In the park across from St. Joseph School in Hilo, passersby can watch as one dog learns to harness its innate sense of smell while another is training with simple commands for the very first time.
Since 1976, dogs and their owners have been welcomed to train with the Hilo Obedience Training Club, or HOTC, a nonprofit that was created to make dogs better companions with obedience training for owners and dogs at all skill levels.
Most of the 10 volunteer instructors began teaching after bringing their own dogs to classes years ago.
Instructor Marsha Shindo attended her first obedience training to help her shy dog socialize. As the classes became more challenging, she continued to excel in training her dog.
“I was shanghaied into teaching,” Shindo joked. “But, really, I felt that I wanted to contribute because I saw the people before me putting in so much effort and staying committed, and I wanted to support them.”
While HOTC is centered around dog training, instructors are mostly teaching owners, or handlers, how to train their dogs.
“We teach handlers how to train correctly, so they can do it at home,” said instructor Marchand Green.
“They learn something every week, and they have to practice at home,” Tobi Feves added. “We build up their skills, practice everything we’ve learned and highly encourage positive reinforcement. There are many methods of training.”
According to HOTC trainers, as long as a handler does their homework, any dog can become more obedient and accomplish something in eight weeks.
“When teaching handlers we know who may be more skilled than others, and that is completely fine,” Feves said. “We meet handlers at their level, and all we want is for them to bond with their dog and take home any skills they do learn.”
The club offers three eight-week sessions per year, with five obedience classes and five classes for those interested in competing for American Kennel Club titles.
Instructors teach obedience classes using requirements set by AKC’s Canine Good Citizen, or CGC, program.
“We tell handlers to teach dogs a vocabulary and consistently use the same words for the same actions. It’s not something to just practice once a day. You have to do it throughout every day to set expectations,” said Susan Ancheta, president of HOTC. “It’s all dependent on the dogs and the handlers, but you can teach an old dog new tricks.”
For its obedience classes, the club has a puppy class for puppies that have received all their shots and are younger than six months. Handlers in class learn to socialize their puppies and start beginning obedience exercises.
The Level I CGC class is a basic obedience and socialization class for dogs that have never trained in obedience before, or for puppies that completed the puppy class. Those interested can continue CGC obedience training through the Level II, Level III and Level IV noncompetitive classes.
The classes are limited in size, which gives instructors the time to work with handlers and dogs individually.
“Instructors have the experience to know the different ways to train specific dogs,” said instructor Pam Mizuno. “The difficult part is making sure to teach owners correctly, and that’s why having a big class is hard.”
Handlers also can decide to enter the competitive classes that prepare for AKC trials and titles after completing CGC Level II. Instructors train for AKC’s Rally, Obedience, Scent Work and Community Canine trials.
“It takes a minimum of a year to train a dog to win a novice AKC title, but it mostly depends on the dog and handler,” said instructor Greg Navarro. “We hold five trials a year. You must pass three times with two different judges to earn a title.”
HOTC hosts two weekends of AKC Rally/Obedience trials and one weekend of Scent Work trials. Although the club does not teach agility classes, HOTC also hosts two weekends of AKC agility trials.
Lastly, a Conformation class teaches participants how to handle purebred dogs in the conformation ring. The course is open to owners of purebred dogs, as well as those who would like to learn how to be a handler, or might get a show dog.
“In obedience trials, dogs are judged on several rules, and handlers are also docked for their errors,” Mizuno said. “Confirmation uses many different protocols to judge the dogs and is more of a beauty contest.”
Several HOTC instructors have been volunteering with the nonprofit for over a decade and enjoy seeing any progress made between a handler and their dog, regardless of where they end up.
“Anytime you see progression, it’s rewarding. Handlers get more confident, and their reservations go away,” Ancheta said.
“If a dog is at the very end of the spectrum in behavior and you see any improvements, everyone feels good,” Navarro said.
According to AKC, obedience training in CGC can ultimately deepen the bond between dogs and their owners and can help all dogs become welcomed in public.
“With training, there’s less of a chance of giving dogs up,” Shindo said. “You spend more time with them, because it’s more enjoyable.”
The first session of the year will end on Saturday, March 16.
The sessions take place over the course of eight Saturdays at St. Joseph’s field on Ululani Street. All dogs must be vaccinated, healthy and licensed by the county.
The second session will begin Saturday, May 4, and run through Saturday, July 6. The last session of the year will be from Saturday, July 27, to Saturday, Sept. 28. All classes have limited enrollment.
For more information on HOTC and to pre-register for classes, email hilootic@gmail.com.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com