Over a thousand motorcycle riders will converge on Oceanside on September 21 to help raise awareness and funds for heart disease and stroke research. All proceeds benefit the American heart Association.

Heart Ride registration begins at 8:00 a.m. at Harley’s House of Harleys. Riders take a 75 mile scenic charity ride through North San Diego County and will culminate in San Marcos.

Now families who adopt a dog from the North County Humane Society have something more than unconditional love to look forward to. That new member of the family will also come with free training, to make Fido an even better treasure for years to come.

On Aug. 1, local dog trainer Manuel Villanueva, began offering the training to those who adopted dogs from his neighbor, the North County Humane Society. Villanueva, who has been training police dogs in San Diego County for more than 20 years, will apply many of the same techniques to teaching the Smith family's dog to "sit, stay, heel" during five easy sessions.

The training will take place at Villanueva's Oceanside Pet Hotel next door to the animal shelter on San Luis Rey Road. Independently, the group training would cost the new owner $75 but Villanueva has volunteered his service to the Humane Society.

The classes will be for the new owners as much as they are for the dogs, Villanueva said. "I want to educate people on how a dog functions, how his mind works." He said any dog can be trained, but the training won't stick unless his handler follows through at home.

The free classes must begin within 30 days of adoption, Villanueva said, when the dog is "fresh with the family" before any mutual bad habits have been formed. The dogs have to be at least six months old and no older than six years because puppies lack endurance and slow the class down while older dogs may have bad habits ingrained over many years that would be very difficult to break, he said.

For information regarding training sessions, please contact the NCHS at (760) 757-4357.

Volunteers Wanted

The City of Oceanside Personnel Department is seeking volunteers from the community to serve as raters on the Public Safety oral board examinations. The volunteers would serve on an oral board comprised of three members responsible for interviewing applicants and at the end of the interview the oral board members will rate each applicant and give each one a numerical score.

The interviews will be held all day on a Saturday, beginning October 11, 2003, and take place every four months. If you are interested in participating and serving on an oral board, please contact the Personnel Department at (760) 435-3508.