We think of dogs who bite, lunge, snarl and bark as aggressive, but that isn't necessarily the case, according to Tori Ganino, co-owner of Calling All Dogs, on Harvester Avenue.

Those behaviors are often a response born of fear, Ganino said, and dogs can be taught to be less fearful in situations they find stressful.

"What we do is train them that these situations aren't so bad, that you don't have to be afraid, you don't have to bite to make the person or thing go away,"  Ganino said. "Instead, we're going to help you feel better about it. So we change their emotional responses from a fearful one to a good one so that when I they see this person coming along, it's not such a bad thing. It's a good thing."

Ganino is a certified animal behavioralist, certified by the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, the only such certified consultant in Genesee County.

The certification process includes more than 400 hours of coursework, 500 hours of work with clients and a 12-part, essay-based exam. Certification also requires ongoing training and keeping abreast of the latest research-based behavior and training techniques.

Ganino started on the path toward certification after becoming the owner of a dog who had become fearful after a bad experience with a man in a pet store where the dog had been available for adoption. Ganino said in certain situations, the dog would just shake with fear. She wanted to help her pup handle fearful situations better so she sought some training.

The first training class used what's known as "flooding," which is repeated exposure to the fearful situation until the dog learns not to fear the stimulus any longer, usually by just emotionally shutting down. Ganino didn't feel good about that technique for her dog, so she sought out alternatives and discovered animal behavior training.

"I wanted to find a way to help him feel better about the situation and not put him in a situation he couldn't handle," Ganino said.

Unlike techniques that rely on punishment or dominance, behavioral training is about positive reinforcement for correct behavior.

If a dog snarls and lunges at certain people, the owner shouldn't scold, but rather divert the dog's attention, elicit the desired response and then reward the dog for the correct behavior.

"If he's in a situation where he's growling, he's over the point where he's comfortable with what's going on, so you need to take him away from it so can get him at a place where he's comfortable and then start the training," Ganino said. "That's where the behavior work really starts. You can't reinforce the emotion. You can make changes to get him to feel better, but at the time that he's seeing that person and thinking, 'I'm upset and I'm getting yelled at, too,' he learns that it validates his concerns. He's feeling a threat. It's not a good situation and he's getting yelled at."

Dogs look to their owners for leadership and an owner who is upset in a bad situation is telling a dog "This is a situation where you should be upset."

"With behavior work, we don't say, 'I don't want you to bark at this person,' " Ganino said. "Instead, we say, 'Why don't you look at me. Why don't we go over here and do this.' because 'no' just means stop, but you're not helping him understand what he's supposed to do. When he's lunging at another person, back him up and work with him so he realizes, 'I can look at that person, but what am I supposed to do when I look at him? I'll look back at mom and dad and they'll guide me through it. We'll play. We'll get rewards for it and then we'll go on our way.' "

Ganino owns Calling All Dogs with her husband, Rich, and while Ganino specializes in working with fearful and aggressive dogs, Calling All Dogs offers a range of obedience classes and personal training sessions as well as doggie day care.

A typical six-week class is $99, but on a space-available basis, owners of foster dogs can sign up for free classes.

Well-behaved dogs are socialized, get plenty of exercise and ample mental stimulation. They know what's expected of them and can count on their owners to provide a stable routine. Obedience classes are as much about training the owners as training the dogs, and it helps the owners understand how to avoid situations that maybe their dogs can't handle and then raising the fear factor.

"Any dog can have that emotional change to 'I'm upset and I'm scared,' " Ganino said. "A lot of times biting is a response to 'I'm afraid.' We can help a dog feel better, but it's up to the owners not to put them in situations they're not ready to handle."

Nancy Gilmartin shared this photo with us today.

The flag of the Six Nations should have been part of the flags flying in the International Peace Garden from the beginning, several speakers at a ceremony raising the flag today acknowledged, but for various reasons, with no blame cast, that didn't happen, the speakers said.

Now that it's part of the display, it will always be part of the display, at least as long as she has a say in it, said Paula Savage.

Speakers noted that the Peace Garden commemorates the War of 1812, a very bad era for our region's indigenous people, people who had been on this land long before then, long before "Columbus sailed the ocean blue" in 1492, and perhaps going back as far as ancient mammals like the mastodons. The people of the Six Nations have suffered many hardships, but remain proud.

