Course Structure:  Dog Psychology and Training BAG221

There are 9 lessons:

1. Nature and Scope of Canine Psychology
   • A brief history of the canine evolution
   • Self-domestication
   • Canine industries
2. Canine Senses
   • Understanding canine communication
   • Sight
   • Body Language
   • Smell
   • Sound
   • Elimination Postures
3. Understanding Natural Canine Behaviour
   • Social Structure
   • Social Behaviour
   • Aggression
   • Clinical Problems
   • Biological Rhythms
   • Sleep
   • Sexual Behaviour
   • Maternal Behaviour
   • Parturition
   • Suckling and Weaning
   • Eating and Drinking
4. Canine Behavioural Development
   • Nature or Nuture
   • Sensitive Periods
   • Neurological Development
   • Canine Temperament Testing
   • How Breeds Differ
5. Canine Behavioural Disorders
   • Attention Seeking Behaviour
   • Excessive barking
   • Chewing
   • Running away
   • Chasing moving objects
   • Begging
   • Digging
   • Separation anxiety
   • Agression
   • Phobias
   • Excessive compulsive disorders
   • Cognitive Dysfunction
   • Calming a dog
6. Basic Dog Training
   • Forming habits
   • Conditioning
   • Classical Conditioning
   • Operant Conditioning
   • Socialisation
   • House training
   • The use of visual signals
   • The use of voice commands
   • The use of training aids
7. Dog Obedience Training
   • Practical Training Techniques
   • Recall
   • Sit
   • Stand
   • Drop
   • Leave
   • Down
   • Stay
   • Heel
   • Seek
   • Retrieve
   • Bark on Signal
8. Controlling a Dogs Movement
   • Territorial nature of dogs
   • Fencing
   • Dog doors
   • Kennels
   • Exercise requirements
   • Socialisation requirments
   • Walking on a lead/leash
   • Electronic barriers
   • Microchips
   • Pet Registration and Licensing
   • Controlling Killing Wildlife
9. Training Working Dogs
   • Training for scent discrimination or substance detection
   • Training for retrieving
   • Guarding
   • Hearing dogs
   • Hearding
   • Tracking
   • Controlling attacks on animals and people

Please Note:  At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment to complete, which you submit to your Tutor for marking and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments and tailored feedback. 

Learning Goals (Aims):      Dog Psychology and Training BAG221

• Describe how canine animals think and discuss the relevance of understanding canine psychology to people.
• Explain how canine animals communicate and formulate an understanding of possible ways that a human may communicate with a dog.
• Understand behaviours that are natural and predictable in canines and learn to recognise and understand signals that dogs give.
• Explain how dogs develop behavioural characteristics throughout stages of their life.
• Describe commonly occurring behavioural problems in dogs.
• Develop a program for training a new pet dog when it is brought into a household. • Explain how to train a dog to perform predetermined actions upon command.
• Describe how the movement of dogs can be controlled, both through training and other methods.
• Describe how dogs can be trained to perform tasks required as a working dog, including a sheep dog, tracking dog, blind dog or substance detection dog.

Dog Neurological Development and How It Works!

Young puppies cannot learn as well as older ones. The brain takes a matter of weeks to get to the point of being capable to learn as you might expect.

No emotional development or learning takes place during the neo-natal period; a puppy’s brain waves remain constant whether they are sleeping or awake.

They do exhibit innate reflex reactions to hunger, cold, and touch; they will squeeze together to generate warmth or move away from one another if they are too hot, but they cannot independently regulate their body temperature by shivering or panting as an adult would.

During the transitional period, the puppy becomes aware of its surroundings and begins to become more mobile. Brain activity increases as the puppy begins to process sights and sounds within its environment and begins to develop spatial awareness.

Between 21-28 days of life rapid sensory development occurs and significant changes in the puppy’s brain follow. The puppy is very aware of sights and sounds in its environment and can be easily startled.

Care needs to be taken at this stage to ensure that negative experiences are not ‘imprinted’ on the puppy’s brain that may negatively affect it in later life. At this stage, it has been shown puppies are able to learn from their experiences and to retain what they have learned.

Between 28-49 days of life, brain development is nearing completion and physical co-ordination is greatly improving. The puppy is beginning to develop problem solving abilities and social awareness.

Between 49 days-12 weeks the puppy’s brain and mental abilities are fully formed, but the puppy lacks ‘life experience’.

Current Research has shown that behaviours can be shaped and modified most easily at this time when learning is occurring most quickly. Training is thought to increase the capacity to learn by increasing numbers of brain cells in the appropriate regions of the brain.

Sleep and Play

The majority of the first two weeks of a puppy’s life is spent asleep. During this time, most physical growth occurs so uninterrupted sleep is vitally important. Most sleep during the neonatal stage is REM.

