuts competition in Philadelphia actually made the evening television news, arousing a
lot of interest.
Kopelman, a dog trainer, sees the interaction of young people and animals having great
benefits for both. Because working with animals teaches compassion and humane
values, she has launched the Training Wheels Urban Solutions Adolescent Alternatives
Program. This offers at-risk teens the opportunity to perform court-assigned community
service as Training Wheels volunteers, instead of incarceration.
Participants, working one-on-one with shelter dogs, learn reward-based training
techniques, leading to the understanding that results can be achieved without force or
intimidation. They develop empathy as well as communication skills. Kopelman has
expanded the program “to bring kids into an environment in New York City where they will
be exposed to veterinarians, all sorts of pet people, groomers and trainers with the idea
of getting the kids to go back into their communities as part of the Training Wheels
program,” Kopelman said. “Kids talking to other kids is much more effective than me
standing there talking to them.”
For more information about Training Wheels, contact Kopelman at (845) 687-7619, ext.
202, or by e-mail at janekopelman@hotmail.com. Information is also available at the
website www.suesternberg.com.
First published January 2007 in The Animal Companion.
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