As an active partner of the Lee County Sheriff’s Cell Dog Program, Cape Coral Animal Shelter is proud to offer a free dog training information session on October 17, from 9am to 10:30am onsite at the shelter. In fulfillment of our mission towards community education for pet owners, this courtesy training is free of charge to the public, open to all dog owners.

Basic obedience training, as well as a Q&A by Deputy Dunn, will be covered—for example, sit and stay, housebreaking, crate training, and leash walking. The free training session will be held outdoors at CCAS. We ask that attendees leave their dogs at home for this session, however more hands-on training will be scheduled later.

The training will be conducted by Cell Dog Program Deputy First Class Scott Dunn, who comes to our animal shelter with an impressive list of certifications: Canine Good Citizen Evaluator; Animal Behavioral College Dog Trainer; and Canine Good Citizen Dog Safety Instructor.

In addition, Deputy First Class Dunn has done extraordinary work with the shelter’s resident dogs in this program, e.g. Bouncer, a puppy who was found on a DeSoto County Road, left to suffocate in a bag. After Bouncer was rescued by CCAS, the shelter staff quickly discovered his sweet personality, but also some room for manners. As the first dog in the Cell Dog Program, Bouncer has made excellent progress under the direction of Deputy Dunn, and the shelter expects Bouncer to be paroled this week!

We are excited about the second-chance opportunity in front of our shelter dogs who are enrolled in this program, and we are hopeful that this training will benefit the dog owner community in Cape Coral.