IME The majority of people who assert they want to help problem dogs have not got the necessary know how regarding how to teach "regular" dogs.

This is not a jibe at you, just an overall observation.

Teaching people how to train dogs is much more difficult than training dogs (IMHO)

Have you been to anyone who you think is a good trainer to watch how they do it?

Have you asked if you could shadow them over a few weeks to get a feel if it is something you really want to do?

Sometimes exposure to a lot of classes clarifies if the reality lives up to the idea..........

Phew! Big question.

I started by going on a series of weekend courses with a view to helping my own dogs and literally got hooked.

I then worked on a one to one basis (home visits), free of charge with a number of people who I made aware of my inexperience and basic training only.

When that worked well, I started charging for training, hired a hall and also added small group classes.

It was three years before I felt competent enough to handle behavioural cases and then had to be pushed into it by the behaviourist I was referring onto.

During this time, I read anything and everything dog related, joined the APDT and did an HNC followed by a degree.

I wouldn't recommend anybody work with behavioural cases until they were highly competent as trainers and got plenty of experience with different breeds and individual temperaments.

Behaviour work needs far more skill and experience than training work for the more difficult cases and none of the cases are text book, ie one size fits all solutions.

According to the RSPCA the gold standard are the ASAB CCABs as they require an Honours degree and three years experience to qualify while the APBC only requires a degree plus two years experience, or one year if you also have a post graduate qualification:

http://www.rspca.org.uk/in-action/ab...dabehaviourist


How to find a behaviour expert
It's important that the behaviour expert identified is someone with the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience to treat your pet. Anyone can call themselves a behaviour expert, but many do not possess up-to-date knowledge or the necessary skills required to treat pets with behaviour problems.

Inappropriate or outdated advice or methods may adversely affect your pet’s welfare and even make your pet’s behaviour problem worse.

The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) accredits Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourists (CCAB), who possess the appropriate skills, knowledge and abilities. This includes having an Honours or higher degree in a relevant subject, attendance at appropriate specialist courses, and at least three years of regular clinical experience.

The Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) also represents animal behaviourists. APBC members will have at least a relevant degree and two year's experience or a postgraduate qualification and one year's experience.

http://www.apbc.org.uk/apbc/criteria

Recent Changes to APBC Full Membership Criteria:

The APBC has been working towards our requirement for full membership to reduce to the single criterion of “Certification as a Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB)” by October 2011. This date has now been changed to March 2014.

The recently launched Animal Behaviour and Training Council, which seeks to register properly qualified behaviourists, has already acknowledged CCAB as the benchmark for clinical behaviourists. In addition it has recognised that there are many others currently operating as ‘behaviourists’ without being able to reach the standard of a CCAB. It has therefore also opened for registration a temporary category of Accredited Animal Behaviourist, defined as individuals:
…who meet a number of the requirements of knowledge and experience for clinical animal behaviourist, and who are working towards full accreditation… This category closes from March 2014, after which time entry to the profession is expected to be through the ‘Student CCAB’ route.

To bring the APBC and ABTC processes together the APBC committee has decided to use March 2014 as the date after which full membership be granted only through Certification as a Clinical Animal Behaviourist.





Wys
x

Smokey Bear is correct in saying that there are no legal requirements for qualifications to be a trainer, instructor or behaviourist. It comes as quite a shock to a lot of people who assume - when they trust their dog to someone - that they know what they are talking about! I have been instructing for 15 years and have taught hundreds of people to train their dogs - I have only been asked ONCE if I had qualifications (and insurance).

Might i suggest that you go along and watch a few classes, decide if that is what you fancy doing and sign up for a good instructor's course. There are lots of courses out there but they vary hugely in what they actually teach. Your need to understand learning theory, so make sure that is on the curriculum, and several ways of teaching an exercise as well as how to deal with people, help them solve problems etc, etc. Then find a good class/club/school and work under their supervision for a while to gain confidence and skills.

You also want to make sure that the approach used by the course provider is one that you are happy with - if you don't believe in using physical punishment, for example, there is no point you going to a course provider who teaches these methods. The course are not cheap - you want to make sure you get the right instruction.

Incidentally, people in the industry are now looking at self-regulation (www.abtcouncil.org.uk/) This will take time to develop but hopefully at some stage there will be a minimum requirement in respect of standards of knowledge and behaviour for all. In the meantime, obtaining membership of an association who do have a membership criteria (and a complaints procedure if things go wrong) is a good idea once you are experienced enough to apply.

I find it quite interesting that most instructors do not have any form of teaching qualification. Just because you know how to train a dog, does not mean you can teach others if you have not the faintest idea of the teaching and learning cycle nor have effective communication skills!

A good example of this was when I recently attended a seminar where there was a great deal of expertise in the room, however the ability to put this over in most cases was conspicuous by its absence!

I don't think you have to have a teaching qualification per se, Smokey Bear, but I totally agree that you need to know how to communicate, how to present, how to ensure owners have understood etc. These should also be included in a good instructors course!

Some people say to me 'I want to be an instructor, I love dogs' I ask them whether they also love people. If they say 'no' I suggest that they won't make a very good instructor. The majority of an instructor's work - and a behaviourist's - is with the owners. If you can't communicate well with them, you are in trouble.

I think a basic PTLLS certificate should be de rigeur, it is what we require from our in house trainers in the company where I work PRIOR to them becoming a trainer in Manual Handling Trainer etc etc.

I think everyone should shadow those people whose jobs others would like; and I am not talking about a couple of day's work experience here.

I often hear about people who would love to have kennels, and I ask why as it is a 24/7 job which involves the removal of pee and poo as the largest portion of the day!

Same with dog training insrtuctor, you get 20% of the issues 80% of the time and like any job can get very repetitive!

The worse thing about owners IMHO is their Vicky Pollard school of reasons why things are not progressing "yebbut/nobbut" owners.............

I completely agree with those who have said that people skills are paramount for dog trainers/behaviourists.

After all, you won't be the person training the dog, nor will you be the one to carry out any behavioural modification programme. It is the owners that will be doing this & it is the owners that you have to communicate with, persuade, empathise with, reason with, teach &, if necessary, cajole. If you can't do that, then you won't be able to be a dog trainer or behaviourist.

What's the point of being fantastic at the theory, being able to put it all into practice yourself, but not be able to teach others how to do it? Vets often say that owner compliance with a medical regime, behaviour modification etc is absolutely the be all & end all, if a dog is to be made well.

The canine & feline courses I did spent a lot of time helping us improve people skills by practice at running consultations in front of the rest of the class, by critiquing each other in what we said & how we said it, by setting us tasks to help us explain things in plain language, e.g. explain habituation in 20 words.

We also had extensive reading lists on consultation skills, practised UPR (unconditional positive regard), used Gerard Egan's methods as far as possible, & worked very hard on getting client's on side, so that they understood why they are doing what we ask them to do.

When I first started assisting at dog training classes, the instructor asked what we liked best, & we all said helping the dogs, watching the dogs etc. But she said, very wisely, it is the people you should be watching & the people you should be helping!

Dogs are a reflection of their owners, so it is logical to observe both; I found it is quite often true that if you put owners in one room and their dogs in another you can quite often match them up...............