Canine Good Citizenship classes to be offered

By KateLynn Slaamot
NLJ Correspondent
 
Retired teacher Cathy McAtee’s love of people and animals alike, and her passion for teaching, led her to start Canine Good Citizen classes to help dogs and their owners with training, behavior and other skills. McAtee is certified through the American Kennel Club as a CGC instructor and will be hosting the classes for interested dog owners starting July 7. 
Classes will have a 7-8 p.m. time slot and an 8-9 p.m. slot on Tuesdays, but she may add more depending on the amount of interest shown. Any interested party can show up at Dow Park the first night, and she will reassign as necessary. McAtee is charging $60 for the four-week program, including a test at either the end of the fourth week or during a fifth week. 
The class covers basic behavioral concepts, McAtee said, such as sitting, staying, no aggression and so on. If the dog passes the class, it will be CGC certified through the AKC, which is a “big deal,” according to McAtee. At the completion of the class, the owner will receive the papers, which they can send to the AKC to receive the certificate back after paying a small fee. 
McAtee’s passion for training animals started about five years ago when she lived in Elk Mountain, and she took her shy, young puppy to Rockin E, a dog training center in Laramie. Through that training, the dog became a certified therapy dog and then a certified service dog. 
McAtee brought her dog into her classroom with autistic children, and she saw firsthand the healing and comforting effect animals can have on children and their ability to learn in the classroom. 
“They (dogs) provide an incredible amount of support,” McAtee said. 
One student in particular was impacted by having a dog in the classroom, and McAtee said that the dog “literally changed his life.” 
According to McAtee, these experiences inspired her to look further into dog training. McAtee began working with Rockin E, learning how to be an instructor and gaining a lot of knowledge and experience. She helped test dogs with the Animal Psychology Center, and she has also taught in Rapid City and Wall, South Dakota, after moving to Newcastle two years go. She even offered a free class last year, and all these learning experiences helped her receive her AKC certification for teaching CGC toward the end of last year. 
McAtee said she decided to take her qualification even further and is currently working on getting certified as an animal behaviorist through the Animal Psychology Center. This certification will allow her to certify therapy and service dogs, and there is a huge need for those kinds of animals, according to McAtee. 
Dwight Souder has taken a few lessons from McAtee with his young German Shepherd. Souder has learned a great deal from McAtee, he said, and one important lesson is the need for patience when working with dogs. 
“She’s definitely helped me a lot,” Souder said.
Souder is also hoping to eventually get his dog certified as a therapy and service dog, because he has begun to lose his sight. He hopes to take his dog to the Manor and the hospital once she is certified. 
Helping people like Souder is where her passion lies, McAtee said, because she wants to help dog owners learn how to properly train their pets and experience the healing that animals can bring. The self-proclaimed humanitarian hopes to share her knowledge with Newcastle’s dog owners in hopes that it will benefit them. 
“I believe in what’s best for humans and animals,” McAtee said.
For more information, contact McAtee at (307) 629-1393.