Behaviour/Instructors

An instructor needs a knowledge of dog behaviour and development, how the dog learns, how to teach different types of dogs, some of whom may have problems, and most importantly, and what is often overlooked, the ability to impart that knowledge to others. The instructors role is to teach the owner, not train the dog. This is the art of teaching.

PART ONE covers assessing dogs and owners, the basics of Positive Reinforcement training, planning a structured course of lessons, and planning and teaching individual lessons. A class of pet dog owners will be brought to the Centre to enable the students to have the opportunity to assess unfamiliar dogs and their owners, to assess the relationship between dog and owner, and how to use this information to plan lessons.

PART TWO includes a brief resume and discussion on the work covered in part one and goes into more detail of how dogs and owners learn - classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and an in depth study of Positive Reinforcement training including the basics of clicker training, timing, shaping, puppy development, breed specific behaviour, how to deal with training problems, and the planning of courses for owners who would like to progress beyond the beginner stage, including the Kennel Club’s Good Citizen Dog Scheme.

PART THREE, after a brief resume and discussion on part two, this weekend concentrates on problems - problem dogs, problem owners, and any other problems that the instructor may encounter in relation to teaching pet dog owners. It also reviews the choice of books, toys, food rewards, and equipment available, and discusses the responsibilities, both legal and ethical, undertaken when running a dog training class.

Students having attended all three parts of this course will then have completed six days of instruction with the additional advantage of having time in-between courses to enable them to read around the subject, to think about what they have learned and to put theory into practice, thus gaining valuable practical experience in an everyday, true life setting. They also have the added advantage of being able to come back and discuss how the theory worked out in practice and to discuss any problems they may have encountered. An Attendance Certificate for each part is available for students who complete notes on a full resume of the course. These notes will be carefully checked in order to give the student a valuable source of reference for the future.

The courses are constructed on the workshop principle, where students are divided into small groups so that everyone will have the opportunity of contributing to the discussions in a friendly and informal atmosphere. For further details see an extended article in the Kennel Gazette, October 1996. This course has also been designed to cover many of the requirements of the Kennel Club’s Accreditation Scheme for Instructors in Dog Training.

Six other weekend courses will be held at the Centre from June to September including: two Working Trials for the Beginner – CD & UD, How to have a Happy Well Behaved Dog, Tracking and Nosework for Fun and courses with visiting instructors.

The Centre is open throughout the year for behaviour consultations and training.