Kids learn a paw-ful lot at Dog Science Camp

Campers at the Mars Petcare Dog Science Camp had a ‘paws-itive’ time the last week of June learning about dogs and getting up close and personal with “man’s best friend.” 
This is the 12th year the Edgerton Explorit Center has hosted the camp as part of its series of summer programs for the youth of the area. The camp allows campers like eighth grader Justin Brainard to meet and interact with furry four-footed friends.
“I wanted to learn about dogs and learn how to train them,” Brainard commented regarding his reason for signing up.
During the week, each camper was able to bring their family dog with them to train and participate in the learning activities at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds. For the campers who didn’t have a pet to bring with them, the Aurora Adopt-a-Pet and Edgerton educators introduced each camper to a furry friend who would accompany them in sessions. Brainard said his favorite part of the camp was being able to meet his goal of training Madison, a dachshund-chihuahua mix owned by Edgerton educator Deb Miller.
“We allow students that don’t have dogs to take it in the hopes that maybe they want a dog,” said Edgerton Executive Director Mary Molliconi. “We have the Aurora Adopt-a-Pet come and talk about pet adoption so that maybe we can get a dog adoption through the camp.”
“It’s sponsored by Mars Petcare (which also) sponsors the Mars Petcare Meow Cat Academy and the kids in it not only learn about basic dog obedience training, they learn about agility and showmanship,” Molliconi explained.
She said while the dogs are learning to follow commands, the campers’ grow in confidence and leadership skills as they work with their furry friend.
“In order to be a good trainer you need to be a confident leader,” she stated. “So we do a lot of leadership work such as walking confidently when leading your dog, being direct and confident in the commands you give them. This is a great life lesson that we hope carries with them through their lives, not only when working with dogs, but in all aspects of their life.”
Throughout the week, guests from the community and  the surrounding area visited the campers to talk about topics relating to pet health and roles dogs play outside of being family pets. It also provided an opportunity for campers to receive insight into what careers they could follow in the future.
On Wednesday afternoon, the campers learned about dog cognition from University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) professor Dr. Jeffrey Stevens and grad student Anwyn Gatesy-Davis. A resident faculty member of the Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior as well as the director of the Canine Cognition and Human Interaction Lab (CCHIL), Stevens stated it had been a wonderful opportunity to work with the campers in Aurora.
“In 2019, I came across the camp and reached out to Mary, offering to be a guest speaker,” Stevens said. “I thought a dog science camp was a unique opportunity for kids to learn not just about dogs but the science of dogs. Since that’s exactly what we do at CCHIL.”
During their presentation, Stevens and Gatesy-Davis talked about different aspects of dog cognition such as how they perceive the world and how they interact with it. One of the demonstrations the scientists shared from their current studies was about a dog’s ability to understand numbers.
“We offered (the dogs) two places, each with a different number of treats on them, for example, one versus four,” Stevens explained. “Whichever plate the dog picked, it could eat the treats, but it couldn’t eat the other treats. So if dogs can tell the difference between two numbers and they want to have more treats, they should reliably choose the larger number.”
He said dogs will commonly go for the plate with four treats, but it became difficult to get exact results when one of the plates increased to three treats.
“I think an important thing for the campers to see is that sometimes science fails,” Stevens stated. “We tried different things and sometimes they worked and other times they didn’t. I think sometimes people think that science is this fixed process that always works out the way you expect. We demonstrated that this is not the case. Especially when working with kids and dogs.”
Also appearing during the dog camp were Nebraska State Patrol Trooper Kendall Reed and his canine partner, Malloy. 
Fourth grader Ermy Robinson, who joined the camp with Boston terrier, Daisy, shared that seeing Malloy in action had been the highlight of her time at camp.
“We mostly worked with our dogs, but we met a police dog and saw him bite the bite suit,” Robinson said.
Dr. Robin Wilcox-Morris, a veterinarian at Parks Veterinary Clinic in Grand Island and a member of Edgerton’s Board of Directors, met with campers on Thursday to talk about the importance of maintaining their pup’s health.
On Friday, the campers concluded their time at the camp by showcasing all that they and their dogs had learned through a dog show put on for their families. The campers brought their companions with them to perform five basic commands they had learned—sit, stay, down, come and heel. 
Then the campers took their pets through a series of obstacles to jump through before finishing on a podium for their dog to hop onto.
Seventh grader Aleah Ericksen, who joined the camp with her Australian shepherd, Apollo, was excited to showcase all that they had learned.
“I have a really good dog and he has some anxiety so it’s good for him to get out,” Ericksen said.
Ericksen said her favorite part of the camp was the dog show.
“I taught him that even though his family’s here he has to focus and he did really well this year with that,” Erickson reported.
Molliconi said over the years the camp has been in operation, eight shelter dogs (excluding Madison) had been adopted. She also shared that campers from previous years had returned as volunteer helpers.
“I think they loved it,” Molliconi commented. “I think part of it is, how many and how often can you go to a camp where you take your dog with you? When do you get to spend a whole week with your dog? I think, being able to spend that time with their pets in this environment is just a cool experience.”