Dog lover has his own rainbow

Craig Bohren's office looks like a tornado just ran through and upset everything -- everything except two pictures of his dogs strategically placed on top of the two computers which dominate his desk.

Strewn across the floor of one side of his office are scores of slide trays -- some inside of and others outside of their boxes. On the other side, there are several stacks of boxes, each with a distinct label, but all in no particular order.

One has to step carefully around slides and boxes to get to the lone chair next to his desk, for fear of breaking something of value.

But when talking to Craig, one can discern that what is truly important in his life is not any object -- it is his dogs.

Most dog owners know the emotional bond established with their animal -- funny feelings develop in their stomachs and big smiles appear on their faces.

Craig, a professor of meteorology, gets that way when talking about his dogs Bret, Sian and Sam.

When he mentions one of his dogs, sitting in his fifth floor office of Walker Building, he gets that huge smile on his face.

Craig is totally engrossed in his dogs.

And his dogs are no ordinary dogs.

They know things and can do things that most dogs only dream of, because Craig puts a vast amount of his time into his dogs. He has trained them as obedience trials dogs.

Craig is a successful dog trainer because he has a "good rapport and relationship" with them, according to Sandy Roth of the Mt. Nittany Dog Training Club.

"He has the patience and perseverance to keep the dogs performing in a positive manner," she said. "He is enthusiastic in his training."

Craig, a member of the training club, is also enthusiastic about the dogs themselves.

"Bret did such a good job at the match," Craig said about one of his golden retrievers. "I was so proud of him."

But the tremendous bond formed between a dog and its trainer does not come easily, Craig said.

"There is the investment of you into the dog," he said. "I have learned a lot about training. I have made mistakes and learned from those mistakes."

Craig also says he has learned a great deal about patience and about "not getting mad (at the dogs)."

On the bookshelves in his office a number of books bear Craig's name. The books range from what Craig calls "junk science" books to technical manuals.

During the three years it took to write the book, there was a period of six to seven months when production was put on hold.

"I had to sit on my hands," Craig said of that time period.

Eventually, through numerous phone calls and E-mail correspondences, the two professors were able to finish the manuscript.

Other books Craig wrote have been a little more complicated to finish.

Of one such endeavor, Craig said, "I had to wait a whole week to find out if someone had two F's in their name."

Such are the troubles of writing a book with other people, Craig said.

The "junk science" books Craig writes are the type of books he really enjoys. They are the books the normal person can read and actually get something out of, he explained.

One such book, Clouds in a Glass of Beer: Simple Experiments in Atmospheric Physics, was especially fun to write, Craig said.

The book is comprised of a series of columns Craig wrote for the popular atmospheric magazine Weatherwise. He compiled various columns, rewrote them to create some flow, reworked the numbers and shipped the book to the publisher.

Since that time, the book has done quite well, Craig said.

This type of book, according to Craig, is "high-quality popular science." Not only is the science correct, but it is written in an interesting, understandable fashion rather than a dry, technical style, he added.

For most people, it is a real challenge to write popular science, Craig said, but he likes writing this type of book because he wants to be able to give something back to the people who pay his salary.

"You should spread the word as much as possible," Craig said. "The general public is paying my salary. So I had to tell them something about what I do and try to make their world more interesting."

Although the "junk science" books are what he really likes to write, Craig is best known for a technical manual he co-authored, Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles. The book is not meteorological, although it covers various other areas of science and industry.

"I am interested in what people see," he said. "And once you get interested in what people see, you start getting interested in people."

And, according to Craig, the book is interesting to all kinds of people.

On a warm, sunny day last November, Craig stood in front of Pattee with two of his dogs. He brought them to Pattee, he said, because it is the perfect environment for obedience training.

As part of the training, Craig had his dogs Bret and Sian sit on the Mall while he walked up the steps of Pattee and out of sight.

The dogs must stay where they are for three minutes, if they are sitting, or five minutes, if they are in a "down" position, Craig said. They must do all of this while students and other people walk in front of and around them.

It takes "hundreds and hundreds of hours" to train the dogs, he explained. During these long hours, a tremendous and wonderful bond is formed between the dog and trainer.

Fourteen years ago, three of Craig's students from the University gave him a golden retriever when they graduated.

These students had visited Craig and his wife, Nanette, every Sunday night for dinner during the previous three years and they wanted to give Craig and his wife something to remember them by.

"They were like our kids," Nanette said. "We got very, very close to the three of them."

The dog, named Tag, became the joy of Craig's life. The sentimental bond associated with the dog was immense, because the students were almost like his children.

According to Nanette, their family portrait is Craig, herself, Tag and the three students on the front porch of their house on the south side of Mount Nittany.

Tag was an "all-around dog," Craig said.

The Bohrens took him backpacking and camping whenever they could. Tag would swim in the streams and run through the fields.

But when Tag was about seven, he died of cancer. Craig was shattered.

"It was hard when Tag died," Nanette said. "We missed him very much. He was a big part of our life."

But within 24 hours, the Bohrens got a new dog -- Sam came into their life.

Another golden retriever, Sam is currently training as a tracking trials dog.

The object of tracking trials is for the dog to follow a track, using its nose to find a glove or billfold at the end. The trials are noncompetitive and intensive in time, land and personnel. Only two judges, following at a discreet distance, are on the track with the dog and trainer.

Tracking trials involve the dog and master navigating a course between 440 and 500 yards long. The track must have at least three turns and must be "aged" at least 30 minutes. "Aging" is determined by the length of time between when the track was laid and when the dog has to navigate through it.

The dog is attached to a harness which has a line of at least 40 feet. The trainer must stay at least 20 feet behind while giving encouragement and praise to the dog, but never influencing the dog's decisions.

Yet, according to Roth, Craig does know what he is doing.

"Craig has been coming along as an instructor," Roth said. "Right now he is starting to go through (the Mt. Nittany Dog Training Club's) apprenticeship program to become an instructor."

Roth, who works as a tracking trials judge, certified Sam last Monday to compete.

"It was the best I have ever seen (Sam) perform," Roth said of that morning. "He nailed every single turn. Craig had no choice but to go where the dog wanted."

Craig admits the reason he became really involved in obedience trials was an accident. Originally, he had wanted to breed Sam.

It was suggested to Craig that he train Sam in obedience trials to make him a more desirable "husband."

If Sam had an obedience title, it would show that he "could do something."

"I discovered the obedience, and one thing leads to another," Craig said, "and then I thought 'Wow! I love dogs!' "