The Service Dog Coaching Certificate Program prepares professional pet dog trainers committed to reward based training techniques to support people with disabilities in training a service dog to assist them. The course is primarily online, it includes eleven lessons. Material is presented in different ways to account for different learning styles. Each lesson includes video lectures, online reading and a quiz to assess understanding of content. Additionally the course requires four projects. Three of the projects are essays, one involves training a dog. Students need to be able to travel to a location such as an independent living center or rehabilitation facility for one project, and have access to a dog to train. Students need to be comfortable using technology including taking video, uploading/sharing files. Students also can ask questions and clarify concepts in the online discussion area included in each lesson. This comprehensive program includes education on: Legal definition of service dog Types of service dogs Working effectively with people with disabilities, accommodating training Selecting a dog for service work Different types of service dogs and tasks Training foundation tasks including: retrieves balance/brace hearing alert targeting based Strategies to incorporate service dog training into a pet dog training business Information on how to collaborate with healthcare professionals Templates to help trainers get started are included: Behavioral observation checklists, intake forms, client questionnaire and website information examples. Additionally, medical forms to facilitate communication with healthcare providers, medical release and contract addendum information created in consultation with an attorney are included. Successful graduates will not only have the skills to begin training service dogs but also the tools they need to incorporate service dog training into their pet dog training business.

Sponsor:Cooperative Paws LLC
Speaker(s):Veronica Sanchez M.Ed. CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA

Contact: Veronica Sanchez
 Email: cooppaws@gmail.com
 Phone: 703-489-6452
 Web: https://cooperativepaws.com/