As you know from our blog posts I am really interested in all aspects of dog training whether it’s useful things such as loose lead walking, fun tricks to build your bond, behaviour modification to increase confidence and many other useful applications. I find dog behaviour and training utterly fascinating and I’m always trying to better myself to give Bonnie the best life I can. As my first dog Bonnie wasn’t necessarily the easiest dog I could’ve asked for but in return she has taught me first hand how to be a better dog owner and trainer which I am so grateful for!
So onto the exciting news – I have enrolled for a 10 week course “Better Dog Training and Behaviour Through Better Understanding” which is an accredited course to the OCNNI Level 3 (equivalent to an A Level) run by two respected Northern Ireland trainers Robin Bates and Sandra Gilliland. It will look at all training methods to research and analyse but we will be using only positive training techniques practically which is the training method I prefer to use.
The course not only covers theory lessons and discussions but also covers practical sessions including running a class and creating a behavioural rehabilitation program. I am seriously so excited! I don’t know if I will ever get the opportunity to work with dogs in the future ( I do hope I can though!) but if I ever get the chance this will help begin my journey and if not it just means I personally have a better understanding for Bonnie and any dogs or foster dogs we have in future!
We have received the recommended reading list below so I’m going to try to start swotting up before the course starts on Monday 3rd October!
Recommended Reading List
- Life Skills for Puppies: Helen Zulch and Daniel Mills
- Dogs that Bite and Fight; David Ryan – Ordered
- Choosing The Right Dog For You: Gwen Bailey
- The APBC Book of Companion Animal Behaviour 3rd Edition: Edited by David Appleby.
- How to Behave So your Dog Behaves: Dr Sophia Yin, DVM,MS – Ordered
- Dogs: Raymond Coppinger and Laura Coppinger
- Excel-Erated Learning: Pamela J. Reid Ph.D.
- Don’t Shoot the Dog. Karen Pryor – Ordered and arrived
- Genetics and the Social Behaviour of the dog: Scott and Fuller.
- In Defence of Dogs: John Bradshaw. – Already have and currently reading
- Decoding Your dog Debra Horwitz DVM and John Cirribassi DVM
- Other end of the leash: Patricia J. McConnell. – Already have and read
- How Dogs Learn: Mary R. Burch and Jon S. Bailey
In addition I ordered BAT 2.0 by Grisha Stewart as I have been wanting to learn more about BAT for a while now.
I am really excited but also a bit nervous – after 14 years in the school system, 4 years at University then working full time I never though I would “return to study” so this will be interesting! I’m hoping I can keep up with the assignments and perform well in addition to a normal work week, looking after Bonnie and the 3 degus and running this blog. I’m sure it will be an interesting 10 weeks anyway!
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Bonnies Dog Blog NI 
Congratulations. That is a wonderful plan and so exciting! Given that our Ray was afraid of anything and everything that moved (he lunged and barked to make it go away), we enrolled in a BAT training program and have never regretted it. Not only did the trainer orchestrate scenarios for Ray to deal with, but she also educated us on the signals that he was giving us (and we hadn’t a clue prior to BAT training!). The poor guy was looking to us for direction but, in the absence of any, he was taking control of the situation in his own way! All the best. Bonnie will love you for it! 🙂
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Thank you it is very exciting! That’s great what you have achieved with Ray with BAT Training,it’s always been something I really want to learn more about but as there are no classes nearby I have ordered the BAT 2.0 book and can’t wait to get stuck into reading it. I really hope it does us well and hopefully in future I can help other dogs out too 🙂
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Oh! I’m so excited for you, Laura! I can’t wait to read all about your classes and what you learn. Try not to be too nervous, you’ll do great!
