Barbara Handelman Service Dog Trainer Course for Novice Owner-Trainers or Pet Dog Trainers
NO PREREQUISITES OR APPLICATION FOR TIER 2 ARE REQUIRED
BHSDT Tier 2 Course Description
Tier 2 of the Barbara Handelman Service Dog Trainer Course (BHSDT), is designed for disabled handlers training their own service dogs, and for pet dog trainers interested in becoming professional service dog trainers. There are no prerequisites for taking this course.
*NOTE: The Tier 2 course does not qualify students to professionally train service dogs for clients with disabilities. Neither does this course qualify students to advise or assist disabled clients who are training their own service dogs.
The Tier 2 course is a knowledge-based curriculum covering the basics of service dog candidate selection; socialization and public access training; service dog laws; the ethics of being a service dog handler; and developing the foundation skills dogs must learn for task training. This is a self-paced course for which students have 9-months to complete all the requirements.
Students must also purchase and complete the auditor’s version of the Understanding Canine Behavior course, in order to fulfill requirements for the Certificate of Completion for the Tier 2 BHSDT course ($180.00 USD – Instructions to access this special price are provided after registration).
For students wishing to continue their studies and develop the practical skills required to become a Professional Service Dog trainer, the Tier 2 Course provides solid foundation knowledge. Students who wish to continue on with their studies, and who meet all the prerequisite requirements, may apply for acceptance to Tier 1. There will be a substantial tuition reduction for those Tier 2 graduates who apply and are accepted to continue on with the Tier 1 Course.
This course includes quizzes to assess the students’ knowledge acquisition and to qualify for the offered CEUs.
Service Dog Consulting is available to students who would like instructor guidance during their Tier 2 studies.
Students enrolled in Tier 2 may contract for individualized, mentorship-style training, on a private fee-for-service basis. Our instructors, Christina de Juan and Martha Hoffman offer training consults that may include:
- Personalized evaluation and instruction to resolve training problems with their own dogs
- Help evaluating and selecting potential service dog candidate
- Help assessing whether a pet dog already in the home might be suitable as a service dog candidate
- Assessing and resolving behavior problems that emerge during public access work
- Critiques of videoed training sessions students have with their own service dogs in training, or working service dog partners
Barbara is semi-retired from evaluating and training service dogs for others. She remains available to provide “second opinions.” Upon request Barbara might join Christina or Martha to help evaluate a service dog candidate’s appropriateness for or progress through training. Barbara might also be consulted when a student faces a decision about whether to drop a dog from training, or retire a working partner early in their career because of behavior problems, reactivity, or stress related health or behavior issues.
What Students May Expect in this Course
- Sixteen webinar-style lectures
- Readings, handouts and other materials specifically relevant to each lecture
- Access to an extensive Collection of Resources including research studies; blog entries; links to lectures and videos available online; as well as published and unpublished papers by renowned individuals in the service animal industry.
- Students who finish Tier 2 will receive a Certificate of Completion designating that they have accomplished all the requirements of the course.
Tier 2 Course Lesson Outline
- Introduction: What is a Service Dog
- Lesson 1: Understanding Stress in Service Dogs
- Lesson 2: Laws Related to Service Dogs
- Lesson 3: Ethics and Etiquette for Service Dogs and Their Handlers
- Lesson 4: What is a Service Dog Task?
- Lesson 5: Selecting Service Dog Candidates
- Lesson 6: Why Clicker Training for Service dogs
- Lesson 7-9: Video Training Journal: The First Year of a Service Dog Puppy-Candidate’s Life
- Lesson 10: Socialization and Public Access Training
- Lesson 11: Canine Cognition and Intelligent Disobedience
- Lesson 12-15: Clicker Train Your Own Assistance Dog: A four-part video-on-demand series developed by Barbara Handelman
Tier 2 Faculty
CEUs:
CCPDT – 21
PPG/PPAB – 25
NADOI – Approved
Cost: $1,250.00 USD
9 month Payment Plan Option– $142.00 USD per month for 9 months ($1,278.00 USD total) – Use the “Subscribe” button below.