Purpose
Founded in 1999 by Lonnie Olson as a non-profit educational organization, the philosophy of the Dog Scouts of America is summed up in the Dog Scout's Motto "Learning new things that we may be more helpful" and the Dog Scout Parent's Motto "Our dog's lives are much shorter than ours - let's help them enjoy their time with us as much as we can."
The goals of DSA are to promote responsible pet parenting and the importance of the human/canine bond, summarized with the phrase “Socialize, Train, Neuter and Contain." DSA believes that every dog owner can achieve a better understanding of how his or her dog thinks, how he learns, and what drives his behavior, resulting in a more responsible dog owner and a true canine companion.
A Training Resource
Through the DSA website, summer camps, local troops, and the badge program, DSA provides instruction for all dog owners in positive reinforcement training methods and a huge learning library of useful and enjoyable activities for dogs and their parents. As in other Scouting organizations, the framework for skill training for Dog Scouts is the badge program. The Dog Scout badge, which covers basic obedience and socialization skills, is the first badge a dog earns to become an official Dog Scout. After that, the Dog Scout and owner have over 70 badge choices in a variety of areas. All necessary information for earning each badge, including a 15 page manual on teaching the basic Dog Scout behaviors, is available on the Dog Scouts of America website free of charge.
The website is also a resource for many other dog-related training and socialization issues such as dealing with difficult behavior problems, puppy training, training children in bite prevention, preventing lost pets, etc.
For More Information
The Dog Scouts of America website has an encyclopedic database of training materials and detailed information on history, philosophy, membership requirements, and the badge program. In order to join a local troop, you must join the national organization. In fact, you can join the national organization without joining a local troop, or for that matter, without having a dog. For more information, please see the Dog Scouts of America website at www.dogscouts.org.
Founded in 1999 by Lonnie Olson as a non-profit educational organization, the philosophy of the Dog Scouts of America is summed up in the Dog Scout's Motto "Learning new things that we may be more helpful" and the Dog Scout Parent's Motto "Our dog's lives are much shorter than ours - let's help them enjoy their time with us as much as we can."
The goals of DSA are to promote responsible pet parenting and the importance of the human/canine bond, summarized with the phrase “Socialize, Train, Neuter and Contain." DSA believes that every dog owner can achieve a better understanding of how his or her dog thinks, how he learns, and what drives his behavior, resulting in a more responsible dog owner and a true canine companion.
A Training Resource
Through the DSA website, summer camps, local troops, and the badge program, DSA provides instruction for all dog owners in positive reinforcement training methods and a huge learning library of useful and enjoyable activities for dogs and their parents. As in other Scouting organizations, the framework for skill training for Dog Scouts is the badge program. The Dog Scout badge, which covers basic obedience and socialization skills, is the first badge a dog earns to become an official Dog Scout. After that, the Dog Scout and owner have over 70 badge choices in a variety of areas. All necessary information for earning each badge, including a 15 page manual on teaching the basic Dog Scout behaviors, is available on the Dog Scouts of America website free of charge.
The website is also a resource for many other dog-related training and socialization issues such as dealing with difficult behavior problems, puppy training, training children in bite prevention, preventing lost pets, etc.
For More Information
The Dog Scouts of America website has an encyclopedic database of training materials and detailed information on history, philosophy, membership requirements, and the badge program. In order to join a local troop, you must join the national organization. In fact, you can join the national organization without joining a local troop, or for that matter, without having a dog. For more information, please see the Dog Scouts of America website at www.dogscouts.org.