Well done Rosemary, that's a brilliant mark. Hope you've had chance to celebrate before its head down and onto the next assignment.
That's a great mark, well done. I'm sure you've mentioned it elsewhere, but I couldn't find the information - what course are you following? It seems remarkably thorough, compared to many others I've seen, which seem to be along the lines of, if you know what end food goes in and what end it comes out, you can have this qualification!
@snowbunny The course is the Think Dog! Certificate, originally written by the late John Fisher and is now revised and updated annually by his protégé Sarah Whitehead and is accredited through the Open College Network. John Fisher was of course the founding father of the APDT (Association of Pet Dog Trainers), which is where I found the link to the course, and also a founder member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Consultants). I considered the APDT course and ruled it out for lack of experience, but I think that may well be on the agenda now for the future, we'll just have to wait and see what the future holds. Although I go into panic mode for each assignment, I'm loving the course and the depth of reading that is encouraged, some of which is very mainstream i.e. Karen Pryor but also includes the likes of the Coppingers and Burch & Bailey. I've recently booked for a 2 day practical course for later in the year with Sarah which involves working with rescue dogs at an RSPCA centre. So exciting and scary all at the same time, particularly as you have to sign a disclaimer against them and the RSPCA should you be bitten during the course
Rosemary that's amazing an A. I can't wait to hear about your training days with rescue dogs, wish I was going with you. Well done xxx
Very well done,it probably doesn't feel like it to you but it feels like you are rattling through it....x
I'm at the half way point and planning to get he 3rd assignment out of the way this week, probably on Thursday when OH is in London on business - peace and quiet to work I'm looking forward to the 5th assignment as it's based on canine body language and behaviour using a DVD
And possibly the hardest part of the course. Really want to have completed all the assignments before the 'RSPCA practical' and perhaps have a look into some of the seminars etc which are on offer which cover body language - good reason to re-read Turid Rugaas as well
It seems ages since I updated and so much seems to have been happening. Well two assignments completed since last update with a B for an assignment looking at life with humans from the dog's view and the last assignment, which gained an A- was based on answering two questions relating to aggression in dogs looking at causes of aggression, how human behaviours affect aggression and the final part advising 'a client' with a dog with an aggressive behaviour, identifying triggers and devising a plan for behaviour modification also explaining to the 'client' why some of the advice they had received was contributing to behaviour problems. So after much reading and taking on some associated courses studying canine body language I am actually rather happy with my level of knowledge and application of that knowledge. Final assignment is an allocated real life case study, studying and identifying a behavioural problem from a DVD and to produce a fully detailed action plan to modify the behaviour identifying all the additional information that would be required for a full behavioural assessment - so an easy assignment to finish with before signing up for the next level course.
Oh wow, Rosemary @MaccieD, that's brilliant. Fantastic marks, we'll all be lining up to come train with you. Sounds like a fab course and your thread inspired me to do some courses to. I'm doing a canine body language one and another training one and loving them. Dexter is having so much fun too as he gets to play all the games, which he loves. Looking forward to hearing about your last assignment once you've completed it, sounds like a lot of work. Huge congratulations to you
