PUPPYLOVE KIDS MAKE FOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - Inside a classroom at San Fernando Middle School, 11 children beam in anticipation of the licks, nuzzles and tail-wagging of six canines - all strays from the animal shelter in Burbank.

The children and the dogs are part of a program set up by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Los Angeles, to teach children how to work in teams and to love others by working with shelter dogs.

``When we first take the dogs out of their kennels, you can see the faces glow,'' said Mitchell Sigal, a humane education director with the SPCA. ``You can see the total enthusiasm and glow and excitement on the part of the dogs and the kids.''

The national program, which began about five years ago, came to San Fernando Middle School last month. The children, accompanied by their faithful new friends, graduated from the program Thursday.

Jaime Lira, 13, who said he used to talk back to teachers before the program, was nervous about graduation and how his dog, Tupac, a Beagle mix, was going to react. After four weeks with Tupac, he had finally figured him out.

``He's really happy, especially when he eats the treats,'' Jaime said. ``It's pretty nice.''

After the children received certificates recognizing their more than 60 hours of hard work with the dogs, Mitchell Glover, 11, held his dog, Shania, on a leash and boasted about the tricks the dog has learned.

``He knows all the tricks,'' he said. ``He can sit and crawl.''

Jimmie Lyons, 11, the other half of the duo training Tupac, was timid interacting with the dogs at first. Now she's a pro, but don't ask her to hold out her hand with treats.

``I don't like to feed him,'' she said, smiling. ``When I put my hand out, he snatches it up.''

The children have had plenty of time to interact with the dogs and learn about teamwork. Five days a week after school, the children, wearing gray and maroon SPCALA T-shirts, sat on benches and wrote in their journals for 20 minutes. Topics ranged from ``how violence affects me'' to the previous day's activities.

Discussions followed, and then Sigal led the children into comparisons between why people are mean to people and why people are cruel to animals.

After a short break, the children were paired with their dogs. The obedience training included teaching names, sitting, walking on a leash and then tricks.

After graduation, the children were given first dibs on adopting the dogs.

``The neatest thing, and their big focus, is training their dogs,'' Sigal said. ``You have to be able to treat something well to be able to get something back. That's what they're learning.''

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San Fernando Middle School students Aide Armas, left, and Anthony Yancy take part in a dog-training program.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer