The Shedd Aquarium has done something wonderful and amazing.  They rescued six dogs from local shelters and taught them tricks for a popular show.  The Shedd Aquarium is in Chicago, Illinois.  As you would normally think, their animal shows typically involve marine mammals like Dolphins and Sea Lions.  However, recent renovations at their Oceanarium Pavilion closed down the shows and sent their animals to other facilities.  To keep a show going they decided to adopt local area dogs and see if it were possible to train them using their standard Shedd Aquarium Techniques. The show called, ‘Pet Training the Shedd Way’ features these six dogs trained in a variety of tricks using the standard Shedd Techniques.  This is just great from several points of view.  The Aquarium rescued six dogs from shelters that could have ended up euthanized.  They helped them recover from the loss of their previous owners and even socialized them and showed them that not all people are bad.  Plus, they also demonstrated that other techniques are just as helpful and useful in teaching and training animals.  Shedd Aquarium uses positive training techniques on their marine animals and translated these techniques to the dogs.  They reinforced their good behaviour with treats and pats on the head, instead of using negative punishments like choke chains for not completing tricks.  The resulting program is twenty minutes long and features the dogs in a range of tasks from sit and stay to climbing into travel cages to even dancing to salsa music with the trainer.  The starring role of the show goes to Nico, a former rescue dog who nearly starved to death but is now showing off his skills as a sniffing dog that finds contraband.  The Chief Animal Trainer at Shedd, Ken Ramirez, stated, “All six of the dogs came to us with behaviour problems…Olivia, who has the scars of severe beatings all over her, was . . . growly and aggressive when anybody came near, but not anymore. Nico, who has that bulldog grumpy face, is just the opposite. Instead we're trying to train him to stop jumping up and laying sloppy kisses on every human he meets." Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-animal-training-10-oct10,0,131273.story