Dogs & Kids Learning Together

Teacher’s Pet strives to teach at-risk youth in the metro Detroit area empathy, hope, and perseverance. Each of these invaluable character traits empowers them to lead highly influential and successful lives. The intervention program pairs youth with homeless shelter dogs for multi-week workshops led by our trained professionals. Often for the first time, both youth and dogs experience compassionate love.

Youth meet two times a week for two hours during the 10 week program. For 1 hour, youth trainers teach dogs life skills and basic obedience to make them more adoptable using positive reinforcement training methods. While the other hour is dedicated to classroom time learning about body language, force-free training, dogfighting, puppy mills, shelters, and more.

Empathy Hope. Perseverance.

Every week Teacher’s Pet strives to teach at-risk youth each of these invaluable character traits—traits that will empower them to lead highly influential and successful lives.

To achieve these goals, the intervention program pairs troubled youth with hard-to-adopt shelter dogs for multi-week workshops.

During these workshops, youth will:

Participate in positive, reward-based dog training

• Help modify dogs’ behavior

• Increase dogs’ chances of becoming adopted

• Ensure dogs can remain in their homes permanently

• Improve their impulse control and patience

• Meet twice a week (for two hours each time) at various schools and juvenile facilities throughout Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties

By providing youth and dogs a safe, therapeutic environment time after time, Teacher’s Pet helps them learn, grow and create fruitful futures together....