Our Dog Obedience Training Classes begin at the end of April and run for seven weeks. The class will cover focus, sit, down, stay, stand, walking on a loose leash, heel, and recall. Your dog must be at least five months old with a current rabies vaccination.

Cost is $90 if you pre-register. If you wait until the first day of class to register, you'll pay $10 more. The class fee includes a Martingale training collar and a graduation certificate. We highly encourage pre-registration because each session is limited to 10 participants.

There are two sessions:

• Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. from April 29 to June 10. Register for Tuesday classes.
• Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. from April 30 to June 11. Register for Wednesday classes.

Please bring the following items to your first class:

• A copy of your dog's current shot records (must have an up-to-date rabies vaccination).
• Treats for your dog.
• Phone number you can be reached at in the evenings in case we need to cancel class due to bad weather.

Classes will be taught by Gary Harrington, an Animal Behavior College Certified Dog Trainer and AKC Canine Good Citizen Evaluator. Gary also is certified in Pet First Aid through the American Red Cross. This will be his ninth year teaching at the Cedar Valley Humane Society.

All proceeds benefit homeless animals at the Cedar Valley Humane Society. For more information, contact Stephanie Schmitz at (319) 362-6288 or stephanie.schmitz@cvhumane.org.

Have you started your spring cleaning yet? Have you found some stuff that's in good shape, but you simply don't want or need it any more? We have the solution!

Clothing, furniture, household items (and more!) can all be brought to us during our Stuff the Stuff Truck drive.

On Saturday, May 2, from noon to 5pm, Stuff Etc.'s box truck will be parked in our lot, and our fantastic, hard-working volunteers will be here to help you unload your vehicle.

We are NOT looking for supplies for the animals -- we ARE looking for items we can re-sell at Stuff Etc. to raise money for medicines, vaccines, spay/neuter surgeries, and other necessities.

Furniture sells REALLY well, so if you have an old-but-still-good chair or an odd end table, now is a great time to lighten your house of stuff and help animals at the same time.

So... clean out your closets and cabinets! Shovel off your shelves! Rearrange your rooms! Bring us all the good stuff you don't want, and we will convert it to cash to support our mission.

As you may recall, we were closed a couple of days at the end of March for facilities maintenance.

We want to offer a hearty thanks to Steamatic of Cedar Rapids for coming out and cleaning our ductwork during that time. It had been a while since our ducts had been professionally cleaned, and, well, let's just say... they REALLY needed it!

The team at Steamatic of Cedar Rapids was friendly, professional and efficient. We can't thank them enough for partnering with us, and we highly recommend their services!

If you decide to give them a call, please let them know you read about the fine work they did at the Cedar Valley Humane Society.

Bill Nelson began volunteering for us in November and has logged forty-two hours so far! He walks dogs for about an hour each time he comes to the shelter and has helped us with events.

He walked one of our dogs in the St. Patrick's Day Parade and helped wrap Honey Bunnies at Great Harvest Bread Company last weekend. And that's not all! He is also on our list of volunteers willing to help with transports when needed.

Bill, our staff and animals thank you for being such a dedicated and helpful volunteer! We are so happy to have you on our team!