Diane Y. Aaron
Most dog owners in SaddleBrooke know her as Lisa “O,” but she’s really Lisa Ostazeski and she’s a highly experienced trainer at Camp BowWow. More importantly, she’ll be speaking January 11 right here in SaddleBrooke.
Her topic, Respect the Dog within the Animal, will explore a more fulfilling relationship with your dog. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer, CPDT, after her knowledge was tested in a four-hour exam and over 300 hours of skill assessment. She has been with BowWow for nearly five years.
The seminar, provided by the SaddleBrooke Dog Park Association, will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the west Ballroom at MountainView Clubhouse. There is no fee and all are welcome.
Lisa says her parents, a nurse and a scientist, taught her children should be well-behaved and so should your dogs; “You have to know when to have fun and when to behave.” She said dogs have to have boundaries; they can be allowed on the furniture but need to be invited.
She believes social development is vitally important to a dog, beginning before they’re four-months-old. She advocates taking them places where there are noises, such as a fire station, mall, garden store; get them used to people with hats, sunglasses, anything different.
The former special education teacher began working with dogs in her teens, taking American Kennel Club Junior Obedience Classes and she began to understand dogs can be shown ways to behave.
At 17 Lisa adopted two puppies and she admits it was a disaster. “They chewed and tore up furniture, so I said, ‘Wait, why?” She rushed to a trainer and said it was a revelation how he taught her to mold a relationship.
She found it so rewarding she volunteered for three years with HandiDogs.
Lisa’s belief is that there is no need to inflict pain on a dog to make them behave. She calls this positive training.
When she taught special education for eight years she received permission to bring her dog to class, a forerunner of today’s therapy dogs. She has also trained service dogs and has private clients in addition to being with Camp BowWow.
Anyone who has had a dog trained by Lisa will know what she means by “high value treats,” none of those store-bought things for her dogs or trainees. She will explain that and raw diets.
Some of the topics she’s willing to address include: 1 – Social needs of different breeds and how that changes with age. 2 – Leash aggression. 3 – Appropriate and inappropriate play. 4 – Larger dogs accepting smaller dogs. 5 – Integrating a new dog into the Dog Park.
This presentation is part of the Dog Park’s free seminar series, open to all interested residents. Following the January 11 talk, there will be others on February 22, March 22 and April 26. For further information or to sign up, please contact Dog Park Association President Kathleen Dunbar at [email protected].