"We are strong and we're still here, which is why we wanted a flag in Batavia," said Melissa Smith, president of the Tonawanda Historical Society.

Al White spoke of the need to protect the land and called on the young Native Americans in the audience to set aside their video games and the trappings of commercialized America and embrace their people's relationship with the Creator.

"All of our land used to look like this little garden here," White said. "It was our land and we took care of it because our Creator told us it was our duty to take care of it. It is our sacred duty. I'm grateful for this flag over here, but my flag is all around me because my flag is the land of the Creator."

Jeanne Taradena

Al White

Kathrine Sike and Al Parker raise the flag.

The Seneca Singers

Frank Panepento plays the melody for "Amazing Grace." (The song sung by the Seneca Singers was the same melody with words in the Seneca language.)

Areas in urban communities known as brownfields can sometimes be expensive to redevelop because of the environmental cleanup costs, and that cost drives away potential developers because projects that might turn a profit without the cleanup quickly become unprofitable. 

To address that issue, local agencies, including the City of Batavia, have come together with a plan to help reduce the expense for developers who wish to complete projects on brownfield sites.

They're calling it the Batavia Prosperity Project, or BP², and the City Council will get a presentation on the proposal tomorrow.

"This is really a partnership, an example of cooperation among all the parties, city, county and schools, that recognizes the common interest in a revitalized urban core," said City Manager Jason Molino. "We can focus on this together because we recognize there is a greater reward for everybody concerned."

The program would take fees paid by developers on future projects in the city -- brownfield or otherwise -- that qualify for PILOTs (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) from each of the taxing jurisdictions and pool those fees in a common fund that could be tapped down the road by brownfield opportunity area (BOA) developers to help offset environmental remediation costs.

Such PILOTs would need to be approved by the Genesee County Economic Development Center and Steve Hyde, the CEO, will be at Tuesday's meeting to help explain how the program will work and the benefits for the community.

The program, as proposed, is the first of its kind on a citywide basis in the state.

"This could help us clean up contaminated sites, increase our tax base and increase employment opportunities," Molino said.

The city's three BOAs are all in what are identified as low-income, blighted neighborhoods, which means under New York State law, they are eligible for tax breaks for retail projects, which expands the redevelopment opportunities. And since under the law, census tracts next to low-income, blighted neighborhoods are also eligible for those same tax breaks, every census track in the city is eligible for such projects.

Molino isn't predicting that because of that big retailers are going to swoop in and build new stores, but that "isn't necessarily a bad thing," he said.

It's all up to the free market.

"I think the market is going to dictate what comes in here, and what can and what cannot work," Molino said.

Market studies show that what the urban core needs more of are restaurants, medical offices, office space, housing and warehouse space, so those are the kind of projects most likely to be attracted to development, brownfield or otherwise, in the city.

"There is an increased demand from people who want to live Downtown," Molino said. "I think mixed use is where we're going to see an increase in development."

The STAMP project recently announced -- solar company 1366 Technologies -- creates an opportunity for Batavia.

"We want to capture some of that overflow," Molino said. "This policy is another tool for dealing with development of our urban core."

The properties in the BOA have generated a good deal of interest, Molino said, ever since a development forum hosted by the city in 2013. There may be a project coming soon, but the city also needs another tool to help make development in the city more attractive to investors.

The City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

A year ago, the problems on Summit Street included drugs and public domestic disputes and a general sense that the bad guys were winning, so a couple of neighbors started talking about how they might solve the problem.

Det. Rich Schauf got involved along with other members of Batavia PD. Leanna Di Risio from Vibrant Batavia was brought in. Residents started holding monthly meetings. Police started communicating more directly with residents. People started looking out for their street. Things changed.

This week, the biggest concern on Summit Street is a few skunks who have been wandering around the neighborhood.

"When the police issues identified come down to that, that obviously says a lot," Di Risio said during a neighborhood pizza party on Saturday. "I think when people see that neighbors are coming together, and they have that bond and they're looking out for each other, it makes for a better neighborhood."

