Muralist paints VFW Post in Harvey ä Page 2G
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WEDNESDAY APRIL 22, 2015
ALGIERS • GRETNA • TERRYTOWN • HARVEY • WESTWEGO • WAGGAMAN • MARRERO • BRIDGE CITY • AVONDALE THENEWORLEANSADVOCATE.COM
Teaching man’s best friend
Volunteer shows training techniques to those adopting dogs BY MARY RICKARD
Special to The Advocate Kathy Markey has been volunteering at animal shelters since Hurricane Katrina when hundreds of abandoned pets wound up there. Since then, she has upped her skills, graduating from Animal Behavior College as a certified dog trainer, while continuing to assist at Jefferson Parish Animal Shelter, Labs4Rescue, Lovers Not Biters and Animal Rescue New Orleans. Her goal is to teach dogs good manners to make them more adoptable, and to make sure they adapt well to their new homes. “I get to see people so happy when this was an animal going to be euthanized or in the shelter two or three years, and then given a good home,” Markey said. Helping out at ARNO several years
ago, Markey noticed one dejected mutt in its feral dog program. “You need to get a home,” she advised and considered her friend Marnie Woynowski, assistant principal at Holy Name of Jesus School where Markey teaches physical education. At least 10 Holy Name faculty members adopted rescue dogs through Markey. “This is a Marnie dog,” she remembers thinking. The golden retriever and border collie mix now named Nola had survived on the streets of Central City for probably five years, apparently eating discarded food from overturned garbage cans and dodging teasing kids on bicycles. Woynowski adopted the dog, and immediately took it to PetSmart for pampering. “I brought her home and she laid on the carpet and never moved. She said,
‘I’m home,’ ” Woynowski said. Though docile inside the house, Nola had never walked on a leash and seemed aggressive outdoors. Markey was able to help Nola overcome her fears. “Markey reads animals. She instinctively knows what’s going on in their heads,” Woynowski said. Though Nola may still balk if her tail is touched, she exhibits no sign of a forlorn past. She is perfectly content just being a family pet. “They just want to be loved,” Woynowski said. “Markey has come in to work with our most troubled dogs,” said Mary Simon, founder of Lovers Not Biters. “She has helped our dogs that have shown aggression to overcome their fears and learn positive behaviors.” People adopting dogs from a shelter can often become frustrated by mis-
INTHE DRIVER’S SEAT
behavior. Markey often visits adoptive homes to demonstrate effective dog training techniques and ease the transition. If there is undesirable behavior, she explains why the dogs act that way. A predictable routine and consistent communication may be all that is necessary to calm them down. “I’m not really here to train the dog. I’m here to train you so you can train the dog,” she tells people. Both Markey and Woynowski believe mixed breeds make the best pets. Markey’s adopted poodle mix Whoodie wears goggles and rides around with her on a scooter. “In the gene pool, you get the best qualities of all these dogs. Put them in a good home and you’ve got a winner,” Advocate staff photo by SHERRI MILLER Woynowski said, as she stroked Nola, Dog trainer Kathy Markey trains Nola laying peacefully at her feet. “Once they love you, they love you at the home of Marnie Wonowski in Terrytown on Monday. hard. That’s a shelter dog.”
Senior Fest set for May at Lakefront Arena
Earlis Bourgeois and his wife, Toney, show off their 1955 Chevy Bel Air at the Indy Race Day at Champions Square in New Orleans on April 11. Earlis acquired the car four years ago, restored it and put in a new, 260-horsepower engine.
Advocate staff report
Advocate photos by VERONICA DOMINACH
Chad Freeman walks his son, Heath, 6, over to the Nissan GTR for a test ride around the Smoothie King Center during the Indy Race Day on April 11. Riders get ready to go on a test drive during the Indy Race Day.
Indy Race Day featured a large selection of vintage sports cars, race cars and motorcycles for viewing up close at Champions Square in New Orleans on April 11. Two two-seater Indy cars, the Nissan GTR and the Ferrari 430, were available for test rides around the Smoothie King Center. All proceeds from the event benefited the Southeast Louisiana Council, Boy Scouts of America.
The New Orleans Council on Aging is making plans for Senior Fest 2015, which will be held Friday, May 8, at the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena. For information about supporting Senior Fest or becoming a sponsor, contact the Council on Aging at (504) 821-4121 or administration@ nocoa.org. The theme of this year’s Senior Fest celebration is “Get into the Act,” to focus on how older adults are taking charge of their health, getting engaged in their communities and helping others. Major sponsors include Peoples Health, Entergy New Orleans, Amerigroup Louisiana and Walgreens. The theme also reflects on the 50th anniversary of the Older Americans Act. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Older Americans Act into law in July 1965. Since then, the act has provided a nationwide aging services network and funding that helps older adults live with dignity in the communities of their choice for as long as possible. These services include home-delivered and congregate meals, caregiver support, communitybased assistance, personal care, legal assistance, elder abuse prevention and much more. By promoting and engaging in activity, wellness and inclusivity, more Americans than ever before can “Get into the Act.” While the New Orleans Council on Aging provides comprehensive, direct services to older adults year-round, Older Americans Month offers an opportunity to emphasize how older adults can access the homeand community-based services they need to live independently in their communities. It is also an occasion to highlight how older adults are engaging with and making a difference in those communities.
Lafreniere Park tree ceremony City Park tapped for certification honors, memorializes volunteers
AROUND JEFFERSON
EVA JACOB BARKOFF
The members of Friends of Jefferson the Beautiful and the Patrons of Lafreniere Park will hold their annual Tree Dedication Ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday in the park’s Foundation Center, 3000 Downs Blvd., Metairie. Those being honored are local volunteers Annette Adler and Joann Christopher, and Equitas Capital Advisors, a
local investment management company. And those whose memory will be honored are Laura Ahten, Christopher Beckmann, Mattew Derenbecker, Cynthia Peterson, John Reily, Ashley Royal, Robert Wallace and Valerie West. “All the names of those being remembered will be placed on the äSee JEFFERSON, page 3G
Today is Earth Day, a perfect time to talk about New Orleans’ largest swath of public, recreational land: City Park. This month, the park’s Festival Grounds were picked for certification by the national Sustainable Sites Initiative. SITES is a program that recognizes and promotes sustainable landscape planning, design, construction and maintenance efforts that can benefit the environment and local and regional
Austin, the United States Botanic Garden and the American Society of Landscape Architects. The 50-acre festival grounds, once part of a golf course along Wisner Boulevard between the New Orleans Museum of Art THROW ME SOMETHIN’ and Interstate 610, received one out of four stars based on 51 potential credits, with points awarded for initial site seleccommunities and economies. tion, water, soil, vegetation, maThe program is led by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at äSee THROW ME, page 3G
Lynne Jensen