Policeman Takes Business to the Dogs
by June 10, 2002 12:00 am 468 views
Owner: Robert Sanchez
Address: 1786 Amy Circle, Springdale 72762
Phone/fax: (479) 751-1878/same
Hours: by appointment only
Start-up date: April
E-mail address: [email protected]r
Sgt. Robert Sanchez of the Springdale Police Department put to use his nine years as a police-dog handler when he opened the Alpha School of K-9 Obedience.
The Alpha School classes meet once a week for eight weeks in the school yard of Smith Elementary in Springdale. Sanchez said 6-15 dogs and their owners attend the basic or advanced courses.
Basic instruction costs $80 per dog, and owners train their leashed canines to heel, sit and stand. Advanced courses, which are $100 per dog, focus on commanding without a leash.
Any breed of dog can attend the classes, and Sanchez said he has recently worked with rottweilers, Jack Russell terriers, retrievers and even dachshunds.
But Péle, an 11-year old German shepherd and Sanchez’ former police department partner, steals the show. As a decorated police dog, Péle won awards for his training, and Sanchez occasionally brings his son Alex Sanchez and Péle to the class as an example.