Continuing Professional Education

As a dog trainer I think it is really important to keep up-to-date with the latest information and research surrounding our beloved pets. I really do believe in the saying "Learning will set us free", and being a bit of a bookworm certainly helps me with this!

The code of practice from the Association of Professional Dog Trainers requires its members to keep their education current from year to year, something that I was more than willing to agree to. It also gives me a time framework to help me focus on getting it done. That's something which is particularly helpful in my busy life - sometimes with two small boys it's hard to know where the weeks go!

Gemma Osmond, MAPDT 01069

So having investigated some possibilities I have signed up for two courses - a correspondence course from 'Alpha Education' (Accredited education courses in canine behaviour and training), and an e-course with 'Say Yes! Dog Training' (Susan Garrett). I'm very excited that they both start tomorrow, and that I have received my 'Alpha Education' course in the post for me to look over this evening :-)


The correspondence course is 'Think Dog! Certificate - An Intermediate Award in Canine Behaviour & Training' and covers 5 units over 6 months. I expect it will be a challenge to find the time for it, but I'm determined to manage it as I'm so fascinated by the subject. To give you an idea, the reading list included such titles as 'Dominance - Fact or Fiction' by Barry Eaton, and 'Reaching the Animal Mind' by Karen Pryor. So much of the TV dog training links back to early research done with wolves, and of course our dogs have come a long way since domestication. It really doesn't make sense to compare them - I'm going to really enjoy learning more! :-)



The e-course is 'The 5 minute formula for a Brilliant Recall' and runs over the 31 days of August. This is a new formula of teaching using the internet and I really like the idea that people are going to be following the course from pretty much all over the world! The recall cue should be such a fundamental, non-negotiable one, but I know from my own classes that not all dogs understand it as such. I shall be using the course to improve my own Kai's recall, which has steadily declined since his accident over 4 years ago. Not that he won't come back - it's just it tends to be on his time, rather than mine ;-)


In the last few weeks I haven't been enjoying competing as much as I have done in the past, where the self-imposed pressure to get it right is getting to me. So this weekend is going to be agility free (unless I cave and head up to UKA Nationals on Sunday ;-)), with the focus on learning more about the dogs I love to share my life with. They are my best teachers :-)

Today I am grateful for my thirst for knowledge, which has already brought me to this exciting point in my life, and that I know holds the keys to even more great discoveries in the future :-)