PRESCHOOL FOR PUPS

Courtney Crites said her 4-month-old puppy named Macey has a fascination with the wall. "He ate the wallpaper and now he's gone through the drywall," she said, still managing a smile as she stroked the black Labrador retriever's upturned head.

Last week, Crites was among more than a half a dozen dog owners who brought their pets to the second meeting of a training class for puppies administered by dog obedience trainer Carla Carr.

"We had a dog before that had behavior problems. So, we wanted to start off on the right foot with this one," Crites said.

Judy Hoffman wants her 8-year-old daughter, Danielle, to take part in training Scooby, their Yorkshire terrier puppy. Hoffman and her daughter are taking part in the puppy classes. The group is meeting weekly at Merry Lea Animal Clinic in Jackson.

Having trained dogs previously, Hoffman knows the pluses of carefully teaching pets. "You can't ignore them, you can't expect them to have the right behavior unless you train them," she said.

The Humane Society of Southeast Missouri has free information regarding how to address many types of cat and dog behavioral problems. Books and videos are also available for check-out.

Many books about caring for pets are available at local libraries. Local veterinarian Gwenn Freitag noted that among the excellent books about dogs are "Good Owners, Great Dogs," by Brian Kilcommons and Paul Kunkel; and "Child Proofing Your Dog," by Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson.