Quite a few vets are waking up these days and starting to check up more on the behaviourists they recommend.

My personal take on it is that the 'paper qualification' is an indication that the trainer is going the extra mile to make sure that they are the best they can be - but that applies to all skill-sets, not just dog training

Ask your team member the question a couple of years after they have completed their degree and I think you'll find that s/he will tell you that what the degree has given her is more confidence in what she does and also the ability to keep her knowledge up to date.

We've moved a long way from thinking of dogs as mere autonomans and it's the theoretical and scientific side of things that keeps that thinking progressing

i do all of that and more without getting a cert.

met plenty of very frightening BSc 'dog trainers'.

the public dont tap into the whole BSc thing when it comes to dog training.

their is no professional qualification for dog training

Actually I suspect it will be the other way round. It may have given her more confidence, but it is the everyday work and the advancements that we make within those, that keep her up to date in terms of knowledge - not the studies.

The stuff she is studying, by definition, that she is reading books that have ALREADY been written, means that her knowledge is out of date. In our work we develop our views, if not daily, then weekly, for each week brings a new RADICAL experience, from which we all learn. Books can not do that. Books are old thinking. Experience is current thinking.

How far along the course is she? Has she started her dissertation yet - where she will have to conduct her own research? Of course she's reading books that have already been written and hopefully she is developing analytical and evaluation skills along the way which will help her to evaluate the radical experiences she has while training under your guidance.

I'm sorry, but I can never understand those who decry the value of education. Good on your colleague for embarking on the fascinating journey she is taking. I hope she does well

Not sure I have ever decried the value of education! ANY Learning is of benefit in my view wether that be from a BSC, or hands on experience, or reading a book, or listeneing to a radio broadcast from a dog trainer, or by watching a film by David Attenborough. Heck, if it wasn't for all the books I read and the videos and filme Id watched and the talks and time spent with various dog trainers....Not sure where Id be without all of that!

But does it actually have more benefit than actual experince?

Not so. It seems to me. But then I'm willing to be proved wrong. Ill say it again......of the 12000 or so people who have enquired about my courses I can only recall 3 asking about qualifications.

Not so. It seems to her.

If I thought that going on a few years of training would benefit my client base beyond a few more years of experience, then believe me, Id do it!!!!! Sitting in a study or educational environment, writing case studies, or reading material, or thinking through and writing dissertations, is in my view, a heck of a lot easier to write dissertations and case studies than it is to deal with dogs that have mutilated people and other dogs within the last few hours, in the freezing cold of winter, the torment of summer heat, or against the very real threat that this dog might mutilate me soon too! Or worse still, someone else.

If I could train dogs better by "studying" than by actually training dogs, then I would. But I dont believe I can.

Empathy, timing & skill are all things that come from the heart, not from books & study.

Any good "doggy" person, will of course want to learn , & have a deep interest in their "passion" & will then for read etc, attend courses etc.

Just because they dont have a degree etc, dosent mean anything if they are talented, imo.

You could have all the study in the world & be able to talk the talk, but without empathy , timing & skill then this means little.

Some people are just not interested in studying like that. Im certainley not interested in affilating myself with any "blanket" organisation

I think I understand what you are trying to say but it doesn't necessarily work like that. My husband has just had a scientific text book published and it is not 'old thinking' at all - it is very much current and practical.

I agree with that with dog training.

Congratulations to him!


Brilliant.

I am not decrying anyones efforts to educate. I have the greatest respect for those that stand for such valiant effort!


But in time. Valliant effort becomes outdated. Unless it is ahead of its time.In which case it has to wait, to be accepted. Either way no ones effort should be underestimated. Or decried. but I am guessign that it is youe husbands experince that has broought hi to the courageous point where ha can publicj? Commended. How few people commit to permanent recognistion of word or video?

To be admired.

But it doesnt alter the fact that the written workd (Ior video'd word) will, at some point be replaced with something more modern (even if it is factualy incorrect).

I TOTALLY respect anyone who publiches anything.

Well done him. And you. For supporting him through this time.

Thanks.
He published a text book on NMR spectroscopy about 20 years ago. This new one is based on the first with current stuff (and co-written with his colleague/friend this time). So a good deal of it was still as it was then. Chemical shifts, electronics of a molecule and splitting patterns don't change. The fundamentals remain the same, i.e. the interpretation - the techniques and the way data are acquired, the nuclei that can be looked at, instrument sensitivity have evolved.