Don Hirons, his wife Pam, and another neighbor got the ball rolling about a year ago, and soon they were talking with a couple of other longtime residents, including Richard Beatty, and that led to direct communication with law enforcement about what could be done. Word of the conversations reached City Manager Jason Molino who thought this was a perfect project for Vibrant Batavia. Together, they started holding monthly meetings at City Hall, with attendance at the most recent meeting attended by 20 residents of Summit Street.

"Rather than just sitting still and letting things happen, we thought maybe we need to do something," Hirons said. "We can't just sit back. We've lived on the street 35 years. That's a big investment of time. We've seen a lot of people come and go. There's a lot of homeowners who are not with us anymore and some of those homes have been turned into rentals. We've got folks we see come and go, so I guess what I'm saying is we didn't want to see this street -- we've seen it when it was a place where you didn't mind bringing your kids out -- to one where you had to be more careful. Both my wife and I saw that happening and we felt it was important to make sure to preserve the integrity of the street."

The way police have patrolled Summit Street hasn't really changed, Schauf said, nor is it any different from streets facing similar issues, but what has changed is the communication, and that has made a huge difference. When arrests are made, and as cases make it through the legal system, the department communicates with a resident about what has happened and that information is shared neighbor-to-neighbor. That gives residents confidence that action is being taken, raises their awareness and encourages them to continue to report issues immediately as they arise.

"Our department has 30 sworn officers," Schauf said. "There are 15,000 people who live in the city and during the day, there could be between 25,000 or 30,000 people here, so you do the math. You're always outnumbered, so without eyes and ears, without generally good people, we'd have chaos. To have people with eyes and ears and willing to share information so we can react to it, whether it's anti-social behavior or it has to do with quality of life, we can deal with it quickly."

When neighbors look out for each other, Schauf said, it helps encourage people less interested in being good citizens to find different locations for their criminal activity.

"Crime prevention isn't about crime going away," Schauf said. "It's about crime moving, because if we could do away with crime, we would have done that by now, but we can't. So it's about pushing crime down the road. It's not at your house and you're protected and you're helping your neighbors, that's going to push crime out of your neighborhood."

The residents of Summit Street feel so good about what they've been able to accomplish, they've had two parties this summer and fall. Earlier in the year they had an ice cream social. They're talking about a block party next summer and shutting down Summit Street for the afternoon.

Di Risio said there's also a lot of interest in forming more of a neighborhood association, which would include a classic welcome wagon for new Summit Street residents, and signs on the streets -- but not the negative message of a "Neighborhood Watch," but something with a more positive spin about how residents care about each others' well being.

"The best part of this is you start getting to know people," Beatty said. "You know their situations and a little bit about their families. It's been very encouraging. It's been a positive experience the way it's been going. Before this started, I didn't know Don and Pam. I didn't know the folks down the street or the folks on the corner, or any of them, so it's been a very positive thing."

The fact that the biggest issue on Summit is skunks is a good thing, Schauf said, but that isn't the end of the story.

"I've done this long enough to know that problems come and go," Schauf said. "So, right now, I'm not saying, 'This is great, we've solved it. We're the best and the neighborhood is well on its way to no problems.' I think there could still be problems, but we can react to it not just as one person complaining, but as a group, and when a group looks out for each other, it makes them stronger."

Cary Michael Alexyn, 40, of Eaton Road, Irondequoit, is charged with petit larceny. Alexyn is accused of stealing multiple items of jewelry from his sister's residence in Oakfield when he stayed there in May.

David Joseph Gorney, 47, of Applewood Lane, Erie, Pa., was arrested as a fugitive from justice. Gorney was incarcerated in the Genesee County Jail on a felony DWI charge. He was released and then arrested as a fugitive from justice. He was ordered held without bail pending extradition.

Erica Lynn Manuel, 22, of Fourth Section Road, Brockport, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation, 2nd, and failure to obey a traffic device. Manuel was stopped at 8:37 a.m. Friday on Byron Holley Road, Byron, by Deputy Joseph Corona. She was ordered held on $1,000 bail.

More than 200 runners and walkers were in County Park this morning for the annual Run for the ACORNS 5K and 10K races. Organizers were pleased with the Fall-perfect weather.

The East Pembroke Volunteer Fire Department hosted its first gun raffle Saturday night at its fire hall. The event was a fundraiser to support the department. We don't yet have a list of winners, but several prizes were given away.  

