Melanie Ellis is as upbeat as they come. She's lively and she's bouncy and she's hyper enough that she veritably vibrates when discussing one of her passions.
She's good with people too, putting them instantly at ease, but she's even better with her greatest passion of all - a certain domesticated animal that happens to share virtually every one of her key personality traits.
Hint: woof, woof. Ellis, you see, is just about the best friend a dog could have. That she's also a certified dog trainer - at least when she's not busy with her day job at the Delta Community Animal Shelter - only makes sense.
So it was fitting she was at the helm Monday night as the shelter hosted its second annual Introduction to Dog Trick Training class. It was the first in a series of absolutely free canine-centric sessions the shelter will offer in 2016, and it was a heck of a lot of fun.
It was also eye-opening. Turns out dogs are smarter and far quicker on the uptake than most of us think. Even better, says Ellis, tricks are just the tip of the iceberg. With the right approach, they'll eventually be better behaved pooches all around and, if asked, will happily do the bidding of their human overlords.
Indeed, Ellis claims that through her reward-based, eye-contact approach, she's taught her own dogs to do some mighty impressive stuff - like putting away toys, fetching soda pops and even helping to bring in the groceries.
"Trick training is obedience in a way. You're training your dog and making him smarter and able to listen better, but you're also adding a fun aspect to it.
"Commands like 'leave it,' which are usually used for treats on the paw or on the nose, can be used in other ways. Say you're walking down the street and you see another dog. Your dog thinks, 'oh my god, I have to see that other dog.' But if you tell him to 'leave it,' the dog will think, 'Oh, if I ignore that stimulus, and look up at you instead, I'll get a treat.'" As the evening rolled on, it was plain to see some dogs were more comfy than others. Lynne McLoud's Shih Tzu, for instance, cowered in the presence of so many of her peers.
But even little Pearla came around, ultimately nailing her first trick in just a few minutes.
It's that kind of speed that so impressed Lara Paul. Sitting on the floor with her Portuguese water dog, Bueller, Paul admitted, "I'm not very creative about thinking up commands, but being here I've already thought of a couple new things I can teach him. So far tonight we've got 'bow' and 'roll over.' He got it (bowing) right away. He did it much quicker with this instructor than he's ever done with me."
Across the room from Paul and Bueller were the Lindes - dad David, daughter Jen and furry BFF Kora.
Said David, "We came here tonight to work on some basic obedience. She tends to jump a lot so we wanted to see if we could work on that. She's only eight months old and this is really her first formal class. It's been great so far."
For more information or to register for future classes, call the Delta Community Animal Shelter at 604-940-7111.
