Many people make New Year’s resolutions. The leader of the Pershing County 4-H dog club goes one step further. Samira Dyer sets goals for her dogs. And she recommends other dog owners do the same.
“I’m planning to do a class, probably in January, where I ask the kids what their New Year’s goals are and what goals they’d like their dogs to achieve,” she says.
Hades is Dyer’s seven-year-old Great Pyrenees/shepherd mix. She also has two cocker spaniels. Thor and Loki, 8, are siblings.
“For Hades, my goal for both of us is to lose a little weight. I give in by letting him have too many doggy treats and I can lose some snacking too,” she said. “For my little dogs, the goal is to calm down before going outside. They love to burst through doors.”
Dyer began leading the dog club last May. The canine students included Moose, Remington and Kodiak – a Yorkie, Great Dane and Siberian Husky, respectively. Their humans were Kelsey Collins, Lily Reynolds, and Cheyeanne Diaz, now a PCHS alum.
Last summer Reynolds and her friend Bella Zelaya attended a dog training camp at Lake Tahoe. Remington was the star student.