Pooches set to take over Mary S. Young Park

By Nicole DeCosta

The West Linn Tidings, Jul 12, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (3 Reader comments)

Vern Uyetake / West Linn Tidings

Patti Galle spends time at her West Linn home with her dog Lady. Galle organized Pooch in the Park, an event set for Saturday at Mary S. Young Park.

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Mary S. Young Park is going to the dogs.

Literally.

The first of what organizer Patti Galle hopes to become the annual Pooch in the Park will be held at the West Linn park on from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The event is sort of an ode to dogs – doggy games, races, contests, treats and prizes.

“So much is going on,” said Galle, a West Linn resident.

The park will transform into a bit of a canine circus with dog psychics, grooming, police dog demonstrations, biscuit tosses, agility courses, pooch parade, dog story teller and veterinarians to answer questions.

“And my personal favorite – a puppy kissing booth,” Galle said.

Everyone and their dog is welcome. All proceeds from the day will benefit Project POOCH, a non-profit matching program in which homeless dogs are trained by incarcerated youths at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn.

Susie Waki – volunteer coordinator for Project POOCH out of the Lake Oswego Community Outreach office – said that it should be an eventful day for dogs, their owners and all those involved with the program. Several dogs trained by youths at MacLaren – and now in what organizers call forever homes – will participate in a pooch parade around noon, Galle said.

“The dogs need the youth for training, love, guidance, praise, structure, food, water, grooming, etc,” Galle said. “The youth – after establishing this relationship with the dogs – begin to experience many of the traits they must have to cope with being a good citizen.”

Youths and dogs

learning from each other

Youths ranging from their early teens to 25 years old are housed at MacLaren, where they receive intensive substance abuse treatment, violent offender treatment, sex offender behavioral modification treatment or vocational training, according to the facility’s Web site.

“This is prison,” Waki said of the 460-bed facility. “They have no choice but to be here.”

Started in 1993 by Lake Oswego resident Joan Dalton, Project POOCH began with one dog and one youth – Dalton’s idea when she was a principal at MacLaren. Project POOCH allows MacLaren youths to train shelter dogs – teaching them responsibility and compassion.

The dogs utilized in Project POOCH are “eleventh hour shelter dogs,” as Waki said. They are the dogs that would otherwise be euthenized if not put into the program. They are basically unwanted.

Youths to train the dogs are chosen through a process similar to a job interview; there is an application and a panel interview with each candidate. Ten to 12 dogs and youths are usually participating at any given time.

“The youth take great pride in training the dogs. I think that it means a lot to them to know that they’re saving a dogs life,” Waki said. “The youth learn how to manage the dog’s behavior in a non-threatening, non-violent way. No physical punishment is used, (just) positive reinforcement.”

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