Chicago aquarium rescues dogs; trains them like dolphins

CHICAGO -- Six animals featured in the Shedd Aquarium's new stage show were in far different, more desperate circumstances earlier this summer--incarcerated, unloved and perhaps facing death before year's end. Then the Shedd's marine mammal trainers came to the rescue. The trainers were left with no animals to supervise after the Shedd's Oceanarium pavilion closed for refurbishing this year, sending the facility's whales, dolphins, sea otters and sea lions out of town. So the staff decided to create a show for six dogs they found in area animal rescue centers, demonstrating how marine mammal training techniques can be equally effective in training house pets. "Pet Training the Shedd Way" opens Friday and will continue at least until early summer 2009, when the Oceanarium reopens. "We wanted to do something that was fun and... [read full story]