Raise with Praise®, Inc.

Raise with Praise®, Inc. is a non-profit educational organization (501(c)(3)), founded by Paul Owens, author of the acclaimed book, The Dog Whisperer: A Compassionate, Nonviolent Approach to Dog Training. Raise with Praise®, Inc. offers seminars, animal training classes, products, and elementary school programs which advocate and promote the principles of nonviolence: kindness, compassion, and respect for all living things. We emphasize the link between the human-to-animal, human-to-human behavioral connection. If humans, especially children, can learn to practice nonviolence with animals, these nonviolent behaviors can be directly linked to practicing nonviolence with themselves, other people, and the environment.

Using a two-fold, holistic program of basic health management and humane dog care instruction, the Raise with Praise®, Inc., animal assisted therapy program, Paws for Peace, combines a child's instinctive love of animals with his/her natural ability to learn and rejoice in the learning. With a curriculum which combines audio, visual, and hands-on experience, Paws for Peace leads the child to begin a nonviolent approach to him or herself, peers, families, and to the animals with which they work during the program. A secondary but much needed benefit to the Paws for Peace program is the fact that the shelter animals that participate are well on the way to becoming well mannered and thus, much easier to place with appropriate families. Every dog participating in these programs is guaranteed adoption. And so, Paws for Peace makes the child trainer a success among a group of peers who are also successes and this, in turn, takes the attitude of nonviolent success into the home and family, and eventually, into the wider community.

Each class runs for sixty minutes, and is held after regular school hours in the school. Each program runs for four weeks, (20 days) and consists of ten students from the 4th and 5th grades. Permission from a parent or guardian is mandatory. In addition, parents are asked to support the child's efforts. None of the dogs in the program are ever allowed to visit the child's home. Transportation is provided by volunteer parents or guardians. In the classes two students are paired with each dog.

The classes include songs, videotapes, props, and many forms of motivational training. The Raise with Praise®, Inc program is structured for optimum individual success, as well as group success, using positive motivation and nonviolent training methods. At the conclusion of the program, a graduation ceremony is held to praise the students' efforts and provide the opportunity for the students to present the dogs they have cared for to their new families. Parents, teachers, and guardians adoptive are invited to attend. There are three supervising adults in each class, including the director, associate director, and one volunteer. Emphasis is on strict safety. All dogs are evaluated by certified dog professionals as well as a consulting veterinarian before being placed with the children. All dogs are on leash control while in classes.