The folks in Bergen hosted a great family event yesterday in Hickory Park, an autumn festival they called "Shenanigans." The event featured dozens of games and contests, which allowed children to win tickets for prizes. There were also several local vendors selling things such as mittens, candles, wine and honey.

City Fire and Batavia PD are dispatched to an address on Bank Street for a report of a person burning plywood in the backyard of a residence.

A two-car accident, unknown injuries, is reported at 5049 Ellicott Street Road. A telephone pole is involved and may be damaged. Traffic is not blocked. Town of Batavia fire and Mercy medics are responding,

Charting a Course to Prosperity! GCC’s The BEST Center and City of Batavia Offering Small Business Ownership Series.

Calling all aspiring entrepreneurs. Here’s your chance to find out if you have what it takes to achieve small business success. The BEST Center at Genesee Community College is partnering with the City of Batavia and the Batavia Development Corporation (BDC) to offer a three-part “Owning Your Own Business” program designed to inspire creativity, fine­ tune skills, and chart a true course to prosperity. Those interested will be able to explore, experience, and connect with resources that can help turn a dream into a reality.

The program, “Get Underway: Small Business Ownership Series,” begins with a series of one hour workshops where participants will explore business opportunities, assessing their personal readiness to own and operate a new business. Each session will run from noon ­- 1 p.m. in the second floor community room at Batavia City Hall. The following four sessions are planned and participants are encouraged to attend each one: 
Part I - begins Sept. 16th

• Wed., Sept. 16, Noon-1:00 pm -- Do I have what it takes to own a small business?
• Wed., Sept. 23, Noon-1:00 pm -- Can I earn a living through my passion? Why didn’t I think of THAT business?
• Wed., Sept. 30, Noon-1:00 pm -- How much money do I need to start a business?
• Wed., Oct.   7,  Noon-1:00 pm -- The Sniff Test, assessing your business idea!

The sessions are $5 each for those who pre­-register online at http://www.genesee.edu/best/, or $10 each at the door.

The second part of the program goes beyond the basics to help participants fully develop a business concept and transition into becoming a business manager. These five weekly Wednesday evening sessions are mandatory if participants want to access grant resources available through the City of Batavia Microenterprise Grant Program. The sessions run from 6 to 9 p.m. in Room T121 of the Conable Technology Building on GCC’s Batavia campus. They include: 
Part II - begins Oct. 14th

• Wed., Oct. 14, 6:00-9:00 pm — Trials, tribulations & skills of a successful business leader
• Wed., Oct. 21, 6:00-9:00 pm — Marketing strategies to increase sales
• Wed., Oct. 28, 6:00-9:00 pm — Using financial information to guide my business
• Wed., Nov.  4, 6:00-9:00 pm — Learning to “manage” a business
• Wed., Nov. 11, 6:00-9:00 pm — Business plan presentation and networking 

The five­-week course costs $125 and students will receive a certificate upon successful completion. Registration for this course is also available online at http://www.genesee.edu/best/.

The Small Business Ownership series is funded in part by the New York State Office of Community Renewal Community Development Block Grant.

For more information, contact Marketing Communications Associate Director Donna Rae Sutherland at (585) 343­-0055, ext. 6616, or via e-mail: dsutherland@genesee.edu

I'm long overdue for taking care of this -- we promised to give away an iPad Mini to one lucky poster during the first month of our newest Web site, Batavia's List.

The winner is Mike McDonald. Mike increased his odds during the month-long contest by posting three home rental ads.

Since he already owns a tablet, he's donating his prize to John Kennedy School so it might go to a student who can't afford such a device.

We have a new contest: Post something to the marketplace on Batavia's List between now and Nov. 10 and win a $100 gift certificate to Larry's Steakhouse.  No purchase necessary. To post for free e-mail howard@thebatavian.com for a coupon code for a free post.

We're also now running our community calendar through Batavia's List. Post your events on our calendar and they appear on both sites. You must register for Batavia's List to post calendar items. Once you do, and you're logged in, you will see a button for posting events on the Calendar Page.

If you're on Facebook, you can get updates of postings to Batavia's List by liking Batavia's List on Facebook. 

Finally, please be sure to sign up for our new daily e-mail newsletter. 

