Teaching dogs how to be well behaved is easy for Trish Spradley, who owns Acoma Training Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It's teaching bad pet owners that's a challenge. Several times a year, Spradley runs the Pet Owner Responsibility Class, where owners sentenced by the local court system attend.
Offenses range from minor violations, such as having an unlicensed dog, to animal cruelty.
All the people that come to my regular business love their animals. Then you get people in this class who don't care. When most arrive for class, they are angry, upset, and even embarrassed about being there. It's meant to be helpful. The six-hour class is broken up into two sessions.