Play behaviour in puppies is assumed to stem from instinctive behaviours that develop the skills necessary for survival in the wild. Play behaviour helps to develop the puppy in several ways:

• Develops communication skills between the puppy and its siblings as well as with its mother, an adult dog.
• Reinforces the social bonds between the family members.
• Develops the puppy’s motor skills – moving around, running, jumping, biting etc.
• Develops the puppy’s physique by building muscle and burning excess body fat and generally promoting health.
• Gives an outlet for any stress or tension that the puppy may be experiencing.
• Teaches the puppy about cause and effect e.g. pouncing on a ball causes it to roll away.

There is a wide range of common play behaviours that puppies will engage in:

Social play involves playing with another puppy, another animal or with their human owner. Examples of social play include play-fighting, wrestling, biting, and chasing games.

Self-directed play is a replacement for social play when a play-partner is not available. Examples of this type of play behaviour are tail chasing or pouncing on imaginary objects.

Locomotory play is any play behaviour that involves the puppy moving e.g. chasing another puppy or just running and jumping around on its own.

Object play involves the puppy interacting with another object e.g. chasing a ball or stick.

The way a puppy plays can be influenced by its breed. For example, a Jack Russell terrier may relish games that involve chasing, grabbing, and shaking objects while a Staffordshire Bull Terrier will enjoy playing ‘tug-of-war’ with toys.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Here is a list of the most often asked FAQ’s.

General

Q. Why should I enrol with the Academy for Distance Learning?
A. Here at ADL, our students are our priority – we treat everyone as a unique individual.

Q. Do I need to buy text books?
A. No, as each module has been written by highly qualified industry professionals. The content of the material is presented in such a way that text books are not required. However, if you require additional reading your tutor will be able to supply a list.

Q. What happens if I have to stop studying for a while? (eg. become sick, go on holidays, have a baby, move house, etc)
A. It’s OK to take a break and start up your study at a later point in time. Just let us know.

Q. Is there an age limit?
A. There is no maximum age limit. We do however, have a minimum age limit of 18 years. Below that age parental consent would be required.

Q. Are your courses up-to date?
A. Our courses are revised and updated on a rotation system.

Q. Do you have a Cancellation policy?
A. Yes. We have a cancellation policy that is fair and equitable. For further details please click here.

Q. Will I have any opportunity to engage with other students?
A. We have a Student Community group based on facebook! If you don’t have a facebook account already, you could make one just for talking with fellow students on the group.

Enrolment

Q. When can I enrol/start?
A. You may enrol and start at any time of the year – it’s all self- paced.

Q. Can I study from anywhere in the world?
A. Our courses are available to anyone, anywhere in the world from the comfort of your own home. The course content is relevant to any country, culture or economy.

Q. How long do I have to complete the course?
A. You complete the course at any time that is convenient for you.

Q. Completing a 100 hour module – how long will it take?
A. For some students a 100 hour module will take approximately to 3- 6 months to complete. Others take less time and some even longer.

Assessment

Q. Assessment – how does it work?
A. For each 100 hour module you are assessed by assignments (at the end of each lesson) and a final one and a half hour exam (or you may elect to complete a Project, instead of sitting the exam) – the choice is yours – you sit for the exam in your own location.

Q. I don’t cope well with exams – what can I do?
A. You may elect to undertake a Project (set by your tutor) instead of sitting the exam. Projects are completed from your home and can usually take a couple of weeks to complete.

Q. If my assignment is not up to standard is there an opportunity to resubmit my work?
A. Yes –

Q. How many assignments do I need to complete for each module?
A. At the end of each lesson, there is an assignment – so if a course has say, 10 lessons, there would be 10 assignments.

Q. I am having difficulty attending workshops/industry meetings, what can be done?
A. If your course requires attendance at workshops, conferences, or industry meetings; alternative arrangements can be made in your country.

Qualifications

Q. Can I customize my diploma/higher qualification?

A. Not all educational institution’s certificates /diplomas meet everyone’s needs. The opportunity to Design Your Own Diploma at the Academy (subject to our approval) is an added bonus, not found at other colleges. You choose modules that you think will help you in achieving your goal.

Q. What do I get when I complete the course? Will I receive a transcript?
A. At the completion of all courses and providing all assignments and exam requirements have been met, you will receive your Award and a Transcript.

Tutors

Q. Our tutors – who are they?
A. We appoint Tutors and require that they must be currently active in their industry, with at least 5 years’ experience in their chosen profession.

Q. Can I contact my tutor at any time?
A. Yes – you have unlimited access to your tutor via email through our Online Classroom. You can always leave a message with ADL requesting your tutor to contact you. You decide on how much or how little contact you wish to have.

Q. Practical work – How is this done?
A. To find out more about this part of the course please visit the section on How Our Courses Work here.