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Dogs help kids learn empathy Photo by Jim Craven Program gives shelter animals more training By Jonel Aleccia Four weeks ago, Nathan Yannetta might not have had much patience with Simon, a wriggling, wagging 7-month-old German shepherd mix. But after a month of training for both boy and dog, the 12-year-old Talent Alternative Middle School student knows exactly how to handle a hyperactive pooch. "If you get mad at him, you turn away," Nathan explained seriously. "You just turn your back and count to 5. He�ll calm down." That�s just one lesson learned by Nathan and a handful of other local students enrolled in a pilot program aimed at infusing young people with empathy they might not otherwise have. The students � and the dogs � "graduated" this week from TLC � Teaching Love and Compassion � a program aimed at inspiring empathy in young people. Created by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles, the TLC program pairs kids and dogs � both with tough backgrounds � to the mutual benefit of each. "The idea is if these kids can care for a plant or an animal, they can care for their fellow man," said Mitchell Sigal, director of humane education for the SPCA-LA. Talent students spent three hours a day, five days a week for four weeks learning about anger management, conflict resolution and violence prevention, all in the context of caring for animals. "There is a profound link between violence toward animals and violence toward people,�� said Bill Templeman, executive director of Southern Oregon Humane Society, a partner in the program. "If we can teach our youth to respect all life at an early age, we will deter them from future violence toward people." Launched in 1999, the program started in urban regions of New York and L.A., said Sigal. When the group decided to reach out to rural areas, they tapped the Southern Oregon Humane Society. That agency formed a partnership with the Talent alternative school, where a handful of kids who�ve had academic or behavioral challenges are enrolled. Every day, humane society staff brought over several carefully chosen dogs, ranging from the rambunctious Simon to the laid-back Blue, a hound mix. The kids learned how to treat animals gently and to teach them with compassion, Templeman said. "One of the boys was gloating at the beginning of the class that he had strapped firecrackers to a cat and he thought it was funny," Templeman recalled. "After the program, he didn�t think it was quite so funny." While the kids learned empathy, the dogs learned basic commands to make them more adoptable. At a ceremony marking the end of the program, the students led the dogs through commands such as "sit," "lie down" and "stay," rewarding the pups with treats for good behavior. The course wasn�t easy, said student Vonnie Wiltrout, 12, who worked with Holly, a 2-year-old chow mix. Vonnie was scared of dogs when she started the class. "I�ve gotten bitten before," she explained. But training Holly soon eased her fear. "Once she started licking me and loving me, it was very, very good," Vonnie said. "Everybody�s come a very long way." The attachment between the dogs and the animals has been obvious, said Kym Stultz-Carr, 33. Her son, Jay Settell, 13, helped train Simon. "It has given him something to smile and talk about at the end of the day," she said. For most of the students, the hardest part of the program was leaving the animals. "Do you want to adopt him?" Nathan asked a visitor who stopped to stroke Simon. "He�s a good dog. I want him to have a good home." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA