Some Halton Hills furry friends received vital training as an Easter gift.
Ruffin’s Pet Centre in Georgetown and dog training business Sit Happens hosted an Easter egg hunt at the local store today.
Each dog was tasked to go searching for plastic eggs with treats in them in one of the aisles.
Sit Happens founder Britnie Mousseau told HaltonHillsToday the game is not just fun, but also vital training.
“I'm trying to get [the dogs] more into the scent awareness because it's natural for dogs to do so,” Mousseau explained. "It's an easy game you can play at home and you don't need a lot of like equipment.
“Just like us – we should know this with COVID – the longer you sit inside doing nothing, staring at the wall, the more frustrated you get and the more you're going to act out."
Dog owners scheduled an appointment with Mousseau, but the event was free. Donations were encouraged, with proceeds going to the adoption service Underdog Railroad Canada.
Mousseau chose to raise money for them because fostering dogs “comes out of pocket. It's all their time. It's volunteers. They do not make money doing this.”
Ruffin’s has hosted scavenger hunts in the past, but with human children. This is the first time Mousseau and Ruffin’s owner Cassandra Payne have done one for dogs. The pair has been working together for roughly five years.
“She sends them here for the tools they need in order to do their training properly. And we refer clients of ours that need some help with training to Britnie,” Payne said.
Mousseau said she hopes to host similar events in the future.