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Thank you it really is so exciting, I’m trying my best not to be nervous so just keeping my head down and trying to read as much as I can before class starts 🙂
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Congratulations and good luck with the training. It is a lot you have set for yourself, but from what I have read, I believe you will cope with the added tasks. It will be a very interesting, and I hope enjoyable, ten weeks. However, please enlighten this poor, ignorant person by telling me what OCNNI stands for
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Thank you, it will be a lot of work but I know it will be so interesting and I’ll come out a better trainer 🙂 OCNNI stands for Open College Network Northern Ireland so is an UK regulated qualification awarding organisation so it means I’ll gain an accredited qualification for this course which is quite cool 🙂
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Studying something you enjoy because you want to is very different from school, where you had to study everything. I’m sure you’ll have a great time and both you and Bonnie will benefit. 🙂
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Yes that’s true, I’m very passionate about dog behaviour so this will be a really interesting 10 weeks!
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Have fun! 🙂
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Good for you! Best of luck – I’m sure you’ll enjoy the course 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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Sorry for not commenting sooner – blah head!
This is THE COOLEST thing ever, I’ll bet you are so excited 😀 What an awesome thing to look forward to ^__^ I love Gwen Bailey from your reading list, and I’ve been in the process of reading How To Behave So Your Dog Behaves since Raiden was a puppy hahaha (I love Sophia Yin and the book seems awesome, I just keep losing it!!).
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Oh aye I’m super excited, but slightly nervous too. I really am looking forward to starting and getting stuck in.
Gwen Bailey’s Perfect Puppy was the first dog thing I ever bought like 4 years ago back when I was dead set on getting a puppy – a beagle of all things! I’m glad now I didn’t but I was obsessed with the idea and so was my partner but he says now he would never get one either haha. The Sophia Yin book looks great it came in the post yesterday so I will be starting it after I finish In Defence of Dogs tonight. In Defence of Dogs is such a good and interesting read but is a bit dry and science-y in parts so looking forward to reading something a bit more practical.
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I got In Defence of Dogs a couple of years ago for my birthday, but couldn’t get much into it. I don’t do well with overly technical or sciencey books, my head just can’t absorb or understand what it’s reading…can make reading dog behaviour books a real pain, which is why I love the Sophia Yin one as it’s very easy to read 🙂 Have you ever read The Genius of Dogs? I started reading that and found it hard going but really interesting…that’s a book I definitely want to revisit too 🙂
It’s totally natural to be nervous but I bet you’ll be amazing and will learn so much from it 🙂
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It’s definitely a bit of a slow burn reading through it like but I’ve finally finished so will be moving onto sophia yin then I hope to finish that and a least another one before class starts. I haven’t decided whether to read don’t shoot the dog or dogs that fight and bite first as don’t shoot the dog seems to be a classic but I haven’t read up much about aggression in general so might be useful to read that other one first.
No I haven’t heard of that actually the description and reviews sound great, it’s just been added to my now growing amazon wish list of dog books haha
Yea I’m really hoping I’ll be fine, it will just be a tiring 10 weeks juggling everything but will definitely be an awesome experience 🙂
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Lot of specialist trainers and experts that offer differing, contradictory info and sometimes nonsensical advice but I’m fortunate enough volunteer for Border Collie Rescue and in return have access to advice, information and training from some of the most outstanding and knowledgeable people I’ve ever met.
They recommend that if you only ever own one book on this breed, it should be “Understanding Border Collies” by Barbara Sykes which I must admit to having seen but never bothered with for some reason. Now on its way courtesy of Amazon but just thought that might be worth adding to your long list!
Enjoy the training! 😀
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Border-Collies-Barbara-Sykes/dp/1861262809
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Yes it’s very difficult to know what to do with so much conflicting advice. It’s great that you volunteer with Border Collie Rescue, I hope to someday be in a position to open my own small rescue for collies that need that bit of extra help to settle, or at the least foster border collies and help rehabilitate them. They are such a lovely breed and so many in rescue and pounds here – many of England’s rescue border collies come from Northern Ireland and Ireland 😦
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Very exciting news about your classes but holy cow, that’s some intense library of resources! 😉
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So much to read so little time! 😀
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I am glad you had your training and i am sure you will understand more how to handle Bonnie now. I find dog behaviour and training utterly fascinating too. thanks for sharing
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Nice blog.
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You’ll have to let us know what you learn! I’ve been interested in learning more about BAT training as well, sounds interesting so enjoy!
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