Shelter Behavior Hub

Sue Alexander, CPDT-KSA, CBCC-KA, CDBC is the primary instructor. Sue has over thirty years teaching dog training to others, as well as consulting with pet owners, veterinarians and other professionals about dog behavior. Sue has taught prep courses for the CPDT and CBCC exams, and has mentored over 20 people to success in person as part of her training school's staff development program. Sue is joined by Trish McMillan MSc CPDT-KA, the owner of the Shelter Behavior Hub and the author of the Shelter Dog Behavior Mentorship, and by Laura Harper, MSc, CPDT-KA, one of the senior instructors at Dogs in the Park, Sue's school.

The Shelter Dog Behavior Mentorship deals primarily with how to recognize dog behavior and meet the behavioral needs of the dog in the shelter. The Shelter Dog Training Mentorship deals with how dogs learn, and how we can use that information to change dog behavior. This course can be taken as a stand alone to prepare you for the learning and training part of the CPDT examination, as a course that will take your own training skills to the next level, or as a compliment to the Shelter Behavior Mentorship.

The Shelter Dog Training Mentorship begins on March 9th, 2023 with the class meetings at 10:30am or 7:30pm EST (you only need to come to one!).

This course is an online course, with practical, hands on training exercises you do with dogs in your life. There are Quizlets to help you learn the material and a weekly survey and online meeting to evaluate and solidify your understanding.

The full course runs 13 weeks with 14 units (the first unit is a welcome unit). Each week you will written lectures, videos, exercises to practice at home and a class meeting. You can expect to spend between three and five hours each week working on the course.

Each student will get access to the materials for one full year! This course is set up to help you to return to the material and study it as often as you need.

If you are involved in handling dogs at all, this course will help you to better train them. Shelter behavior staff, volunteers and anyone who is involved in handling dogs can benefit. If you would like to get involved in training as a professional, but you are not involved in sheltering or rescue, you are welcome and will benefit.