Ziebart, an auto service shop, held its ribbon cutting this morning to celebrate opening the new location. Franchise owner Tony Mattiacio holds the giant scissors. This is Mattiacio's fourth franchise location for the national chain of outlets that provide a variety of services including detailing, wraps and starters.

Photo from Greg Rada who said his father, Richard Rada, took it and is participating in the anti-abortion protest this morning outside the Planned Parenthood office on West Main Street, Batavia.

Batavia High School Blue Devils contributed quite a bit to the spirit of Homecoming Week with a 54 to 0 win over Wayne Central. The score says it all defense and offence came to play and they did! From the opening drive to the last, a nearly overflowing Vendetta Stadium saw continuous action from turnovers, stops and scoring.

There were, however, a few fouls that could have caused Batavia some trouble if they were not completely dominant for the entire game. More pictures of the game here http://jimburns.org/p934431343#h5be14e4b

Workers with Department of Social Services wore pink Friday as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and they shared pink snacks with each other. So far, they've raised $140 for Genesee Cancer Assistance and will continue fund-raising efforts throughout October.

Reader submitted photo.

Perhaps the outcome of Friday night's 50th Le Roy vs. Cal-Mum matchup would have been very different if not for an interception deep in Le Roy territory by Reece Tresco. The Red Raiders seemed to be on an unstoppable, inevitable march toward a touchdown.

The Oatkan Knights were unable to move the ball on its set of downs and a poor punt gave Cal-Mum great field position, but the exchange seemed to give the Le Roy defense a chance to reset itself and the best Cal-Mum could muster was a field goal.

Cal-Mum never even sniffed the goal line the rest of the game and Le Roy waltzed away with a 28-3 victory.

Livingston County divisional realignment almost prevented this 50th meeting and without extrodinary efforts in the coming years, it could be the last time these two long-standing and storied rivals meet on the gridiron.

Nick Egeling and Josh Laurie led the team on both offense and defense. Egeling carried the ball 15 times for 85 yards, had one reception for 15 yards, and on defense had six tackles and an interception he returned for a touchdown that gave Le Roy its first lead. Laurie was 5-7 pasing for 159 yards and three TDs. He also rushed for 15 yards on seven carries. He had four tackles and an interception on defense.

Nate Flint's two receptions in the game, for 137 yards, accounted for two of Laurie's TD passes. The other went to Ryan Boyce on a 20-yard catch and run, giving Boyce his first score of the season (top photo).

Justin DiFalco had seven tackles, including a sack. Anthony Natrigo had five tackles. Luke Hogle had a fumble recovery to go with three tackles. 

Also on Friday night:

• Batavia won its homecoming match up over Wayne Central, 54-0. More coverage in a separate post later.
• Attica and Notre Dame went deep into the second quarter with a scoreless tie, before Alex Piechocki scored on an 11-yard run to give Attica a 6-0 half-time lead. With 14 more points in the third quarter, a fourth-quarter rally wasn't enough to save the Fighting Irish, who lost 20-13. Connor Logsdon was 9-15 passing for 116 yards and a TD and an interception. Jack Sutherland rushed for 105 yards and a TD on 19 carries. Luca Zambito and C.J. Suozzi each had three catches, with Zambito gaining 53 yards and scoring a TD and Suozzi going for 42 yards. Sutherland and Suozzi each had nine tackles, Logsdon five and a half, and Etan Ozborne and Caleb Wolcott, four apiece.
• Alexander beat Pembroke, 40-7. Jake Wozniak gained 165 yards on 13 rushes and scored three times. Zach Jasen gained 30 yards and scored on three carries. Jared Browne was 4-6 passing for 57 yards and a TD. Dustin Schmeider had a TD reception of three yards. Derrick Busch had 54 yards on three receptions. Busch also came up big on defense with three interceptions for 140 return yards, including a 65-yard pick six. He also had a fumble recovery.
• Avon beat York/Pavilion 26-14.

Le Roy and Cal-Mum also clashed at halftime in flag football action.

To purchase prints of photos, click here.

An accident involving a tractor-trailer and a passenger vehicle is reported in the westbound lane of the Thruway in the area of mile marker 398.

Injuries are reported.

East Pembroke fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.